I have memories of buying a toy for my kids and having it break because of poor quality or discovering that it had small parts and we had a baby brother in the house. Back in “the day” we didn’t think about lead or pthalates in the toys. There are many things to consider when buying toys these days.

ConnPIRG has just released their annual toy safety report, and they’ve launched a new mobile phone website that allows toy shoppers to look up and report dangerous toys as they shop. Check out their new resources, and help make sure kids’ toys are safe this holiday season. Make your list then check it with CT-toy-report-2009.

This document reminds us of all the hazards we might consider including loudness. Almost 15 percent of children ages 6 to 17 show signs of hearing loss. In March 2007, the American Society for Testing and Materials adopted a voluntary acoustics standard for toys, setting the loudness threshold for most toys at 85 decibels but there are still exceedingly louc (and I might add annoying) toys on the toy store shelves.

In addition, think through and avoid toys that have possible choking hazards, while considering age appropriateness, “almost” small parts, balloons, marbles, pthalates and PVC products. What is left for kids to play with? We’ve eliminated dolls (plastic), legos (plastic), toy cars (lead paint). OKAY- wooden blocks it is. Actually one of my kids favorites!

I’ve added another quilt to my Etsy shop, ElmosPlace.etsy.com.  This one is bright and cheerful Christmas quilt that I really like!  Looks like a package all wrapped up, doesn’t it?!

The Christmas Quilt

I found this panel in a little quilt store in Alton, Illinois several years ago.  I have never been a panel person, but I really liked the happy, cheerful kids on the blocks – so I was hooked.   The shop had included this pattern along with the panel but I had to pick out the fabrics – that is always my fun part!  I just LOVE going thru the fabrics…  like a cat with catnip.  It took me a long time to get around to making the quilt,, it was always one of those “someday” projects.  I’m glad I finished it – cause it sure is cute! 

These are the blocks in closeup… there are 9 blocks total, the one with the kids ice skating was doubled.

One of the cool things I like, the star points are ‘loose’.. not sure if that is the right phrase, but they are open on the angles… gives it more of a three dimensional look to the stars,, really sets them out.

The other cool thing is the border,, using the two shades of green, it looks like ribbon wrapped around the quilt,, the small stippling in the white makes the ribbons POP.

See the snowmen quilted into the blue border!

The back of the quilt is blue and red fabrics and the binding is the same blue fabric as the back  .                                       

The quilt blocks have been quilted to accent the design and the red sashing has a general overall meander quilt stitch.

Overall size is about 47 x 47.  I have already washed the quilt once,, it has that soft well loved feel.  I just love that when you wash a quilt the first time,,  makes me think of Granma’s hugs….

Well, time to get started on finishing another project.  I have a charity quilt I’m trying to get in the mail for Quilts for Kids… doing things for others makes me feel good, too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Street Scene and Magazines...9x12 panel board...24 Nov 2009

Happy Thankgiving!

This week’s painting is wildly different from my Flint Hills series.  The Flint Hills were so simple in form and minimal in color and this one is just bursting with noise.  I had an image in my mind of what I wanted this to look like and I just kept tinkering with it trying to find that right feeling.  Last night I finally got to a point that I felt it was finished enough to move on.  Any new ideas could be applied to a future painting.  There were many “what ifs…” on this one.

We are here to assist in every way possible
here to assist you in your unfolding and in understanding exactly what it is source desires to experience through you in you and as you
we are here to assist you in looking deeply within your heart to ascertain what it is you are here to experience
yes
what it is you truly want to do be and have
this is the freedom of choice that you are here to experience as the unique creation you are
indeed we have tried to give you as much as possible
but you must realize to embody all that you have been given you must experience certain things
you must undergo certain circumstances and you must be put through situations that assist in your growth
for these experiences assist in your growth when you practice what you have received
yes
that is most important to recognize in becoming aligned from moment to moment
practice will assist in your alignment and it is up to you to maintain that alignment
through your attention
through your intentions
and through your focus
receive all that source has for you in this moment
and let the reservations go
let them go and be free to allow source to move freely through you now
let the energy of source move through your body let it cleans your mind
focus your attention on your heart center and feel love
feel passion feel good flowing and pulsing through your heart growing and widening its reach until you feel it overtaking your entire being and cleansing all resistance all blocks and all limitations
free yourself from the conditioned thinking that has brought about the conditions you do not want
and allow the power and freedom of source to fill you with clarity confidence and love
know that you are a child of the most high
you are a child of love of life
of liberty
you are a child of God and as such
you are in nature God
in nature love and in nature liberty
give your full attention to this moment and let go of distractions let go of the pestering thoughts filled with fear and tension
and relax into the vibration of love
now you are aligned with the vibration that brings peace joy love bliss and every good thing into your life
know that with this vibration with this frequency you can receive guidance for every step you need take to bring about the best and highest for all concerned
know that there is power there is peace there is joy there is freedom
just for you
yes
a path uniquely present for you to walk
and still being a part of the whole a part of the balance
important for you to be exactly all that you are here to be in order to assist the rest of life in its best and highest unfolding
yes
your good depends on your alignment
yes
your good depends on your alignment
for your perspective of what is is tied to the degree to which you are aligned with source
your consciousness raises to that frequency allowing you to perceive from the perspective of source to some degree
when you align
you increase the degree to which you see from the perspective of source through practice
continue consistent practice and surrendering yourself to connecting with source as often as you are able
this is the secret to fulfilment
all else follows
this is seeking the kingdom, the presence the alignment of God
and all these things will be given as well
all these things being the desires of your heart
the truth of why you are here
understand and do

- Morning stream of consciousness writing from John Stringer

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If you think wooden building blocks are just for little kids…think again! There are many fun and interesting things even middle school students can enjoy doing. Most of these will work best on a hard, smooth surface such as linoleum or hardwood, rather than rugs or carpet. For some of them, you can even work on a tabletop.

1. Build a tower as high and narrow as you can. Count the number of wooden blocks you used and take pictures. Look up the world record for a tower of wooden blocks. Measure yours. Did you come close?

2. Build a castle and decorate it with paper pennants glued to toothpicks. Make knights and ladies out of paper figures cut out from magazines. Add a picture of yourself and tape on a paper crown. Congratulations! You are now ruler of a miniature realm.

3. Create a maze for your pet hamster and time how long it takes him to get through. If he seems unmotivated, give him a little training. Start him off easy with a straight run with food at the end, so he gets the idea (it helps if he’s hungry). Next add a turn or two. Finally put him in a full-fledged maze with many turns and dead ends. Time him on successive runs. Does his speed improve?

4. If your wooden building blocks are of many different sizes and shapes, it can be as fun and challenging as any puzzle to try to stack them compactly together into the smallest possible space.

5. Outline miniature bowling lanes with wooden blocks and challenge your friends to a game. Use colorful cap erasers for bowling pins and marbles for bowling balls. Deduct points for hitting the block walls of the lane. Make the game more challenging by keeping the lanes fairly long, and the erasers just far enough apart that you have to hit them exactly right to get a strike. Make the game easier by shortening the lanes and positioning the erasers a little closer together.

6. Build a spiral staircase. This might require a lot of building blocks to achieve the full effect, but it will be a lot of fun.

7. Build an arch completely made of wooden blocks. For help, look up arches in your encyclopedia. If your wooden building blocks do not include a keystone shape, you might need to create one out of cardboard for the top.

8. Build a special “domino city” and carefully run a line of dominos in, out, around, up, down and over the building blocks. Set up a small bell at the end (one of those little Christmas jingle bells tied on a ribbon works well). Push the first domino down.

9. Surprise your mom by setting the table early for supper. Surprise her more by carefully balancing each water glass on a stack of wooden building blocks. Explain solemnly that you couldn’t find any stemware, so you improvised as best you could.

10. If you have a cat or dog that’s a good sleeper (or a big brother), carefully build a “house” right over top of them out of wooden blocks. Yes, include a roof (you can support it with strips of cardboard if your longest blocks aren’t quite long enough for the roof base). If it is a large dog, or your big brother, you may have only enough blocks for your house to cover his head. That’s okay. Be sure to be around when they wake up! Or perhaps, if it’s your big brother, you should be very far away.

Click here to download our free wooden blocks guidebook filled with helpful tips, ideas and information.

Ever stepped on a Lego barefoot in the dark? If you have (and you didn’t immediately consign the whole minefield of such crippling objects to the nearest available garage sale!), you are probably eagerly searching for appropriate storage containers and ideas. Those wooden building blocks, dollhouse accessories, and Hotwheels cars aren’t much better to encounter on a dark night, and need a bedtime home as well.

The good news is there are many options, suitable for every décor and lifestyle. From empty packing boxes to lined wicker, from a washed ice cream bucket to color coded stacking drawers, there is something that will meet every family’s needs.

For those who wish to be boldly creative and independent, there are a variety of make-at-home options. First, the old stand-bys, shoe boxes and washed plastic food containers such as ice cream buckets or margarine tubs. Simply wash and rinse well. Allow to dry, then turn them upside down on a piece of newspaper and spray paint them and their lids a nice color.

Next, be sure to label them, container and lid alike with the contents, such as “Lego Blocks, Large” or “Melissa and Doug wooden toys” or “Necklace Beads.” The kids will enjoy helping out, perhaps even using up some of those beads which get so easily scattered by gluing them on as decoration. A tip from experienced moms is that for a really successful container system, you should also label the shelves where the containers go. This way, clean up for the kids is as easy as a matching game.

For those who wish they had time for all that, but must purchase something instead, the options range from stackable plastic storage drawers from Wal-Mart to designer wicker baskets from specialty outlets. These really add an artistic touch and are very convenient, even for toys that have a lot of smaller pieces like Melissa and Doug wooden toys. The key is to have each container lined to keep the small pieces from falling into the wicker.

Another great idea is a system of sturdy hanging pegs mounted at child-height. Toys then get stored in tote bags or drawstring bags and hung neatly on the pegs each evening. Some moms have successfully used over-the door shoe bags. The individual pockets are just the right size for hot wheels cars or wooden building blocks like Discovery Toys blocks or Melissa and Doug wooden toys.

All of the above are great ideas, but my personal two favorites are the Box4BLOX and the Drop Bag. The Box4BLOX is a unique item. It’s specially designed to keep different size Legos sorted and organized. There are four stackable trays with open grids in the bottom, which actually filter the Legos through based on size. The bottom layer holds the tiny pieces which otherwise get lost so easily, and there is a lid to close the top.

Best of all, not only are the Legos easily contained in this neat and tidy box, but when the child goes to play with them, he does not tend to dump the building blocks all over the floor to find what he needs. He doesn’t have to. The pieces are ready-sorted for him. He now gets to spend more time in building and less in hunting for the right piece.

The Drop Bag is another ingenious idea from one smart mommy. This is something you can make yourself in just an hour or two. You’ll need a large circle of cloth, 44 inches or 60 inches in diameter and a piece of rope six inches longer than the circumference of the fabric.

Sew a casing into the perimeter of your fabric circle. Run the rope through inside the casing and tie the ends together. Spread the fabric out on the floor and instruct the child to stay on the fabric when she plays with her Melissa and Doug wooden toys or Legos building blocks. When she’s through, it’s a snap to lift the edges, pull the rope to close it into a drawstring bag and hang the bag on a peg.

Click here to download our free wooden building blocks guidebook filled with helpful tips, ideas and information.

Building blocks are one of the best development toys that you can purchase for your children. Child development experts believe that the use of creative play, such as building blocks, help children excel throughout their life. As a parent, you should learn how and when to use different blocks to enhance a child’s learning.

Kids have played with wooden building blocks long before there were video games or electronic toys. One of the great things about blocks is they are powered by a child’s imagination, not by batteries or electricity. Today, building blocks are available in age ranges from babies and infants to older children who can build castles and other architectural structures. Popular brands include Melissa and Doug toys, Maxim and Citiblock.

Soft blocks are recommended for infants from twelve to fifteen months because they are large enough for little hands and provide a safety cushion should the child fall on the blocks. Young children will learn spatial recognition skills while they learn to stack the blocks into a tall tower or smaller columns. Even at this age, you can begin to teach a child math skills by counting the blocks as you build towers.

For toddlers over the age of fifteen months it is important to instill both personal and group play. At this age, kids are just beginning to be able to grasp the idea of using the blocks to create 3 dimensional structures, such as a barn. Add some wooden animals, and your child can build his own farm, moving the animals into and out of the barn.

Wooden building blocks also enhance learning skills for preschool and school-age children. Creating a multi-level garage, farm, or dollhouse from blocks teaches a child independent thinking, fine motor skills, and mental creativity. Melissa and Doug Toys offers a set of wooden construction vehicles which allows your child to learn spatial recognition, how to use toys for movement of items, and the building of complex buildings and sites.

Children do not have to build things in order to obtain enhanced learning skills. Counting, color identification, and sorting are additional skills that will be developed with the use of wooden building blocks. Simple games, such as putting the blocks into piles of two (or more) help a child learn to count. If you have room in your home, you can make a tower of blocks and let the child roll a ball towards the tower until it falls down. This game helps kids develop hand-eye coordination.

For maximum benefits, choose age-appropriate blocks. Melissa and Doug toys are a popular brand that offers a huge selection of blocks for kids of all ages. Older kids require tougher challenges that come from using smaller pieces, with mixed colors, shapes and sizes. Encouraging them to tell you about their building blocks creation can also promote development of communication skills as they attempt to verbalize what they have done in a logical manner. Mixing small and large wooden building blocks allows for intricate designs and fine tunes motor skills. Adding flat, round, and rectangular blocks allows for complex block playing, which further enhances a child’s learning ability and can be used to develop math skills they will carry throughout life.

Playing with wooden building blocks can instill a sense of accomplishment in your child and motivate them to learn, grow and build more than just a stack of blocks.

Click here to download our free building blocks guidebook filled with helpful tips, ideas and information.

Building blocks appeal naturally to children, which is a very good thing because playing with blocks helps children develop many life skills essential to a happy life. These strengths include language, physical development, cognitive, and emotional. Activity ideas centered on these areas, when planned out, increase the learning and all around growth potential in children.

Furthermore, studies show complex block building activities assist children in learning needed math skills as they discover mathematical combinations and associate numerical value of block quantities.  This article provides a variety of activity ideas for playing with building blocks.

Very young children around 1-1/2 years of age and older can start playing with blocks. When making your toy selection for this age group, try to avoid plastic styles as they tend to have uneven surfaces and can be hard to stack. This can create a frustrating experience for the young child learning. Great quality blocks are available from a variety of brands including Melissa and Doug, Maxim and Citiblock.

Activity ideas can be planned based on two categories: divergent and convergent problem solving skills. Divergent building block activities allow children to find a solution by way of trial and error until the right working solution is identified. Puzzle building blocks activities are a good example of a divergent activity idea. Another example of this kind of activity is the Alphabet Nesting and Stacking Blocks from Melissa and Doug. The set is designed for children ages 2 and up. The 10 piece set contains visually appealing blocks in many colors. A storage case is included with this set to help children learn that clean up is also an important aspect of responsible activity play. One activity idea for parents can try is to introduce one or two numbers or letters of the alphabet to your child at a time, so that it is not too much as to not to overwhelm the child in initial learning.

Rolling a plastic ball to knock down stacked blocks is also an activity idea to try. As each blocked is picked up and restacked, you can ask your child to identify the newly learned number of letter of the alphabet to enhance cognitive recall. You could also count how many blocks fell and count how many are still standing to encourage math building skills.

As children get older and find stacking blocks a simple task, moving to convergent-based type of blocks. Convergent play involves those activities that have many options to a solution, highlighting the flexibility of creativity. Children learn to distinguish the differences between block sizes and develop physically; using their arm muscles to reach and stack which also utilizes hand-to-eye coordination. The Melissa and Doug collection of building blocks include the “100 Wood Blocks Set” for ages 3 and up. This set lets child’s imagination be the lead and in doing so, cognitive skills in creating abstract concepts help foster their thinking abilities.

Architectural fantasy building blocks in color from Haba and sets from Melissa and Doug feature columns absent of color to help children test out their building imagination in a color-less base type of block set. Here they can really understand and describe the difference in each building block shape and function is when stacked or placed side by side–all put to the test of their individual imagination. Brands like Citiblock feature a diverse way to use flatly shaped block styles to build structures. Maxim toy trains and the Wooden Unit Blocks on Wheels from Melissa and Doug feature wheels to introduce young minds to the rolling concept of wheels.

All of these toys invite parents to get involved by creating pretend-play scenarios when they can suggest a project to build, such as a house or barn. Incorporate appropriately scaled items like block animals and people to encourage ideas from your child. Set aside story time and building block play so that your child can understand how the story plays out using all senses and to stimulate creativity in different narratives.

Building block pricing is affordable and generally, inexpensive when compared to other toys. And although many playthings may come with bells and whistles, most tend to appeal to only one or two senses of sight and sound, while building blocks help children cognitively experience, learn social skills and take them on a journey without limitations.

Click here to download our free building blocks guidebook filled with helpful tips, ideas and information.

I need to start this post by saying this: I am not naturally crafty or creative with any sort of craft project. I love to do them, but it’s always with inspiration from someone who has already done a project that it looks like I might have a hope of conquering. I started last week and it’s been so nice to sit down quietly each evening for a bit and make attempts at creativity. I wanted so badly so create some special gifts for my little ones for Christmas and I’m pleased so far with the projects I’ve taken on.

Up first: Little People

I ordered them unpainted from gemmielou and I’ve been working on painting them with acrylic paint. They’re far from perfect(though the eyes look much creepier in this picture than they actually do in person), but they are turning out to be SO CUTE! After I have painted them all, they’ll get a coat of varnish to seal the paint and they’ll be ready to be wrapped up and put under the tree!

{Note – If your name is Elise and you are my sister-in-law stop reading now

if you don’t want to know what your daughter is getting for Christmas!}

Upcoming Projects:

-Bean Bags

-Dyeing Silkies/Play Silks

-Simple Tote Bags

-Blocks (this one is my husband’s project)

-some fun surprises for my Holiday Traditions Exchange Partner

-a $5 play kitchen renovation

Some other inspiring crafting for the holidays:

• Miss Wrangler always does AMAZING things with her little one. I can’t wait to see how the needlefelt doll turns out!
• Edie @ lifeingrace has an incredible series of posts with 12 Days of Handmade Projects for Christmas:

• Simple Mom has a great list in their weekend links from Nov. 13th – including a link to an unbelievable list of frugal gift ideas via the mothering.com forums.
• Family Fun always has fun, easy ideas for projects you can do with kids that make great gifts for loved ones!
• Melissa @ Day to Day and Fiona @ living on the crafty side of life are posting inspiring Christmas crafts and projects every Tuesday and Friday from now until Christmas.  They both have ideas for Advent calendars up that are blowing my mind – I can’t wait to see what else they have in store!

What are you working on for the holidays?

{Another post for Steady Mom’s 30-Minute Blog Challenge}

Can I be done with this virus + sinus infection bullshit already?  C’mon. Everyday is a new sick adventure, yesterday I was coughing today I have a totally different sore throat, tomorrow what will ye bring me, oh joyous virus?

I mean, I have a hard enough time staying motivated, involved and connected with life in general, having a cold pretty much zaps all my remaining energy to want to engage with the world. Can’t I just check out for a week or so, stay in bed, sleep continuously until better?  Oh, doesn’t that sound delicious? Sleeping until better. Mmmh.  I am convinced all bad things can be righted by sleeping.  Feel like shit? Take a nap! Everything is 10x better an unconscious hour later! Voila! The magical cure. Try it!  Until my meds get modified, I’m sticking with my sleeping cure. (Unlike the “shopping cure”, at least I don’t incur more debt, or the “yell at spouse cure”, which just tests your partners eardrums and limits.)

I have a vision of doing to Tucson what I did with Phoenix.  But, it requires effort, to get my sorry ass down to Tucson and spend the day photographing the city – really, not a difficult task, but I’ve got all these blocks – A. I’m sick. B. I’m too sick. C. What’s the point? D. Art? what’s that?  E. We were just there I shoulda taken photos then. F. I shoulda this, I shoulda that. On and on, ugh…

I try to keep the Nike slogan in my head, it usually helps. Just Do It.  No questions, no blocks, no detours, no naps.  Just Do It.  Whatever It is.  Do your art. Do the work.

I think the time is right to share (what we think are) the Top 5 Jason Maxiell Blocks with you after what Jason did to Shannon Brown a few days ago. Was that block ridiculous or what? Ouch…had to hurt. Brown can dunk on pretty much everybody, but Maxiell…what a block…wow…

#5 – Jermaine O’Neal – denied

#4 – Reggie Who?

#3 – Ain’t gonna work, Mr. Garnett, but you keep trying…

We could do a Top 5 of Jason Maxiell blocking Kevin Garnett alone by the way – you don’t believe me? Ask you local YouTube Video Dealer. Go. www.youtube.com – I dare you.

#2 – Meet me at the top, Shannon Brown – you’ll never be the same again

#1 – Jason Maxiell destroys Tyson Chandler’s dignity

Is Jason Maxiell the best “meet-me-at-the-rim” shot blocker playing right now? If you don’t say yes, let me know who you think is better. Wait, I’ll help you with that one: Nobody.

I’m really pleased with this cake design.  It turned out even better than I thought it would when I started working on it.  The booties are a mix of gumpaste and fondant and the blocks are fondant covered rice crispie treats.  The cake is lemon with raspberry & cream filling.  I think the simple combination of the pink against white is really effective.  

Your focus increases with practice
and your focus gets stronger in your alignment
through your concentration
your attention to vibrations of love
thoughts and feelings of love
yes this is key to your unfolding, key to your raising your awareness
key to your removing blocks that have kept your source energy from freely flowing through you
you are experiencing a shift in how source expands through you
when you focus on love
this can be a constant process
a constant unfolding and is best when practiced moment to moment
this we have said before
yes
but it is always important to remind you if you are not already practicing consistently from moment to moment
recognize that any resistance to hearing this again is due to not embodying the message
and that is key to understanding how your blocks work in any situation
when you feel resistance you know there are blocks
for resistance is blocking the acceptance the surrender
to what is
you cannot resist what is
but you can create energy that repels what is
and in so doing attract whatever your attention is focused on that you do not like about what is
you only repel seeing the truth of what is
and attract the illusion your fear is focusing on
now it is important to consider
where you are in your awareness
where you are in your alignment at all times
if you are able to be consciously aware of your state of alignment from moment to moment
you can focus your attention to raising your vibration to raising your frequency
and receiving guidance you need for the best and highest action at all times
that is the optimal existence
that is the life of bliss and that is why you are here
the life you are here to lead
called to be an extension of source
living a limitless life
defined by love
that is your role
should you accept it
know that no matter what you do
no matter what path you choose in this existence
you are once again an extension of source and cannot be harmed
cannot do wrong
indeed this is true
for there is no wrong there is no right
despite your conventions
despite your conditioning
there is only what is
and the illusions or truth you choose to see
Ah and yes there are many who believe otherwise
and that is fine
that is their reality in the sense that what is believed is what is attracted
what is experienced
but know you are free to create the life you choose
there are consequences for choices due to cause and effect
due to the nature of what is
but the more you understand these laws the more you understand the nature of what is
the more you understand the necessity of alignment
for those who live out of love choose actions out of love
that cause the best and highest effect
those who choose to focus their mind and being on alignment choose action that is aligned with the best and highest for all
align with the will of the almighty in you as you and through you
align with the best and the highest intent for your life and everyone around you, everyone affected
that is the calling of source that is the path of the righteous
that is the life of limitless love
and so it is

- Morning stream of consciousness writing from John Stringer

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The Daily Dozen is a great way to keep your training going through the holidays. The Daily Dozen is choosing 12 martial arts techniques and doing them 12 times on each side of your body. Blue belts know dozens of martial techniques, so you can train in different areas each day of the week. Here are some examples based on my training schedule through the years:

Day One

Front punch … 12 with the right hand, 12 with the left hand

Reverse punch … 12 with the right hand, 12 with the left hand

Front palm strike … 12 with the right hand, 12 with the left hand

Reverse palm strike … 12 with the right hand, 12 with the left hand

Snap kick … 12 with the right foot, 12 with the left foot

Thrust kick … 12 with the right foot, 12 with the left foot

Front knife hand … 12 with the right hand, 12 with the left hand

Reverse knife hand … 12 with the right hand, 12 with the left hand

Front hammer fist … 12 with the right hand, 12 with the left hand

Reverse hammer fist … 12 with the right hand, 12 with the left hand

Standing side kick … 12 with the right foot, 12 with the left foot

Stepping side kick … 12 with the right foot, 12 with the left foot

Day Two

Front high block … 12 with the right hand, 12 with the left hand

Reverse high block … 12 with the right hand, 12 with the left hand

Front inside block … 12 with the right hand, 12 with the left hand

Reverse inside block … 12 with the right hand, 12 with the left hand

Standing back kick …  12 with the right foot, 12 with the left foot

Stepping back kick … 12 with the right foot, 12 with the left foot

Standing roundhouse kick … 12 with the right foot, 12 with the left foot

Stepping roundhouse kick … 12 with the right foot, 12 with the left foot

Front outside block … 12 with the right hand, 12 with the left hand

Reverse outside block … 12 with the right hand, 12 with the left hand

Front low block … 12 with the right hand, 12 with the left hand

Reverse low block … 12 with the right hand, 12 with the left hand

If these are the only techniques you know, repeat them every other day. If you know more techniques, add those into your Daily Dozen. The important thing is to train.

Blessings!

Mark McGee

Grace Martial Arts

This year has been very generous and rude to me. Sorrows of joy and pain shaped me up. It is true when they say, “you are strong when you are weak.”  I feel the completeness of His rescue, I feel the touch of His loving hands when I am most helpless.

My eyes have seen beautiful places but I am most excited to see that place nobody have seen yet...

Don’t stop me from my letter “I”s. No grammar, no rules. Plain feelings.

My heart with my mind couldn’t find any answer why I am too blessed. Strange if you know my struggles in life but yes, I feel really blessed. I wish to be on stage always to show my debt of gratitude. I am literally little and poor in every aspect but I feel so proud that in His eyes I am so special, so important. That makes me more guilty with all my shortcomings and faults -where in the world can I find the answer, why am I this blessed?

My brother tells me to wait. Wait, wait and wait.  To my surprise, things come without me knowing it’s there already, smiling sweetly in front of me. It was just like yesterday but it’s been years that passed. Why should I grieve? Why should I worry, when all I have to do is pray, stand still and do what I have to do. But of course, blah blah blah… bad feelings will pay me a visit to ruin things but with His help I know I wouldn’t care anymore.

Thank God for holding my heart!

Until next blogging…

All grateful,

Alsie

I love colours…but not when it comes to choosing them. LOL i’m talking about braces colours. Okay I admit I worry or think about the smallest things too much. SIGH. why..oh well I’m thinking of getting pink and green for WATERMELONS . hahahahahah

YAY! I’m prob gonna have all of the colours on at one stage of my “braces” life cycle! So yeah…btw EXAMS over WOOHOO! But I am utterly scared of getting them back. Sigh… this term was so hard :’(. It just makes me realise how incompetent I am, and how much I NEED Jesus! Seriously, I am a failure. No really, where would I be without Jesus? When I think I’ve failed, I look back at Jesus and remember- success or failure, he still loves me and he died for me! Thank you God. Thanks for still loving me .

I wish I had the energy to write poetry these days. My life is a poem, and the well of my mind feels dry. Or incubating? I don’t know. I just feel consumed with the present moment right now, and unable to get it up poetically anymore.

Is there life after “happily ever after?”

Can art be incubated in the cozy shell of contentment, or does it require an oven of tension to produce properly delicious results?
Is there such a thing as too much peace? What kinds of ailments does it cause? Hypersmugness? Literary impotence? 

Is there something in all tormented artists that refuses to stay content for too long… that runs at the prospect of too much ease and comfort? Am I one of those people who believes, deep down inside, that in order to stay wild… I have to constantly break out of the wombs I find myself in, no matter how pleasant they feel?

Is it wrong to feel sentimentally attached to joys that may someday reach their expiration date? To frame them and put them on the pedestal of forever? To agree to tiptoe around certain subjects and agree to disagree about others, so that you can have a palatable experience on earth together free of any of the growing you both actually so sorely need (and on a subconscious level, were attracted to about each other in the first place)? 

Is it possible to predict the future? Is it even right? In a sense, marriage is something from some back-street gypsy storefront, because it pretends to do just this. But not just the future tomorrow or next year… forever. “Till death do us part.” 

How ironic that the church hasn’t noticed. 

Is it wrong to know as deeply as I do, that all things are bound to change or fade away like the pink petals Jeni made snow of today? Sometimes, they change with us, and that can be amazing when that happens. There is nothing more beautiful than a friendship, residence in a place, relationship or family bond that has gone through a lot of quantum leaps and keeps on being more meaningful with each one.

But, sometimes they just don’t. Sometimes you just can’t move past the blocks, and that’s OK… we all have forever, and not every experience is really meant to benefit us permanently. 

Sometimes it’s unsettling to people how easily I can flow on like a river. My nature is dynamic and full of contradictions; I can be so capable of joy and gratitude, yet too much ease makes me uneasy. It doesn’t mean I don’t love or get attached in my life. It means I understand that loving is being true to myself, even when it seems painful or impersonal. If I’m not 100 percent authentic in my own skin, I can never really love another person. And they can never really love me. When it comes to love and happiness, I’ve always been a warrior. What’s comfortable and flattering is much less important to me than what is true. “Free speech is the lifeblood of love,” Tokyo Godfathers quipped synchronistically to me the other day, as Hana the crazy drag queen bag lady cursed out Gin in front of his estranged daughter to test their love. 

Yes, it is. 

If you don’t have truth… burning, raw, sometimes uncomfortably jarring soul truth… what do you have? Flattery. I don’t need that. I already love the person I see in the mirror. And I know her well enough to know what she needs.

All we really have is this moment. Deep down, I know this so much. It doesn’t bother me. At least not anymore. Maybe at one point, it did. But it gets easier. It really does. It hurts like hell at first. I used to hold onto things so hard and doubt my instincts for so long before I started to understand that it’s okay. If you act with a pure heart, nothing good and meant for you will leave you forever. All of life is already a part of you, anyway. 

Life is all about letting go. Only in letting go do the things that matter really come back to us. And that, to me, is what poetry is all about. Letting go of the caterpillars, and seeing what comes back to me as a butterfly. Sometimes I am hurting so much about something, I feel so indignant and wounded… and all I have to do is close my eyes and open them to realize… it’s nothing. It’s just life. Let it go… peacefully, indescribably, just in your heart … and watch what happens. I wait for the boomerangs. It’s a pastime by now. 

Happily ever after is just a station. As soon as I become too content, I realize I’ve created a prison of expectation and inertia. And in prison, I write poetry… or maybe poetry to me is my way of understanding what prisons I’ve made for msyelf. I’ve taken the things and people I love most, and made them into tools for my own security. In doing so, I’ve made cages for them, too. And yet these cages are what makes society run. They’re what we all want. 
And yet the irony to me is that there is one thing in life that is more sacred than any treasure, spiritual or material, in the world to me: true friendship. 

What is a friendship? It’s two people giving each other permission to be fully themselves around each other. And enjoying those selves without reservations or self-censure. And what is a relationship? Maybe it starts out as a true friendship, but often, it becomes exactly the opposite of that. A relationship consists of two people trying to meet each other’s needs and fulfill each other’s ideals… sexually, emotionally, spiritually, romantically. And because of that, there is something about the transitions from pure friendships into love makes me mourn internally at a certain point… the point where you know there’s no turning back the tide of hopes, fears and insecurities that are starting to make themselves comfortable in their new bed. Just as a beautiful vacation spot can suddenly seem less idyllic if you have to start looking for a job and an apartment there. It might have been great to lay on the beach and enjoy the sea air, but now you’re expecting to be fed and housed here. Suddenly, there are expectations. Needs. Laws to be followed. What was once a poem becomes the mission statement of a joint business venture.

There is a part of me that is always wild. And that part of me desperately needs purity. I love the moment when something beautiful is fresh, real and immediate. I don’t like when it starts to feel ritualistic, expected. I am constantly seeking this freshness. Poetry is a way I coax freshness out of everything. As long as that channel is wide open, I know that everything else in my life is going to go OK, even when the world is falling apart around me. 
Poetry is a knife, for me. It is sharp and it sometimes hurts. And right now I’m realizing: I’m holding onto picture-perfect. To happily-ever-after. I like the way my cake looks. The frosting is so pretty, I’m afraid to cut its flowery surface. I’m afraid of what darkness I might find inside. And that isn’t allowing me to create. 

Happily ever after is just a station. As soon as I become too content, I realize I’ve created a prison of expectation and inertia. And in prison, I write poetry… or maybe poetry to me is my way of understanding what prisons I’ve made for myself.

In order to appreciate what is real, I need to distance myself from my attachments a bit in my mind. I need to let go, and befriend the shadows again. To pick up the knife and start cutting. To embrace the dangerous beauty of truth, which contains both shadows and light. Poetry to me is not just about odes and praises. It’s a science. Sometimes it’s simply holding a magnifying glass up to an eyeball or an anthill and showing something grotesque. 

And in that unflinchingly critical mirror, you have something exquisitely beautiful… even when it is reflects things that disturb and shake us from tranquility. It’s as much about darkness as it is about light. 

© Sarah Noack 2009

Our first iPhone and iPod Touch application, iBlockade appeared in the Apple iTunes App Store on November 11th, 2009!

Hooray!

Please Spread the word.

A Lite version is in the works and should be submitted to Apple in a few days after it passes testing.

iBlockade is based on the Mac OS game called Blockade, from Christer Ericson written and released in 1991. It was one of my favorite puzzle strategy games and our first release for the iPhone market.

You can find it in the App Store or by using the actual link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iblockade/id338363522?mt=8

Application Description

iBlockade is a block moving puzzle game where the object is to remove all the blue and yellow pieces from the board by pushing them into other pieces while avoiding traps and deadlock situations. It is a faithful recreation of a MacOS game called Blockade which has also been ported to run on Linux. This version is designed especially for the iPhone and the iPod Touch.

The blue and yellow pieces come in four shapes: square, ring, plus and diamond. Diamond is the highest order piece followed by plus, ring and square. You combine pieces together of the same shape but opposite color by pushing them together, making one piece of the next lower order shape. When you push two diamond shaped pieces together they make a cross, and so on down to two square pieces which then disappear.

It sounds easy, and it is. But don’t be fooled. Many of the scenes are tricky and require prudent forethought to make sure you have enough of the right pieces to combine. Traps include color changer, teleport and mutator spaces which change the color, location and shape of the blocks. You must also mind which pieces you push as the color of the combined pieces is always the opposite color of the piece you push. At the end you will always need one blue square and one yellow square.

Pieces against an outer wall may only be pushed along the length or width of the wall, and once a piece is in a corner, it is trapped and can only be freed by pushing a similar shaped block into it until it disappears. You will also find walls that can be pushed, and these can become an important part of the strategy to solve a particular scene. Movable walls are not affected by color changers, shape changers or teleporters and can be used to effectively block those traps by covering them with a wall. The scores are simple. We count how many times you push one or more blocks and the number of moves made while not pushing any blocks. The best score is determined by the least number of moves and pushes. The information screen remembers the last time each level was played, the best score and the worst score.

iBlockade includes five (5) control buttons which allow the player to skip forward to another scene or back to a previous scene, reset the current scene to the beginning, undo any moves made at any time, and switch to the info screen to select options or a specific scene. Game instructions are also available as a navigation button from the information screen.

You play the game by moving the red player piece Up, Down, Right or Left. Touch the board location adjacent to the player piece, or in a straight line and the player will move as long as there are no obstructions. Touch an adjacent game piece to push that piece. An alert will be sounded (if sound effects are enabled) to tell you if a move is not allowed or is blocked.

This game will provide hours of fun for all ages, 1st grade and older. Some manual dexterity required. It is a great strategy game for developing spatial relationships and determining the order of multiple steps to accomplish a goal. Every scene included with iBlockade is possible to complete, although there are a few that seem nearly impossible.

Enjoy the game, and compete against your friends to see who can solve each scene in the fewest moves and pushes. Good Luck!

Note: Fellow artist Leah Piken Kolidas recently interviewed Dr. Paris on her blog. You’ll find the interview here

Finding Strength In Mirrors

In Chapter 4, Dr. Paris begins to explain the three types of relationships that she believes are crucial to all creative types. Chapter 4 focuses on “mirrors;” those people who validate our strengths, our talents, and our uniqueness.

Chapter 4 begins with a relatively well-known quote from Marianne Williamson:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?

It appears this fear of our powerfulness may stem from our childhood experiences.  According to Dr. Paris, many theorists believe people are born with a feeling of specialness. It begins when a baby cries because she is hungry and expects to be recognized, fed, and  nourished. The mother feeds the baby and the baby feels recognized.

As the baby grows into a toddler, a feeling of invincibility emerges. Remember playing the role of your favorite superhero? At this stage, the parent may support the fantasy and keep the child’s self-esteem intact. More often, well-intentioned parents try to protect their child from disappointment and tell the child that s/he does not have any superpowers. Now the child may hold on to the fantasy even harder to preserve his sense of power or the child may fear devastation of his self-esteem if he dares dream of being anybody special.

Can’t relate to the superhero scenario? How about this situation:

As a child you bring home a drawing you did in school and proudly show it to your mother. Mother is preoccupied with other tasks, doesn’t sense your enthusiasm about your drawing, and, in a disinterested voice tells you “That’s nice.” Or, as Dr. Paris adds, the mother finds fault with the drawing.

The mother did not mirror or reflect back the child’s enthusiasm. The child is humiliated for feeling proud and disappointed in her mother. Moving forward, the child decides not to show future drawings to her mother. In fact, the child tells herself that she isn’t very good at drawing which may, in turn, become a block to immersing in creativity.

Our need for validation, for reflection of our sense of greatness does not end with childhood. Our need for the admiration of others continues throughout life. Even the most self-confident person needs to feel validated by others.

At this point our childhood experiences and our lifelong history influence how we deal with current blocks.

Blocks and Fears

Dr. Paris briefly discusses the ability to feel special, the capacity to immerse and receive constructive criticism before discussing blocks and fears. The following are common blocks and fears that artists may face in the realm of feeling special and great.

Absence of Positive Mirroring in Childhood

In this situation, you may have grown up without positive mirroring from others and do not expect to receive this kind of affirmation. To work through this, we must begin to clearly ask for what we need from those around us.  Yes, that may not be as easy as it sounds. Aren’t we taught, especially women, to NOT ask for what we want?

Another alternative, if asking for what you need is not easy, is to visualize someone or an entire audience being appreciative of your work. Perhaps you can then begin to visualize asking for what you want or need to hear.

Fear of Exposure and Not Being Good Enough

I think many of us can relate to this situation. How often have you said to yourself “I’m afraid people will discover I’m a fraud” or that you’ll be “found out.” Or how about this one: “I would have done better if I had spent more time on it.”

Many of these statements stem from our fear of rejection or criticism. Rejection or criticism injures our self-esteem. Therefore we procrastinate, avoid immersion, don’t fully invest ourselves, and shield ourselves from a full creative experience. In some sense, we can’t live up to our own high standards or previous successes. We keep our selves from taking risks.

Fear of Success

This one is key for me. For the most part, I’ve moved past the fear of failure scenario. Nowadays, I tend to fear success. Sounds silly doesn’t it? And where does this fear come from? Fear of change.

Think about it. Success may mean a change in lifestyle; finances improve, new friends emerge, professional visibility increases.

Uh-oh. But I like my comfort zone.

As Dr. Paris points out the creation of anything new involves the destruction of something old, which brings considerable anxiety.

The Fear of Having Nothing to Offer

Ah, another one I can relate to; the fear of having nothing of value to offer or that no one would be interested in our gifts. Ever say to yourself “Who would want to buy this stuff?”

While we need to receive positive mirroring from others in order to be nourished, we also need to be able to provide nourishment to others. The give and take between self and others, or between self and creative medium, creates a mutuality of interaction that underlies our strength and confidence. When we experience being a capable and trustworthy provider to others, we may then feel that we have something valuable to offer through an artistic realm.

Guides

Dr. Paris concludes this chapter with the following tasks to consider.

• Dare to dream big. Take back your dreams of childhood and reach for them.
• Evaluate your support network. The presence of others in your life does not mean they provide the kind of support you need.
• Reach out for support. Be aware of what you need and be able to ask for it.
• Mentor or teach others. Self-confidence and strength are bolstered when we feel others recognize our skills.

Join Me

I invite you to join me as I read Standing at Water’s Edge. You can purchase the book through Amazon, Dr. Paris’s web site, or perhaps find it at your local library or bookstore. My goal is to post every 7-10 days a summary of the chapter and share any a-ha moments that occurred. I welcome your comments on this and successive posts. Share your a-ha moments and experiences while reading the book. You can join in at any time. If you have a blog and are also writing about your experiences with this book, please include a link to your blog in your comment. I’ll include your blogs at the end of my posts.

Book Outline

Standing at Water’s Edge is divided into three parts with 10 chapters as follows:

Part 1: The Secret World of Creativity
Chapter 1: The Secret World of Creativity
Chapter 2: The Light and Dark of Immersion

Part II: Relationships
Chapter 3: The Need for Others
Chapter 4: Finding Strength in Mirrors
Chapter 5: Finding Inspiration in Heroes
Chapter 6: Finding Comfort in Twins
Chapter 7: Connecting with the Audience and Meeting Deadlines

Part III: Stages of the Creative Process
Chapter 8: Approaching Immersion
Chapter 9: Diving In
Chapter 10: Coping with Disengagement and Reentry

On the printout of a partition table, in the BLOCKS column, several
partition block count have a ‘+’ at the end – some do not. What does
this mean?

It means that the partition does not end on the 1k block boundary.
In other words the partition has an odd number of 512 bytes sectors
allocated. Use “x” command and then “p” to see.