Upgraded slideshows

I don't know how the Picasa slideshows that I've been using have been for you, but they've been buggy and confusing for me. Sometimes the green play button appears cut off in the upper left hand corner, sometimes not. Sometimes it plays the slideshow, sometimes it takes me to the Picasa web album instead.

In an attempt to correct this and give me flexibility in producing other slideshows, I bought some basic hosting for the year and will be using Soundslides software to produce these from now on. They will be much more stable, I can incorporate audio and captions. And it has some great user features like full-screen mode, scrubber bar preview and thumbnail image views. All this should combined should provide you a better slideshow experience here at myownbluehighway.com.

Preparing For Impact

Math and Science Night for Heritage School was last week. Organized by the Heritage PTO and run by Rob Walker (pictured in the last photo with Allison) it offered the kids in attendance some hands-on experience with science that supplements what they might experience in the classroom.

The big event for the evening was the egg drop. Kids could use pipecleaners and straws to create a design that would help their egg survive the impact of a 15-foot drop. I wandered over to the area as my traffic at the table to help kids make a hovercraft out of a balloon, CD and a little hot glue had slowed down. I found Ally trying to develop her design (see first photo). And had learned no one had yet produced a successful design.

Her idea was simple: to surround the egg with straws gathered at the ends so as to not let the egg fall out. Her first model fell apart right after the pre-requisite weigh in. We could tell the straws weren't evenly distributed around the egg and the ends were gathered too tightly, making the straws fold on the thin side. So we reassembled the design by evenly distributing the straws and using less tension on the ends.

It survived the second weigh-in and everyone who saw her design would stop, look and kind of half smile wondering if it would work. Ally of course was just so excited to see if her design would work she was beside herself. The last thing to decide was how to drop it. We discussed it and because I didn't think that the straws were thick enough to withstand a side impact, she decided to drop it vertically.

It was dropped and gravity did it's work. Landing on end at a slight angle it bounced off to one side. When the volunteer picked it up it had yellow egg on it and I was sure it had broke. But on closer examination, it had just landed in a pool of yolk and had not even cracked. Success!

I have never witnessed my daughter so excited by learning. As a parent, it was beautiful thing to witness. Even if the egg had broken she still had an infectious energy about her from problem solving and learning through trial and error. She was in her element.

This event comes at a time when we, as a district, will create our own design to prepare for the impact that 9.4 million dollars worth of cuts to our school district's budget will have. As parents we can no longer afford to sit idle, criticize others and hope the education that our kids will be good enough in the face of these tough times. It is time to take action and get involved. Our children's education and the budget cut design that is being created for the 2010-2011 school year is too important to crack and break upon impact.

Thank you Heritage PTO and Rob Walker and your numerous volunteers for hosting such a great and well attended event as Math and Science Night. I applaud these parent volunteers who know that their efforts can make a difference in education of our children.

I'm so inspired that I'm joining PACE as I am able, a district-wide parent advisory team that works to secure for all Medina students the highest advantages in education while continuing to focus on fostering educational opportunities that challenge highly motivated students. http://medinapaceteam.blogspot.com/

And what of Allison and providing her the element in which she will thrive as she enters her tough middle school (now junior high) years? It's hard facing the uncertainty that all of this creates. But the one thing I do know is that she needs me now more than ever. She needs me as her advocate. But how much more will she learn if, in my advocacy, I can lead by example and be even more of her role model too?

The New Complete Joy of Square Foot Lasagna Gardening

I've been reading up on gardening as of late, getting ready to plant my very first garden this spring. I've been reading "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew. I own the 2005 edition, it was a gift. But honestly the designer in me thought it so poorly designed that I sought out the much earlier 1981 edition of the book that I like much better. The youthful Mel is much more informative and less preachy about the ease of it all. Though I must admit I occasionally I look at what ideas the older, wiser Mel has retained after all these years. Actually, I squint so as to get the information but not be distracted by the design.

What I love about Mel's 1981 edition, reminds me of the enthusiastic grassroots publishing like The New Moosewood Cookbook. Right down to the informative black-and-white illustrations. Like they are pen and ink doodles meant to instruct as well as illustrate. I find them charming in that they are direct, sincere, informative and homey. After all, you can't get more home than cooking or gardening.

Mel also kind of reminds me of Charlie Papazian, author of "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing 3rd edition" in that they both have removed the perceived complex barriers of their subjects to make it appealing to the masses. I'm sure Charlie's Rastafarian-sounding motto to just "relax and have a home brew" will be going through my head if I start to stress about the garden.

The other gardening book I've been reading is "Lasagna Gardening for Small Spaces: A Layering System for Big Results in Small Gardens and Containers" by Patricia Lanza. I thought the main idea of the book was solid. But that the rest was just kind of standard gardening filler on plant types and such. But I really spent some time with it and found some great tips on vegetable plants and their specific needs that only a seasoned gardener might know. I've made many notes for the year using this book.

As the name of this blog post suggests, I'm going to combine the two ideas and create a raised lasagna bed of compost and peat moss built on wet newspapers and divide it into manageable square-foot squares. I'll plant only the seeds I need and relax and have a homebrew.

With all this reading and planning, I went out tonight to measure 4'x4' in the side yard where I want to put this new garden. And I had to laugh because it's so small. Best to ease into this I think. I can always add more squares throughout the year if I like. I'd rather it be too small to start with than bite off more than I can chew.

Oh, and composting. That might be a whole blog entry unto itself. I haven't quite figured out best to do that yet. I see the benefits though.

Seeds are ordered and should arrive soon. Stay tuned ... and have a homebrew.

Dawes

I heard this band called Dawes on the World Cafe Words and Music podcast that I listen to. That was more than a month ago and the music has been stuck in my head ever since. If the music had that much staying power, I though I'd share it with you here.

North Hills is the debut album of the band from Los Angeles. I marveled at how a group so young could produce music so powerful and transcendent, and have so much to say lyrically. "I took what I wanted and put it out of my reach. I wanted to pay for my success with all of my defeats." I hear at once laid-back California and the urgent yearning for a deeper truth.

Go here and click "Listen Now" to launch the NPR stand-alone player and hear the entire podcast with a great interview and three great songs recorded in studio.

The Sandpit

The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

A day in the life of New York City, in miniature.

Original Music: composed by Human, co-written by Rosi Golan and Alex Wong.

Please view in HD and full screen for best effect. For a description of the shoot, camera, lenses and workflow, please see here: http://bit.ly/aFmaPZ