How My World Turns

What is yesterday's news is still today's news. Yesterday's post had two things: my new monitor and my new fractal. Well, just look what this busy beaver has been doing to avoid grading and creating curriculum!

First, my new monitor is installed and working well, so here is a ripple effect from that. This necessitated creating a craig's list account. I thought I already had one, but it was not in my list of accounts and passwords. A quick check on Ebay told me that this was a reasonable price, I hope.

Next, many hours of this morning went to editing the midnight bubbles into the various templates for my online store, Patterns: Recursion and Repetition. I created a new section for this fractal. This one, I even took time to make a clock which is a little more time that the others which only require creative resizing of the image.

I even did the pile of dishes (see Clippings: School on the horizon (hyperlink crazy!)) Having been in the middle of fighting off a cold, these little chores tend to build up to an Augean Stable-sized task. Luckily with scale in effect, the flow of water coming out of the faucet is sufficient for the job, and the job is equally scaled down. Perhaps, I too am scaled appropriately in relation to Hercules and this task and my water flow? Perhaps this metaphor is being examined far too carefully, splitting hairs as it were.

The Anticipation

Yes, when you wait 6 days for a fractal to render, the anticipation mounts. This one had some unexpected treasures and a big disappointment. I saw the circle in the middle, but it didn't register in my brain. It is now hacked in photoshop. Before it was just a teal disk. The little spirals of orange dots and the finer detail was not available in the preview mode, so they are a nice extra. See for yourself. Was it worth the wait?

In other news, I unpacked my display. Wednesday, I pulled up in front of my house as the UPS truck pulled away. I called in the number, and after a while they called back. Evidently, if I had run madly after the van in the first place, I could have stopped it and got my package. Instead, I stared dumbly at the little adhesived slip of paper stating that the just-departed truck would not be back until tomorrow during a time in which I was guaranteed to still be at work. They would then try this one more time before sending my new monitor back to Dell! Grrr. Signature required, so they wouldn't just leave it. I found, however, that the local UPS center is close to work, and just down the road from next year's building site. I picked it up Thursday after school, and today I unpacked it. Yesterday, the fractal was still rendering, and while I could have switched monitors in theory, I did not want to risk it. The monitor is now about 25 inches from my face compared to the previous 12" or so. Much better. Also refresh flicker is not bugging my eyes.

The Slow Cooker

I managed to create another fractal that is taking days to render. Before setting it up on the slow cooker, I rendered a few fractals for tees such as the green one in my last post.

Reena, recently returned from DC, is walking by singing "Stargating" so off I go to watch and then sleep.

Enjoy this simple fractal:
And here is how it looks on a tee and a bag:

Echoes

Well, I guess there is a silent readership, or this is just a conversation between JD and me. Either way, I will still forge ahead as if many people were reading. Happy Birthday JD. Here is a cake.

Probably not the one you were looking for nor as tasty as Anna's.

I just Googled (with Firefox) myself, and my blog doesn't even show up. A link from Alis's shows me as well as a mention of the upcoming dance in St. Louis celebrating my upcoming wedding. The remaining links are interesting stratigraphy--Broadside Electric, Community School, Acumen Consulting, and even my foray into speleology. The Dan Riles in New Jersey wrestling, however, is not me.

In other news, since the fractal tee-shirt that I ordered was so-so in quality, I have removed most of the fractal clothes and just left the print items on for those. However, the spirograph tee was great, so I went ahead and added a section for all spirograph designs for tees. The organic cotton shirt is a nice beige color. I am now working on some fractals that should work better on fabric. They are simpler. Here is one called Simple Green. If I ever get famous, I can be sued by a cleaning solution manufacturer.

The Orders Are Rolling

My orders, that is. I have now received all the orders I made from my CafePress Store (see link to the left). I have been happy with all the items except for the fractal shirt I ordered. I am probably going to take off the fractal art clothing because the printing process is not detailed enough to create the image. I ordered the coral fractal shirt. On the other hand, the green wings spirograph shirt is great as is the magnet. My previous order of spirograph calendar and tiles was also good quality. I just received a notebook (red snowflake) and the fractal calendar. I loved the print quality, but February did not print on the calendar. They are reprinting it, and I hope it will turn out ok. The images look great!

I do not know the readership of this blog. Either there are readers who do not comment, or there are no readers. I know JD is out there looking in time to time, but who else? I would love to know. What parts of this blog are interesting to you?

On the note of bugging you, here is a fractal that reminds me of a flea.

A Long, Long Time Ago... Yesterday

Time has a funny way of simultaneously being both blindingly fast and frustratingly slow. The wedding date seems far away, but our work for it appears to happen at a rate that will easily fill or exceed that time. I know it is just a perspective brought on by this in between "don't worry" and "it's tomorrow."

To keep every one happy, here is a fractal I call Purple Galaxy.And here are some purple carrots.

Weekend Flash

I blinked. There went the weekend!

Reena's father and brother & sister-in-law were in town. After much cole slaw, lunch meat, and noises you can only make around family, the weekend was gone. I had to find a picture of some slaw just because it is such a crazy dish. Mayo and shredded cabbage with vinegar and a few other things.

I have another fractal rendering. I must remember to strip extra layers out of my fractal even if they are not visible. I think it slows down the process. Perhaps it is just because I have a complex coloring algorithm, but I think the extra layers are part of the problem. The new one will not be ready until tomorrow.

For now, lets rate the fractals. Here is a list of them. View the archives to take a look:
Golden Fiddle (1/26)
Midnight Flares (1/26)
Heart (1/26)
Starflower (1/22)
Venus Flytrap (1/19)
Coral (1/18)
Beach (1/17)
Spiked Spirals (1/14)
Dante's Dream (1/14)
March of the Safety Pins (1/12)
Dance of the Stars (1/11)
Crown of Spikes (1/8)
Spiked Spirals 2 (1/6)
Sea Vortex (1/1)

Please comment on your favorite, why it is your favorite, etc. I am interested in which ones fare well. I certainly have my favorites.

And for your viewing pleasure--some symmetry.

Down For Maintenance

Last night, I wanted to post, but Blogger was down for maintenance. I have lifted the fractals from this blog to be my backgrounds and screen savers at work, but Golden Fiddle and Midnight Flares are not posted. In addition, I have succumbed to the marketing craze and added a fractal heart to my store. Thought I would entertain those of you who know me and know this is sheer madness.

It is Friday, and I got my first CafePress package! I am so excited and pleased with the items. I ordered several spirograph tile coasters which came out way better than I hoped. Also, I got a spirograph wall calendar with which I am also pleased. My next order is on the way. Strangely, the survey that was sent to me about my order can not be opened (electronic), so I can't rave about how good the items came out.

Today I get the day off from school because it is admissions screening day. This is compensation for writing recommendations for the outgoing 5th and 6th graders which ate up part of Winter Break. Here I sit, at 11:00, in my sweats, at my keyboard, unshaven, just having worked out, about to shower and eat. I have to be at the architect's meeting by 12, but it is just 3 blocks from my apartment. Life is good so far today. Errands, wedding planning, and more to follow.

OOPs! I couldn't upload the images yesterday (Thursday) so here is my try on Friday. If you like these fractals, they are a good size, after clicking on them, to use as screen savers and backgrounds. Search through the prior posts, and you can find 13 fractals, I think. I am not including the heart in this count.

So here they are:

Slowing Down

The rush of creation still burns within, but I feel that it may be driving people from reading or responding to this blog. That, or they have a life and other things to do with their time. In that vein, I will slow down the posting.

Today, Reena and I went to look at Kolbo to see their selection of Judaica for our registry (the last unfinished bit of that part of wedding planning). We saw a few things there, but most did not jump out and grab us.

We had lunch with Molly at Christopher's in Porter Square. Those are in reverse order.

Lots of grading, working with Reena, and dishes later, it is now. I have just sent out an evite for the next games night! Fluxx, Munchkins, Chez Geek, etc. It is all good. Plus cheese.

Here is the last fractal that I have uploaded to my store. Some random person in England ordered a Coral Fractal print! My first random person sale. The prize still goes to Will for being the first customer, though. My calendar is finished. Check it out.

Paper

Paper is an amazing material. I enjoy paper craft as evidenced by my snowflakes. I have also taken bookbinding. The example shown there is my least creative and interesting effort, but what can you do? The Pillow Book is kind of about this (another slightly disturbing Peter Greenway film.) Tonight we went downtown to the Paper Source to take an invitation making class. The materials, techniques, and mental space to play were a welcomed change of pace.

I now have 13 fractals in my store and am ready to make the fractal calendar. Look for it this weekend! Here is one more fractal.

Was It Worth The Wait?

Yep, the fractal is finished rendering. I have been out to dinner and to pick up an exercise bike that seems to need a little work. I just printed out the manual online (isn't the Inet great?)

So before I plunge into my work for tomorrow, here is the fractal. I call it Coral.

Comments?

Hello dear reader,

I would love to see who is reading this blog if anyone. All you have to do is click on the link that looks like this at the end of each post: # posted by stlbanjo @ 9:01 PM 0 comments. Then, a pop-up window (you have to enable pop-ups for this website) will appear with any previous comments on this topic, and you can add your own.

My students took an Africa map test today. Some had a map with numbers in each country. Their answer sheet had country and landform names next to which they had to write the correct number. Others used the number map with an answer sheet that had numbers next to which they had to write the names. One student took a map that had no numbers and wrote countries, capitals, and landforms on the blank map. I certainly could not do that right now.

Tonight, I graded the tests, and there was quite a range. After that, I worked on some more sentence diagramming. Lastly, I watched a short video on sweatshops. We are starting a unit on clothing and globalization. Tomorrow, kids will map their clothes.

I have also been looking at Craig's List and Freecycle as I missed the two cycles that showed up yesterday. I think you have to respond as soon as the post is made to get anything on these lists.

My fractal has just under 8 hours to go for its rendering. I can't wait! I don't think I have shown this one on my blog yet. I call it Beach.

School on the horizon (hyperlink crazy!)

Tomorrow is school. It looks like Alicia will be coming in charged up but tired after seeing her team win a tough challenge. Go UConn! The game final was 51-48, so I am sure it was a nail-biter in the end.

Today was a range of things. I scoped out Cambridge Freecycle and Craigs List to see if there was an under $50 exercise bike to be had, but I think I was too slow for the two that showed up. I will keep trying.

I then purchased some tiles from my much written about CafePress store. I sent a few $5 off to people who I thought might want them. Sorry if this puts you on an email list. I bought some coaster tiles, like the one to the right, and a spirograph calendar to put up at school.

Then I went and had a 1.5 hour massage at Elite Massage. It was heaven after being so sick. All the sneezing, coughing, and blowing nose had tightened up my back and neck. This, plus the no stretching for a week meant my body was tired and sore. What a relief to feel better.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig. I ordered up a Fern's Problem Solver from Hi Rise (interesting reviews-I love the place) and came home to deal with curriculum for tomorrow and to do bookkeeping. Sweatshops and sentence diagramming are the orders of the day.

Now on to dishes and taking out the remaining trash! The never ending pile of dishes! Argh. Here is a picture of the dish monster!

Katabatic

Several years ago, I watched part of an educational TV program about Antarctica. What stuck with me was the description of the katabatic wind that swept off the ice dome and down to the sea level. This fierce, cold, and strong wind was so terrible that it killed penguins, prevented their bodies from decomposing, and sand/snow blasted their carcasses into eerie half skeletal, half frozen flesh forms. This image is my ultimate paradigm for extremely cold weather. I guess this has become more common with the release of March of the Penguins, a movie on my must see list that everyone has told me to see and I believe them. For a lovely image of the winds, click on this link.

Boston is suffering from similar weather conditions, and if I stay outside too long, I have visions of a similar fate. Today is such a dynamic change from the balmy sunlight of yesterday. I woke, after a horrendous nightmare, to the feeling of cold air blowing through the apartment. We have not yet put up the plastic that we had last year because the temperature has not been so bad. When up, it is almost invisible and really stops quite a bit of the cold air. We also used weather stripping putty and foam to fill some cracks between parts of the window and frame that were pouring cold air into the apartment.

Since my fractal is only half rendered it will not be available till Tuesday night, and I can't render any others till it is done. Maybe I will make another snowflake to go with the season and put it on later.

(Later) OK, here is a snowflake:

Wedding Planning

Yep, that was the theme today. Wedding planning is an incredible way to work together, and it is a seemingly unending mountain. Today was some of the design elements that are fun and some dialogue about wording. This followed a morning of bopping around Harvard Square together to do errands. Then, the day went very unproductive. Reena and I also spent some time looking at the BMC network to find people we had lost touch with or to see what people had put up as descriptions and pictures. Emily G's was cute! I saw Alis's blog and made a link to the left. Cheers, Alis.

This morning, however, I did some work on my CafePress store. I added more fractals though they are not formatted for many pieces of merchandise at this point. My goal is to get twelve on there for a calendar. I have the twelve fractals I want to use, but one of them is taking 84 hours to render. It is my favorite so far, and you might see it Monday or Tuesday. The ones on my store are higher resolution that the ones I post here on my blog. Check them out.

One of my all-time favorite sites is Peep research. Pictured at right is one of the experiments on the risk analysis of peeps smoking and using alcohol. The write up is hilarious and thorough. I especially love their conclusions. There you will find links to other wacky web research like the Twinkie Project.

Today, I have another version of spiked spirals for you.

Friday Night

Just a picture tonight. I call it Dante's Dream.

Third Day is the Charm

Home again today and a little more productive. I did organize my school work, think about it, even did a little. Mostly I just blew my nose and drank lots of fluids.

Ever heard of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils? If not, check them out. They were one of my favorite bands back in the day.

Here is the reason I'm not a song writer (imagine this as a hard-rocking, southern-blues style):

Cross the Road

Hey little chicken why'd you cross the road?
Always runnin' from here to there.
Stop and look around to see where you are.
Did you really need to go that far?

Look around your own house and see what you've got.
Maybe a little, maybe a lot.
Peace and happiness don'’t only come from others.
Take a look inside, sisters and brothers.

Hey Mr. Cow lookin' over the fence,
Grass ain't greener on this side.
They keep tellin' you to want some more,
But you don't have to look outside your front door.

Look around your own house and see what you've got.
Maybe a little, maybe a lot.
Peace and happiness don'’t only come from others.
Take a look inside, sisters and brothers.

Yep, that came out of me. All I can do is blame it on the cold.

I also rendered another fractal or two over the last few days. Here is one of the most recent called March of the Safety Pins:

Home Day 2

Well, why didn't I post yesterday if I was home all day and ill? I had it on my to-do list for the day, but several things conspired against me. One, I was pretty ill. Two, Blogspot went down for a while when I tried to post. And three, the fractal I was rendering took more than 24 hours to render. It then vanished and started to rerender which I stopped and made the file smaller. It is still going. I learned that upping the resolution really has impact on the speed of render. Ah, dreams of a new computer dancing in my head until I realize what a hassle setting up a new computer would be.

Today, I stayed home as well and missed out on the Tuft's specialists coming to work with the 3-6 grade teachers on the reading program we are working on. It is modeled after the Lucy Calkins writing and reading workshop. It is great stuff and individualizes the writing and reading for each child while still having whole class lessons on specific skills.

Since my rerender is still chugging along with about 50% still left (from this morning) I will give you another fractal that I rendered recently.

They're cute up close

So the bug circulating the family circle, school, and probably the planes I was on finally caught up with me. Sore throat, runny nose... It's possibly a virus. Speaking of which, follow the link to find these cute plush versions of the common and not so common diseases. I love using this one for a demonstration piece about nose picking in class.

Today we had a visitor from Down Unda in class. She was the cousin of one of my students and stayed for the morning. This visit was the first time she had seen snow.

Ah, well. I am going to take the day off tomorrow, get well, and do some curriculum work that has been hanging over my head.

Surface is back on the tube after its winter hiatus. Yes, I now am hooked. Are the bad monsters going to take over the world? If they did, the next season would be very interesting shot from a wholly different perspective.

Another spirograph is all I have to offer.

Thirty Plus Degree Drop

From the Miami heat where swimming pools are a cold but doable option for the aquatically inclined to Boston's snow-dusted sidewalks where outdoor water is mostly in the solid form.

Funerals have been a theme in these last months. This one, of an aunt who I saw rarely, had elements I had not experienced much before. The service in the funeral home was given by preachers who told of my aunt's great kindness and love. At the same time, they made it clear that only believers in Christ Jesus were going to heaven and to not wait too long before converting because, "You never know when it will happen." Most of that was directed at my family who were the "non-believers." I felt as much outside this ceremony as others, and yet this was the first one where I felt personally judged and devalued. I know they don't see it that way, but their passion and zeal skew their perspective so far from mine that we are looking at the same thing from totally different vantage points. They have the security of knowing theirs is completely right.

Other than that, it was a wonderful opportunity to see relatives together, to see my mom, aunt, and uncle laugh, tell stories, and begin the healing process for my uncle and his family. I met the wonderful wife of my cousin whose wedding I missed and their three terrific kids. Seeing my sisters, my other relatives, cousins, etc. was a treat. Also, staying in a nice hotel and sleeping was great. Lastly, not touching work because I was absorbed with family was a nice change.

Back to Boston, dropping many degrees on the way. Warmth, however, was supplied by JD in the form of a message on my phone offering any help including a ride from the airport if needed. Wow, that is the kind of people that make this a better world! Thanks JD.

Now I could work on tomorrow's lesson plans, but...

Off to see more Stargate.

This fractal reminds me of a crown of thorns I have seen on many crucifixes in paintings in museums around the world and of various aliens in scifi shows.

Miami Here I Come

In an hour, we leave the apartment for our journey to Miami. Interestingly, I had not realized that Florida is one of the few states to which I have never been. My bag is mostly packed, and I am ready. This trip, however, is not for pleasure. It is for a funeral. I will have to visit Florida under different circumstances to say I have really visited.

I just finished with an almost three hour meeting about the new school building. We are at a focus point between planning and doing. It is like a rock poised on the edge of a slope, and we are slowly levering it forward. I know once it gets moving, there will be an exciting and quick ride with our target move-in date being next September.

I rendered a few more fractals and found that it may be a combination of my computer/software and blogspot that make transparent parts of images turn pink or gray. I will post one, but it may have unintended colors. This one, "Spiked Spirals 4" is a detail from another fractal, and it reminds me of a mythical, flying beast perched on the edge of something and ready to fly.

On Wings

I sometimes envision the spots just inside my shoulderblades toward my spine as the place where wings used to grow. The tightness there has nothing to do with stress or other real physical causes. No, it is just my back missing my wings.

These days, I make do with airplanes. The wings don't fit as well as mine did, and the airport adds that extra level of annoyance when trying to take to the air. Occasionally, I do dream of flight, though I don't seem to have wings in my dreams. I just glide through the air.

Tonight, I must pack my bags for another of those real world flights that will take me to Miami for a funeral. My family is gathering from all corners of the country. Off to pack my bags, I go. Here for you is another flake of snow.

First Missed Day

Yesterday was the first missed day for several reasons. First, and most unexpectedly, I had a snow day! Not much snow, but many schools called it off due to a forecast that did not transpire. Yay. Did I use the day in any productive manner? Not really. I did my finances, cleaned off my desk, and did a few other odd jobs, but most of the day was spent waking around with Reena doing errands around Porter Square and just chilling.

Yesterday was also the first day I missed this blog. I had every intent on such an easy day to write about the day's activities. However, time slipped by, and I had an early bed to be prepared for the first day back from break. So it was missed in that way, too.

So, for the first day back, it was relatively calm. The students were excited to see each other and share what had happened for the last two weeks. Hair burning in the menorah stood out as one of the more exciting stories. Of course you, dear reader, know what has transpired in my vacation.

In honor of our "snow" day, here is a snowflake. I intend to add these to the Cafe Press store because they, too, have symmetry and are repetitive.

A Full Day is a Nibble

Today was that frenzied rush at the end of vacation to do all of the "must-do" items on the to-do list. Yep, that didn't happen. I finished the recommendations which is a huge relief. I looked over some curriculum and ordered some materials for our next units in writing and in theme (sweatshops and clothing). I washed dishes, took out trash and recycling, did laundry, cleaned house, and a myriad other things. My shortened list did not get accomplished, but here it is past 11:00 and I must go to sleep to get up tomorrow and fight my way through the snow to school.

Here is the plan: each evening, I shall work a little on the list and see if I can catch up to the adding of things to it. That would feel great--improbable as it is.

I ran across some photos from U. City High School days. That would be '89. Hey Aaron. Still making pottery? Hey Lisa, wassup? Not looking to interested in what is going on here!

Blues

Today was one of those days that as a twenty year-old would have put me in a deep funk. As it was, I was just blue for most of the day. Perhaps it is not getting some of the important things done on my list, perhaps other stuff buzzing around. I just wait it out and tomorrow will be better. I did finish my last recommendation letter, and now all I have to do is fill in the forms which I have made electronic. Pretty easy sailing hopefully.

Reena and I went to several exercise equipment stores to look at bikes. None fit our needs fully, though there was one with a great back (recumbent). It was a self generating one that made more noise than we were willing to put up with, so we will contact the manufacturer, SportsArt, and see if some Frakenstein adaptation of their cycles is possible. The C51 is silent, and the backs of the c52 and C53 are super. They come on the same frame, so it could be possible... We shall see

I then went to Staples to get a few essentials, and came home to do some work for school. Instead I vegged and funked. Blah.

Reena pulled me out of this bad mood by being very supportive and sweet. After some food and, yes, some Stargate, I went back to my room and worked on the recommendations.

Then some Shakespere program on PBS, and I went back to my study to play with fractals. I have not done much of that since golden fiddle. I am rendering what I have accomplished today so far in my new one called "Sea Vortex." Hope you enjoy.

Happy New Year

A very long and productive day. Reena found her dress, and it is beautiful. We then went on a mad mall spree seeing 6 malls by the end of the day. O.K. The last two were downtown avoiding the wet, cold snow, but during the day, we went in a big loop starting with the dress shop, going to the Walking Company to exchange some two-year-old but never worn insoles, Bed Bath and Beyond to get another set of flatware and a bagel slicer, Macy's once more for registry, Sports Authority to see the exercise bikes (none yet), and Pier 1 to try to find the blue spiral glasses we have but have been discontinued.

Tonight, we heard Odetta at the first night celebrations. I have loved her music since I found it in the record stacks in University City Public Library. I spent many hours in that library reading, but they also had a super collection of records that I began exploring in middle school. Leo Kottke, Odetta, Grateful Dead, and much more came home each week to be heard when no one else was home or through an enormous pair of headphones. I am very happy to finally have seen such an icon of folk music and a true living spirit. Reena and I wandered around a little after that, saw some ice sculptures, ate some over-priced food, and headed home. The New Year's moment happened on the T near Porter Square.

Ciao and good night.