Christopher Solar 🇨🇦
@christophersolar.bsky.social
Furniture designer/maker, cyclist, inside the Ottawa bubble. He/Him.
Based on what I saw in Kyoto a couple of months ago: don't mess with the unassuming teenagers!
December 9, 2025 at 3:43 AM
Based on what I saw in Kyoto a couple of months ago: don't mess with the unassuming teenagers!
Side bar: this leather co. actually used to be located in Toronto in what was then a tannery district around the south end of the Don. They were booted when the city was cleaning up in the hopes of landing the '96 Olympics!
December 9, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Side bar: this leather co. actually used to be located in Toronto in what was then a tannery district around the south end of the Don. They were booted when the city was cleaning up in the hopes of landing the '96 Olympics!
Got this today from one of my suppliers, a leather manufacturer in the US, explaining why their prices are about to go up: tariffs on a key ingredient in the tanning process. Have resisted the urge to reply to suggest them that the tariffs were never actually meant to help anybody.
December 9, 2025 at 1:04 AM
Got this today from one of my suppliers, a leather manufacturer in the US, explaining why their prices are about to go up: tariffs on a key ingredient in the tanning process. Have resisted the urge to reply to suggest them that the tariffs were never actually meant to help anybody.
If you're cutting your uh product with flour maybe that's not something you should be talking about on social media.
December 6, 2025 at 10:52 PM
If you're cutting your uh product with flour maybe that's not something you should be talking about on social media.
"Actually, Dave..."
[prolonged fart noise]
[prolonged fart noise]
December 5, 2025 at 5:09 PM
"Actually, Dave..."
[prolonged fart noise]
[prolonged fart noise]
Short story writing prompt. Go! (from this morning at Dow's Lake)
November 27, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Short story writing prompt. Go! (from this morning at Dow's Lake)
Continuing adventures in Artificial Intelligence...
November 12, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Continuing adventures in Artificial Intelligence...
"a cyclist braved the snow on the bike path..."
JFC @ottawacitizen.com it's just a person calmly riding their bike on bare pavement.
JFC @ottawacitizen.com it's just a person calmly riding their bike on bare pavement.
November 11, 2025 at 3:03 AM
"a cyclist braved the snow on the bike path..."
JFC @ottawacitizen.com it's just a person calmly riding their bike on bare pavement.
JFC @ottawacitizen.com it's just a person calmly riding their bike on bare pavement.
Maybe by then Nickelback will be in their Jazz Odyssey phase and the venue will be too big?
November 7, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Maybe by then Nickelback will be in their Jazz Odyssey phase and the venue will be too big?
Speaking of inappropriate use of Gorillaz, honest to god this was Meta's suggestion for putting music over my photo of the Atomic Bomb memorial in Hiroshima:
October 25, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Speaking of inappropriate use of Gorillaz, honest to god this was Meta's suggestion for putting music over my photo of the Atomic Bomb memorial in Hiroshima:
Japan travel note: they have this turbocharged Presto card called suica, and here is the 'welcome' version that tourists can buy in the airport. Used it for all manner of public transit and train travel all over the country, plus some use in stores and at vending machines. Tap in, tap out.
October 24, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Japan travel note: they have this turbocharged Presto card called suica, and here is the 'welcome' version that tourists can buy in the airport. Used it for all manner of public transit and train travel all over the country, plus some use in stores and at vending machines. Tap in, tap out.
Just back from Japan where the thing is to place whole round foods (hardboiled eggs, grapes, etc.) down the centerline so when the sandwich is cut in half you get these perfect profiles exposed. And they really like egg salad!
October 24, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Just back from Japan where the thing is to place whole round foods (hardboiled eggs, grapes, etc.) down the centerline so when the sandwich is cut in half you get these perfect profiles exposed. And they really like egg salad!
Antifa beach outing
October 19, 2025 at 3:46 AM
Antifa beach outing
I wonder what other areas of law/rule enforcement can be replaced by simple flashing lights? Doug Ford is a genius. No one else thought of this.
September 26, 2025 at 12:45 PM
I wonder what other areas of law/rule enforcement can be replaced by simple flashing lights? Doug Ford is a genius. No one else thought of this.
How the copper looks when I get it! Those triangular pieces on the cart were the source of the really vibrant/mottled tiles in the final cabinet. The copper is owned by the federal government. I get to use it on projects for Canadian diplomatic properties abroad.
September 12, 2025 at 5:09 PM
How the copper looks when I get it! Those triangular pieces on the cart were the source of the really vibrant/mottled tiles in the final cabinet. The copper is owned by the federal government. I get to use it on projects for Canadian diplomatic properties abroad.
I finished a thing today: a 4-door sideboard in white oak with doors clad in reclaimed Parliament copper and white oak latticework. Each door ended up having 50 individual parts to fit together. (There was some self-directed cursing.)
September 12, 2025 at 5:00 PM
I finished a thing today: a 4-door sideboard in white oak with doors clad in reclaimed Parliament copper and white oak latticework. Each door ended up having 50 individual parts to fit together. (There was some self-directed cursing.)
Age verification.
I used to play video games on my home computer...but first I had to type in the game's code from pages of dense hexadecimal machine code printed in a magazine.
I used to play video games on my home computer...but first I had to type in the game's code from pages of dense hexadecimal machine code printed in a magazine.
September 10, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Age verification.
I used to play video games on my home computer...but first I had to type in the game's code from pages of dense hexadecimal machine code printed in a magazine.
I used to play video games on my home computer...but first I had to type in the game's code from pages of dense hexadecimal machine code printed in a magazine.
Spicy melon samples at the farmer's market yesterday.
September 1, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Spicy melon samples at the farmer's market yesterday.
It is to jet fighters what Ottawa's LRT is to trains!
August 29, 2025 at 1:13 PM
It is to jet fighters what Ottawa's LRT is to trains!
I made a Venn diagram to cover off some recent opinion pieces.
August 25, 2025 at 12:21 PM
I made a Venn diagram to cover off some recent opinion pieces.
Good morning Ottawa.
Bonjour Ottawa.
Bonjour Ottawa.
August 18, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Good morning Ottawa.
Bonjour Ottawa.
Bonjour Ottawa.
Noticed today there's a new advanced-walk signal at the notorious Preston/PoW intersection. Would be helpful except right-on-red is still allowed, plus the advanced signal excludes most of the people crossing because they're on bikes. This city, this province...
August 17, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Noticed today there's a new advanced-walk signal at the notorious Preston/PoW intersection. Would be helpful except right-on-red is still allowed, plus the advanced signal excludes most of the people crossing because they're on bikes. This city, this province...
Good morning Ottawa.
Bonjour Ottawa.
Bonjour Ottawa.
August 6, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Good morning Ottawa.
Bonjour Ottawa.
Bonjour Ottawa.