Second Life

Optical Illusions to Play with Your Mind

Here's a couple of fun optical illusions that a friend sent me. Click on the image and follow the directions or read mine above the picture. Numbers 4 & 5 are my favorites. Have fun!

1. Optical Illusion

2. Do you see a gray shape between the boxes?

3. This is both a word and picture.

4. One of My Favorites

5. Reminds me of what I saw during a really bad flu

Jann

Happy Halloween

I've been blessed in my life to know fun women. I've got three in particular, who  NEVER gave up the ghost (pun intended) on Halloween. I've spoken of Lynn and Cyndi before. Lynn made the costumes and Cyndi wore them. We worked at an organization that had a child care facility inside the facility. Cyndi's costumes became so popular that the teacher's would bring the children over. Then Lynn began building entire sets for Halloween and we all participated in handing our candy. One year, the set was a grave yard, and it was so good it scared the kids too much! That Lynn, anything she could imagine she could build out of Styrofoam and paint!

When I moved to another organization we had a women that Lynn and Cyndi would have bounded with immediately. Her name is Pat and even through my oh so serious years, Pat refused to let a holiday go by unnoticed-especially Halloween. Yesterday, she gave everybody a hint that she's coming as a bright idea. I guessed a light bulb. Wrong. I can't wait to see her her today. When you ask her what's she's going to be, she gets this inscrutable smile and (I swear) a twinkle in her eye. Here's a picture of Pat last year as June Cleaver. Look at those eyebrows! Pat makes the place fun.

Happy Halloween Pat! I can't wait to see what you wore this year. 

Hobbies Can be Enriching

Do you have a hobby? Do you tend to lose track of time while your engaged in your hobby just like you used to lose track of time when you were playing as a child? I tend to shift hobbies. I love doing crossword puzzles, and now Sudoku, as a hobby. From different articles I've read about the brain, this helps me exercise my little 3 lb. mass of grey matter. I like to think the measure of a hobby is the following:

1. I lose track of time.
2. I get so absorbed in doing it that it blocks out thinking about other things.

Other hobbies can be enriching, and I don't mean emotionally.   I saw this article today on Yahoo which made me think I need to change my hobby; evidently someone donated a painting to Goodwill worth about $165,000. It is a 1923 watercolor by the American impressionist Frank Weston Benson. A spokes person for Goodwill said that as items pst from generation to generation, often the value gets lost and someone just thinks its junk. Um, I think I'll start attending those auctions!

If your looking for a hobby, About.com has it covered. From collecting, arts and crafts, games, to past times such as bird watching or geneology, you can find it there. For fun today, why not go to their site and read about a hobby you've never tried before.

Jann

Monday is Play Day: My new playmate

About three weeks ago, a kitten appeared at dinner time with my two adult cats. My cats are outside cats and they brought home this baby. This was a wild cat, and although a kitten, very sly. I was really surprised to see my older cats allow this kitten food and actually seem to show him the ropes. They had successfully run off every other intruder that had ever appeared at their feeding bowls. While this kitten was wild, he was also the most playful animal I had seen in quite some time. He played with rocks, moths, string, acorns, leaves, etc. If it moved he was on it.

Of course, when I first came out on the patio, he ran. Although food was the enticement to the porch, it was play that helped us create a bond. I started with string and as long as I was far enough away he would play. Slowly, we got closer together as he was so involved in play that he forgot I was scarry. Then I brought home some play mice with fur. He went nuts! I'd see him throw them in the air, stand on his hind legs and play with them in his front paws. He started running to the door when I came out to feed them, not to eat but because his playmate was home. And I started running home from work so I could play with the kitten.

At first, I convinced myself that I had to take my turn entertaining the kitten because he wore the older cats out. He would hide and jump out on the older cats, hunging on to their necks. This didn't go over well with the older cats. I would got out in the evening, pull the string ball, throw an acron, make a fake spider with my hand for him to attack. By now, he'd let me touch him. I love how he gets ready to spring and then jumps in the air to land on my hand.

When I'm inside, I can look out on the patio and see this grey bullet that shoots from one thing to another in a joyous abandon. This kitten has brought me so much joy and reminded me how fun it is to just play. Gotta go, just bought the kitten a new toy!

Jann

Monday is Play Day--Stay Away from the Hard Stuff

Jann sent this to me. I'm not sure if it's a warning or what, but I've been trying to lay off the tequila anyway. Obviously this Mom isn't doing that. (Click on the play button on the far left hand side of the player below)

Michele

Learning to Love You More

Here's an absolutely fabulous site guaranteed to help you learn more about yourself and anyone else who is willing to play along.

Learning to Love You More has been developed by a group of artistis who put "assignments" on their website. If you're interested, then you can accept the assignment and then send the artists a "report"--a collage, a video, an audio recording, etc--it depends on the assignment. Some of my favorites include:

  Start a Lecture Series.

Recreate an Object From Someone's Past

Make a Flier of Your Day

Write Your Life Story in Less Than a Day

Record Your Own Guided Meditation

Recreate a Poster You Had as a Teenager

Spend Time with a Dying Person

Make a Protest Sign and Protest

. . . Wait, I have to stop. . . I'm only halfway through the list.

When you visit the site, be sure to check out what other people (and they aren't all artists) have done with the assignments.  Some amazing work. And the artists are coming out with a book in 2007 to share what participants have turned in.

What I love is the potential of these things. I could see picking one of the topics and working on it with a group of friends to see the different ways that we covered the same topic. Or putting a few of your favorites on slips of paper and then letting each person select one to produce and share. What a cool activity for a family reunion or a getaway with family or friends. Something to do on a rainy afternoon with bored children or grandchildren, or goals to set for yourself to accomplish over a period of time as you explore yourself in Second Life. 

I have to admit that I'm not too fond of the layout of the site, but the ideas are incredible. . .

Michele

Photo above is for assignment # 30, Take a Picture of Strangers Holding Hands, done by Keiko Yamamoto

Flickr Mini-cards

I was visting Mighty Goods (Maggie does the shopping so I don't have to) and found these. For $20, you can create a box of 100 minicards using your Flickr photos. What a great gift idea or way to share your art! And it looks like the process couldn't be any easier. The only hard part is picking out the photos you want to use.

Michele

When You Need Permission

If you need to give yourself permission to live your Second Life, Keri can get you started. But you have to promise to do what the card says. And I'd really love it if you'd come back and tell me about it.

Michele