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#ds106 #4Life is Real – it transfers

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My ds106 journey started in January 2015 fast and furious!

RECAP: I decided to take the open course plunge because I wanted to begin the storytelling of my family in digital form for my kids and grandkids to have instead of a room full of photographs and momentos that would seem like just old stuff to them.

While I still continue the ds106 routines because they have become #4life – I am really seeing how “education” can turn into “life” and be useful.

Much like in high school, wondering when one would ever use algebra in real life – I trusted the ds106 non-rule rules for success. Many of which have been restated and re-emphasized by students in the traditional ds106 courses as advice to newbies. 

Big lesson learned: Start your weekly summary early in the week as you complete tasks and you will be set at the end of the week and not miss as much or feel overwhelmed.

YES!

That habit has helped me in now doing some weekly updates of family events and news. I keep a post in draft form and add to it as the week goes on. Just like ds106 where dailys, assignments, etc. all have a place, I have created the same type of organization for each section of the family. Some weeks get video summaries, some get photos, some get GIFs, etc. I seem to be coming up with a halfway decent outcome and the work is distributed over the week so I am keeping up with it.

So many of the non-rule rules transfer to life. The marker of a true artist environment of innovation, exploration, and creating, backed up by constant practice of skills and building skills, commitment to self and discipline.

It is that we are our own toughest judge – so just do it. Doing your own part without entitlement or expectations will bring others to begin to add and contribute making whatever you are doing even better.

Thanks #ds106 and the #ds106 community of #4Life….

(Due to some of the information and the comfort level of family members about info on the internet – the majority of my family documentation is in closed or private formats – I keep a separate WP setup just for family memories – otherwise I’d be glad to share)

Coming up for Air – Baby Here Soon!

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Geesh! Time flies when you are doing lots of different things.

I took on some consulting hours to help an organization write their technology plan and have ended up taking on the clean up of their website. A content management system is used which is great and distributes work. But for the last 3 years there have been many transitions and all of the check points fell off the map. The front end just look tired and had some dead ends, some loops and some things that were conflicting- not too bad, but only because there were no viewers using much of it. The back end – out of control and very tangled. Becuase of their host and set up  – there isn’t a staging or development area. You can not publish things – but it makes the clean up of the back end even more tedious and error prone. So the only way is jump off the cliff and try to fly! So after a week of 12-16 hour days – I was ready for some sleep and a break.

First came my Happy Cow! A local paint and wine studio had a Friday afternoon session- so I signed up. When I got there I found out I was the only one and they didn’t cancel – so it would be me and Fred the instructor. Fred and I painted away and even finished 90 minutes sooner than was scheduled. I could have gone a little more leisurely – but it worked out fine.

Happy Cow!

I would like to do another one and work on a different type of eye, plus make the background a little brighter for some contrast.

Saturday morning – well started with some of the web grunt work – but just was not ready for it. My first grandchild’s due date is within this week- so I decided I needed to get the “Waiting” video done before arrival. Several months ago this had a lot of grand visions in my head – but I couldn’t get all I wanted. The plus was a weekly shot of Mom that shows the journey. We don’t know who the little person is – that will be a surprise for all until entry into the world. So excited!

Here is the video. I do want to get to more than just music and get more audio and narration in the family stories – but that is still evolving. Until then it is trying to find music that goes with the idea of the video. I have also begun to get better at keeping them to under 5 min. Any longer than that – no one wants to watch and they just go on. These are being placed in a flip book so each video created is separate and a reader can view, skip of view multiple times within the  book.

So – my #ds106 #4life friends – I am still creating – still learning from you, still growing my skills. And still tracking what you are all doing. One of you will soon have something that I won’t be able to pass up being a part of even if there are websites to clean up.

 

A Daily that got personal

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When Pigs Fly

Totems: Daily Create #1518

A totem (Ojibwe dodaem) is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage, or tribe.

Sometimes no matter how consumed you are in other creating projects or life – a daily create just screams “do it”. I find the daily creates spark in stretching by doing and going outside of something I wasn’t really thinking of and in some, hitting a note of reflection or memory that drives to making a creation.

Todays daily, #1518 was one of those memory reflection prompts. Seeing others posts and the personal statements attached to otherwise unnoticed objects reminded me of my own. Sure did take me to some very great memory moments and the more I thought, the more I realized all the threads and connects of this one tiny object.

I carry my flying pig charm in my wallet. It goes with me where ever I am.

The charm was a gift from the love of my life. About 1995 he had become interested in Harley Davidson motorcycles and riding. I joined his interest and we took the motorcycle safety course and got our cycle licenses. We started with one bike and within a year we each had our own. Part of the Harley culture is pigs – or more appropriately HOGS. About this same time he was launching a business of his own in software development consulting. Dreams and plans were more than abundant. It was a challenging and stressful time – but also an exciting time of our life. We spent many an evening on the patio with drink in hand building the dreams of our future for family, home, and work.

As a Christmas gift to each family member, he gave us the charm and then read the poem to us. A reminder for us all to keep and never stop dreaming.

When Pigs Fly
By Sandra Boynton

I know you for a dreamer
Cause I’ve been a dreamer too
You got that faraway look in your searching eyes
And a heart that’s steady and true
I think I know what you’re looking for
In the endless blue of the sky
You wait for the time when pigs fly

Get out here somebody tell you that dreams are nothing but air
Did I hear somebody try to say
That imagination will take you nowhere
If anyone says it can’t be done
As the time just simply reply
It’s a beautiful thing when pigs fly

You never know and it will be
But they’ll surely come around
Flashes of pink and flashes of gold
And a distant and joyful sound when pigs fly

I know for a dreamer, cause I’ve been a dreamer too
You got that faraway look in your searching eyes
And a heart that’s steady and true
Are we suddenly seeing a dozen or more
Sailing in the clear blue sky?
The time has come when pigs fly
Yeah, it’s a beautiful thing when pigs fly

After that gift to us all, the flying pig became one of the themes of collecting for him and for the rest of us to find as gifts to him. Flying pigs pop up in many places of our home in different ways. We have a collection of flying pigs that hang out in our morning room, yard ornaments, containers, artwork, and more. Hopefully I have been able to keep all these around tastefully in different places. I don’t think our home looks like a flying pig farm! Maybe someone who visits will be kind enough to comment as to whether we have gone too far or remain obsessed yet tastefully creative in our inclusion and presentation.

But – the little charm started it all. While I know I always have it with me, as time has gone on I don’t always think of it. The prompt today reminded me to take the time to remember. And what I am now remembering is the connects this little pig has given me. First, it gave me an insight to my husbands thoughts during a certain time of his life. He is not one who can easily share his deepest thoughts – but is a very deep and complex thinker.

The flying pig has been a thread for more than 20 years now. I see my girls find them for their dad and enjoy his reactions when they give him a new object. For all in the family – his sister, my sister and niece, even myself – the flying pig is a way we connect with him and show our love and happiness that he is a part of our lives.

In writing this post and finding the poem again, I discovered it was written by Sandra Boynton – a children’s writer. We are awaiting the arrival of our first grandchild in April. For the holidays this year I started the building of the library for Baby V. (we won’t know who they are until they arrive!) and several of the books were by Sandra Boynton. So now our new little angel is already connected to the Flying Pig!

The flying pig and the poem also connect me with others. You can read how here via a picture and blog post by Kate Ter Haar.

The following photo is from @katerhaar
Photo by Kate Ter Haar : https://www.flickr.com/photos/katerha/14669346981

The time has come when pigs fly Yeah, it's a beautiful thing when pigs fly

Take a look at Kate’s blog. Her wit and creativity of combining words with photos in her posts is worth the time ten fold. A great pleasure to view and read. She is a true digital storyteller. Kate and I connected in 2009 thru the 365 Photo group which has grown now to over 1700 members in 2016. It was about 200 in 2009. Many of those who started in 2008 with the group are still active posters. I need to get into the posting habit again, but it is still one of my favorite places for picture viewing.

And yet another great memory and connect of the flying pig – my parents. My mom was one to love a theme and use it as a connect. My dad – always a one to do so as well. In taking the picture for the daily create I placed the charm on a cheese box I had found about a year ago for Dixie cheese. My mom’s name was Dixie and she loved cheese – another family tradition and joke -“never enough cheese”!

Today’s daily create was one of those personal connections. It also is a reminder to self that creating daily is important. Some days it will be for skill building, some for stretching outside my box, and some for the joy and reflection or remembering past creates and connects and how experiences and creating enrich and make us the complex and interesting people we all are in life.

May you too see the day that pigs fly.

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Everyday Math and Creating Elephants and Chevrons

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January has been full of creative activities, but not ones that fall within ds106.

My daughter is going to be a mom and is due in April. She invited me to help create the nursery – aka as Mom can you paint for us? Together we went thru what her visions might be, what she liked etc. A very loving person and sensitive she didn’t want to shoot for the stars and would be perfectly happy with just something ordinary. However – this is also my grandchild and why should we take the simple way out!

I offered chevron on an accent wall and she accepted. 🙂 What a real life math adventure. How many chevrons? How wide? How to factor in the tape width? Yikes! But I got there and it was fun trying to figure it out. The best information and guidance I found was from Smart Girls DIY – the directions, photos, math formulas and the discussion made the most sense to me and broke everything down into segments that I could adjust to my own thinking and learning style.

Taping the wall

After measuring the wall and creating a grid it was time to tape and keep my inside and outside diagonals in sync.

My first Chevron Wall!

I think it turned out well.

Making progress

Math was involved in trying to figure out the window treatments and how to hang them. How much white to cut, linings – right side- wrong side.

More in place

Creating the cushions for the chair…whew! More math and measuring!

Adding Changing Table

But it came together and our Teddy has his spot and is waiting for Baby to watch over.  The dresser was  painted and up graded from old as well.

Cakes Completed

A diaper and essentials cake(s) was built. This was hands on maker stuff – building the levels and making them sturdy enough to transport.

Essentials Cake

and more creating – painting a canvas board so that guests at the baby shower could place their thumbprints and name as documentation of who celebrated.

Guest Book Project

Now onto #western106 and some more GIFs!

2015 -Starting from the end to the beginning

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Creating the digital family stories for 2015. Starting with the end – Christmas 2015.

I am creating some “Chapter” videos for Christmas 2015. Prep, Christmas Day, Christmas with Family and then the Crazy Family Christmas.

From there I will go backwards and create videos, slide shows and other designs for each month about what family was doing etc.

Going forward I am now set up to create each month as it happens. The digital organization is in a good place – still needs some tweaks and some faocus – but so much better than before. A post on the process and system will be coming soon. Light Room has been great. Google Photos, Apple Photos and iCloud also have a role in management. Next is getting the family stories website in order and updated!

2016 will bring continuing the story creation and organization. Creating a family recipe site, getting ready for my first grandchild by doing hands on creation in nursery prep and in creating the digital story of waiting for arrival. Hoping I can keep up with all of my ideas. And oh-yeah – maybe fitting in #western106 too!

This video was created in iMovie using photos and video captured by family and self. I used Google Audio for sound…..nice to not have the ads show up in the product!

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