500 words - … prompt “Taking Risks”

(written in response to a 500-word challenge about taking risks. before you get yourself all worked up into a lather ... 1) The issue is more complex than 500 words can cover and yes - I have more to say than this, 2) a major reference group of mine are first responders, 3) the world is a very big place ... )


Risk is about probability and severity of outcome. If the potential outcome is sufficiently likely and/or severe, odds are people will dedicate themselves to mitigation and avoidance.

What happened this weekend in Toronto was a fine example of a police force successfully managing a myriad of risks while enduring an embarrassing lack of appreciation for their efforts and a need for some media outlets to create a story bigger than it actually was and feed confused hysteria under the guise of “getting the story out”.

Let us be clear. G20 in Toronto was not Metro Police’s idea. Neither was the months of risk management of the city their sole responsibility. In truth – if one thinks about it – there would be no way a local police force (no matter how world class) would be allowed to plan a G20 response in isolation of provincial, federal and international input – across military, police, first responder, air, sea and land mobilization groups and intelligence organizations. Metro Police are, however, the “face” that many put to the force that presented itself in Toronto to keep order. Combine that with the average citizen’s lack of understanding of risk management, law enforcement or a clear picture of the real risks and then observe the vitriolic accusations of a of purported abuses (where – it seems – accurate definition of terms is abandoned in favour of frenzied story-telling).

Risk management is simple. List what could possibly go wrong and then take steps to avoid, mitigate, share or accept these defined risks. Create a plan. Plan for contingency. Execute as required.

To be clear – no one – delegate, citizen, officer - was critically injured this weekend. No one died. There was no catastrophic event. When it all went sideways, the police acted with focus and patience. As a parent might when faced with an unruly two-year old, the police contained those having the Big Snit and put them in a safe (although inconvenient and temporary) time-out zone.

Lest we forget, there were three other factions who were central to this weekend’s ballyhoo. The wilfully lawless made their own counter-plans and struck first. The wilfully stupid were oblivious to what might happen, and decided to protest anyway. The vast majority just stayed home and tormented themselves with the risk-free occupation of arm-chair quarterbacking the decision-makers. Thus we had one group managing risk, one accepting (and arguably revelling in) risk, one unable to accurately anticipate risk and one happy to avoid it all in favour of watching selective feed on TV.

As with all successfully executed risk management strategies, the complaints will always round up like a Maslow’s Hierarchy of complaints. The post-game show is focusing on issues like trying to argue inappropriate methods for mitigating risks. With no material outrage to be had, the proletariat must satisfy themselves with a meal of petty and self-righteous indignations and attempt to equate what happened in Toronto with genuine and outrageous human rights violations, stifling state dictatorship and – in some cases –war zones.

Toronto. Get a grip. In the grand scheme of things – a little property damage, a few inconvenienced people and the odd moment of high tension is a nominal price to pay for mitigating the substantial risks at hand.

If it all bugs you that much, call Metro Police and ask them to delete your address from their 9-1-1 response CAD. But I bet you won’t, no matter how wounded your tender sensibilities.

Not having the Police? Why, that would be risky.

Birdfoot Trefoil

This is one of my favourite type of sketches - the scientific(ish) botanical.

I have done a lot of these. A couple summers ago, I had a personal challenge ... one flowering botanical a day for two weeks (but went on for about a month). Had to be a different flower and within 500 meters of my house. You would NOT BELIEVE the number of flowering plants that are so close to home. Once you start looking, you can't help but see them. Funny ... now on my long runs, when I see something new and interesting, I have a sudden urge to stop and take a sample home with me. Sadly, I have no where to store them and so have to keep going. A part of me dies when I have to leave one behind.

Having said that, doing this project has developed my eye for seeing and I can now quite accurately remember very small details that will allow me to find other examples of the same flower later when I have the time to sketch. Many of the wildflowers are small (less than 10 mm) in size, so a sketch involves some close up work to really see what the flower is all about. There are often micro dots of colour, lines, curves, edges, fluorishes, thin curlicues, anthers, stamens and all manner of beauty to behold. More deep-sea diving once you start looking ... a whole new world opens up.

Fine detail brings me to my next point. This is actually the THIRD botanical I have done since I started drawing again. The other two were done with a pen that has too thick a nib for the subject matter. Screwed it up and the sketches are quite leaden. Nuts. Nib thickness is key for being able to capture the sense of delicacy. Super fine lines also lets the deliniation fall to the background while the colour and form come to the front.

Another thing I love about botanicals is discovering the nomenclature. Everything has a name and there is a name for everything. I have Peterson's Guide to Wildflowers and that is key to the accurate identification. I often think that I am putting together my own super-local version of this guide. It gives me an idea for a fun gift ... a handmade, illustrated local guide to flowering plants. I could never give up the originals but I have a fine scanner and some wicked paper ...

This one is called Birdfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus). Birdfoot (because it looks like one in one of the growth stages ... second from left bottom). Trefoil because it has three (tre) leaves (foil). I failed to capture the latin on the sketch and will add later.

One of the best names so far is the first page of my current sketchbook ... Viper's Bugloss (oddly, a delicate purple flower). Seriously ... who comes UP with these names? Very entertaining. I guess that's a hazard of descriptive biology. Eventually you run out of good names and then one night, you and your botony buddies get roaring drunk one night and start making ridiculous word associations that probably made sense at the time but now is rather cryptic but too bad, the name sticks.

When I do these sketches, I often think of the heyday of descriptive biology and think how wonderful it must have been to have that kind of job. The scientists and the independently wealthy (sometimes one and the same) spent their time just looking for new things and then cataloguing them. What a *great* time that must have been.

My Camera

I have a lot to say about cameras. I didn't think I did until I uploaded this sketch and started to think about what to say. As I am wont to do - here is a summary list in no particular order...

1. Among other things, I am a part-time assistant event photographer. It is one of the best jobs ever because I get to take pictures with one of my epic best friends and I am an employee, not a boss. Being an employee is different from a boss and after a week of bossing, being an employee is a sweet relief. I just do what I'm told.

2. My favourite lens is my macro lens. My favourite pictures are with a macro lens. On a slow day, I will post a couple of my favourites. A macro lens allows for super-close up work. My best stuff is of flowers ... looking through a lens doing these types of set ups is like deep-sea diving. I am nothing but focus on what's in the viewfinder and the noise of the world disappears.

3. I have a camera that takes "reality" and I also draw. Apart from recording events and macro stuff, I prefer sketches. As crappy as my sketches are, I remember more. Perhaps this is because of the concentration required to render a sketch. Perhaps because it takes more than 1/60th second. Time investment = more meaning? Macro work is like that as well ... I can take dog years setting something up before the click happens.

4. Above is a digital camera. Yes, I can take 2,000 pictures in an afternoon ... but remember the days where film was required? I think I miss the flick, thread, snap skill to loading up a fresh new roll. I miss the sound of film advancing, too. And not having to be so frigging careful about dust when changing lenses.

5a. I like taking candid pictures of people. I'm not an extrovert and my job as assistant is candids. So I'm all about the stealth. People don't see me ... they are too focused on the Real Photographer. It is an opportunity for super-close up people watching. People are really funny. They get all tense when faced with A Picture. Hear the click? Then wait a heart beat and they relax, then I click. Completely different faces ...

5b. People who know each other for a long time have a way of being with each other that I love to capture. The way mothers sweep back hair from their daughters faces, the way girls rest their heads on fathers shoulders ... the way friends jostle and touch and fix and groom and play ... the way lovers hold hands and walk together.

6. This particular sketch is not one of my best. The perspective went wonky at the end of the lens. But here's the thing about sketching, even though it's off in places, it's also completely bang on right in others ... and you absolutely know what you are looking at ... even though it's not perfect. I like how I did the grey (burnt sienna and ultramarine blue - top two mixing colours ever). The lens cap is a disaster. Oh well. Finish it up and turn the page.

7. Everyone has a camera now. By everyone - I mean everyone with a phone, small digital or something big and formal. It's having a funny way of keeping everyone a little more honest ... particularly now that we have the internet where we can share.

I don't think I'm done talking about images. This is enough for now, though.

EDM - 163 Deck of Cards

I haven't sketched anything in over a year. No explanation. Life happens? Shifted visual art to writing. Still creating ... different medium.

I draw from this list. I remember wanting to do this sketch a year ago ... the Rider Deck ... when the topic was cards. It's a fancy pack, not like the regular card backs. This is *of* something ... not just patterns.

When it came up again this time, it was still my immediate thought.

I have this deck. It's worn slightly from use but I treat the cards with care and respect - like they contain a magic that I don't quite understand and should not screw around with.

I play with the cards from time to time. I always have no idea what I'm doing. I have "decoder" books that give me the layout patters and what the cards mean. I've done them enough times to know that whatever the layout, it will mean something. Some "hits" are big. Some are small. Some literal. Some symbolic. There's never a point where I go - nope, not at all.

I get the feeling that each card is an archetype and we have every card in us. Regardless of the cards that turn up, they will all apply.

I have use the cards from time to time to to search for ideas, plots and explore characters when writing. Plenty fun, that. Always yields thoughts and options that I had not thought of before and can take things in new directions.

There are lots of things in the universe beyond our ken. Who knows if magic is real? That is ... if there is real magic and not just well-executed illusions.

Not sure I believe. Not sure I don't, either.

The universe is a big. We are small.