CaptainOrange

Normally I prefer not to follow through and, if I do, I like to make sure it isn't in any timely manner. Nobody is perfect. I've been off work during the last week. Too much time on my hands means more creating and blog posting. Here is the set up for my creative process. You can see the 1st generation of the tripod mount in action--on top of a jar of whole wheat spaghetti. My iPhone 5 was mounted there while recording the video below. The setup Like me, this video isn't for everyone. It will likely be very boring. However, if you would like to see 12 minutes or less on how easy Shapelock is to use (no I don't own stock) or just how I go about doing one of my DIYs, this is the video for you. I will also accept "loves the soothing sound of Mike's voice" :) I'll put a few highlights for casual observers: "Finished" 36s is a description of parts for the project 3:44 shows some of the shaping process 5:23 is a knife safety mess...

Wendy suggested I record the kids debating this week. She wants to debrief them to enhance their skill development rate. To me, it just means sore arms as I hold my phone steady for 15 minutes at a time. So, in this case, Wendy really is the "mother of invention." And she has encouraged me to combine my love of four things: Shapelock , my iPhone, photography and creating It took me a while, but I eventually realized that I didn't need two rare-earth magnets to hold my phone in place. Now I just have a stainless steel disk on my phone attached with a really awesome two-faced tape. No the tape doesn't dry out. Yes, it's easy to remove. I suppose if you were a bit of a wimp or using a phone case already, you could just mount the disk to it. I like my phone sleek and scratchy. Going with a shorter bolt next time Parts:  Disk, Magnet and housing from Lee Valley 4" bolt - 1/4" threads Spiffy long nut - 1/4" threads Shapelock. I don't...

Pretty grand title for a post. I guess I'm feeling pretty grand. speaking of thousands... I ran into Mathemagic yesterday on G+ (which still not enough of you are using) via Keentalks . It's an hour long, so most of you are not likely to have time to enjoy it right away, if ever. The first 20 minutes are a math "magic" act. The last 40 minutes is a Q&A session (and very limited sales pitch) about how he does his thing. I found it really inspiring. Spent the last half of my day being sighed at by my family as I ran through the house pointing at people and shouting "Give me a two digit number," and then wrinkled up my forehead, muttering to myself. This was followed with an answer and some kind and a disclaimer. "3364! I don't know if that's right, but I want applause... right now." If you want to learn how, here is a description of the easy way to square any 2 digit number  starting at 25:46 in the video. Trust me. It's fun...

I've got a lot to cover here. Let's get right to it. One thing has dominated how our family has operated for the past 2 months. Leora's show. When last we talked spoke (for more than an instant) Leora had begun rehearsals for The Sound of Music.  We knew it was going to be a stretch for her and the family. Boy, were we right. On paper, we went into the commitment with our eyes fully open. Persephone was upfront and correct about the time required. It still didn't prepare us for how draining it would be on the family. The last couple of weeks of rehearsals were 12 hour days with a break in the middle. I would drop her off at the Ramai Arts Bldg., pick her up during a supper break, take her back to the theatre and pick her up at the end of the day. Factoring in waiting around etc... it worked out to about 90 min/day of driving/waiting. Leo missed several days of school. Then the performances actually began. She did 8 shows per week from Tuesday to Sunday....

Our family hosted a staff Christmas party for our friends in the Children's Department. It was a near thing, but Wendy managed to keep the house in one piece despite all the dancing and wild abandon. As you might predict there was a serious literary discussion while we dined. Anwyn was grilled by the staff over her opinions on such greats as The Hobbit , A Face Like Glass , and The Hunger Games . I think her comments were well supported by the texts and the library staff were in agreement that Anwyn may wish to start her career in literary review with all speed. She decided instead to show Henry (hereafter known as Hank) the purpose of her extensive Nerf weapon collection. Lori provided the dessert hit of the evening with her fantastic  carrot cake  -- although, it appears that Jenny is more fond of eating mice. I guess it takes all kinds -- a fact that could be attested to by the insane people that hired all of us to work in the same place. We were so g...

I think I just lost a button! Wendy and I are not much for partying. This year we started off Halloween a little bit early. We got some tickets to a Diabetes fundraiser and enjoyed ourselves dancing part of the night away with Jodi. The band played a little too much country for our taste but, for the most part they seem to read their audience well. We're just not typical, I guess. Anyway, the cool thing is that we got to design steam punk costumes for ourselves. I really love to make things and this was an awesome opportunity to play around with paint and cheap doodads that we found at Value Village. The two feature parts of my costume were the knee-length leather jacket which I found for $14 and a top hat. The hat was originally baby blue felt, which just wouldn't work for my particular costume. Although, as it turns out, it would've matched Wendy's outfit pretty well. Alas, the candied corn wound up in the trash :( Sadly, my camera had just arrived back fr...

Just a quick note. I will be among many story-tellers and poets participating in this young-ish annual event. Mostly, I'll be enjoying the other performers, but I will be telling at least one story. I've attended previously and it was fun (but loud). Here is a link to the Facebook Event . And here is what the event says, if you want to avoid going to facebook ;) 7pm-9pm at Lydia's Story time debauchery! This is not your toddler’s story time. Help us ring in Saskatchewan Library Week with an evening of performances for  grownups. There will be stories, music… and a full drinks menu.  Performers include The Seahags, No-Nos Improv Comedy, author Wes Funk, and radio personality Berkley Staite. Master of ceremonies will be our Writer in Residence, David Poulsen. Free! (Note: this is a licensed event) View Larger Map