Posts tagged with “club”

Canadian Clock Museum

Written by Laura Brown

Galleries and a virtual tour. The museum is located in Deep River, Ontario, if you want to make a road trip and visit them.

"Showcasing the heritage of Canada's many clock manufacturers and sellers from the early 1800s to the present time.

See and hear more than just clocks, because we have lots of period artifacts, including some really old record players that work without electricity! Hear century-old Edison cylinder records on a 1920 floor model player. Be amazed by the incredible sound from our 1927 Victor top-of-the-line CREDENZA Victrola floor model 78s records player that was sold in Ottawa and cost the same as a Ford car back then!"

Horological - means of or relating to devices or sciences of measuring time.

Tools & Trades History Society

Written by Laura Brown

This is a UK based society. I'd like to find something here, in Canada, or even closer in Ontario.

"...to advance the education of the general public in the history and development of hand tools and their use and of the people and trades that use them".

International Chindogu Society

Written by Laura Brown

The planets formed. The Earth cooled. Creatures emerged and one of them started playing with rocks and sticks.

That creature made spears, he crafted shovels, he turned pelts into cloth. Then, he got fancy. He built the solar-powered flashlight and the combination table napkin/necktie. Not exactly useful, but somehow not altogether useless. He created inventions that didn’t quite work…but were nonetheless fun.

Chindogu was born.

I remember an episode of "IT Crowd", laughing about the idea of a ladder for bees (or some flying insect I don't remember for sure which now). The ladder was to save them if there was a fire. They could crawl up the ladder to get away from the fire. Ignoring the fact that they can fly, its a very nice invention.

Canadian Toy Collectors' Society

Written by Laura Brown

The Canadian Toy Collectors' Society is a hobby association, incorporated (not-for-profit) in the Province of Ontario, whose main objectives are to promote interest in the collection and display of all types of toys and related childhood memorabilia; and to acquire and maintain a collection of Canadian toys of historic importance.

Although based mainly in the Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada, the Society has members throughout Canada, the USA, Europe and Australia. Regular monthly meetings, a monthly newsletter, and a periodic journal "The Toy Collector", help members keep in touch with each other and the toy collecting hobby.

The Society runs an annual toy show "Canada's Greatest Collectors' Toy Show and Sale", and makes frequent donations to selected children's charities.

The Silent Book Club

Written by Laura Brown

"The Silent Book Club is a global community of readers and introverts, with more than 800 chapters led by local volunteers around the world. SBC members gather in person and online to read together in quiet camaraderie. Find a chapter near you or a virtual meetup at http://silentbook.club."

My local chapter has gone dark. I think it happens a lot to groups like this. Someone gets inspired to start, works at making it go, then gets discouraged when it doesn't work as well or as fast as they would like. Some hang in there, a lot don't and move on to the next fresh inspiration. People don't understand, or don't want to know that nothing starts out big. The groups that hang in and trudge along are the ones with a chance to grow and become popular, or at least get a regular attendance.

I thought about offering to take up the local group myself, to re-start it. But, I pulled myself back and waited. Its so easy to take on a new challenge when its fresh and you feel enthusiastic. For me, I'm better to wait and see if I still feel that way a week from now. I'd rather wait now than have another project started and left unfinished/ unsatisfied.

There are times you make a go of something and then something else comes along to muck it up. Its not always in your control. But, some of it is. Know yourself and don't jump in with both feet right away. Make sure its really what you want before you commit to it.

The Dull Women's Club

Written by Laura Brown

I joined the Dull Women's Club, on Facebook.

When asked what I thought dull meant, I wrote: Simple, plain, normal, sane. Able to appreciate the smaller things in life, if not the better things.

This is what I wrote as my self introduction:

I'm excessively dull. Sometimes the highlight of my day is finding my backscratcher to get rid of an itch on my back. I live in Ontario, the small city of Barrie. At the end of this year I will be 60. I live with my Mother, who is now 80. I collect books, more than I can actually read. I make ASCII art. I have been a writer and editor online for years. I used to crochet and sew. I'm divorced with no children. I drink coffee. I couldn't find a photo of myself though I have easily a thousand photos I've taken of old farm houses around Ontario. I'm a volunteer with Ontario Barn Preservation, writing the newsletter, etc.

Dull Womens Club

A later comment about growing foot size as we get older:

I think everything you don't want to grow, grows as you get older. Things you wish would grow, like getting just a bit taller, don't grow. I started wearing men's shoes because I could get the same size (more or less) by number but they were wider and longer than women's shoes. Once upon a time I was a size 6, now I'm a 10. Not a 10 in the way I'd like to be a 10, just the dull way of having bigger feet.