Last night, I went to the the Toronto Fiesta (St. Clair street party), not to be confused with the Summerlicious street festival happening at regular intervals on Yonge Street. It was a very welcome break from working on my signage commission. Rick came over and Derek joined us, which is pretty amazing since they haven't been known to get along in the past. Last night went very well and Rick even took the extra step and payed for us all at dinner - I think he was making up for past experiences. There was a lot of street entertainment that included Italian and Portugese singers and bands, as well as some jazz and funk bands, and we took in a very strange one-man puppetry act that included a puppet who danced with its feet on fire. It was fun, not the greatest, but uniquely entertaining. We went into Sushi Century for dinner and Derek and I enjoyed some of the best baklava (not from the Japanese restaurant) that we'd picked up from a stand on the street. All too soon I had to head home again and get back to work.

I've almost finished the sign. The lettering is esentially done, though I am thinking of highlighting the main heading "Scorcerer's Apprentice" as it's kind of dark and uninteresting. The fonts I've chosen reflect a sort of faux antique type of script to fit nicely with the theme of the Ontario Renaissance Festival. I've also surrounded the text with ivy. I was going to do more traditional scrollwork but the ... oooh, patron... pointed me to some links with ivy designs he liked. Anyway, the ivy is kind of pretty - prettier than I had intended for his sign, but it looks really nice. Rick was startled by just how nice it looks. It's real graphic art - from the days before computers. I set the letters down as stencils, I measured with measuring tape and eye-balled the rest. Having a light projector would have been useful as stencilling is kind of labour intensive. Also, a drafting table would be useful, too, so I don't have to hunch over stuff. Even setting the board up on my little table-top easle didn't allay the hunching.

Today, at the ROM, it is really quiet. So many things are happening around town that almost all the people coming in are tourists and those are few and far between. I went outside for my breaks and sat myself down in the sun. It's such a shame that I'm working almost every day because I can't take advantage of the marvelous weather. It has only just gotten hot, but it's not humid yet and I'm really loving it. Even yesterday when I was able to be home working on the sign, and I was doing it outside on my porch, I still didn't get any sun because the porch has a roof. But it was nice to be outside, working, listening to the CBC on my little portable radio, nonetheless. My next day off - and this time it's a real day off, with no work planned for it - is on Tuesday. I don't know what I plan to do, but I plan to do it outside if the weather is nice.

Speaking of nice weather, sometime soon, I have to hie me to High Park for As You Like It. I haven't ever seen that play, though I read it a number of years ago. Maybe Friday. I will look into it.