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Oct
31
author: Frances Wall
name: Rebecca
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2007/09/01
date added: 2007/10/31
shelves: i-own, manga
review:
Oct
31
Godchild, #7
Filed Under book love | View Comments
author: Kaori Yuki
name: Rebecca
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2007/10/01
date added: 2007/10/31
shelves: i-own, manga
review:
This one does a great job of connecting the last dots and wrapping up storylines. I only hope Cain can keep his promise to Mary Weather.
Oct
31
Developing future leaders
Filed Under education, personal development | View Comments
I don’t recall who shared this link with me originally, but this letter to teachers is just dead on.
Let’s start with the obvious: children are not short adults. A child’s job is to have fun, to learn everything they can, and to make mistakes in a safe environment. They have some valuable life experiences, but they are still gaining them. Many of them haven’t had many opportunities to find out what they can and can’t do yet, because they’re children.
The person they are in kindergarten is not the person they are in fifth grade is not the person they are in middle school or high school. Like adults, children change as they go through their life. Like adults, they may try on different hobbies and attitudes until they find the one that actually fits them.
When a child says, “Hey, I want to try something,” and it’s outside what they’ve done in the past, a parent (or teacher) trying to protect the child from failure often talks the child out of it. But why? Maybe that new direction is the one that will lead the student on to the path that will make them a successful adult. Why not let the child experiment while the parent (or teacher) is there to help them learn to handle either the resulting success or failure?
Children are not short adults. They should be given the chance to experiment within safe boundaries. Give a child a chance. Let them make their mistakes. Let them surprise you with their successes. Be a guide, not a bunker.
The future deserves that much.
Oct
30
Halloween myths
Filed Under anthropology | View Comments
Given that it’s Halloween tomorrow, I thought it would be a fun to share these myth-busting Halloween facts!
However, those said, remember to make sure Halloween costumes allow your munchkin to see and breathe. Make sure to place reflective tape strategically on the costume for those who will be out and about after dark. Travel in groups (while the candy may be safe, people aren’t always).
Most of all, have fun and celebrate the Halloween spirit (or whatever fall celebrating you may partake in)!
Oct
30
Riffing on someone else’s work
Filed Under creativity | View Comments
Can’t find your own inspiration at the moment, but feeling an uncontrollable urge to create? Try some of these ideas (many of which have been shared on one of the other blogs) to get yourself started.
- Write the next scene after a book, movie, or television episode ends. (This can be particularly fun with an action television series.)
- Write down the first or last line of a book or movie, and build your plot from there.
- Swap two characters and rewrite the story with them in different shoes.
- Pick a favorite song and write out the story in the song.
- Or just pick a line from the song and write from there.
While these are all writing suggestions, adapt them for other purposes.
- If you see a room layout in a magazine that strikes your eye, play with it. Switch the main and accent colors. Go for the color complements.
- Find an element of a motif that attracts you and build something new around it.
- Find a favorite piece of music. Identify the feelings it evokes, and then create to evoke those same feelings. (Remember that exercise in elementary school music class where the teacher would play a piece of music and you had to draw what you heard. This is the same thing, only grown up and without being told your interpretation of the music is incorrect.)
- When you’re looking at something, ask yourself, “What if?” Let your questioning run wild. It’s amazing what come s from playing a little game of “What if?”
It’s a good idea to keep track of lines, songs, and images you find yourself reacting to strongly. Add them to your design notebook. When you get stuck or just need a little burst of inspiration, flip through the pages to find an unsticking point.
Oct
30
Branding concerns
Filed Under graphic design | View Comments
Yesterday, I went to replenish my tea supply. I’m a huge fan of Oregon Chai, and a long-time Celestial Seasonings addict. Both companies are in the process of revamping their look, and I’m not sure I’m okay with that.
Oregon Chai used to sport one or two toned boxes so you could visually tell what flavor you were picking up. The original flavor was in a box with a yellow body and a purple top. Well, not the boxes are their color for the body, but they all now sport a yellow top- essentially the reverse of the original. This one really isn’t that big a deal (except that it looks a bit odd).
Celestial Seasonings’ boxes used to be part of the experience. The company runs out of Boulder, Colorado and had a quirkiness to their boxes that seemed to carry with it that oddness that is patently Boulder. Artwork and quotes covered the box, almost wrapping it in a story. The quotes are still there. The artwork has been stylized to look more 2007 than 1997. The stories are gone, and so is the quirky look. The box now sports a two-toned design- one color fills the majority of the box, and another covers the top.
In fact, it looks a lot like the Oregon Chai design now. Perhaps this is the new packaging brand for teas, and we can expect something similar out of Bigelow, Twinings, and Good Earth soon?
The point of design in packaging is to make your product stand out, not homogenize your niche. I don’t feel like these two are accomplishing that.
Oct
28
Learn to network
Filed Under personal development | View Comments
Last week, I revealed my revelation that I love taking in information and being in the right place at the right time to share what I know.
It turns out that being that person could actually lead to more authentic networking.
The point of networking (amazingly enough) is to build useful connections, reciprocal relationships. This means that you aren’t just looking for people who can help you; you’re also looking for people you can help.
A great way to do this is to keep yourself up to date on your own industry and nearby ones. Read about things that interest you outside your industry. Find ways to connect people you know with what you know.
You’ll feel less smarmy in your networking efforts, and you’ll help people at the same time. Win-win!
Oct
24
I learned that from a cartoon!
Filed Under animation, education | View Comments
(Isn’t it funny that the blog that focuses on my primary profession and my passion is the one I’m suddenly having so much trouble writing for?)
I’m probably overly fascinated by the “E/I” (educational and informative) logo on children’s television shows. I’ve actually tried to find the criteria for a show to earn this logo since it mysteriously showed up on an Italian import that had no discernible educational content whatsoever. (If anyone knows what the criteria is, please drop me a line.)
Anyone who works with kids knows, though, that it isn’t just the shows designed to teach kids that actually teach them. I’ll go to show one of my students something, and they’ll just do it or be able to answer my question. I smile inwardly as they proudly tell me about some section of a video game where they had to do something related to get past the section, or about how some cartoon character used the same thing to solve a problem. It may not have been the intention of the game or cartoon to teach the skill, but it happened anyway.
I’ve been thinking about that while playing at creating my first attempts at educational programming. Granted, right now I’m still working on the more obviously educational projects, but I’m also quietly putting thought and time toward other, less obviously educational projects. What’s the line? What’s the right balance between a blatant educational experience and a shrouded teaching moment?
The grad school I keep trying to make myself apply for has suddenly sent me a newsletter. I’m thinking I should take advantage of it to hunt down a real person in the department so I can talk to them and see if that program really is a good fit for me so I can just make my decision once and for all. I’m really just too fascinated by educational media to let it go.
Oct
23
A color picker that makes sense
Filed Under creativity | View Comments
Okay, that was a bad joke on my part, but Pittsburgh Paints’ new Color Sense test is a refreshing way to find the colors that suit who you really are. You’re shown a variety of images and situations designed to stimulate your sense, and after you’ve picked and rated, you’re given a primary and a secondary color family, complete with suggested swatches.
They also encourage you to return and try to test in the future to see how your tastes shift.
It’s really a great way to get in tune with your inner rainbow quickly!
(For those curious, my primary group was Leather, Stone, and Wood. My secondary group was Water Beads. While my wardrobe does feature a lot of brown and blue, my bedroom is lilac and fake oak. Hmm…)
Found via ColourLovers
Oct
22
My favorite quote
Filed Under personal development | View Comments
Having been completely unable to find my 100Bloggers sign-in information anywhere, I’ve decided to post here instead. (Maybe someone will find the post and take it in…) It occurs to me I tend to write my 100 Blogger-related posts from the blog not associated with 100 Bloggers. Heh.
Over at 100 Bloggers this month, we’ve been asked to share our favorite quote, and mine is a great one from Wayne Gretsky. I’ve seen it paraphrased a hundred different ways, but the way I have it down on a sticky note in my CD bag is:
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
I found that right before I moved out to Seattle, and I just loved it. It’s so true! If you never try, then you can’t succeed. It’s that simple.
Some of you might look at that and say, “Yeah, but if I don’t try, I can’t fail, either.” You people scare me. Honestly.
If you don’t try, then you don’t fail. But you’ve also robbed yourself of a chance to learn, to grow, to stretch yourself. You have more to gain by trying than you do by fearing failure, so you might as well just go for it.
