My friend Matt pointed me to a story from reveries.com that matches up with his personal "Hoop and a Stick" theory of raising kids which states that all kids need is a hoop and stick -- and certainly nothing that requires batteries -- for a good healthy upbringing. Here's a snippet from the article: It also turns out that the best way to encourage kids to exercise is simply to “give them a ball, jump-rope or hula hoop” — along with more in the way of “active play time.” That’s according to a report due out in next month’s American Journal of Preventive Medicine. This gets me thinking about …
General
Capture the Clarity
Jason and I got the chance to sneak away recently for a weekend of warmth to Ft. Myers, FL. There's nothing better than putting lotion on your sunburned cheeks while watching The Weather Channel report that your zip code is getting pounded with inches of white stuff. With all the talk about life lists this past year, I was motivated to check another thing off the list before the end of '07, so when the opportunity arose for us to go parasailing, I jumped on it. Jason recalled that he had it on his life list to not only parasail, but to parasail in the Gulf of Mexico. So, it was meant to be! …
Stop Cooties
The disease we primarily focus on around here is the dreaded condition known as Adultitis. Grown-ups everywhere are stricken with the symptoms, and sometimes I feel like the fight is an uphill battle. The disease can also affect children, in the form of Juvenile Adultitis. Nasty stuff. But there is another childhood plague that is also quite serious. It's been around for a long time, at least since the widespread establishment of public education. I am speaking, of course, of cooties. Even though we spend most of our time treating grown-ups who have forgotten what it was like to be a …
Club K&J Christmas Premium (Part 3)
Well, the Club K&J limited edition print is finished. (At least the painting part of it.) I finally got to the part of the painting where I start getting really excited, where things are coming together and I get the feeling that I'm actually going to pull this off. With the help of my newly purchased tube of titanium white, I was able to start plugging away on the highlights of the canyon, giving it a sense of depth and texture. I am amazed that even though it's been months -- maybe a year? -- since I picked up a paintbrush, the experience is very much like riding a bicycle after a long …
Club K&J Christmas Premium (Part 2)
Yesterday I had the chance to get started on the painting aspect of the Club K&J limited edition print. I went to the art supply store to get a watercolor block, which is a block of 20 sheets of watercolor paper bound together. As you may remember from art class in school, adding water to paper makes it buckle like a dress shirt in a gym bag, leading to lots of unwanted pools of pigment. In order to avoid this, you have two options: stretch the paper (which involves expanding it by submersing it in water and taping or stapling it to a board so that when it dries you have surface that stays …
Songs from Childhood
There aren't many things that bring me back to childhood faster than listening to the theme songs of the favorite shows of my youth. I'm often disappointed by actually watching them (was the animation really that crappy?) but the song itself conjures up all the old feelings of excitement and adventure. This one might be my favorite: I also have a special place in my heart for themes from A-Team, Mighty Mouse, Spiderman, and GI Joe. All of these songs (and many, many more) can be found at TelevisionTunes.com (hat tip to Shirley for pointing this site out.) …
Club K&J Christmas Premium (Part 1)
I've been thinking about this year's Club K&J Christmas premium -- a limited edition print -- for quite some time now. I wanted to come up with a meaningful theme for the artwork, so I spent some time reflecting on the past year. One of the highlights of this year for Kim and I was our first ever trip to the Grand Canyon. I remember standing in awe before it, marveling at the magnificent play of light and shadow. I even mentally tried painting it in my mind, as I began to notice the full range of colors lit on fire by the sunset. …
Bee Movie Gets All A’s In My Book
In the newly released Bee Movie (produced by, written by, and starring Jerry Seinfeld), the main character, Barry B. Benson, is applauded for having the perfect report card -- all B's. Kim and I had a chance to see this film over the weekend, and I have to give it all A's. What made it most refreshing was the influence of Seinfeld. The king of observational comedy, Jerry's fingerprints were all over the movie. I expected a lot of bad puns (there were only a few) but time and time again, I was delighted by all of the witty, smart, and thoughtful observations about what life might look like …
Martha or Mary Thanksgiving?
It's one of the shortest stories in the Bible, but I think it's so relevant to our modern day- the story of Martha and Mary. I reread it this morning (Luke 10:38- 42) and couldn't help but think about all of the busy people this week, preparing for Thursday's feast. Let's be honest, it's a lot of work... the bird, the side dishes, desserts, and don't forget the cleaning (before and after). Some people love it, and then others are quite resentful. A lot depends on the amount of support received with the busywork tasks that need to be done. You may remember in the story Jesus and his …
Whatever You Do, Don’t Cause a Scene
We as a human race tend to take ourselves WAY too seriously. Especially the grown-up faction. The child who would be quite content to wear pajamas and a cape with cowboy boots to church next Sunday does not seem to have "Make sure people don't laugh at me" very high on his list of priorities. But for adults, lots of time and effort is spent doing everything possible to not appear foolish or silly. God forbid someone might laugh at us. As if that would be the worst thing ever. …