Wish I had been there.....

My son sent this video to me, saying he knew that if I had been in NYC when this was initiated, I would have been there participating....he knows me like I know which Girl Scout cookies to send!
I'm having trouble putting this video on my blog. It's a Maniac World video and I can't find a code. So, it's not how I wanted to do it, but here's the link:
http://www.maniacworld.com/frozen-in-grand-central-station.html

03/12/2008PS: I did try the hints on adding a 'non-YouTube' video (cookies, pop-up, etc.) but was told by our helpdesk people that a code was not accessible. If anyone out there has a suggestion to try something else, I'm open to suggestions. I'll go back and try again in a few days - sometimes a bit of space is all that's really needed.

"Understanding how students use technology...."

This was a talk given this afternoon by John O'Brien, Ph.D., Academic VP, Century College. He presented at Metropolitan State: "Understanding how students use technology provides the basis for understanding their changing expectations for instruction and campus services." Besides a charming presence and animated wit, O'Brien offered instruction and resources for our audience. I found it especially helpful because it ties in so beautifully with '23 Things'.

I don't know if you can find a video of John's presentation or one similar to it, but here is his reference website; the website, http://johnobrienpersonal.googlepages.com/webography , is all references used in his talk and may be totally disconnected out of context. Explore, and I'm sure you'll find stimulating information for thought and discussion.

On trading cards and recitation

Last night I was thinking of uses for trading cards. Yes, I could do political ones, but I was thinking of using them for poetry, speeches, and books read. Each card would have a point value, based on what, I don't yet know, perhaps poetry or speeches memorized or read. I could hand them out to neighborhood kids. About twelve 'leaders of tomorrow' wait at my corner at 7:30 each morning for their school bus...maybe I could interest them in hot cocoa and poetry?

Has poetry and speech memorization been tossed with all the negativity of 'rote memorization'? 'Eggbert the Easter Egg' was a poem I was assigned to memorize in 4th grade. From then on through 8th grade it was Frost, Sandburg, Gettysburg Address, scenes from Hamlet, poetry by Vachel Lindsay, Longfellow, etc. We had to stand in front of the class for recitation. Surely there was a value in this? Considering I was an extremely shy child, this, as unnerving as it could be, really helped in challenging me to come out of my meek self. For my continued love of the written word, etching poetry into my heart, and helping me to find my ground and my voice, Thank YOU, Mrs. Winifred Gravrok, from Bloomingdale, Illinois 7th grade!

My creation - Trading Card

My creation
Originally uploaded by finnflix

This is my trading card...writing a meaningful blurb is always the most difficult part. I was trying to edit the card but was thrown off course.

I feel privileged, blessed, that Sam is so much a part of my life. I count him as my most trusted friend. I admire him for his ethic, his ability to reach out to people, his wit; I respect him for how he leads his life, finding that balance of head and heart. He is wise and he is compassionate. At this point he would laugh in his resonant voice and say this sounds like an obituary!!

Contemplation on letterwriting

This morning another staff and I talked about blogging and I again recognized its connection for me - letterwriting and journaling (excuse the 'verbing'). I found that we shared an enjoyment of physically putting ink to paper. Besides realizing afterward that I must have droned on about my pure enjoyment of paper textures and weights, I also was reminded again of the satisfaction of both writing and receiving a posted piece of friendly mail!

Part of our conversation was on where to find writing paper. Wrapping paper from places like Wet Paint or the Paper Patisserie can be cut or torn down into writing paper size when one can't find 'real' writing paper. The decorative beauty on one side complements the personal message on the other!

I've always liked onion skin paper (also known in the past as 'airmail' paper). It's been difficult for me to find, even at the Hmong and Vietnamese shops on University. My son had found some in NYC's Chinatown, but hasn't come up with more.

I know there are shops online, but half the fun is in the touching. The other is shopping for it when I'm in the mood.

Lagging a bit

I'm lagging on my '23 Things' (salmonella last week). My last item was a third slideshow and I admit to feeling a bit of a glutton, working with the photos. But then I ran into a snag and it took me much, much longer to do this third show. I used a larger number of photos and had to add them to PictureTrail in three batches, with a different title to each batch. Then when clicking on the thumbnails, one photo from batch 'b' made its way into batch 'a'. I had to work around that several times, so I now feel appeased in my gluttony because I learned something else!

I spent some time reading about the communication tools and may or may not add something to my blog site. I definitely will be playing with some in the next week as I can use them in my 'extracurricular' activities.