Computer Literacy Program – Ryan’s Post is Up!

Ryan’s post on the Computer Literacy Program is up over at ideonexus. It includes the slides for all the classes, observations and lessons we learned along the way. I love how Ryan explains the lesson we learned about headphones:

Headphones are important in off-class hours. Children view the laptops as their own personal entertainment centers, and will get into an arms race of elevating volumes when two are listening to music or movies on separate laptops in a room together.

There is a best practice I uncovered that I don’t see included in Ryan’s write-up. When you are assisting the kids, you do a lot of bending over as well as a lot of managing of plugs on the floor. I learned this best practice the hard way:

DO NOT WEAR LOW-RIDER JEANS

Other than that, Ryan’s account is quite complete! Read the full post here.

Fun with ThinkGeek Ice Cube Trays

The last six months, our little household on Hunter Street has been conducting a lot of proofs of concept. It’s part of our wedding brainstorming process. Although most of the projects won’t make an appearance at the wedding, it’s been incredibly fun trying them all out.

This past weekend, we ran an experiment aimed towards “geeky wedding favors”. Chocolate is a safe favor bet, right? Well, we tried out using two Ice Cube Trays from ThinkGeek as chocolate molds– Pi and Space Invaders:

Pi	Space Invaders

As with most of our trials, we had a helper! Thirteen year old Risha showed up just in time to do the dirty, but delicious, work.

Risha Filling Pi Mold with Melted Chocolate

We’re going to need more practice with the Pis, which I’m sure no one is heart broken about (more end products to ingest). Those little Space Invaders, on the other hand, are ADORABLE!!!! I love the determination on their faces. They look like they want to be so mean… but they are so dang cute.

Pi Chocolates – We need to fine tune are technique

Space Invaders– They are CUTE!

He’s SO determined!

Regardless of whether or not these little guys show up at the wedding, it was definitely a fun project for a rainy afternoon. The ice cube trays have already paid off!

January Diversity in Science Carnival is Up

I’m a little late, but the January edition of the Diversity in Science Carnival is up at Urban Science Adventures. This month the focus was on the Science Online 2010 Conference.

The science blogger community is PROLIFIC when it comes to Science Online posts (Bora Zivkovic keeps a running list of Blog/Media Coverage of ScienceOnline2010 if you need to see for yourself). Bringing all those voices and perspectives together was most certainly challenging, but this month’s editor, DNLee, does an outstanding job!

And if that doesn’t sell you, you should still click over to the Carnival to read the kind words about Ryan and I. : )

The February Edition of the Diversity in Science Carnival is going to highlight Black History Month! Submit any related posts here

*More* Groundhogs in Trees

Last February, I did a post sharing photos of groundhogs….in trees.  At the time, the concept was very surprising to me.  However, scattered across Flickr are numerous shots capturing similar pairings.  Apparently, it is not as odd as it would first seem.  In celebration of Groundhog Day, here are even more groundhogs enjoying the high life!

(Photo Courtesy of weavermg)

(Photo Courtesy of danedude)

(Photo by HyperialGuard)

(Photo by hopefoote)

(Photo by hyperbolation)

If you would like to see more examples of these critters who refuse to be labeled by their common name, check out the Groundhogs in Trees Flickr Group.

Have a Happy Groundhog Day!

Vicky in American Forests Magazine

352 of Ryan Somma’s Creative Commons Science and Nature Images appear in Wikipedia articles. (228 credited as Ryan Somma, 124 as ideonexus). One could argue by sharing his photos, Ryan is helping to educate and inspire.

Well, *I*, Vicky Sawyer, now have a claim in the realm of education and knowledge as well! I have zero pictures in Wikipedia… but I *do* have a photo in the Winter 2010 Issue of American Forests magazine! My photo appears in an article on the “Continuing Saga of the American Chestnut”:

Vicky’s Picture in American Forests!!!

It’s a wonderful and informative article that definitely does not need my picture to be interesting. Be sure to check out the full version online!

Survivor Tree Unseen

Sometimes the full extent of a tree’s harsh environment can not be fully appreciated until after the tree’s death. Times of drought and fire scars are documented in the tree’s rings. Or how about this tree? When the wood was being burned, it became pretty clear the tree had encountered a fence in its younger days. There was a piece of barbed wire inside!

Barbed Wire Fire (Photo courtesy of artsufartsu)

Driveway Win!

Yesterday morning, Ryan and I woke up to the peaceful pitter patter of rain. It wasn’t nearly as peaceful when we discovered our entire yard was under water. Ryan had to roll his pants up over his knees to wade out to get to work. The dogs were distressed by having no where to take their morning dumps (Henry did scope out a pot of potential paw paws on the porch, but ultimately opted to hold it). I, meanwhile, found cause to be embarrassed. I was on a conference call and completely lost my train of thought in mid-sentence when I saw a bag of our garbage floating down the street.

Hunter Street (or lack thereof) at 11 AM

Front/Side Yard at 11 AM

But there was a victorious moment! Check it out! Thanks to the new DIY Driveway, my car stayed safe and sound.

Backyard at 9 AM

Backyard at 11 AM

Hooray for hard work and helpful neighbors!

P.S. The water was all gone by noon. Jimmie and Henry could not have been more grateful.

Locker Rooms and Postage Stamps

I remember some time ago, circa 2006, I saw a segment on the Dallas Mavericks’ Visiting Locker Room. Owner Mark Cuban lavished not only his own players, but the opposing players as well– making sure they also had extravagant food, a fancy shower service and plush towels. The notion was to provoke the thought, “Wow, I could be playing here!”

I wonder if the U.S. Postal Service had a similar notion. The stamps to send letters to Canada and Europe, feature stunning renditions of national parks.

I don’t know for sure about the “opposing players” overseas, but I know I’m already thinking, “Wow, I could be playing THERE!”

Hearts in Nature: Lichen

The November 2009 issue of Discover Magazine featured an excellent article on lichen. When discussing how the fungus component harvests food from a photosynthesis partner, author Gordon Grice shared a quote by Trevor Goward. Goward is the “lichen curator” at the University of British Columbia Herbarium.  He says:

“Lichens are fungi that have discovered agriculture.”

Today’s Hearts in Nature focuses on those busy little fungi farmers who can cultivate some of the most unlikely lots. Special thanks, as always, to Creative Commons photographers.

(Photo by [New Parents!!!] Gare and Kitty)

(Photo by . SantiMB .)

(Photo by cfournie)

(Photo by pet_r)

The Neighborhood Girls, Cindy McGill and Mary Kay

Living in a low income neighborhood has opened my eyes to the extent of good hearts that are out there. I’m following in the footsteps of my cousin’s wife, Michelle, who often covers customer service experiences on her blog. I’ve got a great one to share!

As Ryan and I started up the Computer Literacy Program in our neighborhood, I learned that I won a free Mary Kay pampering session for myself and friends in Virginia Beach. At first, I wasn’t all that gung ho about it. It was over an hour drive for me, I’m pretty short on female friends, and I already have a great supplier of Mary Kay products. But then I realized– this was an opportunity for an outing with the neighborhood girls! Sometimes I’m accused of not doing enough stuff with the girls. So on November 7, I drove two thirteen year olds and an eighteen year old up to the Mary Kay Success Studio in Virginia Beach to get guzzied up.

I can not emphasis enough how sentimental of a day this ended up being for me. The Mary Kay representative who worked with us was named Cindy McGill and she was absolutely wonderful. She did the usual demonstrations of Satin Hands, Satin Lips, 3 in 1 Cleanser and the Timewise products. After that– she treated the girls to makeovers!

Cindy was informative and kind and full of compliments for the girls. I saw smiles and straightened postures and repeated peeks at mirrors. Cindy made them feel as every bit as lovely as I see them to be.

Our Girl Group at the Mary Kay Success Studio (Photo by Cindy McGill)

I tried to thank Cindy the best that I could, but found it to be another one of those pesky “more than I can adequately express” moments. There may be a reason I was so touched. Ryan and I had seen generosity towards the neighborhood kids before– old laptops, German chocolates, a day of jetskiing. Even though those people hadn’t met the kids, they knew Ryan and I. The thing that stood out about this day is Cindy was a stranger. Not only did she not know the kids, she didn’t even know me! .

The story isn’t over yet! After our visit, Cindy emailed and asked how many kids Ryan and I typically work with. I thought it was polite conversation, so I didn’t quite get around to replying in a timely fashion. That didn’t deter Cindy! She tracked me down by phone. It turns out she had a plan brewing.

She shipped us FREE products for ALL TWELVE kids in the Computer Literacy class!!!!!

The boys got a collection of MKMen products. Meanwhile the girls received Velocity products. Cindy even sent a present for me too– Satin Hands.

For the boys

For the girls

For Vicky

I got to hand everything out at the end of our Data, Information, Knowledge class. If you think Mary Kay is just for girls, think again. I was surrounded by boys and whenever a MKMen product emerged from the packing peanuts, hands would reach out and voices would volunteer, “I’m a boy! I’m a boy!”

FREE Satin Hands!

And that is my Mary Kay story. I tell it with a full heart… and very soft hands.

One could even say “satiny”