Just saying!
Ava Fratus: Good Girls Get What They Want!
October 16, 2012 | Entertainment, Family, Fun Finds, Role Models
Love this girl!!
Her mom says:
Her name is Ava Fratus and she’s six years old. She is trying to be a fun yet positive role model for other little girls. The video is age appropriate for little girls and really fun!
I’ll be following Ava on Facebook and Twitter. I can’t wait to see what’s next for her!
Nukotoys releases Animal Planet game for iPad and boy is it wild
July 15, 2012 | Entertainment, Family, Fun Finds, Technology
We’re excited to be one of the few families beta-testing NukoToys’ Animal Planet” ipad game, and I’d write about it but the kids won’t let me near it.
I know they’re still playing it, though, because I keep hearing, “Let’s race the hyena and the elephant!” and “Takedown! Bagged me another gazelle!”
It’s easy to see how Nukotoys took home the Tesla Award at MobileBeat’s Innovation Competition, their first-ever for tablet startups. Well, easy for my kids to see; I hope to get a crack at it soon.
Here’s part of what’s so cool about it from the article by John Koetsier:
If your kids like Pokémon, they’ll go nuts for Nukotoys (with video)
It’s called ‘touch code’ technology,” Raderman told me. “The card uses the capacitive energy from your hand, channelling it into a circuit pattern printed into a card. That’s readable by the touchscreen of the device, just like your fingertips.”
It’s the first-ever implementation in this market, and in my humble opinion, seriously cool.
BusinessWire press release: About Nukotoys
Nukotoys, Silicon Valley’s toy company, is redefining toys for today’s digitally fascinated kids and engaged parents. The start-up has the ambitious vision of transforming the $40 billion toy industry by creating toys and games that combine digital and physical play. Launched in May 2012, Nukotoys addresses the $2 billion trading card segment and $33 billion mobile gaming industry with the upcoming launches of Animal Planet Wildlands and Monsterology collectible trading cards containing characters and items that magically spring into action when touched to the screen of an iPad, iPod touch, or iPhone. For more information, please visit http://www.nukotoys.com/ .
Natasha, Ingrid, and cleaning out my desk
April 17, 2012 | Entertainment, Family, Fun Finds, Life, Me, Me, Me, Two Parents, Six kids, and Big Pharma
So I was cleaning out my desk this morning—no, really, true story—and I found a notebook full of writing prompts that belonged to one of the kids four years ago. Four years is an eternity when it comes to kids’ stories at this age, and let me tell you, it blew my mind that this stuff came out of the same too-cool head of the kid I dropped off at school this morning. And like SO MUCH ELSE in our life, it’s unprintable.
I’m gonna need to start selling Amway, because the ratio of stuff going on in our lives to stuff I am allowed to write about is the square root of nothing. It’s killing me. I’ve shifted focus to writing books, and the occasional inane Facebook update. Oh, look, I’m like a hundred million other people out there.
Back to the notebook. As I was flipping through the pages, a half-sheet fell out, with a poem. It was called “Unwritten.” Which is exactly my problem these days. (Months. Whatever.) The first and last stanzas were highlighted, and I know I didn’t do it so I offered a little prayer to the goddess of serendipity and decided to post those lines.
But THEN, I noticed that the author looked a bit like the singer whose song was playing as I pulled into the driveway after the school run. It’s called “You & I” and was part of our wedding playlist. I looked up the video for the song because it’s a happy song and if I do nothing else productive today I’m posting something happy. For Aunt Barbara’s sake, I CLEANED OUT MY DESK. I’m done for the week!
Ingrid. Natasha. Those aren’t real common names here, Rocky & Bullwinkle notwithstanding. I found a video of the first song—not a poem after all—right there on youfrickentube. So you get both.
“Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield
I am unwritten, can’t read my mind, I’m undefined
I’m just beginning, the pen’s in my hand, ending unplanned
Staring at the blank page before you
open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you cannot find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
P.S. In the back of that notebook? I’d written the original organizational outline of chapters for the book I’m currently finishing up. Wasn’t THAT helpful? I’ve been looking for that for AGES. Guess what that means, honey? When you return from Shanghai this weekend, the dining room table will be covered in sticky notes representing 42 chapters, so that I can rearrange and organize and optimise the order of ideas. And there isn’t a thing you can do about it because it’s the kind of crap you’ve been trying to get me to do forever. So, HA! (My work is always a little more fun if the chaos it creates also accomplishes your personal wish fulfillment because I know you won’t dare touch it.)
P.P.S. I sure hope there’s Chinese food tonight after your meetings.
P.P.P.S. For context, the last time he was in Shanghai, his team took him out to dinner on the last night. “It’s a great restaurant, no one knows about it!” So they got into a taxi and crawled through downtown traffic for 90 mintes to travel about seven blocks. They had been in meetings 12 hours that day and were exhausted, so as Guy stepped out of the car and looked up at the restaurant, he said, “I sure hope they serve Chinese.” The team didn’t get it but his British boss was doubled over.
