Fun family project: homemade art cards

Thanks to a free, hour-long afternoon program at the Hendersonville County Public Library, my daughter learned how to make "art cards." She was so enamored with the process and her creations that she decided to hold a "class" in our home--complete with "sign up sheet"--to get the rest of us involved in something she loves.

Dad signed up first, then me, then my oldest son. My middle son, who's not the artsy type, didn't sign up. But she was okay with that :)

Here are the results of this very fun, very quality family-time, easy art project. First up are images of some of the cards my daughter made at the library.















































Next up, images of the cards we made this afternoon!

My daughter's cards first:























Now, oldest son's. (Click for a closer look to appreciate the details!)




























Even dad joined in on the fun (again, click to appreciate the details!)























And, finally, mine:








































These cards are really easy to make.

Supplies:

Construction paper
Magazines
Stickers
Crayons/Markers
Stick glue
Old cards of various sizes

We used addition/subtraction flash cards, regular playing cards and trivia cards we've outgrown as the bases for our cards. First, we glued a card to the corner of a piece of construction paper and cut the construction paper to the size of the card. Then we did the same thing on the other side, using a different color paper. Some of the cards are two-sided, although you can't see that here.Next, add stickers as you like to the construction paper. And you're done!

We also made some cards that have construction paper on one side and a magazine image on the other. Simply tear out the page with the image you want to use ... apply glue to the card ... then hold the paper and card up in the light so you know where you want to stick it. After you get it on there, you can bring it down to the table and "press." Then, simply add stickers to suit.

As I said, some of the cards we made are double-sided; I did not indicate that in the photos but I don't think it matters. What matters is that we learned new things while looking through magazines for photos, had fun dancing with our creative sides, and spent good time together as a family!

Do you "have" a genius?

If you're interested in or even a little bit curious about the creative process, then you might enjoy this 20-minute video capture of Elizabeth Gilbert, author of "Eat, Pray, Love" speaking on creativity at the recent TED conference.



What she shared here totally shifted my thinking--in a very good way! :)

Buy a bag; help villagers in Malawi, Africa

I read about this family helping villagers in Malawi to create and sell products. Buy a bag or three or other handmade, African products to help villagers who want to make a living. I did!

View this particular bag here: http://www.africabags.org/catalog/i65.html

View the homepage here: www.africabags.org.

New twist on an old idea: a visual resume

This is cool. I want one!



Click here to see the actual image.

Why I'm a Writer

The Shape of Happy Memories
By Renae Gregoire

Dateline: Freshman Year in College, 1994
"Wake up, class!" Professor Harrison boomed jovially, quickly clapping his hands twice by his right ear, as if clapping would jostle the remnants of sleep from our bleary, first-period eyes. He held that pose long enough to take in the sea of tired faces staring back, his posture ramrod straight, his chin pointed high, his hands in wait as if he would, at any moment, clap again and break out in a Salsa. When the soft buzz of chitchat and rustling backpacks grew dim, Professor Harrison relaxed, bringing his hands and attention to the papers on his podium. The clapping was over, for now at least.

We waited. In his large-rimmed black glasses, a neatly buttoned baby blue Oxford and color-coordinated, wrinkle-free navy slacks, he appeared the very picture of intelligence, poise and confidence, a look that complemented his rococo speaking-style and thick Caribbean-tinged British accent. "Today," he continued, his strong voice full of energy and passion, "We shall plumb the depths of Shakespeare's wonderful Hamlet; I am sure all of you have read it by now and are prepared to share your thoughts, yes?" Without waiting for a response to his rhetorical question, he breathed on, "Very well then; let us begin."

That memory and many strong others surrounding Professor Harrison have been, for the past 15 years, the driving force behind my desire to learn and teach. I see him pushing a rickety cart filled with his very own precious copy of the Oxford English Dictionary; sharing his love of etymology while writing with flourish on the board; encouraging us to think critically rather than to simply regurgitate content.

As I consider my personal literacy narrative, I wonder: why did Professor Harrison leave such a lasting impression on me? Why has he become a legend in my own mind?

Dateline: Youth through High School, 1970s to 1984
Other than a handful of blurry memories, the image of how my early literacy developed is dark--although in reflection, it is a darkness that speaks. I see my mother, reading in her worn, golden-toned armchair, feet tucked beneath her slim legs, glasses perched on her petite nose, a steaming cup of tea cooling on the table to her side. I also see my parent's tall, tall glass bookshelf that, to my then-tiny self, seemed to reach to the sky. Top to bottom, those shelves overflowed with a potpourri of science fiction, history and reference books, many of which, like my dad's "Odd Book of Data," I took with me when I left home.

I see Mr. Black, my seventh and eighth grade English teacher, smiling at me in his dapper suit, neatly trimmed mustache and shiny dress shoes. He called me "congenial" and said I had a nice smile. I was surprised and more than very pleased when he asked me to write a column for the middle school paper. I had never thought of writing--or teachers--as anything particularly special before then.

I see my tenth grade English teacher, Mr. Lombard, a lean, graying, distinguished fellow, rolling up his sleeves and, with relish, teaching me words that I loved (and still love) to roll on my tongue: ubiquitous, epitome, zenith. And although her name is forgotten, I also see my eleventh grade English teacher, a cute, pixie of a lady with a flowing, colorful skirt, a bob haircut and a warm, friendly smile: she is reading my Beowulf poem aloud to the class. I am so proud! After all, this is honors English; and I am surrounded by so many senior hunks! She even wanted to submit my poem to a literary publication, although my sieve of a memory doesn't recall if it ever happened.

Dateline: Today
In hindsight, it is not surprising that my high school report card, which my mother unearthed when I went back to college ten years later, is heavily peppered with Cs alongside a smattering of As, Bs and Ds--the As and Bs in English classes, the rest in just about everything else. When I first saw it again after all those years, I was embarrassed; I thought I had been a better student than that.

And now, in reflection, I also recognize why I so enjoyed and even idolized Professor Harrison, my first period professor in my first semester going back to school after ten years: he, an English professor who obviously loved his subject, brought me back to those happy memories from long ago--good times with good books and good grades, being praised and recognized by passionate, confident, happy English teachers who seemed to like me and themselves, just as I, too, would like to do and be. I also suspect this is why I have now returned to English, with a desire to teach and positively impact others, many years--and many detours--later.

[Note: This is a literacy narrative I wrote for a class I'm taking.]

The Laptop Traveler on TV!

SEGMENT 1



SEGMENT 2

Followup to TheLaptopTraveler's Appearance on SC's channel 4 with Kelly Coakley

Wow ... can you believe it? A few weeks ago I got an e-mail from Kelly Coakley, one of the TV anchors at South Carolina's Channel 4. Apparently she found this blog and liked it, and wanted to share it with viewers on their Sunday morning show: would I be willing to come down and do a live interview to talk about it?

Great timing, as I had just been thinking about discontinuing this blog because I didn't think too many people were really interested. But now it would have another chance to reach more possible readers ... so of course I wanted to try!

If you saw the show, you'll know it was just two short spots ... so I didn't get a chance to share everything I would have liked. So this post is to give you more information on this postcard-collecting hobby I love. (If you didn't see the show, check back here soon for a link to the video. Or visit www.soundoffsouth.com, the station's online forum and local blog aggregator--they'll have a video of the show up there for about a week.)

1. Collecting postcards, stamps and banknotes/coinage is a GREAT way to teach your children about the world! You and they can collect from the U.S. and/or from around the world. I'm pretty proud of my geography whizzes; they know more about geography than most kids their age. How involved your child gets depends on their interest -- don't force it on them or it'll never stick.

For instance my middle son, age 9, is not really into the postcard thing all that much. But he did, for a time, write to and swap postcards with several penpals. And he has an album all his own where he stores cards he collects when we travel, cards sent by relatives, and cards I get for him. To really pique his interest, I found a set of "cars" on postcards since he LOVES cars. When I was preparing for the show, digging through my postcard albums, he pulled his out, too, and excitedly started showing me the cards he had collected: postcards from Venice, Italy and Maine from his teacher; a postcard from Downtown Disney that a penpal sent--he liked remembering our own trip to Downtown Disney before we moved to North Carolina.

My other two kids, ages 10 and 8, are a little more into the hobby. They also have albums; they also buy postcards for themselves when we travel; they, too, for a time wrote and swapped cards and small gifts with foreign and domestic penpals.

You can find penpals and get postcards for your children at www.postcrossing.com. Sign your child us as a member at Postcrossing (using your name and other details to keep them safe!) to send and receive postcards ... and then check out the forums, where you'll find members with kids looking for other members whose kids would like to be penpals. Or--post a request for a penpal for your child yourself!

Postcards also might lead your kids into two other hobbies: stamp and coin/banknote collecting. Two of my kids also collect stamps; and my oldest also collects coins, primarily US coins, although he does have a jarful of foreign coins he's gathered over the years.

For the stamp part of the hobby, I bought all three of the kids an identical stamp collecting album called Stamp It: The Ultimate Stamp Collecting Activity Book by Leslie Jonath. This book is great--I highly recommend it--because the kids can affix their stamps by topic on topical pages, such as a page called "go for the gold," where they can post stamps that feature the Olympics; or another called "the color of stamps," where they can put stamps of matching colors into colored boxes. My daughter's album has a red stamp with the Queen of England in the red box, a yellow stamp from the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (in Western Africa) in the yellow box, a blue stamp from India in the blue box, and a yellow stamp from Australia in the yellow box.

Some of the stamps they received on the envelopes sent by their (and my) penpals. But to really help them kickoff the hobby, I bought them all a few starter collections, including a lot of mixed foreign stamps for all to share and smaller packages reflecting their individual interests: cats on stamps for my cat-loving daughter, space on stamps for my space-loving son, cars on stamps for my car-loving son, maps on stamps for me--and even a set of bugs on stamps for my pest-control husband, so that even he could sit down with us once in a while to share in our mutual hobby :)

2. On the show, I mentioned that the "best" postcards to me are those that show a unique feature about the place where it's from. But I forgot to add that I also like to collect certain topics, such as maps on postcards, airplanes on postcards, trains on postcards, busy city streets on postcards, universities on postcards, cultural costumes on postcards, local art cards (featuring the artwork of local and regional artists), and cards that represent or commemorate cultural events (such as my cards commemorating September 11th and the death of Princess Diana).

This is such a flexible hobby; you can collect just about whatever floats your boat! If you're into birds, collect bird postcards. Religion, how about churches or icons. Boats--well, boats on postcards! Others try to collect one card from every "living" country; others collect advertising postcards; others still, cards from all the UNESCO world heritage sites. The sky is the limit, really.

I think that's enough for now although I'm sure I'll think of more to share over the next day or three. If you have any questions about this hobby, or about stamp collecting or anything else, please get in touch by leaving a comment! Also include your e-mail (which I believe remains unpublished) so I can reply.

Thanks for reading! The Laptop Traveler (that's me), appreciates your support :)

Hyatt Place Oversized Postcard

Hyatt Place Oversized Postcard, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

We stayed at a Hyatt Place in Greenville, South Carolina for the 4th of July .... this, so that "TheLaptopTraveler" (moi) could be on TV to feature her postcard blog! Anyway, before we left the hotel this morning, I asked if they had any postcards ... the manager said they had discontinued them, but "let me check if we have any laying around." So a very short wait later, and I was the proud owner of a set of four oversized artsy postcards, like the one you see here. Each image is different; I'm posting the one most representative of the Hyatt Place logo.

By the way -- even though this hotel was older than the Hyatt Place we stayed at in Charlotte when we traveled to DC, we enjoy Hyatt Place: free wifi in the rooms, free continental breakfast, super comfy beds and pillows, and a giant TV in your room.

Hyatt Place Oversized Postcard Back

Hyatt Place Oversized Postcard Back, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

And here on the back, you'll notice the cool Hyatt Place logo on the bottom left of the card.

Visit many countries ... without leaving the U.S.!

Why have I never heard of Passport DC before? Passport DC is a 10-day smorgasbord of international events, including Embassy Open House Day, when embassies throw open the doors and let us in to experience their food, music and culture!

Here's a snippet from the Cultural Tourism DC site about the 2009 event: "As a world capital, Washington, DC presents unique opportunities to learn about and engage with world cultures. This spring, Cultural Tourism DC invites Washingtonians and visitors to cross borders and break down barriers, traveling around the world all from within the District’s boundaries. Starting Thursday, April 30, embassies will throw open their doors, drawing in visitors to experience the music, dance, crafts, and cuisine of their nation."

I'm already planning to go next year! You can sign up on the site to receive information about upcoming events and the 2010 Passport DC if you're interested.

Got a short story inside? Let it out!

NPR's got a new short story contest worth writing about: "At NPR, we love to hear, and tell, your real-life stories every day. Now, we want to hear your fiction as well. This summer, we're beginning a contest called "Three-Minute Fiction." The premise is simple: Listeners send in original short stories that can be read in three minutes or less — that's usually about 500-600 words long."

Read the rest, listen to a sample short story, check and the rules and submit your piece at the NPR site.

I've got a few story ideas mulling around ... maybe I'll let mine out, too!

Sheep at Clevedon, New Zealand

Sheep at Clevedon, New Zealand, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Beautiful white sheep! It was so neat to see sheep out and about, just doing their thing, while I was in Auckland! Thanks to sister Maria for this and all the other New Zealand and Australia cards I'm posting today! :)

Clevedon, New Zealand

Clevedon, New Zealand, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Clevedon is one of four cities in the greater Auckland area. This scene looks so peaceful, so relaxing ... as I type this I'm wishing I were there! :)

Queensland, Australia

Queensland, Australia, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Now while multiphoto postcards are not my favorite, this postcard is an exception! I love the colors and hues and scenes ... it is my favorite Australian postcard! When I saw it, I knew immediately that I would take my children to the Great Barrier Reef someday. The kids cheered together loudly when I told them! If you like this card as much as I do, then you'll like to know that the images are:

1. Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef
2. 4 Mile Beach, Port Douglas
3. Welcome Bay, Fitzroy Island
4. Spirit of the Outback, Central Australia
5. Millaa Millaa Falls, Queensland

Caesars Head State Park, South Carolina

Caesars Head State Park, South Carolina, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

This card was actually bigger than my scanner; instead of presenting it sideways, I let the right side be cut off a little. But you're not missing much :) This is truly a beautiful place ... how grand it would be to have a home with a view like this ....

Australia - A BIG Country!

Australia - A BIG Country!, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Not much else to be said ... it's BIG! :)

Australian Booties

Australian Booties, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Wait, I lied ... earlier I said that the multi-photo card was my favorite ... but, as a mother, I have to say this card actually ties for first! This scene is so adorable, so precious ... and my kids got a good giggle out of seeing the little kid booties :)

Down Under on Top

Down Under on Top, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

It's funny how countries at the "bottom" of the map like to flip things so that they can see themselves "on top." Actually, who says that it's not really this way anyway ... and we're all upside down? :)

Australian Road Signs

Australian Road Signs, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Now this is TOO COOL. Imagine driving down the road and seeing signs like this? "What a rip-snorter" that would be!

Brisbane, Australia

Brisbane, Australia, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

My sister visited Brisbane for a conference ... and brought me back this (and other!) cards :) The city looks lovely ... I'd love to visit someday!

The Aussie Sheila

The Aussie Sheila, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Another card perfect for a language lover like moi! And I'm not crapping on ya!

The Outback Aussie

The Outback Aussie, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Love this Aussie lingo! I read the saying to my children and then a few days later was surprised to hear my middle child say, "He's flat out like a lizard drinkin'!" :)

Queensland, Australia

Queensland, Australia, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

This is like a heavenly dreamscape. It seems too beautiful, too peaceful, to be real!

Greenville, South Carolina

Greenville, South Carolina, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Greenville is a little less than an hour away from our home in Hendersonville, North Carolina. We like to visit the Zoo there, as well as to swim and play in Reedy River Falls Park. Neat shops and eateries help make a day of it.

Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area

Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Located in the South Carolina Upcountry, the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area encompasses two state parks and more than 10,000 acres. The name refers to the two watersheds within its boundaries, the Table Rock and the Poinsett watersheds.

Caesars Head, South Carolina

Caesars Head, South Carolina, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

When we were up here, the breeze was KICKING something fierce, which was lovely on a very hot June day!

Wooden Postcard, Caesars Head State Park SC

Wooden Postcard, Caesars Head State Park SC, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Love the colors of this card, which I picked up yesterday when we visited Caesars Head.

15 Memorable Books

"This can be a quick one. Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes."

(Note from Renae: This meme comes from Shelly's Bookshelf at http://shellysbooks.blogspot.com/2009/05/memorable-books-meme.html; she reports that she got it from somewhere else. I know others have only posted LISTS of book titles rather than adding book descriptions, so you can do that, too, if you want!)

1. A Room for Cathy, by Catherine Woolley. I read this many, many times as a child and still remember it to this day. It is the story of a young girl who desperately wants her own bedroom. And as the oldest of four girls, I totally related!

2. The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster. Milo is bored, bored, bored with his life. Until one day, when he comes home from school, to find a strange package in his bedroom. This book dazzles with pun after pun after pun, such as when Milo suddenly jumps to Conclusions (an island). I've read this aloud to my children ... and think it's about time for another family read-aloud of it about now!

3. Mars, by Ben Bova. A young Native American's dreams come true when he finds himself on humankind's first expedition to Mars. What's that he sees? Could it be the remnants of a Martian society? Read it to find out! I bought this in hardback because it's well-loved and well-read.

4. Rendezvous with Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke. Wow! The ultimate hard sci-fi tale. Someone is gazing through a long-range telescope when they notice a strange object whose destination appears to be earth. It's man-made. Cylindrical. Like nothing we've ever seen before. This is the story of the people who venture inside the mystery to discover a strange, new, exciting and frightening world.

5. The Incarnations of Immortality, by Piers Anthony. My sister Maria turned me on to this many years ago! From Wikipedia: "The first seven books each focus on one of seven supernatural "offices" (Death, Time, Fate, War, Nature, Evil and Good) in a fictional reality and history parallel to ours, with the exception that society has advanced both magic and modern technology. The series covers the adventures and struggles of a group of humans, called "Incarnations", who hold these supernatural positions for a certain time." I look forward to when my kids are old enough for this series, too!

6. The Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis. A scholar from the year 2025 travels back in time to what she thinks is the period right before the Black Death pummeled Europe. But something goes wrong and she winds up arriving in the village only two weeks before the plaque hits—and she doesn’t know it until people start dying. This book opened my eyes to the fact that people throughout the centuries were people just like me—they laughed, they cried, they lived, they died. It also shed light on a fascinating era I knew little about. Because Willis has a way of making you really connect and care for the characters, it’s hard not to feel for and with them—which is why I’ve read this book many times.

7. The Lost Race of Mars, by Robert Silverberg. This was the first science fiction tale I’d ever read, a story about a brother and sister who have to go to Mars to live because their parents are scientists who get stationed there. The children must give up their beloved dog, fight prejudice (they’re only Earthlings, not real “Martians” like the children born on Mars), and learn to live on Martian time. And to make the story really interesting, they also discover the very thing their parents are studying: living aliens, true Martians, what people considered “the lost race of Mars.”

8. Passage, by Connie Willis. Passage explores near death experiences through the eyes and experiments of two scientists. It is most memorable because the haunted, desperate desire to “know” and “understand” experienced by the protagonist became real to me as reader; the feeling builds during the reading and lingers for days after. In fact, I picked up Passage again not because I remembered the story, but because I remembered that feeling and I wanted to experience it again.

9. Believe That I Am Here: The Notebooks of Nicole Gausseron. In these writings, translated from French, a Catholic woman living in Chartres, France records her conversations and experiences with Jesus over a several-year period. This moving, thought-provoking three-part series is a permanent part of my collection.

10. Fine Things, by Danielle Steele. I confess: I love a good Danielle Steele novel, which I can usually gobble down in a few hours. This one, though, about a husband who finds and then loses love, is a heart-breaker; I've read it many many times -- and I always cry! Maybe that's part of the charm!

11. Daddy, by Danielle Steele. My next-best DS novel, also about love but this time lost and found.
12. The Mother Tongue, English and How it Got That Way, by Bill Bryson. Given to me as a gift from my college English professor.
13. The Elegant Universe, by Bryan Greene. A look at string theory, M-theory and other quantum mysteries for the layperson.
14. This Present Darkness, by Frank Peretti. Opened my eyes to possibility of a spiritual reality unfolding all around us, impacting us yet unseen.
15. Hinds Feet on High Places, by Hannah Hurnard. A Christian allegory about a girl named Much Afraid who travels to High Places, meeting many others along the way, including cousin Pride, Mrs. Valiant, Mercy, Peace and others.

What are yours?

The hassles of getting a graduate degree

I'm torn.

On one hand, I'm THRILLED to be going back to school for an online graduate degree. The classes sound fantastic so I can't wait to dig in.

On the other hand, at this writing, I'm UNHAPPY with where I must get my degree. So far, too many of my experiences and interactions with the school have been negative. But for financial reasons, I need to attend a state university. And this particular school is the only one that offers the program I want online. I have considered other programs ... and now I am seriously considering changing because I am so frustrated already ... and I am not even officially accepted yet!

I so want to write a letter to the Dean to express my dissatisfaction. But I can't get to the Dean's page since Web troubles seem to plague the school on the front-end, which doesn't give me much faith in its back-end--especially considering this is an ONLINE program.

Plus, I'm not sure if the Dean would even care ... or be able to do anything. But since I must vent, vent I will.

1) Web Issues. The school's Web site has major problems. Pages fail to load completely no matter how long I let the little circle in upper right corner of my Firefox browser spin. The message at the lower left continually says, "Transferring data from...." When I first began exploring this program, I sent a message to the Webmaster to let someone know about the problems. They still exist now, several months later. Lack of people? Lack of funds? I don't know. But it bugs me. This is the school's public face. Don't they care enough to do something about their crappy Web site? Especially considering that they offer ONLINE degrees and certificates? This does not give me confidence in taking this program.

2) Unprofessional Program Pages. Web issues at the grad school are mentioned on the program's page as well. You read comments like, "Your application sometimes seems to go into a black hole so be sure to follow up." And "Read carefully because the format is very confusing." The program page itself is seriously in need of an upgrade as well. First, in appearance it is very 90s. Second, information is hard to find. Third, links are inconsistent among pages. Fourth, in reading, you find yourself being asked to click "here" to a page that asks you click to "here" and "here" and here"--and each of those pages also ask you to click to "here" and "here" and "here"--until you're so far away from your original page that it's hard to remember where you started. Also, between the program and the grad school pages, there does not exist ONE clear description of the application process. It's a nightmare for someone like me who prides herself on reading carefully and getting things right. Because it means that despite my best intentions, I still get things wrong.

3) Inconsistent, Unclear, Disorganized Information. Case in point. The site says to send transcripts. So I did. My transcripts from the university also list my coursework from the community college, so I sent only transcripts from the university. I must have missed somewhere in the small print or in one of the dozens of pages where it says, "Transcripts are needed from all schools attended, INCLUDING those whose coursework is listed on other transcripts." Guess what ... I don't think it says that at all. This information comes from an e-mail I received today from someone at the grad school.

4) Rude and Slow to No Phone and E-mail Responses. Which brings me to another problem: rudeness in and slow response time for both e-mail and phone communications. After I received my transcripts from the university, which I had sent to me instead of to the school by mistake, I noticed that the "seal" on the envelope was broken, like it had been applied before they licked it or something? Since there was a note right there along with the seal that said "NOT OFFICIAL UNLESS SEAL IS UNBROKEN," I thought I better call the grad school to make sure it would be ok. The gal who answered the phone sounded totally disgusted that I was on the other line -- like I totally disrupted her day and "would you please hang up now you stupid b&@&!." I could not believe how rude she was! At the time, I chalked it up to a bored or frazzled grad student earning her keep. No big deal. But when you add it to the other communication problems, it becomes a big deal.

a) The director of the program had me e-mail the program advisor who would help me get registered for upcoming summer classes. But it took a week to get a reply. About halfway through the wait, I e-mailed the program director again to be sure the advisor was in and that I had the right e-mail. Am I wrong? This is an online program. A week is simply too long to make someone wait for a reply.

b) I have been checking my application status daily, waiting for the grad school to update my online application page to say that they received transcripts from the university. I waited the required/requested two weeks and then, a week ago, sent an e-mail. I did not get a reply. All week. So this past Monday, I think it was, I called. Another rude individual answered, listened to my troubles, and then passed me on--WITHOUT A WORD (I thought she hung up on me)--to someone else's voicemail. I left a message, per instructions, explaining the problem, and included my e-mail and phone number. Needless to say, she did not return my call or e-mail me back. Then Wednesday, I sent a second e-mail to the grad school, asking again for help and saying that this was my second e-mail and that my call had not been returned. I was going to call again at the end of the day today when, lo-and-behold, I finally received a reply by e-mail.

c) Which brings me to another communication bugaboo: rude e-mails. Now I realize that you can't tell what a person is thinking or feeling from an e-mail. But there is such a thing as basic e-mail politeness, such as starting off a reply with "Dear Renae," or even just "Hello." Instead, I get this:

Your application is incomplete due to the following missing items:
Transcript: CC
Recommendation Letters
Statement of Purpose

Transcripts are required from all institutions attended. Transcripts are required from all undergraduate, graduate, professional and foreign institutions that you have attended even if it was only for a single course or college credit awarded while you were in high school.

I happened to be on the computer when this came in. So I immediately replied, with a warm "hello" and "thank you," even though the person sending was not friendly toward me. I mentioned that my coursework from the community college is included on the university transcripts ... and also that I don't think I need to send the letters and statement since I'm starting off in the certificate program.

A few minutes later, I get this:

Official transcripts are required from all institutions attended. Transcripts are required from all undergraduate, graduate, professional and foreign institutions that you have attended even if it was only for a single course or college credit awarded while you were in high school. Transcripts are needed from all schools attended, including those whose coursework is listed on other transcripts.

Ok, like I could not read that myself the first time? And, as I said earlier, that last fragment there, "including those whose coursework is listed on other transcripts," is not found anywhere on their Web.

So. Am I wrong to be upset? Am I too picky? I think I am talking myself out of attending this university and obtaining this degree. I could just as easily get another degree at another program, although the degree would be different. And that might be a problem--or not. It depends on what the future holds.

My Recommendations?
And my point in this post is not merely to complain. I wish I could affect change, too! Here's what I'd do:

1. Require student-facing, grad-school staff to take either an in-person or online seminar in "customer service" to address the rudeness over the phone and in e-mail and the delays in response. There is simply no reason why people can't treat the person on the other end of the computer or phone with respect, dignity and human decency.

2. Hire someone to fix the grad school Web site. Perhaps students could do it as a project to get rid of the "black hole" and make the "confusing" layout NOT confusing anymore? Sounds simple enough to me.

3. Create a new program Web site, bringing the site into the 21st century, including a new information architecture that makes it easy to navigate and find what you need. Again, I'm thinking grad students could do this. I could do it myself ... and if I take the program, maybe I will recommend it as one of my grad projects.

4. Do not require transcripts from a community college if that coursework is already listed on the university transcripts. It simply saves resources--mine and theirs.

5. Require that teachers of online programs respond to student/prospective student e-mails within 24-48 business hours when school is in session. Or, if not, at least ask them to use an auto-responder so students aren't kept waiting in the dark for a week.

I'm not sure who's reading this, if anyone. But it sure feels good to get it "out there," anyway.

P.S. The grad school application page, which I opened before I started this post, is still not loaded. It says, "Read www.xxxxxxx.edu" -- and that little circle on the tab on my Firefox browser is still spinning, spinning, spinning.

{Update, June 28th: Despite even more hassles and mis-communications, which I will not detail here, I am finally and "officially" in the graduate program. And I'm so excited to be here! My professor and the other faculty with whom I'm in contact seem very helpful ... the first batch of reading I've done is fascinating ... and I am really looking forward to interacting with others in the class and becoming a "master" in my field. In re-reading this post, I worried that it is too harsh. Minor issues turn major when many of them are added together; criticisms flow easily when I'm riled. That's probably not such a good thing. I contemplated deleting this blog post--"What if a professor or fellow student from the class finds it?"--but after pondering the issue, I felt it wouldn't be honest to do so. I still believe the issues raised are valid and need to be addressed, but I just wish I would have initially communicated my frustrations in a more professional way. My goal in this program--from here on out--will be to always take the "high road" by assuming first that others mean well and have good intentions, even if things don't always turn out the way they or I want. So I toned down my initial "irateness" and left the post here as a reminder to me of a good lesson learned.)

Sweat the small stuff.

Surely you’ve heard the phrase, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”

That’s all well and good … in principle. But in practice, a life of “not sweating the small stuff” must be a life in disarray, a life filled with late appointments, unmet expectations, shoddy work.

I confess, I DO sweat the small stuff. When the small stuff goes right, then everything goes right. When I take time to write an excellent, error-free paper, I’m minding the small stuff. My clients will tell you: they’re glad I do. When I take time to clean the house thoroughly, I’m minding the small stuff. What good is vacuuming the rug but leaving that big, nasty “unvacuumed” spot that shouts, “Hey, you forgot me!” When I push myself to get out the door ten minutes early so I can be on time for my appointment with you, I’m minding the small stuff.

So the small stuff does count.

However, what is needed, in addition to sweating the small stuff, is flexibility. Otherwise, you’ll go crazy wondering why others DON’T sweat the small stuff.

Case in point is when I applied for my passport. Because time was of the essence, I sweated the small stuff, or so I thought, reading every jot and tittle on the application form to avoid possible delays. Yet despite my sweating the small stuff, I still got it wrong. Ultimately I did receive the passport in time, but not without headache and heartache.

Another case in point is when I flew cross country to Los Angeles and then internationally to New Zealand. I sweated the small stuff by reading and abiding by the airlines’ baggage rules, even though it meant I had to buy new travel gear to do so. Then, when I traveled, I quickly learned that the airlines don’t sweat the small stuff, even though they wrote the rules. So many people were breaking the rules that I felt like a fool for trying to follow them, even to the point of spending money I didn’t have.

In any case, I’ll continue to sweat the small stuff on my end. But I won’t sweat it too much when others don’t.

Help me choose a new hairstyle.

Up until not too long ago, this was my online photo:











Now there's nothing really wrong with it, other than it's ten years old! Nowadays, and for the last several years, I've had very long hair. But I've been over it for a while ... and I'm tired of all the breakage caused by wearing it up in a ponytail, which is just about the only way I can tolerate it.

So I need your help. Which hairstyle below do you think would look best? I created the images below using a WONDERFUL service that I'd highly recommend: www.thehairstyler.com. Pay $9.95 for 30 days, upload your photo and try on different hairstyles. I love it. It's worth every penny!

So here are the styles. You can vote for more than one if you'd like, or tell me you hate one or whatever. Please VOTE by using the comments.

Thanks!

DO NUMBER 1





















DO NUMBER 2





















DO NUMBER 3





















DO NUMBER 4





















DO NUMBER 5





















DO NUMBER 6





















DO NUMBER 7





















DO NUMBER 8





















And here are a few for fun ... to make it worth your while for visiting this site and helping me by casting your vote :)
























































































Thanks for looking! Now please cast your vote through the comments!

Cold front blew into Gulfport, Florida today

Image courtesy of my husband's Photoshop-loving dad

La Quinta Disappointment

Well, despite a pretty good stay at La Quinta North in Charlotte on my way to New Zealand, the stay on the way back disappointed.

Picture this. It's 10:30 pm. You've been traveling for nearly 24 hours, with very little sleep. You've just gorged on four slices of Pizza Hut pizza after not eating for a long time. About 30 minutes ago, you took your nighttime meds so you're feeling the sleepy effect of that as well. And you're feeling dirty, nasty, smelly, like the toilets on a bus, plane or train at the END of a very long journey.

Gross.

You're at a hotel, and exhausted. But you know you'd feel oh-so-good if you took a shower before crashing. Come on, you can do it ... tough it out. You won't have to bother showering in the morning ... you can sleep later.

So you give your child strict instructions on NOT to answer the phone or open the door or even respond to anyone while you're in the shower. You gather your belongings, not sure you can do this. You've never been so tired in ALL YOUR LIFE.

You enter the bathroom. Lock the door. Start the water. Take off your nasty clothes. Know you're making the right decision, thinking of how good you'll feel to fall into a clean bed when you're nice and clean.

Then you sample the water, ready to adjust the temperature.

It's splattering out all over the place, spraying you and the floor because someone left it on a strange setting.

And it's COLD.

So you think you didn't work the knobs right. That's ok, you're exhausted. Try again. Splatter, splatter, soak, soak.

Grab a towel throw it on the floor to sop up this water.

STILL COLD.

So you wiggle it again. Splatter some more. Wait some more. Still cold.

You try the water in the sink.

COLD.

You can't believe it.

This is a hotel. How can you NOT have hot water? And how come NOW?

So you grit your teeth, try not to have a breakdown (remember, no sleep, carb overload, sleepy meds), turn off the water, put your clean pajamas onto your nasty, smelly, dirty body. Skip the undies ... don't want to dirty those as well.

You call the front desk to explain the problem.

And this is what you're told: "Oh, I have to come up and fix the water pressure; I'll do it before I leave."

You don't even reply because you have no idea what it is this guy is saying. He is obviously from the islands and has a thick accent. "Water pressure? It's the hot water. I have NO hot water," you repeat.

He says, "Yes, I need to turn it on. I will do it before I leave."

You are stymied. Stupefied. Befuddled. Before he leaves?

"When are you leaving?" you ask, not even sure why you have to be asking this question. Aren't hotels supposed to have hot water? Isn't this like a given?

"At 11:00," he tells you. "I'll come up there before I go home."

You can't believe this. It's like a really, really, REALLY bad joke. This just doesn't happen at hotels. How can the hot water not be on? You suddenly realize that it's going to take a good while for the water to heat up AFTER he turns it on, for whatever inane reason it's off.

You croak, "I've been traveling for more than 24 hours. I'm exhausted. I need a shower." He said, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, there's no one here but me so I'll come up before I leave."

You hang up. Dumbfounded. Defeated. Still dirty.

No shower for you.

So you wash your face with cold water. Brush your teeth. And crash.

When you awake at 4:00 in the morning, you suddenly wonder, "Do I have hot water?!?!" So you get out of bed to check. If there's no hot water, you're going to be raising cane because you MUST have hot water. You are imaging the conversations you're going to have with the front desk people, asking to speak to the highest person in corporate, demanding another room just for a shower as there's no way you're moving all your stuff.

You stumble into the bathroom in the dark. Turn on the light. And turn on the hot water tap at the sink.

Hot water.

You relax, knowing a hot shower without more hassle is in your near future.

And then you go back to sleep.

This was a true story.

La Quinta, are you listening?

UPDATE: March 6, 2009
After contacting LaQuinta about this incident, the general manager quickly responded. They are refunding what I paid for the night's stay--something I did not expect--and offered me an upgrade should I return the next time I'm in Charlotte. I'm pleased with this outcome and will certainly give them another go. I liked LaQuinta Charlotte Airport North except for this unfortunate incident. Thanks for making things right!

Which travel products were worth the money?

A few posts ago, I covered a list of new travel gadgets and gizmos I bought in preparation for my trip to New Zealand.

Now, on this sleepless North Carolina night (still must be suffering jet lag), I'll share my opinions of those products for you to help you decide whether they'll be right for you on your journey.

Note that I'm not affiliated with any of these firms ... no one is paying me to do this. I'm not an affiliate collecting a percentage or anything. I'm doing it simply because I like to read reviews like this to help me make decisions. Plus, I guess I just like writing :)

The Travel Products

1. Eagle Creek travel pillows from BackCountry.com

If travel pillows help you sleep sitting up, then this is a good pillow to buy. Pros: It looks and feels like a quality piece. It's soft. I inflated it quickly with 2-3 breaths. I deflated it quickly simply by pushing in the air valve and squeezing -- the air zips right out. It has a removable, washable cover.

Cons: Several reviews I read warned about the material making you sweat. I felt this just a tad, but it was pretty cool on our Air New Zealand flight so it wasn't much of a problem.

I don't consider it a product con, but I still wasn't able to sleep sitting up with this pillow. But I don't anything beside a really potent drug would work for me. Next time, I may ask my doctor for that very thing as I couldn't sleep even with an over-the-counter sleep aid.

Good buy? Not for me; I probably could have used a $4 plastic affair with the same non-result. But don't let this stop you from buying if a neck pillow helps you. I'll still keep this and use it for long car rides and on future trips.

2. Coolmax travel blanket from BaseGear.com

I purchased this after reading many people complaining about the filthy, awful quality of the blankets provided by airlines. I didn't want to wrap a dirty piece with unknown blobs of goo and stains all over it around myself. But the Air New Zealand blankets were wrapped in sealed bags. They looked clean and didn't smell funky. They were large. They were thick and warm. So I didn't even use my travel blanket inflight, although I did use it at my sister's place since she had very little stuff yet, her container still being in transit.

Good buy? Not for me. The blanket is very thin ... I'm not really sure how warm it would be. But it is larger than the average travel blanket, so that's something.

3. Baggallini ticket organizer/wallet from Amazon.com

Ok -- I initially felt a little scammed here. One reviewer for this product said how she fit "all of her children's passports" in this product, which cinched it for me. After all, I would only be carrying two passports and boarding stuff and money and one credit card. But it was a tight fit with just two passports; I really had to cram the other papers in.

Also, the reason I bought this was because the airlines say, very clearly, that you're allowed to bring on-board ONE CARRY ON and ONE SMALL PERSONAL ITEM. Well, I already intended to bring a laptop (for which I had to buy yet another gizmo to ensure it counted only as a "small personal item") AND a backpack -- which meant I couldn't also carry-on a purse.

So I figured I'd buy a thin travel wallet I could tuck under my vest or jacket -- it's so small that it wouldn't count as anything at all.

And this wallet, although it certainly won't hold more than two passports, fit the bill.

Beyond the fact that the airlines obviously don't pay attention to their own rules .. I could have easily carried on a purse and a regular laptop bag and my backpack without a problem and could have saved my money ... I did like using this bag. I left me hands-free and I felt very secure with my cash and credit card and travel documents safely tucked away yet easily accessible inside my vest.

Good buy? Yes. I really liked this, although I could have gone for a more stylish color :) I will use this again, even locally, so I can shop with my money and credit cards at hand without worrying about or carrying a larger purse. I recommend the Baggallini.

4. Panasonic portable waterpik from Amazon.com


Good buy? Yes. I'm glad I had this ... if you want to do a really thorough job you need to fill it twice, but it's easy to do. The unit is small and convenient. And, for a unit that runs of batteries, it's got a pretty powerful jet, so it gets down in gumline and in the cracks and crevices like you want it to. I recommend this waterpik and will get much use out of it while traveling!



5. Skooba skin laptop sleeve from CSN Stores (in the lovely shade of plum you see here)

First of all, as I mentioned, I bought this for two reasons: 1) so I could go through security without taking my laptop out of the bag and 2) so it would count as a small personal item on the flights. But I didn't need it for EITHER reason since I had to take the laptop out of the bag at every security checkpoint ... AND since I saw plenty, and I mean PLENTY, of people boarding the flights with regular briefcase-style laptop bags ... just like the one I had at home to begin with.

So the product was a waste of money in that regard.

But, even if I could have used it to get through security without taking the laptop out ... and even if the airlines stuck to their posted rules and required small bags like this for a laptop to count as a small person item ... then it still would not have been a good purchase.

I don't know who designed this thing, but it's AWFUL to carry, even for very short times. My hands were KILLING me even while getting to the gate at Charlotte. It's like the carrying handles dig into your hands in the wrong way ... very painful to carry. I actually looked in a Brookstone shop at the airport hoping to find padded cushions I could wrap around the handles to make it easier to carry. I dreaded the thought of carrying this around LA and then in New Zealand, so much so that I kept stopping at luggage stores and ogling regular laptop bags. But I just couldn't bring myself to buy a new bag when THIS was already a new bag and I had a very nice laptop bag sitting in the closet back home.

So I toughed it out.

I do NOT recommend this product, even though it looks cool.

6. Blackberry Storm from Verizon

I have to say ... despite a few technical difficulties when I first arrived in New Zealand, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Blackberry Storm. Since I work on the computer, it seems natural to me to want to extend my "connectedness" to everywhere I am. It was a delight receiving e-mail day and night, wherever I was in New Zealand. And being able to do Facebook updates, basic Web browsing, check weather, take and immediately send slice-of-life-at-the-moment photos to family, talk via GoogleChat .... anytime, anywhere ... was truly amazing. And while traveling, I saw LOTS of people with iPhones and Blackberrys and other smartphones, so it seemed like an "in" travel product. Very happy!

Good buy? Yes!