Connections (triggered by "Learning Expansively")
Sandra Dodd
I hope people here will share some of their takes of connections.
Here's mine from this morning.
A couple of days ago, I bought a DVD, LIttle Britain Live. Holly and
I went into a video store to see if High School Musical II was out.
December 11, they said. Holly got interested in that because of Zac
Efron, who was in Hairspray, which she's seen three times, I think.
So that's running backwards through the connections, but I want to
run forward.
This morning I was watching Little Britain, videotaped from a stage
show (I've seen most of the TV episodes through season 3). One skit
was the travel agency, the "Computer says 'no'" character. A mom
wanted to take her ill daughter to DisneyWorld. Her choices were a
flight leaving in ten minutes, or a flight to Zimbabwe from which
they would have to get to DisneyWorld on foot. No, the mom thought.
So he offered her a flight to Preston.
I don't guess I've ever heard of Preston. The audience reaction and
the comedian's comeback made me curious. I was watching it on one
side of my computer screen while I did e-mail on the other
(frequently paused because I also was cleaning the kitchen, eating
breakfast, feeding the birds, making my bed, in various bursts of up
and down from the computer).
There were maps and official city sites, but I decided to go with
Wikipedia, because I know nothing for starters.
Preston was made the 50th city in England, in the 50th year of the
reign of Elizabeth II. (Just a few years ago.) The history of
Preston, though, as a crossroads and this and that, goes back over
1000 years.
I sent the article to my friend Jeff, for the 50th year/50th city
part, because he's really interested in things like that.
I clicked on "Riot Act" because there was a cotton workers' protest
incident in the 19th century, and read what Wikipedia had to say
about The Riot Act (very, very cool, and all news to me). I sent
that link and a comment to my friend Jon who is the local assistant
district attorney in charge of violent crimes. He's interested in
history too, and he and Jeff and I have all been in the SCA together
for a long time. Jon was formally one of my proteges (for those of
you who understand that lingo, and he's now a Master of the Pelican,
but...)
Jon sent this:
=========================
Ah - reading someone the riot act. Very interesting.
I thought it was going to say that this was why we have, as part of
the First Amendment, the right of freedom of assembly, but apparently
not. :)
Here's mine from this morning.
A couple of days ago, I bought a DVD, LIttle Britain Live. Holly and
I went into a video store to see if High School Musical II was out.
December 11, they said. Holly got interested in that because of Zac
Efron, who was in Hairspray, which she's seen three times, I think.
So that's running backwards through the connections, but I want to
run forward.
This morning I was watching Little Britain, videotaped from a stage
show (I've seen most of the TV episodes through season 3). One skit
was the travel agency, the "Computer says 'no'" character. A mom
wanted to take her ill daughter to DisneyWorld. Her choices were a
flight leaving in ten minutes, or a flight to Zimbabwe from which
they would have to get to DisneyWorld on foot. No, the mom thought.
So he offered her a flight to Preston.
I don't guess I've ever heard of Preston. The audience reaction and
the comedian's comeback made me curious. I was watching it on one
side of my computer screen while I did e-mail on the other
(frequently paused because I also was cleaning the kitchen, eating
breakfast, feeding the birds, making my bed, in various bursts of up
and down from the computer).
There were maps and official city sites, but I decided to go with
Wikipedia, because I know nothing for starters.
Preston was made the 50th city in England, in the 50th year of the
reign of Elizabeth II. (Just a few years ago.) The history of
Preston, though, as a crossroads and this and that, goes back over
1000 years.
I sent the article to my friend Jeff, for the 50th year/50th city
part, because he's really interested in things like that.
I clicked on "Riot Act" because there was a cotton workers' protest
incident in the 19th century, and read what Wikipedia had to say
about The Riot Act (very, very cool, and all news to me). I sent
that link and a comment to my friend Jon who is the local assistant
district attorney in charge of violent crimes. He's interested in
history too, and he and Jeff and I have all been in the SCA together
for a long time. Jon was formally one of my proteges (for those of
you who understand that lingo, and he's now a Master of the Pelican,
but...)
Jon sent this:
=========================
Ah - reading someone the riot act. Very interesting.
I thought it was going to say that this was why we have, as part of
the First Amendment, the right of freedom of assembly, but apparently
not. :)
On 9/21/07, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
I was watching Little Britain Live (a DVD I just got) and they
mentioned Preston, and I looked it up, and it talked about an
instance of The Riot Act so I looked THAT up and this is really
interesting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riot_Act
============================
and
============================
That is interesting. No last rites or whatever Anglicans do that's
essentially the same. :)
On 9/21/07, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
I meant to say, the thing that interested me the most was "punishable
by death without benefit of clergy." I didn't know there was ever
any such sentence.
===============================
I don't know whether all those reading this will have known already
that "The Anglican church" is what Americans tend to call The Church
of England, and those who are members of what would have been The
Church of England are Episcopalians.
All that has happened before Marty and Holly ever woke up. I might
share some of it with them, or might not. It might not be today.
They have those kinds of connections going on in their own lives
without me, though. Sometimes they share them. Sometimes it's the
same day, or sometimes it's when something I say or see or do reminds
them and they hook me up with the puzzle piece they already have, and
we go on to build bigger universes in our heads.
Sandra
P.S.
For those who might be curious about these two people I sent my
exciting LIttle-Britain-inspired finds to,
http://sandradodd.com/duckford/balthazar
http://sandradodd.com/tw/bio/balthazar
and a photo of his shield was on The Lyrics Game one day http://
lyricsgame.blogspot.com/2007/07/house.html
http://sandradodd.com/artan/
Jeff is mentioned in the article "What Marty Really Needed," which is
in Moving a Puddle and here:
http://sandradodd.com/martymap
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
diana jenner
On 9/21/07, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
our trip won (bought) a KC Chiefs window hangie thingamabobber. He thought
we should send it to the "unschoolers who sing the Kansas City Song" (Ken &
Amy Briggs). When we were at Burger King the other day, the kids' prizes are
NFL related. He first found KC Chiefs and reiterated his connection to the
team, which led to a talk of the Briggs' actually living in NY -- "NY has
TWO teams!!" As he browsed the other teams, he happened upon Cleveland
Browns -- "Oh! Now I get the joke on Family Guy!! Cleveland's last name is
Brown, I thought it was because of his skin color, well it is! Both!" I
didn't realize how many football jokes have been on that series, but Hayden
knew of a few others and it is just now that they're connecting and
beginning to make sense.
I never knew how multi-layered most movies and television shows are, until I
lived the freedom of no censorship with my kids. I'm excited to watch Shrek
again with Hayden... we've not seen it in over a year and I know his sense
of humor has drastically changed, he's more aware of innuendo, it will most
likely be a whole new movie for him. I will miss his *younger* perspective
as much as I look forward to this *older* one.
I remember the very first time I watched South Park with Hayden, who was
about 6 at the time. Boy was *I* uncomfortable!!! It was the episode, for
those who know, where the comet is coming, they're all gonna die and the two
dads masturbate one another in the hot tub. I really had no idea how to deal
with this explanation that surely my kid will demand of me... it never came.
He didn't understand the term, moved on to what he *did* understand (a
different tangent of the story, a different layer), found it funny and then
didn't watch the show again for a couple of years. He watches it now and
though it's a different understanding than he had at 6, he's 9 now, he's not
watching it through the same filters as I am.
[not to mention we've had many many talks about the guys who make South Park
and their terrible public school experiences (which has tangent-ed into
Bowling for Columbine) and the controversy over the Tom Cruise in the Closet
episode and standing up for your principles (they threatened to pull the
whole show if the episode was not re-aired - South Park vs Comedy Central vs
Scientologists) which leads back to Family Guy and when they were going to
be canceled and they changed Stewie's words from "laugh and cry" to "efffin
cry" (check it out with closed captioning!) and the connections go on and on
and on]
--
~diana :)
xoxoxoxo
hannahbearski.blogspot.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>Football has been a big connector lately. Hayden loves claw machines and on
> I hope people here will share some of their takes of connections.
>
>
>
our trip won (bought) a KC Chiefs window hangie thingamabobber. He thought
we should send it to the "unschoolers who sing the Kansas City Song" (Ken &
Amy Briggs). When we were at Burger King the other day, the kids' prizes are
NFL related. He first found KC Chiefs and reiterated his connection to the
team, which led to a talk of the Briggs' actually living in NY -- "NY has
TWO teams!!" As he browsed the other teams, he happened upon Cleveland
Browns -- "Oh! Now I get the joke on Family Guy!! Cleveland's last name is
Brown, I thought it was because of his skin color, well it is! Both!" I
didn't realize how many football jokes have been on that series, but Hayden
knew of a few others and it is just now that they're connecting and
beginning to make sense.
I never knew how multi-layered most movies and television shows are, until I
lived the freedom of no censorship with my kids. I'm excited to watch Shrek
again with Hayden... we've not seen it in over a year and I know his sense
of humor has drastically changed, he's more aware of innuendo, it will most
likely be a whole new movie for him. I will miss his *younger* perspective
as much as I look forward to this *older* one.
I remember the very first time I watched South Park with Hayden, who was
about 6 at the time. Boy was *I* uncomfortable!!! It was the episode, for
those who know, where the comet is coming, they're all gonna die and the two
dads masturbate one another in the hot tub. I really had no idea how to deal
with this explanation that surely my kid will demand of me... it never came.
He didn't understand the term, moved on to what he *did* understand (a
different tangent of the story, a different layer), found it funny and then
didn't watch the show again for a couple of years. He watches it now and
though it's a different understanding than he had at 6, he's 9 now, he's not
watching it through the same filters as I am.
[not to mention we've had many many talks about the guys who make South Park
and their terrible public school experiences (which has tangent-ed into
Bowling for Columbine) and the controversy over the Tom Cruise in the Closet
episode and standing up for your principles (they threatened to pull the
whole show if the episode was not re-aired - South Park vs Comedy Central vs
Scientologists) which leads back to Family Guy and when they were going to
be canceled and they changed Stewie's words from "laugh and cry" to "efffin
cry" (check it out with closed captioning!) and the connections go on and on
and on]
--
~diana :)
xoxoxoxo
hannahbearski.blogspot.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Shannon Rizzo
On 9/21/07, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...
<mailto:Sandra%40sandradodd.com> > wrote:
a gourmet cook, and my oldest daughter loves to cook as well (she made
French Toast for us this morning, my other daughter made waffles and bacon -
we had a feast!). My oldest daughter, Heather, loves to snuggle with her
dad and watch "Good Eats." It's a great connection for the two of them.
Heather will often watch a Good Eats and run to make one of the dishes. My
husband will save some of the episodes to watch with her, and it has
branched off into much cooking between the two of them, with one or the
other saving ideas to bring to the other to see if he/she wants to go
experiment. The kids love to go online to Alton's site and look over his
periodic table of cooking equipment to pick out birthday/holiday gifts for
their dad and grandpa.
Now we have begun watching "Feasting on Asphalt" and my husband is saving
those episodes on Tivo to share with Heather. We love road trips and can
easily see ourselves taking on a Feasting on Asphalt road trip someday: we
love exploring around the country and love adventure, and I am really
excited to connect with these restaurants Alton has highlighted (can't speak
for the rest of the family but they are usually excited about this too).
Shannon
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Checked by AVG Free Edition.
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11:53 AM
<mailto:Sandra%40sandradodd.com> > wrote:
>My husband and I love to watch "Good Eats" with Alton Brown. My husband is
> I hope people here will share some of their takes of connections.
>
a gourmet cook, and my oldest daughter loves to cook as well (she made
French Toast for us this morning, my other daughter made waffles and bacon -
we had a feast!). My oldest daughter, Heather, loves to snuggle with her
dad and watch "Good Eats." It's a great connection for the two of them.
Heather will often watch a Good Eats and run to make one of the dishes. My
husband will save some of the episodes to watch with her, and it has
branched off into much cooking between the two of them, with one or the
other saving ideas to bring to the other to see if he/she wants to go
experiment. The kids love to go online to Alton's site and look over his
periodic table of cooking equipment to pick out birthday/holiday gifts for
their dad and grandpa.
Now we have begun watching "Feasting on Asphalt" and my husband is saving
those episodes on Tivo to share with Heather. We love road trips and can
easily see ourselves taking on a Feasting on Asphalt road trip someday: we
love exploring around the country and love adventure, and I am really
excited to connect with these restaurants Alton has highlighted (can't speak
for the rest of the family but they are usually excited about this too).
Shannon
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.487 / Virus Database: 269.13.22/1015 - Release Date: 9/18/2007
11:53 AM
jenstarc4
We've had a lot of Sponge Bob connections lately. We went to the
beach last week and that just added to it.
We ended up camping at a beach camp site for a couple of days, then
came home checked on the cats, then went back to the beach to visit a
friend from out of town that was staying at a beach cabin (well more
like big beautiful house that used to be a cabin). We got there
later in the day and by the time we'd eaten dinner and such, it was
dark out. The kids really wanted to go to the beach still so we went
in the dark.
I've been to the beach hundreds of times, sometimes even at night and
I've never experienced what we experienced that night. When we were
walking along the area where everything has washed up, it was
sparkling like magic. There were glitters lighting up in the sand
evertime someone stepped or kicked up sand. It was the coolest thing
I've ever encountered at the beach. It turned out to be a type of
plankton, typically associated with a red tide, however there wasn't
a red tide. It is phospherescent and glows and glitters at night.
The girls were trying to see it with a flashlight and that just made
it glow more when the lights were off. They were experimenting with
how much you could see it doing various things with the sand like
tossing the sand or stomping or dragging your feet.
That started the whole Sponge Bob stuff all over because of
Plankton. The next morning we had planned on getting up early to go
see the tide pools. We didn't go see "tide pools" however, we went
to go see Patrick, and maybe a Squidward if we were lucky or maybe a
Sponge Bob. We saw lots of Patricks and Mr Krabs. We weren't
planning on seeing Mr Krabs, but we did and that was cool, but we
didn't see his daughter, she'd be pretty far out at sea.
All of the Sponge Bob stuff just added to more animal stuff, like the
vicious raccoons at the camp ground and the random bear hide at the
beach house that was smiling, yet really freaked us all out, which
led us to dog fights and dog behavior and how people contribute to it
in odd ways.
We have been playing 20 questions lately as well, which always leads
to the questions Person?, Place?, Or Thing?, then Animal?,
Vegetable?, Or Mineral?, which leads to wether you can call a Person
an Animal and some of us say you can and some of us say you can't and
it goes back to theoretical questions and such, which has on occasion
related back to Sponge Bob. (Margaux likes to ask if it's a piece of
toast, I have no idea, but she likes to ask that question in 20
questions)
beach last week and that just added to it.
We ended up camping at a beach camp site for a couple of days, then
came home checked on the cats, then went back to the beach to visit a
friend from out of town that was staying at a beach cabin (well more
like big beautiful house that used to be a cabin). We got there
later in the day and by the time we'd eaten dinner and such, it was
dark out. The kids really wanted to go to the beach still so we went
in the dark.
I've been to the beach hundreds of times, sometimes even at night and
I've never experienced what we experienced that night. When we were
walking along the area where everything has washed up, it was
sparkling like magic. There were glitters lighting up in the sand
evertime someone stepped or kicked up sand. It was the coolest thing
I've ever encountered at the beach. It turned out to be a type of
plankton, typically associated with a red tide, however there wasn't
a red tide. It is phospherescent and glows and glitters at night.
The girls were trying to see it with a flashlight and that just made
it glow more when the lights were off. They were experimenting with
how much you could see it doing various things with the sand like
tossing the sand or stomping or dragging your feet.
That started the whole Sponge Bob stuff all over because of
Plankton. The next morning we had planned on getting up early to go
see the tide pools. We didn't go see "tide pools" however, we went
to go see Patrick, and maybe a Squidward if we were lucky or maybe a
Sponge Bob. We saw lots of Patricks and Mr Krabs. We weren't
planning on seeing Mr Krabs, but we did and that was cool, but we
didn't see his daughter, she'd be pretty far out at sea.
All of the Sponge Bob stuff just added to more animal stuff, like the
vicious raccoons at the camp ground and the random bear hide at the
beach house that was smiling, yet really freaked us all out, which
led us to dog fights and dog behavior and how people contribute to it
in odd ways.
We have been playing 20 questions lately as well, which always leads
to the questions Person?, Place?, Or Thing?, then Animal?,
Vegetable?, Or Mineral?, which leads to wether you can call a Person
an Animal and some of us say you can and some of us say you can't and
it goes back to theoretical questions and such, which has on occasion
related back to Sponge Bob. (Margaux likes to ask if it's a piece of
toast, I have no idea, but she likes to ask that question in 20
questions)
Pam Tellew
Wow...I sat down to write about a cool series of connections we had
this evening and I find this thread...so there's a connection!
Nicky (my 8 yo) and I were reading through a rather randomly chosen
stack of library picture books. We were enchanted (entranced,
mesmerized!) by "Magic Beach," which I'd picked up because it's by
Crockett Johnson of Harold and the Purple Crayon fame. When we
finished Magic Beach (earlier published as Castles in the Sand),
Nicky started playing his DS, so I read the forward to Magic Beach,
which was by Maurice Sendak and he wrote about how he practically
lived with Crockett Johnson and his wife, Ruth Krauss and what a big
influence the couple had been on him. (You can really see it when
you look at their books with that in mind.)
Well, Ruth Kraus wrote "A Hole is to Dig," which I had as a young
kid and loved. ("Mud is to jump in and slide in and yell
doodleedoodleedoo" ""Oo! A rock is when you trip on it you should
have watched where you ar going" "A floor is so you don't fall in
the hole your house is in.") Maurice Sendak illustrated it. I
mentioned this to Nicky but didn't go looking for the book.
But then I read the afterward to Magic Beach and learned that
Crockett Johnson played with the legend of the fisher king in Magic
Beach. I wasn't sure I knew the legend so I googled it and wound up
on Wikipedia. I love Wikipedia cause I always wind up far afield of
where I start. I learned that the fisher king story is part of the
King Arthur legends (and probably Celtic myths as well). Nicky and i
had recently been reading some of those and researching them a little
because we'd been wondering how much of Monty Python and the Holy
Grail was Monty Python and how much was from the original Arthurian
legends. So I told Nicky about where the fisher king came from.
I was thinking about adding the Crocket Johnson book to the Wikipedia
list of modern versions of the fisher king and I googled Crockett
Johnson and discovered that he had done a comic strip called
Barnaby, which was popular during WWII. When Eric, my husband came
home, I told him all this because I had a feeling...well, turns out
Eric's dad was a big Barnaby fan, had all the books, and Eric read
them as a kid and still remembers some. So we're gonna check those
out (which might go well with watching the Ken Burns WWII documentary
coming up).
I also learned when reading about the fisher king that the wasteland
that the fisher king's kingdom had become was the basis of the name
and some of the themes in the T.S. Elliot poem. I mentioned that to
Nicky and my husband and Nicky wanted me to read it to him. I was
not up for that at 11:30 last night and was doubtful it would appeal
so I discouraged that but I think I will pull it out and read a
little to him if he still wants to. (I remember struggling with that
poem in college...yikes...better be careful not to pass on poetry-phobia!)
Then Nicky wanted to read Harold and the Purple Crayon, so I went to
pull that out....and what was next to it on the shelf? Ruth Krauss'
A Hole is to Dig, which I'd never shared with my kids! So I did and
that was all very fun. But then I got up to get ready for bed and I
was going to put the library books back on the shelf and noticed the
first book we read, which was "Bears" which I hadn't noticed was
by....Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Maurice Sendak!
Pam
this evening and I find this thread...so there's a connection!
Nicky (my 8 yo) and I were reading through a rather randomly chosen
stack of library picture books. We were enchanted (entranced,
mesmerized!) by "Magic Beach," which I'd picked up because it's by
Crockett Johnson of Harold and the Purple Crayon fame. When we
finished Magic Beach (earlier published as Castles in the Sand),
Nicky started playing his DS, so I read the forward to Magic Beach,
which was by Maurice Sendak and he wrote about how he practically
lived with Crockett Johnson and his wife, Ruth Krauss and what a big
influence the couple had been on him. (You can really see it when
you look at their books with that in mind.)
Well, Ruth Kraus wrote "A Hole is to Dig," which I had as a young
kid and loved. ("Mud is to jump in and slide in and yell
doodleedoodleedoo" ""Oo! A rock is when you trip on it you should
have watched where you ar going" "A floor is so you don't fall in
the hole your house is in.") Maurice Sendak illustrated it. I
mentioned this to Nicky but didn't go looking for the book.
But then I read the afterward to Magic Beach and learned that
Crockett Johnson played with the legend of the fisher king in Magic
Beach. I wasn't sure I knew the legend so I googled it and wound up
on Wikipedia. I love Wikipedia cause I always wind up far afield of
where I start. I learned that the fisher king story is part of the
King Arthur legends (and probably Celtic myths as well). Nicky and i
had recently been reading some of those and researching them a little
because we'd been wondering how much of Monty Python and the Holy
Grail was Monty Python and how much was from the original Arthurian
legends. So I told Nicky about where the fisher king came from.
I was thinking about adding the Crocket Johnson book to the Wikipedia
list of modern versions of the fisher king and I googled Crockett
Johnson and discovered that he had done a comic strip called
Barnaby, which was popular during WWII. When Eric, my husband came
home, I told him all this because I had a feeling...well, turns out
Eric's dad was a big Barnaby fan, had all the books, and Eric read
them as a kid and still remembers some. So we're gonna check those
out (which might go well with watching the Ken Burns WWII documentary
coming up).
I also learned when reading about the fisher king that the wasteland
that the fisher king's kingdom had become was the basis of the name
and some of the themes in the T.S. Elliot poem. I mentioned that to
Nicky and my husband and Nicky wanted me to read it to him. I was
not up for that at 11:30 last night and was doubtful it would appeal
so I discouraged that but I think I will pull it out and read a
little to him if he still wants to. (I remember struggling with that
poem in college...yikes...better be careful not to pass on poetry-phobia!)
Then Nicky wanted to read Harold and the Purple Crayon, so I went to
pull that out....and what was next to it on the shelf? Ruth Krauss'
A Hole is to Dig, which I'd never shared with my kids! So I did and
that was all very fun. But then I got up to get ready for bed and I
was going to put the library books back on the shelf and noticed the
first book we read, which was "Bears" which I hadn't noticed was
by....Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Maurice Sendak!
Pam
Gold Standard
Hannah (15) and I started watching Trading Spaces a couple years ago
together...a whole lot. We loved that show.
We don't so much anymore, but this is what happened.
Over time, we started to pick up little tips here and there about color,
texture, materials, planning, furniture, etc. from watching different
designers and people redo room after room after room. There was so much
diversity and creativity every time...we picked something up from each show.
Neither of us had any interior decorating experience. In fact, it's kind of
hard for me to envision physical space...just don't know how to put
something like a cool room together in my mind. I have to try things out and
see them to know if I like them. Anyway.
After about 6 months, Hannah decided to do over her room. First, she
culminated. Thought of different ideas, colors, angles, furniture. Then she
went online and found a website that let you try different color
combinations on walls, furniture and floor. At first she wanted to do big
squares of alternating bright pink and black. When we started to pencil out
the squares, she decided it was too much work (because after the penciling
comes the taping, then the painting of one color, then after drying the
re-taping, then the painting of another color) and so she chose a two-tone
wall look using green and rust colors. It was pretty sophisticated and had a
dramatic look when we were done. All of her siblings at one time or another
were in her room painting or taping, never asked, just automatically came in
to help. It was exciting.
Then we had a room change. For numerous reasons Andrew (18) moved into that
room, and Hannah was going to move into another room. By this time, she
wasn't so keen on the former design and decided to go with another idea. My
mom offered to pay for Hannah to put a new floor in that room. So Hannah
chose two tones of blue, one for walls and one for borders and baseboards
and outlets and doors, then purchased a white quilt for her bed with a whole
slew of different sizes and shapes of purple pillows for her bed. She put in
a wood floor (well, those snap-in wood-like floors) and viola! She has a
room of her dreams. She even found a brass leaf filled chandelier at at
Lowe's for 75% off. She used some of her money to pay for things and we
contributed. We love yard sales and Goodwill, and were able to get some
great things for little money.
Hannah did a ton of measuring, color research, discussion with professionals
(mostly at Lowe's), not to mention the down and dirty work of getting it all
done. We did have the floor installed but other than that, she just worked
away at it, and again, people came in to help.
Once her room was done, everyone started hanging out in there. It was a
beautiful, crisp room with cool and calming blues and purples. It just felt
good to be in there. Cameron (13) decided he wanted to redo his room. Only
his idea was quite different. He wanted everything taken out of his room,
the walls painted bright green and grass put in for flooring. We hit a dead
end with real grass (though we certainly researched what it would take [sun
lamps, drainage for water, etc]) and that steered us toward artificial
grass, which sparked a whole lot of research. We learned about 90 count
versus 60 count, the types of materials used, and how to get the softest
feel and the longest grass. Soon, Cam had a green-walled room with lush soft
grass for flooring. He wanted nothing put back in the room. So his room is
empty except for many big pillows, a two person soft big bean bag (foam)
chair, and his mattress on the floor. Everything else that was in his room
is in our front room, waiting for a yard sale.
Now everyone hangs out in Cameron's Zen-like room. Max's (17) jazz/funk/rock
band often goes in there to rehearse or hang out. Cam loves that. He loves
that people like to come hang out in this creation he made from his vision.
So connections upon connections upon connections. Life is just such a joy.
Jacki
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
together...a whole lot. We loved that show.
We don't so much anymore, but this is what happened.
Over time, we started to pick up little tips here and there about color,
texture, materials, planning, furniture, etc. from watching different
designers and people redo room after room after room. There was so much
diversity and creativity every time...we picked something up from each show.
Neither of us had any interior decorating experience. In fact, it's kind of
hard for me to envision physical space...just don't know how to put
something like a cool room together in my mind. I have to try things out and
see them to know if I like them. Anyway.
After about 6 months, Hannah decided to do over her room. First, she
culminated. Thought of different ideas, colors, angles, furniture. Then she
went online and found a website that let you try different color
combinations on walls, furniture and floor. At first she wanted to do big
squares of alternating bright pink and black. When we started to pencil out
the squares, she decided it was too much work (because after the penciling
comes the taping, then the painting of one color, then after drying the
re-taping, then the painting of another color) and so she chose a two-tone
wall look using green and rust colors. It was pretty sophisticated and had a
dramatic look when we were done. All of her siblings at one time or another
were in her room painting or taping, never asked, just automatically came in
to help. It was exciting.
Then we had a room change. For numerous reasons Andrew (18) moved into that
room, and Hannah was going to move into another room. By this time, she
wasn't so keen on the former design and decided to go with another idea. My
mom offered to pay for Hannah to put a new floor in that room. So Hannah
chose two tones of blue, one for walls and one for borders and baseboards
and outlets and doors, then purchased a white quilt for her bed with a whole
slew of different sizes and shapes of purple pillows for her bed. She put in
a wood floor (well, those snap-in wood-like floors) and viola! She has a
room of her dreams. She even found a brass leaf filled chandelier at at
Lowe's for 75% off. She used some of her money to pay for things and we
contributed. We love yard sales and Goodwill, and were able to get some
great things for little money.
Hannah did a ton of measuring, color research, discussion with professionals
(mostly at Lowe's), not to mention the down and dirty work of getting it all
done. We did have the floor installed but other than that, she just worked
away at it, and again, people came in to help.
Once her room was done, everyone started hanging out in there. It was a
beautiful, crisp room with cool and calming blues and purples. It just felt
good to be in there. Cameron (13) decided he wanted to redo his room. Only
his idea was quite different. He wanted everything taken out of his room,
the walls painted bright green and grass put in for flooring. We hit a dead
end with real grass (though we certainly researched what it would take [sun
lamps, drainage for water, etc]) and that steered us toward artificial
grass, which sparked a whole lot of research. We learned about 90 count
versus 60 count, the types of materials used, and how to get the softest
feel and the longest grass. Soon, Cam had a green-walled room with lush soft
grass for flooring. He wanted nothing put back in the room. So his room is
empty except for many big pillows, a two person soft big bean bag (foam)
chair, and his mattress on the floor. Everything else that was in his room
is in our front room, waiting for a yard sale.
Now everyone hangs out in Cameron's Zen-like room. Max's (17) jazz/funk/rock
band often goes in there to rehearse or hang out. Cam loves that. He loves
that people like to come hang out in this creation he made from his vision.
So connections upon connections upon connections. Life is just such a joy.
Jacki
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Nancy Wooton
On Sep 22, 2007, at 4:04 PM, Pam Tellew wrote:
napkins."
it for an 8 y.o., but it's really good. And, being on the connections
thread, it's directed by Monty Python's Terry Gilliam ;-)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101889/
Nancy
> Well, Ruth Kraus wrote "A Hole is to Dig," which I had as a youngI love that book! I think my favorite is, "A rug is so dogs have
> kid and loved. ("Mud is to jump in and slide in and yell
> doodleedoodleedoo" ""Oo! A rock is when you trip on it you should
> have watched where you ar going" "A floor is so you don't fall in
> the hole your house is in.") Maurice Sendak illustrated it. I
> mentioned this to Nicky but didn't go looking for the book.
napkins."
>Have you seen the film, "The Fisher King"? I don't think I'd recommend
> But then I read the afterward to Magic Beach and learned that
> Crockett Johnson played with the legend of the fisher king in Magic
> Beach. I wasn't sure I knew the legend so I googled it and wound up
> on Wikipedia. I love Wikipedia cause I always wind up far afield of
> where I start. I learned that the fisher king story is part of the
> King Arthur legends (and probably Celtic myths as well).
it for an 8 y.o., but it's really good. And, being on the connections
thread, it's directed by Monty Python's Terry Gilliam ;-)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101889/
Nancy
warblwarbl2000
--- In [email protected], Nancy Wooton <nancywooton@...>
wrote:
"Cats are so you can have kittens."
"Eyebrows are to go over your eyes."
"The sun is to tell you when it's every day."
and "Dishes are to do." And so I will!
Pam
wrote:
> I love that book! I think my favorite is, "A rug is so dogs haveOk, now I'm gonna want to go on and on with quotes:
> napkins."
>
"Cats are so you can have kittens."
"Eyebrows are to go over your eyes."
"The sun is to tell you when it's every day."
and "Dishes are to do." And so I will!
Pam