Remember this old Will Smith song? 

The video was a slow-rolling, old school rap about all the fun activities that make summers a blast: bbqs, music, hanging out with friends and family, enjoying the weather, roadtrips, etc. 

I had a pretty fantastic summer this year and now with the coolness back in the air (yes, already – it’s Ottawa), i’m slowly winding down (or catching up on) all my summer projects and preparing for the long, cold, hard winter that’s just around the corner…

Concerts:  saw a TON of those: Gladys Knight (fantastic entertainer), Naturally7 (unbelievable a capella!), Jully Black (awesome Canadian singer but PLEASE someone get her a new stylist!), Fergie (can’t sing but fun to watch), Boyz II Men (yes, they’re still touring and still good), Snoop Dogg (don’t ask), Akon (not bad), Joan Armatrading (still awesome), Celine Dion (all her french songs in a 250k strong crowd) and many, many more…

Road Trips: A packed car and a long highway with good times and friends waiting for you at either end.  Is there anything better?

Summer Projects:  yeaaaaahhhhh.  those didn’t get done – waaaay too much other fun stuff to do.  Some serious catchup planned this month…

Torch time:  didn’t have much of that.  I was either too tired or completely unmotivated.  My mojo left me sometime around the end of June and I’d find myself sitting in front of the torch rolling rods of glass in my hands but with no fresh ideas.  I’m hoping it gets back soon.

Glass, glass and more GLASS!!!:  I stocked up.  twice.  and LOTS!  (there’s more since these pics) I keep fondling all of it cuz i still can’t believe it’s all mine.  When i first started torching, with only a small bin of single rods to my name (you can see it in the centre pic), i dreamed about one day having a fully stocked studio filled with all the lampwork glass, tools, toys and books that peaked my interest.  I’m there now.  Yeaaaaaah baby.