New Zealand Kiwis

Funny, the only "live" Kiwi I've ever seen was in the National Zoo in Washington, DC. It was one of only 17 Kiwis in the United States at the time. I like this card because it tells about rather than just shows a kiwi!

New Zealand Kiwis, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

New Zealand Map

My sister Maria sent me another batch of NZ postcards ... this is a cool, larger map card showing the major cities and sites! (Thanks, Maria!)

New Zealand Map, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Steinlager

Steinlager, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

My brother-in-law picked me up a pack of Steinlager while I was in New Zealand :) Good stuff!

Sheep Mustering, New Zealand

Sheep Mustering, New Zealand, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

This is too adorable! :)

New Zealand Map Card

New Zealand Map Card, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

This is the first of a series of three map cards that show progressively closer views of an area of NZ my sister recently visited. I love this set of maps!

South Island, New Zealand

South Island, New Zealand, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

And here's the South Island .... I didn't get to visit the South Island while in New Zealand, but I hope to do so next time! Look at the mountain range there! The southwestern side of the South Island is also where they've had those pretty big earthquakes recently. From the back, "Separated from the more populous North Island by Cook Strait, which is some 23km [about 14.3 miles] across at its narrowest point, the South Island is world-famous for the beauty and grandeur of its scenery."

Canterbury, New Zealand

Canterbury, New Zealand, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

This is the third postcard in the series, showing the Canterbury region and Christchurch, where my sister visited recently. I love all the extra detail on this map, and how it shows the area represented in the box at upper right. See Mt. Cook there in the background? It is NZ's highest peak. I want to visit here! From the back: "Noted for its sheep, grain and mixed farming, Canterbury is bounded by the magnificent Southern Alps in the west and by the Pacific Ocean in the east. Its plains constitute the greatest expanse of flat land in New Zealand. Fewer than 1,000 Maoris inhabited the area when the original European settlers arrived in the early 1840s."

Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Christchurch Botanic Gardens, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

This is beautiful! From the back: "Situated adjacent to Hagley Park and bordered by the Avon River, the colourful Botanic Gardens nestle amongst English-style lawns and woodlands."

Avon River, Christchurch, New Zealand

Avon River, Christchurch, New Zealand, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Another lovely view -- my sister also sent links to photos she took of this very pretty river. Looks like a lovely spot for a picnic! From the back: "Named after a river in County Ayrshire, Scotland, the Avon River is bordered by trees and flowers and is very popular for punting." I guess punting is ... rugby?

Millenium Chalice, Cathedral Square, Christchurch

Millenium Chalice, Cathedral Square, Christchurch, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

I love public sculpture .. and this one is awesome! My sister sent a photo she took of it, so I am doubly glad to have a postcard of this image! From the back: "The Cathedral and the Chalice provide a contrast of the old and the new in the centre of Christchurch's Cathedral Square."

Christchurch Cathedral, New Zealand

Christchurch Cathedral, New Zealand, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

What a beautiful, old church. From the back: "Christchurch Cathedral was built between 1864 and 1904. Its gothic-type architecture contributes to Christchurch's reputation as New Zealand's most 'English' city."

The Sign of the Takahe, New Zealand

The Sign of the Takahe, New Zealand, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Glorious view is all I can say! From the back: "This Tudoresque stone building, a familiar landmark on the Port Hills, looks out across the Canterbury Plains beyond Christchurch to the distant Southern Alps."

I needed more information and, happily, Wikipedia was glad to provide it: "The Sign of the Takahe is today a function centre and tea rooms built in the style of an English Manor House. Designed by J.G. Collins, construction was carried out between 1918 and 1948. The Takahe also provides one of the better panoramic views of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, the Canterbury Plains and the Southern Alps.

Named after the flightless native New Zealand bird, the Takahe, it was initially one of the roadhouses planned by Henry George (Harry) Ell as part of his scheme to preserve the natural state of the Port Hills which overlook Christchurch and Lyttelton harbour."

Christchurch, New Zealand

Christchurch, New Zealand, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

I saved the best for last. This is a stunning view of Christchurch, looking west towards the Southern Alps ... at dawn. I cannot believe such a view exists. I must see this in person! I would LOVE to live in a place like this!!!

Ikea Art Cards

Ikea Art Cards, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Ok, so they're not postcards ... but they could be, simply by writing on the blank backs. They're the same size as postcards, too, so they fit into my postcard albums. I picked up this pack of five cards at a recent visit to Ikea, one of my favorite places to while away a few hours dreaming and shopping! :)

Ikea Art Card

Ikea Art Card, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Ikea Art Cards

Ikea Art Cards, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Ikea Art Cards

Ikea Art Cards, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Ikea Art Card

Ikea Art Card, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Historic North Carolina

Historic North Carolina, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Picked up this info-rich card at the Reed Gold Mine. Too bad I can't read it without a magnifying glass! I scanned it at a higher resolution in hopes that you could click to read more details!

Reed Gold Mine, North Carolina

Reed Gold Mine, North Carolina, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

We visited this mine just to the east of Charlotte because my son did a project on it last year and wanted to visit in person. From the back: "Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site in Cabarrus County, NC is the location of the first gold discovery in the United States. Visitors can take underground tours, see exhibits and pan for gold seasonally." Being claustrophobic, I skipped the tour. And my kids "panned" for gold, given a plate of dirt, finding no more than one teeny, tiny fleck. They still enjoyed it though--enough to go back for "seconds!" Others were finding more gold than they did, so I guess it is possible! :)

Reed Gold Mine

Reed Gold Mine, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

This entrance to the underground mine was put in by the state when they opened the Reed as a visitor attraction.

Cabarrus County Miners, 1880

Cabarrus County Miners, 1880, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.

Neat old-timey view of life in the old days.

Bored

My daughter is very creative. She drew this while on a long car ride. Its title is, simply, "Bored."

Free online "Brain Works" test pretty accurate

My professor turned us on to this free, online assessment called Brain Works, the Left Brain Right Brain Test. You can access it at the Mindmedia site.

The test was very accurate in my case. Here's the result I got:

"Renae, your hemispheric dominance is equally divided between left and right brain, while you show a moderate preference for auditory versus visual learning, signs of a balanced and flexible person.

Your balance gives you the enviable capacity to be verbal and literate while retaining a certain 'flair' and individuality. You are logical and compliant but only to a degree. You are organized without being compulsive, goal-directed without being driven, and a 'thinking' individual without being excessively so.

The one problem you might have is that your learning might not be as efficient as you would like. At times you will work from the specific to the general, while at others times you'll work from the general to the specific. Sometimes you will be logical in your approach while at other times random. Since you cannot always control the choice, you may experience frustrations not normally felt by persons with a more defined and directed learning style.

You may also minimally experience conflicts associated with auditory processing. You will be systematic and sequential in your processing of information; you will most often focus on a single dimension of the problem or material, and you will be more reflective, i.e. 'taking the data in' as opposed to 'devouring' it.

Overall, you should feel confident with your life and yourself. You are, perhaps, a little too critical of yourself--and of others--while maintaining an 'openness' which is redeeming. Indecisiveness is a problem and your creativity is not in keeping with your potential. Being a pragmatist, you downplay this aspect of yourself and focus on the more immediate, the more obvious and the more functional."

Take the free assessment to see how learn best!

Life is Good

I love the Life is Good product line. Today, I picked up these stickers (about the only LIG product I can afford!) at the Diamond Brand Outdoor center in Fletcher. Everytime I go there I get to thinking about camping and hiking and in other ways exploring these here mountains! :)

Art in your mailbox: child-created "Thank You" postcard

How'd you like to open your mailbox and find this from a firm you recently did business with?

My husband Craig, owner of a termite and pest control company serving the Hendersonville and Asheville markets, Blue Ridge Termite and Pest Services, came up with this fantastic idea -- to send this card, the artwork for which my daughter created, to all of his new customers.

Before, he just used your standard "thank you" postcard, with a pretty mountain picture on the front. But this--this card will get noticed! People will want to look to see who sent it, and why!

Here's a view of the back, which really didn't come out well in the scan:












I told my daughter she could earn money creating postcard art like this :) (And frankly, this is not nearly her best work--she's a pretty good artist!) If you'd like child-created art for your business, get in touch and we'll work out a deal :)

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! :)