Thanks for Teaching Us

Teaching is an intense profession. Teachers spend hours outside the classroom planning, grading papers, worrying about their students and devising ways to reach those who are troubled or struggling. Good teachers go a step farther; they give of themselves; they guide; they make a difference and in some cases, they change lives.

Most of us, however, would never think about going back just to say hello to a former teacher, and in most cases, that isn't even possible. Our lives are busy; we no longer live in the same area and that favorite teacher may have retired long ago. The opportunity has passed and we can't change that. But TBD is running a 30-day campaign to recognize amazing teachers all over the world. It's called Thanks for Teaching Us, and it gives everyone a chance to thank a teacher who made a difference.


Dear Great Teachers, ThanksForTeaching.Us from TBD on Vimeo.

via Presurfer

A Life-size Ford Explorer Made of Legos

In a partnership between Ford and the Legoland Florida Theme Park, workers create a Ford Explorer. In this time-lapse video you'll see them build it out of 380,000 bricks.



And here it is as it rolls off the production line.

Quilt Barns - History in the Making

I'm not a major decorator (okay, that was an understatement. My decorating skills are almost zilch). But I do know what I like. Comfort, warmth, an environment that says "this is home. People live here and they have actual lives." I like art, but I really love usable art, as in quilts. The whole history behind them, the fact that they get softer and more inviting with age...that's very enticing. And some of them are so beautiful.

Image by SeeMidTN.com

But today's post isn't about quilts themselves. It's about quilt barns. Quilt barns are barns that have a quilt square (usually hand-painted) on them. The movement began when Donna Sue Groves and her mother moved to a farm in Ohio that had an ugly barn on it. Groves suggested to her mother that they should paint a quilt square on it to dress it up. Then she got the community involved, and soon there were 20 barns with quilts on them, the beginning of what became the American Quilt Barn Trail. Today there are 27 states and 2 Canadian provinces that have quilt barn trails, and tourists seek them out.

Image by BuckeyeinTriad

Image by Minnemom

Image by Cowbark

Image by kitseeborg

Image by Atelier Teee

For more on the quilt barn movement, visit American Quilt Barns. Or this blog has many absolutely gorgeous images of quilt barns. The author (coincidentally, because I just stumbled on this site 5 minutes ago) authored a soon to be released book on the history of the movement. 

I love how something so simple and yet satisfying can grow into a movement that preserves pieces of history and provides joy as you drive down the road.

Happy virtual quilt barn touring!
Myrna

Someone's Knocking...

I hesitated to put this video up, because I could only find a Vimeo version and I know that some of you have had trouble getting those to run. But it's short and it's...well, I can't tell you, because it will spoil it. I'll just say that the video is called Lost and Found, it's by LeMob and was directed and animated by Neil Stubbings. (But I'm sure that that most of you will like it. Let me know what you think).


Lost And Found from LeMob on Vimeo.

via Kuriositas

What Happens When You Drop a Slinky?

I'm sure that none of you stay awake trying to answer that question. Not exactly a topic that comes up at dinner parties, is it? Still, after you watch this video and see what actually does happen, I think you'll be amazed.



Fortunately, science has an answer for the whys and wherefores. Yay, science!

It's the Great Pumpkin! Really, It Is

I've tried to grow pumpkins with zero luck several times. We don't get enough sunlight, we probably don't do something else right, either. I've been told that they need a lot of water and that you have to plant them at just the right time. At any rate, if I had to make my living growing pumpkins, I would starve. But there are master pumpkin growers, people I envy. Watch this time lapse of a pumpkin in Connecticut that grew to be 1,487 pounds!



Mmm, think of how many pumpkin pies you could make with that!

The Evolution of a Woman...in 4 Minutes

If you've seen this stop-motion video this week, it was probably called The Evolution of Hair, but it's actually a video by Lena Nosenko titled Moby - Wait for Me, made for the Moby video contest in Cherniv (Ukraine).  The director describes it as "the evolution of a woman from ancient times to our days." Fascinating. I couldn't look away.



Information via Vimeo

How to Cope with Death

The old woman in this video is awesome!



via Miss Cellania

Stickman Rules!

If you can draw a stickman (or even if you can't), this little website is fun. As you can see by the image below, I'm no artist. But once you draw your stickman (be as elaborate as you like. I discovered I could add hair and eyes and clothing), that's when things begin to happen.

Okay, so it's not rocket science. Still, it was a clever way to make a point.
via Presurfer

It's Good to Have a Goal

Although...maybe a goal that is obtainable.

via My Rusty Sieve

It's Banned Books Week!

As a parent, I was always happy when my kids were reading. The practice of trying to ban books disturbs me, especially when those books are ones I love.

Here's an article on 17 Banned Books You Read as a Child. (They might want to change that Where's Wally cover to Where's Waldo). And here's another one (scroll down for the list) with reasons that sometimes border on the hilarious.

Visit the American Library Association's Banned Books page.

So, have a good day and read a good book. Enjoy!

A Fountain is a Fountain. Or is it?

If you've never been to Las Vegas, one of the free treats tourists can enjoy is a visit to the Bellagio with its beautiful, dancing musical fountains.



Here, a group of teenagers create their own Bellagio-style water show in a swimming pool.



Fun!

via Miss Cellania

Just a Few on the List of "Places You'll Always Remember"

Like most people, I love lakes, I love mountains, I love forests. But I have many photos of lakes, mountains and forests in my albums that I would be hard pressed to identify if I either didn't have the photos in chronological order or if there wasn't some personal something in the image that gives it away (at least to me).

That doesn't make those particular places any less amazing or special, but there are some places in the world that are so unusual that one visit, one glimpse would be enough to lock that place into your mind for all time.

Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, USA

A beautiful and magical place, Bryce is studded with canyons, and its arches, fins and spires (collectively, these are called hoodoos) create a stunning and awe inspiring landscape somewhat reminiscent of chess pieces on a desert board . Visit the website for Bryce Canyon National Park.

Image by Paul Fundenburg

Image by Markusnl

Image by markVgti

Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, USA

Years ago I went on an extended camping trip to the western US. Our trip was all mapped out, we knew where we were going, and Mesa Verde was not on the list. Yet, everywhere we went, fellow campers insisted that we could not miss Mesa Verde. So we changed our plans, made a side trip and were extremely glad that we did. It was one of the high points of the trip. Mesa Verde is a place where the Ancestral Pueblo people lived from A.D. 600 to A.D. 1300. Carved into the mountains are very well preserved cliff dwellings, and they are something to see. The place is alive with history and majesty and beauty. Here's the link to the Mesa Verde National Park website.

Image by neurotic camel

Image by Ken Lund

Image by Stephen Yo

Also on the list would be Yellowstone and Sequoia, which I've already covered in other posts. For more (and more international) listings, check out this article on ListVerse.

An eReader? What's missing?

That new book smell? Here's a pretend product that promises to deliver.

via Presurfer

What I Did for...Great Hair

When I was growing up, hair care often seemed to be a form of torture. I remember my mother getting her hair done once a week and then wrapping her hairdo in toilet paper with clips every night, so that it wouldn't get too messed up while she was sleeping.

Image by jennratonmort

Girls who wanted big wavy curls rolled their hair on soda cans. Or you put these awful brush rollers in your hair that gripped the hair so that the rollers wouldn't slip out, but stuck into your head if you lay down on them. They were also difficult to remove, tearing strands of hair out if you weren't careful. You had to affix them to your head with plastic pins that shoved through the middle of them and dug into your skin (you can see those killer curlers above with the pins sticking out and the brushes inside). And if you wanted the speed of drying your hair at home, as opposed to leaving the rollers in overnight to let your hair air dry, you had to wear a contraption like this which got rather hot:

Image by larskflem

It's easy to see why long straight hair quickly became a popular style not long after that. 

Still, those hair care processes, unpleasant as they were, were apparently nothing compared to what women went through back in the 1920's.

Check out this story that shows some other bizarre contraptions women used to use on their hair. Eek!

via Presurfer and Nag on the Lake

The Alphabet as You've Never Seen It

As a teacher, I thought I'd seen the alphabet portrayed in pretty much any way it could be portrayed. There are so many inventive ways to introduce children to the building blocks of language. So, it's always refreshing when someone comes up with a new method. In fact, this riveting Horn Book video experiment may appeal to older viewers even more than younger ones. Alessandro Novelli (director/animation/set design), and Andrea Gendusa (animation/set design), have somehow managed to turn what is usually a somewhat dry and boring subject into one that is interesting and even exciting. 

via Neatorama

If it Floats, It's a Boat

I'm not much of a sailor (okay, I'm not a sailor at all). I learned to swim later than I should have, so I'm at best adequate in water. That's not to say that I don't love a beautiful lake or ocean. I just don't want to be cast adrift with deep water below me and no way back to shore. That said, I'm fascinated by all the unique ways people have invented to get out on the water and have fun.

There are recycled materials races where everything the boat is made of must be recycled (I saw crutches being used as part of one boat's structure). There are cardboard boat races or regattas and bathtub boats made out of...well, you know...bathtubs. Some of these are just for fun and some are raising money for charity. Here's one I hadn't seen before: pumpkin boats.


via Neatorama

And just for the entertainment value, here's a group of very unusual boats.



So, are you a water person or a land lover (or both)?

And Now for Something Completely Different...Cake Pops

I'm not a baker (or even much of a cook), and this isn't a baking site, but these were so cute that I had a brief (very brief) moment when I wished I was one of those people who really loved working in the kitchen. So, I broke down and put a cooking post (sort of a cooking post) here on the blog. I mean...come on, it's Hello, Kitty and it's cake on a stick! Who could resist? Everything's better on a stick.

Image by manusmenu

Image by Christi @ Love

For more really cute cake pops, including a reindeer, Bert and Ernie, and Garfield, go to Bakerella and learn how to make cake pops.

In Memory of Jim Henson

Thanks to Google for reminding me that today is Jim Henson's 75th birthday. If you haven't fooled around with the Google Doodle on the homepage today, it's a fun tribute to the man, with the user being able to interact with the puppets making up the Google logo. (And if you missed it, I'm betting that somewhere on the Internet, there's a video of how it worked. Is there ever not a video of all the most awesome stuff)?

Here's a video explaining the story about that Google Doodle and a bit about Jim Henson, too.



The world lost so much when we lost Jim Henson, and there are many tributes to him out there. This one (in pictures) was posted a few years ago, has a touching soundtrack, and may bring a tear to your eye. I love seeing him surrounded by all of his Muppets.



Happy Birthday, Jim Henson. You are missed.

Vovo - A Reminder That Every Moment is Precious

This gentle animated film about a boy and his grandfather isn't very long, but in roughly two and a half minutes an entire meaningful and strong relationship is created.



Directed by: Luiz Lafayette Stockler

Beware the Corn!

I'm not sure what she's planning to do with that knife, but this vintage ad scares me. (And yes, I am a bit fixated with these vintage ads and videos of late).

Image by eliz.avery

Saving a Beach and Creating Art - An All-in-one Project

We've talked before about how wonderful it is when someone gets creative and reuses one object to create something completely different. In this case, trash was collected from the beach, and over a period of four days, a wonderful (and large) poster was created.



Note: This is a collaborative project between Barefoot Wine and The Surfrider Foundation, who have been working together for more than 15 years to keep beaches clean.

Writing Tip - Simplifying the Hunt for Perfect Character Names

Gabriel...Eliza...Joshua...Ariel...Dylan...Ivy...Simon...Francesca...Tristan...  

What's in a name? For me it's the personality of my hero and heroine. I really need those names to be right and to be set when I begin a book. But I don't want to waste tons of time cruising around the Internet or poring through books to come up with two names when what I really want is to dive into the story. So...I don't.  I don't have to.

Because years ago, I spent some time setting things up so that all the best names (best for me, that is) would be at my fingertips. Here's what I did.

1. I gathered every name source (first and surnames) that I had access to (books, phone books, pages copied from the internet...and okay, I didn't use the Internet because those were pre-Internet times for me, but if I were doing this today I would access those sources).

2. I took a mid-size spiral notebook with a heavy cover and divided it into three sections.

3. In one section, I set aside a page or two  for each letter of the alphabet and devoted that section to last names. Then, using my handy book of surnames, I chose some of each letter and scribbled them in my notebook.

4. I then took the other two sections in the notebook, labeled them male and female and also divided each of them up alphabetically. When I filled in these sections, I was even more fussy about the names I selected, because these were potential first names for my heroes and heroines. Not just any name would do.

It was a fun way to spend a couple of days, and the time I spent then continues to pay off today, because I've been using that same notebook throughout my entire career. Whenever I start a book, I simply open my notebook and scan the names I listed so long ago. I don't have to weed out the ones that don't feel romantic enough for me, because I did that when I created the notebook. Occasionally, I'll have to look up a new surname on the Internet or in a book if I need a character with a specific nationality, and sometimes I'll hear a name I like that isn't on my list and I'll add it to the notebook, but that's about as far as keeping the book up to date goes. Through more than 40 books my notebook has been sufficient for naming my  heroes and heroines. I don't use it for secondary characters, because I want to keep the lists relatively short.

5. After I finish a book, I circle the name I used with a colored pen or marker so that I know it's been used. And yes, I have used some first names twice (I note that next to the name) but only a couple of times. And I haven't used any more than twice. Yet.

This type of a system may not appeal to you. But, if you think this might make your life easier, go for it. And if you're looking for a book of surnames, here's a list of them on Amazon. Or check your local library. Or simply google surnames.

Happy name hunting!

It's Here... (First Day of Autumn)

Well, summer is officially over. Today marks the first day of autumn (or fall, whichever you prefer). Time for some sweet seasonal photos to get us all in the mood.

Image by Barb Henry

Image by sunafterrain

Image by pascalbovet

Image by nico.cavallotto

Image by Lutz-R. Frank

Image by Denis Collette

Beautiful time of year. If only those leaves didn't have to be raked.

It's a Bicycle. No, It's a Shopping Cart

A bicycle is such an attractive form of transportation. It's relatively simple, it provides a basic means of getting from one place to another, bicycling is good exercise, and if you have an accessory or two, you can transport things with a bike. Perhaps their simplicity is why people tend to tinker with bicycles so much. Or the fact that you can pick up an old bicycle at a garage or rummage sale cheaply, fix it up and make it new again.

But some people go beyond fixing up the bicycle. They transform them into something completely different from the original. Such as this one with a shopping cart on the front:

Image by zieak

Or this very tall bicycle:

Image by Camera Slayer

Or this one which incorporates the Golden Gate Bridge and a rainbow.

Image by libertyy

Some have been completely recycled into art.

Image by Jim Linwood

Others have been re-purposed into useful objects.

Image by periwinkleblog

I'm fascinated by the creativity and vision of the people who do these things. It makes me want to go out and ride my bike!

For more bizarre bikes (my favorite is the lawnmower bicycle--I could use one of those), check out this story on 1800Recycling.

Spend the Night in a Glass Igloo

There's a resort in Finland composed of 20 glass igloos.

Image by Visit Finland

Image by Visit Finland

You can watch the northern lights while lying in bed. How awesome is that?
For more images, read the rest of the story.
via Architizer

And here's a video about the igloos and how they came to be.


Here's the link to the hotel's website.
It sounds like fun and looks lovely. Maybe someday...

Happy Birthday, Bilbo Baggins!

Today is Hobbit Day, the birthday of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. It's also Tolkien week (always held the same week that contains Hobbit Day). All of this makes me anxious to see the movie, but since that's not possible yet, here's an image of what Hobbiton in New Zealand looks like today.

Image by John Mundy

And if you're twitching in anticipation of the movie, here's Beyond the Trailer with some suggestions for movies to watch while you're waiting.

Enjoy! And have a happy Hobbit Day!

Speed Painting Darth Vader

I'm not an artist and am fascinated by people who understand the dynamics of light and shadow and how to draw human and animal forms (or pretty much anything other than stick figures). This speed painting actually took an hour and a half on a tablet. Not that that's anything to sneer at. I could take eternity and not be able to do this. Pretty cool (and fun)!

George Clooney Stars in "A Woman's Fantasy" Commercial

It's an ad for a bank (I think), but very cleverly done. Love the donkey head photo! (And George Clooney isn't half bad, either. One of my favorite actors).

The End of the Cowboy Era?

I'm sure that some of you are thinking that the cowboy era has already ended, but not around here. I regularly write about cowboys and they're still out there. They just do things a bit different than they used to. At least some of the time.

Here, though, is a video with a frilly little idea that could put my cowboys out of work...or not (I've never met a remote-controlled anything that didn't break pretty quickly). So the cowboys are safe. And while you're breathing a sigh of relief, let's roll the video.

via Misscellania

I've seen a lot of cows, but I'm not sure I've ever seen them so playful.

Fitness the Old Fashioned Way

This ad for a fitness boot camp is a montage of old exercise films.



I love those machines where you just stand there while rollers pulverize your flab!

For All You Pretend Pirates Out There...

I'm very late getting this up, but the day isn't over yet. Just wanted to remind everyone that it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Go find your parrot!

Image by arbyreed

And in case your pirate speak isn't quite up to snuff, here are the guys from the official Talk Like a Pirate website to give you some pointers. 

Thanks to Presurfer for posting the reminder.

And We Owe It All to Shakespeare...

Becky, of London, posted this on her Tumblr page.

Via My Rusty Sieve and via

Imagination. It's a Wonderful Thing!

In this short film by Mew Lab Animation director Kim Noce about the value of imagination, memories and friends.

Writing Tip - About That Elephant Ripping Up the Living Room

I've judged a lot of contests over the years and what I sometimes find is that writers understand that they're supposed to start with the elephant in the living room, something monumental and loaded with tension. However, a few don't understand that "starting with" actually means "starting with." They have the idea, possibly a good idea, but they feel the need to set things up before they open the gate and let the elephant in.

Here's the deal, though. Readers won't wait. They'll move on to someone else's elephant if you keep them waiting. So, resist, resist, resist the urge to do too much setting up. It's something I still struggle with despite having been in the business for a long time. That feeling that readers need to know certain things before you drop them into the frying pan persists. Often that's just me wanting to spill my guts too soon and having to fight the feeling. But sometimes the reader really may need to know a couple of things in order to understand what's going on, especially when there's a major internal conflict involved. If they really need to know, then here's the order:

1. First, let the elephant break down the door and stampede through the house with no clear exit in sight. General mayhem ensues.
2. Insert the need to know items sparingly. If you need to inject a bit of background info in the first chapter, be as brief as possible and spread those bits of information out throughout the chapter.

Be creative in how you divulge background details and do your best to avoid the information dump. It makes readers yawn, and yawning is death to a book. Let the background of your book be told on an as-needed basis as the story progresses.

Oh, and one last thing: once you get the elephant out of the living room, replace him with a bigger elephant, or a shark…or a rhinoceros or a rattlesnake. Sometimes writers have an idea for a great elephant, so much so that the rest of the book feels flat afterwards. The idea isn't to tone down your elephant but to keep the reader anticipating the next elephant. 

The Muppets are Coming

In November. Here's the latest Muppet trailer parody.



And just in case you missed the official trailer for the same movie...



And finally, one more short one.



I can't wait! Love those Muppets!

A Love Story in Bread

Proof that love is universal. Even Mr. P.B. O'Bread just wants to be loved.



By Terry Border of Bent Objects. via Everlasting Blort and Miscellania.

Root Bridges: Living Structures

In the Cherrapungi region of India, 15 meters of ran fall every year and the rivers rage. The usual building materials would never survive, so the locals have come up with an ingenious method of creating bridges. They grow them. These incredibly strong bridges last generations and have to be carefully tended.

Image by Shakthidharan

For the rest of the story and an amazing video (you have to see this), visit Architizer Blog.

via Nag on the Lake

Using an ATM When You're Blind

I've written several books with blind or visually impaired characters and while I always spend a lot of time trying to get inside the heads of my characters, I'm always nervous that I'll get something wrong. The last thing I want to do is appear insensitive or to portray a character incorrectly.

Plus, from a personal rather than a writer's perspective, I think that it behooves all of us to try to put ourselves in other people's shoes more often than we do. It would eliminate so much of the harshness that I see around me every day and on the Internet.

Still, I know that some people find it more difficult than others to make that leap and in some cases, it's just impossible to imagine another person's experiences. So videos like the following one where blind film critic Tommy Edison demonstrates what it's like for a blind person using an ATM serve a real purpose.


via Presurfer

An Intriguing Use of Stop Motion Photography

Taijin Takeuchi photographed stop motion animation, then displayed the photos in his room and photographed them again. I love the innovative methods he used, the interesting props and the way he created a story. I have no idea how many images he used, but this must have taken an incredible amount of time. 

Once Upon a Time...

I loved fairy tales when I was growing up. In fact, I still love fairy tales. Oh, I know that the original ones are sometimes grim (Hansel and Gretel, anyone?), but the stories are great. They suck me right in no matter how many times I hear them.

Of course, the people at Disney have worked their own magic with fairy tales as seen in this trailer from The Little Mermaid.



But there is so much more in the way of variety in the traditional tales. Here's a site that has a lot of them (because they're in the public domain, they can be reproduced). Looks like a great site for someone wanting to read some of the lesser known fairy tales to their children or grandchildren.

Clearly, I'm not alone in my fairy tale obsession. There's a new show coming to US television this fall (I suppose if it succeeds, it will spread worldwide). It's by the makers of Lost and is a bit of a twist on fairy tales.



For more on that, visit ABC. (For those of you who know Alan Dale, he plays Prince Charming's father. Only one episode for now, but if the show survives, the role may be expanded).

Stand Up to Cancer

Stand Up to Cancer (or S↑2C) enlists Emma Stone, Bill Hader, Seth Rogen and other celebrities to recreate scenes from Star Wars.

And You Thought LEGOs Were Just for Kids

I never intended to do two LEGO posts. I wasn't even looking for anything else LEGO-related, but sometimes things just fall into my lap in unexpected ways. Today while poking around one of my favorite but rarely visited sites, I found this video of an 8mm film projector made entirely from LEGO Technics except for the reels and the lens.



Isn't that awesome? I am constantly amazed at the people who think these things up and also have the intelligence and ability to carry them out. (By the way, if you click through to Vimeo on any of their videos, you'll usually find some interesting background material in the description).

At the same site, I found a link to an art installation, a wall, made from 270,000 white LEGO bricks (artist Lene Wille was sponsored by LEGO and built in the central hall of World Trade Center, Amsterdam).
Here is the artist's website and an article on the installation.

Both items via Incredible Things


And on the off chance you missed Fergie's LEGO dress a few months back...

Seriously, LEGOs really are everywhere and obviously quite versatile and not just for kids. Maybe we should all raid our children's LEGO stash and start creating!

A Toilet for the Rich and Famous?

For only $6,400 you can buy a toilet that automatically opens, warms your feet, has a retracting built in bidet, a remote control and plays music. (Because, of course, everyone needs all of that).


via Presurfer

I can only imagine what the plumber would say if I called him in to work on one of these. Not that it isn't lovely, but...

Wow, I Could Use One of Those

I'm a big believer in alternative energies. I'd love to have an electric car, but if only I had my own oil well...gosh, what more could a girl want?

Image by eliz.avery

Danny & Annie - a Love Story

I saw this video on Vimeo several months ago...but then I lost track of where it was. Today I finally managed to unearth it again. It's a lovely animated view of the love of a real couple, a not young or typical couple. Together Danny Perasa and his wife, Annie, tell their 27 year love story from the beginning right through Danny's last days with terminal cancer. It's a touching look at a lasting love.

Danny & Annie from StoryCorps on Vimeo.

I Never Realized How Often This Line Has Been Used

How many? Well, "I could tell you, but then..."

Okay, I"m not going to finish that. See for yourself.

I guess now I'll have to remember never to write it in a book. I think that line may have to be retired soon.


Still, I did think it was funny coming from the president. Probably because it was unexpected.

A Hobbit House Built for Only $5,000

Artist and photographer Simon Dale of Wales built an environmentally friendly house with only the help of his father-in-law, passing visitors and friends and he did it for only $5,000 (£3,000).

via Nag on the Lake

All images by Simon Dale. For more on the artist's (and builder's) work, check out his website, which has all the details of the building of the house, other work of his and information on a new building project he's working on.