suziebeezieland

i want this cat

I got this from my friend Tricia, who also wants this cat. :)

I'm thinking if we send the owners a mailing label and some shipping tape, they can get him to us by next week.

i love google

Google these two words:

anagram

recursion

:)

chicken?

According to Google's webmaster tools, these are the top ten most common words in suziebeezieland. 

I'm a little upset that both God and Claire come after "chicken". :D

the 2012 take twelve project

Today I’m chatting with Elizabeth Dillow, who has recently collaborated with Angie Lucas at Ella Publishing Co. to create the 2012 Take Twelve Project. It’s a challenge to take 12 photos on the 12th of the month for the next 12 months. A guided inspiration kit is available for downloading to help motivate and inspire participants as they go.

Suzanne: Before I ask you specifically about the 2012 Take Twelve Project, Elizabeth, can you give us a little history of your own involvement with scrapbooking?

Elizabeth: I started pasting birthday invitations and post cards into a very acidic brown album when I was about four years old; this led to an era of sticker albums in which I carefully collected and traded all varieties of stickers with friends. I jumped into the world of modern scrapbooking in 2002 after two years of lurking around Two Peas in a Bucket, absorbing as much as I could.

Suzanne: What has your professional involvement in scrapbooking and other memory-keeping been to this point, and what are you currently working on?

Elizabeth: I began contributing to Simple Scrapbooks magazine in 2005, and later went on to become a contributing editor for the magazine until it sadly ceased publication in 2009. I won a spot in the Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame in 2006, and had the amazing opportunity to write a book for the publishing house of both magazines in 2007 (The Scrapbooker’s Almanac). I’ve also worked as an instructor for Big Picture Classes since 2006, co-founded Write.Click.Scrapbook. in 2009, and continue to work for my old editor at Simple (Angie Lucas) at her new company, Ella Publishing Co. My current projects include a second run of my Design Challenges class at Big Picture (registration is open, class begins April 25), and I am a contributor to a really cool upcoming eBook at Ella called Books and Crafts. It will appeal to you : )

Suzanne: Do you have a personal “philosophy” of scrapbooking?

Elizabeth: Yes, definitely: scrapbooking should be guilt-free—meaning, you should never worry about getting “caught up.” Just tell stories as they speak to you. I also believe that it’s important to cultivate the process of scrapbooking by challenging yourself creatively and seeking inspiration regularly. It’s impossible to sustain a hobby if you get bored with it.

Suzanne: And what has your own involvement been with photo challenges? How has it affected how you approach memory-keeping and photography?

Elizabeth: I love photo challenges! I first participated in one at Two Peas run by Marci Lambert in November 2005; the challenge was to take one photo each day for a month. I was immediately hooked, and have completed a whole bunch of month-long projects and two year-long photo-a-day projects since. One photo can’t possibly capture the entire story of a day, but it certainly captures at least one story—those collections of stories are among the most dear to me.

Suzanne: So tell us the basic premise of the 2012 Take Twelve Project.

Elizabeth: The Take Twelve Project is based on a simple concept: on the 12th of the month, take twelve photos (or more, and narrow it down to twelve) to tell the story of that particular day. It’s a great snapshot of your life!

Suzanne: I am wanting to participate in this, but I am already (obviously) running two months late on this project, and that is pretty much the story of my life. Ha. Can you tell me the advantages to committing to the parameters of a photo project, even if I’m running behind?

Elizabeth: How about a kind of unrelated story to illustrate why it’s worth it? I started keeping a book diary in 1998. I had a little bit of a bad attitude about it when I started because I was so mad at myself for not having started, say, when I began reading in elementary school. Think of all those books I missed documenting! But I did it anyway, and I’ve continued to do it without fail since 1998 (though I did transition to Goodreads for my record keeping in 2008). If I’d never started because it was so “late,” I would have missed out on fourteen years of book-keeping. It’s kind of the same with photo projects and scrapbooking; you’ll be so glad you did it in hindsight that it won’t matter that you didn’t start when you think you should have started.

Suzanne: I’m enjoying looking at my Take Twelve Kit, which I ordered and downloaded all online. There are all kinds of goodies in here. I honestly am wanting to hug you for all the ideas, because it is making me feel excited about scrapbooking again, and grabbing some of these memories before they fly out of my old brain. How do you recommend best using the guided photo checklists, for instance?

Elizabeth: The guided checklists are great because you can use them as inspiration only, or you can actually plan to follow them and practice your photojournalist skills by taking the photos listed. Either way, you’ll get behind your camera and think deliberately about capturing the people you love, the activities you value, and the stories you create. You can’t go wrong when you’re doing those things.

Suzanne: What are other elements of the Take Twelve Kit that you enjoyed developing and think we are going to love using?

Elizabeth: I am a huge fan of the List-It! line of journaling cards that Ella Publishing Co. sells—they are a really fun, quick way to jot down information whether you decide to add them to a scrapbook page or just print them out and stick them on a book ring or a bulletin board. I also am a huge advocate of sketches, and the sketches that Donna Jannuzzi created for the kit are wonderful. They can be used for any scrapbooking, too—not just the Take Twelve Project!

Suzanne: And I see in the kit that you advocate documenting even the most boring of days. Say, for instance, that I have a completely ho-hum March 12, involving the school run, housework, a few errands, making dinner, maybe a little television at the end of the day … why should I keep track of this?

Elizabeth: Wouldn’t you just love to know what your great-great grandmother did on her completely ho-hum March 12? Exactly.

Suzanne: At the end of this project, what, ideally, will I have to show for it?

Elizabeth: The first time I played along with this project in 2010 I kept it very, very simple; I turned my twelve photos into a collage at Big Huge Labs and blogged a little about each photo before the next 12th of the month rolled around. At the end of the year I turned all my photo collages and notes into a cute little 4 x 6 album, and it is a treasure to look back and remember all those moments. This year I’m creating a full-size page each month with my photos. It’s really whatever you want it to be! If you only blog about your photos, that’s great. If you decide to turn them into something fancier, well, you’ll be thrilled you did that, too. It’s a win-win situation no matter what!

Suzanne: Thank you so much, Elizabeth. I am excited about participating in this project, and will be posting my Take Twelve photos and layouts here in suziebeezieland. If any of you also feel inspired to do this, please make sure and let me know here in comments so that we can keep track of how it’s going, and enjoy each other’s memory-keeping!

the secret garden

Claire and I were playing with Kinotopic more this morning, because it's fun! I thought it would be fun to mess around with this pretty Puffin cover from The Secret Garden.  I think it looks a little smoother on the actual Kinotopic site, because there it's a little movie there rather than just an animated gif.

tweet tweet

This is my first cinemagraph. I made it using the Kinotopic app.

I (obviously) need to practice, but it's really fun!

It kind of looks like a tattoo on somebody's arm, but actually I used a Rae Dunn (off-white) vase with a birdy on it, and wiggled it for a little bit for my 3-second video. The app takes you through what to do once you have that little video. It seems to work best if the movement you're using is rhythmic and slight and not too jerky.

Some of the cinemagraphs people have made are so fantastic. I especially like this one with berries, and this one with tea steam, and this one with the plant's reflection in the window, and this one with the construction site. And this one with the skirt. And this one with the smoke. Magical! Click on the "top" link next to "featured" and "latest" to see the best ones.

(Kinotopic is my new favorite app. I'm horribly fickle when it comes to apps, but it seems like each is more glorious than the next with what they can all do.)

what i have to offer the world of physics

I've always thought it would be really cool to make an important contribution to physics.

Up until today, it seemed pretty unlikely I would do this, because:

(a) I don't really understand physics, and

(b) I lack federal funding.

However! I do not think I am being immodest in boasting that I do, in fact, have the following important observation to offer the world of physics:

All my favorite physicists have interesting hair.

In some cases, I can tell his or her hair is interesting because this is obvious.

In other cases, I can tell his or her hair is interesting because although he or she has gone to some lengths to tame or disguise this tendency toward interestingness, certain errant hairs and/or the extreme amount of hair product used testifies to the hair's innate interestingness.

Gallileo Gallilei (1564-1642, Italian)

He performed fundamental observations, experiments, and mathematical analyses in astronomy and physics, and discovered mountains and craters on the moon, the phases of Venus, and the four largest satellites of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede.

And he had interesting hair:

Nikola Tesla (1857-1943, Serbian-born American)

He created alternating current.

And he had interesting hair:

Marie Curie (1867-1934, Polish-born French)

She discovered the radioactivity of thorium and co-discovered radium and polonium.

And she had interesting hair:

Albert Einstein (1879-1955 German-born American)

He explained the Brownian motion and the photoelectric effect, contributed to the theory of atomic spectra, and formulated theories of special and general relativity.

And he had interesting hair:

 

Niels Bohr (1885-1962, Danish)

He contributed to quantum theory and to the theory of nuclear reactions and nuclear fission.

And he had interesting hair:

Erwin Schrödinger (1887-1961, Austrian)

He contributed to the creation of quantum mechanics and formulated the Schrödinger wave equation.

And he had interesting hair:

Louis de Broglie (1892-1987, French)

He predicted wave properties of the electron.

And he had interesting hair:

Richard Feynman (1918-1988, American)

He co-developed quantum electrodynamics and created a new formalism for practical calculations by introducing a graphical method called Feynman diagrams.

And he had interesting hair:

Makato Kobayashi (1944-Present, Japanese)

He contributed to the theoretical understanding of CP-violation and co-discovered the origin of the broken symmetry that predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks.

And he has interesting hair:

Edward Witten (1951-Present, American)

He made fundamental contributions to manifold theory, string theory, M-theory, and the theory of supersymmetric quantum mechanics, and is generally considered the greatest theoretical physicist in the world.

The things he has thought of are super cool.

And he has interesting hair:

Everyone should have a favorite physicist.

An easy way to determine who your favorite physicist is is to choose one based on his or her hairstyle.

Who is your favorite physicist?

elevenses

To say that Bilbo's breath was taken away is no description at all. There are no words left to express his staggerment ... (JRR Tolkien, The Hobbit)

 I turned 46 last Friday, which as you may recall was 11/11/11.

My sweet husband surprised me with a Hobbit-themed "elevenses" party at 11:00 a.m. If you are not familiar with "elevenses," it is the meal that the Hobbits eat between second breakfast and luncheon. (They call it "elevensies".)

It is a brief, healing pause in the crisis of the day. :)

Hobbits prefer to eat six times a day: Breakfast, Second Breakfast, Elevensies, Luncheon, Afternoon Tea, Dinner, and Supper.

Bob had sent out funny Hobbit invitations, and gone to an English tearoom to buy some wonderful jams and drinks and sausage rolls. His mom and my mom helped him get set up, and he made scrambled eggs and cooked bangers (sausage) on the grill, and there were two types of bacon, and scones and REAL clotted cream, and he had decorated and had games for us to play ... riddles (Hobbits love riddles) and oh, it was so sweet I could hardly stand it.

Four of us there had just read The Hobbit this year, so that made it especially fun.

Long live elevenses, and Hobbits, and sweet husbands.

"'Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo you fool!' he said to himself,
and it became a favorite saying of his later, and passed into a proverb."

"It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations,
if you live near him."

"There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West.
Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure.
If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”

book character dress-up day at school

daniel smeeth, unrehearsed voiceover artist

I posted this on my Facebook wall, but have to share it here, too.

I keep laughing when I even think about it. (via The Blazing Center)

how to insult like shakespeare

This could come in handy. {via The Blazing Center}

How To Annoy Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings Fans

(via Stephen Altrogge's blog, The Blazing Center)

in which claire takes to wearing her hallowe'en wig around the house on a regular basis

wheeeee!!!!!!!!

Claire made a zipline for her doll. :)

the new guy

Claire and her dad and grandpa (Bob's dad) went to a Galaxy game on Saturday night and got to see the newest player, Robbie Keane, play his first Galaxy game and make his first Galaxy goal. The Galaxy beat the San Jose Earthquakes 2-0. Hooray!

Robbie is Irish (and the current captain of the Republic of Ireland International Team), and came to the Galaxy from Tottenham Hotspur. He's really good -- Ireland's highest goalscorer ever, and the tenth leading all-time scorer in Premier League history -- so we're all pretty excited to have him. 

Bob said he's going to be a really fun addition. Robbie had just set foot in L.A. for the first time ever 52 hours earlier, and kablooey, a goal, right off the plane, with jet lag. I'm looking forward to seeing him play.

The Galaxy is now the team to beat. :)

(Needless to say, I didn't take these next three photos. They're from the news.)

fernando winner

Congratulations to commenter number four, Jennie, for winning the Fernando Ortega CD! Jennie, I will give it to you when you come for book club! So funny!

fernando ortega CD giveaway

Fernando Ortega has a new CD out! :) He is my favorite and my best, so I am excited about this. 

If you would like to win a copy of Come Down O Love Divine, sign up here in comments before midnight Pacific Daylight Time on Wednesday, August 17. I will draw one name on Thursday to receive the album. 

ps I am happy to ship overseas, so go ahead and sign up if you would like to, even if you live hither or yon. :)

the last day of second grade + the first day of summer vacation

Yesterday was Claire's last day of second grade. I have loved her second grade year, and got a little teary. :)

It was a half-day at school, and her class had a party at a local park. It was also International Day at her school, so the kids got to dress according to their cultural heritage.

"What am I?" Claire asked. 

"Your grandma is Canadian, so you are one quarter Canadian. You're also English, Irish, French, German and Danish on my side, and English, Irish, and Swedish on your dad's side."

"Okay, but what am I, exactly?" She wanted a clean-cut answer that would settle the question of (1) what to wear and (2) what food to bring.

"You're American."

"But I want to be SOMETHING tomorrow."

Finally, we settled on English. She wore her Paddington Bear t-shirt and took some scones from Trader Joe's (my oven is still out of commission from the cake ruckus), and I'm pretty sure I heard her speaking with a British accent at one point during the party's water balloon fight. :)

Claire's second grade teacher is also a dear family friend from church. She is a lovely, intelligent, kind, and Godly woman, and we love her very much.

She is a third-culture kid, who grew up with her missionary parents in Thailand. Claire's current favorite thing to do is write her name in Thai on things.

 

Some of the older folks who were doing Tai Chi in the park in the morning stopped and gathered around to watch Claire's class play games. It was sweet. :)

Our community is predominantly Asian, mostly from China and Taiwan, but one of the older gentlemen heard the kids saying some Thai words during one of the games, and came and spoke Thai with Claire's teacher, who is fluent. That was exciting for the kids, to hear her conversing in Thai. :) Claire is still talking about it today. 

The girls from her class said an emotional summer goodbye to each other back at school. :)

Then after school, my sister and I took Claire and Jonathan and Grace to Shakey's for pizza, to celebrate now having two third-graders and one fifth-grader. Sniff.

We are going to be busy this weekend and next week, but today, the Official First Day of Summer Vacation, I promised Claire a pajama day.

She is taking it very seriously. :)

The dolls are having a pajama day, too. :)

Yay, summer!

a few of my favorite iphone apps

 
Our family has made its way through intense, short-lived family fads with all kinds of iPhone and iPad apps. Angry Birds, Tiny Wings, Cut the Rope, Doodle Jump, Pictureka ... you name it, we've all gotten excited about it for a week at a time before fickly moving on to whatever is newer and more exciting. :) And you already know that I'm a Hipstamatic fan, because the photos appear here in suziebeezieland whenever I'm caught out with my phone but without my camera.  I also regularly use such popular apps as Facebook and Fandango.

Here are a few others I use regularly, which have stood the test of time around here. :)

What are some of your favorite apps?

Cartolina
Cartolina allows you to send brief messages embellished with graphic designer Fiona Richards' really pretty artwork. The current version cost me $1.99 and has been updated for free regularly with lovely new graphics. The current app is unavailable for download between June 3 and June 13, but a new Cartolina app will be available on the 13th. I'm excited.

Weight Watchers Mobile
This app allows me to track my points while I'm on the go, and gives me access to the huge WW food database, as well as any custom info I've saved to my online WW account. It has been invaluable. The app is free to WW members.

ESV Bible
This Bible app is so good that when I'm out and about, I frequently use it in lieu of carrying my Bible with me. The Browse feature is quick and easy. It's free. Also, I am in the process of using it to memorize Bible verses while I dry my hair in the morning. :) Drying my hair is a tedious chore that I hate, but is now more interesting since I've started propping my phone on the counter, open to the ESV. I know I could also have done that with my regular Bible, but I never thought to do it. :)

Run Pee
This is actually a pretty well-known app, but I'm just including it in case you have not heard of it. Despite its crass name, this is really a helpful little app: it lets you know when the lulls are going to occur in the movie you're watching, so that you can schedule your restroom breaks accordingly. I have only used it for big, blockbuster movies. I'm not sure what it considers a "lull" in smaller Indie films which some folks might consider "all lull". :D

Stack the States
This is a game Bob downloaded for Claire on his iPad, and which I later downloaded for her on my iPhone, because it was such a hit. She played through quickly and with great enthusiasm, and now knows more about U.S. geography than either Bob or I do. (I kid you not.) She followed this with Stack the Countries, and again, can fill in the names on a blank map, while Bob and I stare blankly. :) Stack the States is 99 cents, and Stack the Countries is $1.99. Money well spent.

Realtor.com
The Realtor.com app can use your current location to tell you where Open Houses are close by, and then guide you there via GPS. You can also customize it to find Open Houses anywhere you'd like, as well as just browse homes for sale. Fun for a Sunday afternoon driving around nice neighborhoods, especially if you're nosy like I am. :) Free.

Pocket First Aid & CPR
I haven't had to use this, but I'm happy it's on my phone. Compassion International's Dan Wooley used the app to help himself survive when he was trapped in the Haiti earthquake. It has an emergency quick reference section for things like Adult & Child Choking, Bad Allergic Reaction, Bleeding, Heart Attack, Shock, Stroke, etc., and also has more in-depth information on many different first-aid-needed scenarios. Sometimes I read it recreationally when I'm having to sit around and wait for something, because I figure it can't hurt to have that info inside my head. :)

'cause we support L.A.! L-A L-A L-A! L-A L-A L-A!

Bob and I took Claire and our niece and nephew to a Galaxy game last night. They were playing DC United. 

Alas, neither team scored. And alas, Landon Donovan (the leading goal scorer in MLS soccer this season) is currently off playing on the U.S. National Team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

But the weather was great, the crowd was fun, they had good snacks, they got to see Beckham, and they could be as goofy as they wanted to be. It was a very good evening.

I took a couple few-second videos. In this first video, you can see the kids cheering.

In this second video, you can see Beckham run across the field and make a corner kick, and you can see Claire getting popcorn out of her teeth, and you can see me put my phone away but forget to turn off the video, so you might get seasick at the end. It's a low-budget operation around here in suziebeezieland, so I don't hire any film editors. :)