Bicycling: Family Biking To Alaska

This family is biking, with 3 kids, on a bike built for 5 from Kentucky to Alaska. Now, this is homeschooling! Looks amazing and fun.

Guitar: Roland MicroCube

Need to check this little amp out. Interesting little effects.

Cards: How to Shuffle

Hope this shuffling demo includes how to shuffle two decks at once for our favorite Cannasta.

DIY: Corner Desktop

We could definitely use a corner desk for our office. Here's a DIY plan.

Math: Linking Math To Nature

From Make Magazine.

Filmmaker Cristóbal Vila produced this short animation, called Nature By Numbers, which shows examples of how mathematical relationships such as the Fibonacci sequence, golden ratio, and the Delaunay triangulation can be found in the natural world.

Nature by Numbers from Cristóbal Vila on Vimeo.

Poetry: Try Walking Barefoot

Found the poem in this article from ZenHabits. The implications are far wider than shoes. I especially enjoy the advice to "Smile and Breathe."
Empty-handed I entered the world

Empty-handed I entered the world
Barefoot I leave it.
My coming, my going –
Two simple happenings
That got entangled.
~ Kozan Ichikyo

Zune: Replace Battery

YouTube video regarding replacing a Zune battery. Ours has become a brick with lots of good content hidden inside.

3D: 3D Web Video From Catholic TV

Who knew Catholic TV would be the web innovators? Now if I can only find the glasses from the Avatar movie we'll be set to go.

Looks like quite a few programs they've already produced; including, St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.

Games: Robot Unicorn Attack

Certainly, we haven't had enough flash games involving unicorns. Remember 'Z' to jump and 'X' to charge.

Easter Eggs: Hen and Chicks

Looks like a fun idea for egg decorating. The beaks are made from carrots, and the eyes are black olives.

Birthday: Melon Death Star

How about this for Isaac's birthday cake? I understand its not officially a "cake," but the kids would have fun creating their own Death Star.

Missing Isaac by the way; while he's off vacationing in Mexico. Can't wait to give him a hug.

Quote: Anxiety

"Anxiety is nothing but repeatedly re-experiencing failure in advance. What a waste." Seth Godin

Be Cool!

Games: Paper Cannon

Flash game Paper Cannon.

Downtown: Luxurious Accomodations

This site, Downhill Both Ways, has a great collection of essays about everyday life. This one seems especially interesting, and makes me reflect on travel through my own downtown (the bit about the bibles is not the important part, it just adds to the irony).

Should the royalty come down to visit the commoners, they should not be embarrassed to sit on their floor.

Calligraphy: Art For Faith

This one is for the girl who has the best handwriting that I know (but I still encourage you to keep practicing your typing). Also take a look at the gallery.

Study: HeadMagnet

This site lets you create your own study flash cards. It will test forwards and backwards, then ask the questions again that you might have missed. I need to try this out on the boring task of memorizing state capitals with my more than willing (and cute) Guinea Pig.

Biking: Google Maps Adds Bike Directions

This service is in beta right now; but I see Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. Here are the directions from our home to my downtown office in Houston (admittedly, not a very bike friendly trip). It looks like it takes bike trails when available, and attempts to keep you off the freeway.

Pictures: Go Texan Day 2010

This is how we roll "Go Texan Day." We like some sand between our toes, and guitar around the camp fire.

Garden: Homemade Tomato Germination

The weekend project Sunday was making homemade pots from newspaper for germinating tomato seeds (used the technique described in this article). We had a great time washing our hands in the clean earth.

Used a soup can as our template.



Cut strips of newspaper for the pot.

Fill with dirt and tiny little tomato seeds.


Water. And Water.


Waiting for growth in the box.


Not sure if anything will grow, but lots of fun!

Productivity: Five Minutes of Brilliance

I completely agree with this article by Seth Godin, articulating that brilliant ideas do not necessarily take a lot of time. The working world should get better at measuring productivity by the amount or quality or brilliance of work done, not the volume of hours worked.

Also a book list for linchpins from Mr. Godin.

Education: Lizard Brain Memorizes States and Capitals

Isaac has spent the entire quarter in school memorizing all the US states and capitals. In a few weeks, given a black sheet of paper, he will be able to write from memory all 50 states and capitals (spelled, for the most part, correctly).

My question is, what has been sacrificed in order to commit this to memory. The ongoing assignment has taken the place of regular spelling and vocabulary study.

This reminds me of Seth Godin's frequent references to the lizard brain. The lizard brain tells us to go slow and be cautious. It tells us to memorize because every single other child is told to memorize this set of data.

However, what problems does this help us solve? How does it spark creativity and revolutionary thinking patterns?

Games: Steambirds

Flash game with dog fighting airplanes.

Thursday Reading: Mazes and Labyrinths

Questions for the young student regarding this article.

1. What are some of the societies who created mazes?
2. Who is the Minotaur?
3. What are some of the reasons people built mazes?
4. What is an enigma, what does an enigma have to do with Mazes and Labyrinths?

Video: Trans-Siberian Railway and Google Maps

An amazing interactive application which blends Google Maps of the Trans-Siberian railway with YouTube and various audio clips. You can listen to Russian literature and music along the way.

Cooking: Apple Fritters

I think Isaac may require some additional cooking practice this weekend.

Star Wars: Darth Vadar A Cat Person

image via The Official Star Wars Blog.

Time: Chilean Earthquake Shortens Days

This article on MSNBC suggests that the recent earthquake in Chili may have shifted the Earth's axis enough to shorten the length of a day. This has happened before with large quakes, this time shortening the day by 1.26 milliseconds.

Brains: Teen Aged Brain

From NPR: A neuroscientist figures out why teenagers seem to have a poor concept of cause and effect. Turns out the frontal lobe is not fully connected. The nerve cell connecting the frontal lobe has not developed sufficient myelin coating. This makes the connections between cause and effect slower.

Running: 2012 US Marathon Trials In Houston

We have watched several course records broken during the last few years in the Houston Marathon. In preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympics, USA Track and Field have decided to let Houston host the marathon and half marathon team trials.

Bet they don't slow down on that hill you have to go up right before the Galleria like we did a couple of years ago. However, I imagine they won't play a rugby match the day before either.