It's National Poetry Month in the US

Another awesome poster.

See the poets.org site for deets.

thoughts...from the "bluebird in my heart"...

This quote is more elegantly displayed by Erin Loechner on her blog Design for Mankind but the words resound...

"This is very important -- to take leisure time. Pace is the essence. Without stopping entirely and doing nothing at all for great periods, you're gonna lose everything...just to do nothing at all, very, very important. And how many people do this in modern society? Very few. That's why they're all totally mad, frustrated, angry and hateful."
— Charles Bukowski

I also have to say that it is also a good practice for creativity. I think that you need periods away from your work to regenerate--to enjoy that time rather than worry it away.

and via Good Reads...

"unless the sun inside you is burning your gut, don't do it"
— Charles Bukowski

annual Holi post from the Big Picture

via the Big Picture 

How Indians celebrate the change from winter to spring. The celebration is said to represent the triumph

of good over evil. As the tale goes, a demoness Holika tries to kill the son, Prahlad of the demon god, Hiranyakashyap, for not worshipping his father. Instead Holika, the demoness goes up in flames and here on Hindus celebrate each year. Bonfires and effigies lead off the celebrations with the color wars to follow. 

Evidently you can make natural holi color at home...

RIP Elizabeth Taylor via letterheady

International Women's Day and Education

via Good and the Delaware online...

Here is an awesome teacher introducing his students to a task that could change their lives and maybe the lives of many people in the future. They are building seven robots called the SeaPerch after the teacher received a grant from the SeaPerch Foundation (an innovative foundation that trains teachers to teach their students how to build ROVs--remotely operated vehicles). The robots are based on the one that helped to cap last year's Gulf oil spill. The models that the students are building will have a camera attached to it to take underwater photos. The project is headed for a competition at Drexel University where the girls will navigate their robots through a maze and grab objects in a swimming pool.

I really like the teacher's comment in the video that the more challenging a project, the more engaged his students are--this is also one of the goals of the SeaPerch Foundation. I think innovative teaching is asking students to do more and enter the shaky ground where they might make a mistake but have to try to fix it and make it work (there is a stipulation of an extra $20.00 per ROV for changes though students must follow the general blueprint)...there is just no reason to think about gender in this project--but instead it is a really interesting problem for students to solve. I also like that the teacher says that he is learning with his students on the project. We need more teachers like Mitchell Greenberg and more schools like Delaware's Reach Academy.

What could be better--a SoulTrain break and Int'l Women's Day

 

Equals--is a consortium of charities and arts partners in the UK brought together by Annie Lennox-- united to raise awareness of the rights of women and girls around the world and to celebrate the centenary of International Women's Day (we still need one....).

Equals asks you to celebrate but also raise a civil debate (download their Start a Debate pdf book here or think of your own questions to ask your child, co-worker, sibling, boss, teacher, friend, mom, or partner...)

They are also shaking it down in equal lines at the London Eye tonight. IF you can't be in London for the Soul Train, at least you can check out Soul Train and the mighty Don Cornelius *on the Equals web page or on youtube.



* I have to mention a sad fact that I read about Don Cornelius when I was working on this post. While the Soul Train showcased super talented performers like James Brown, Aretha Franklin, and Michael Jackson and the line dance symbolizes equality on the dance floor in addition to being wildly fun--Mr. Cornelius did not feel the same in his own life and was arrested in 2008 on several domestic violence charges-- three counts of spousal battery, one count of dissuading his wife from making a police report and one count of assault with a deadly weapon...)

Related articles

• Annie Lennox: 'Women need to wake up. There's so much to do' (independent.co.uk)
• HOW TO: Support International Women's Day Using Social Media (mashable.com)
• International Women's Day reminds us why feminism must not lose its bite | Natasha Walter (guardian.co.uk)

"Think of a creative way to get around your problem..."--Richard Rodriguez

 

via Good


Thanks for this post Good...I am not a filmmaker but I really love the freedom of limitations and this little video is a great example. It was made by Richard Rodriguez to explain how he made "El Mariachi" for $7000.00. I really like that he has so much fun making the movie and that he encourages film makers to come up with creative solutions to a filmmaking/prop/etc challenge and not to forget to have fun. I guess there is also efficiency to doing everything yourself. It is in three parts. Enjoy.