What counts, and what doesn't?

The minute hand clicks forward and I sit motionless, curled up on the couch, pondering this and that. It's early. Thoughts don't fully form yet and that's more than alright. I wonder what must be going on in houses and offices around the world, where now is not too early to be awake and functioning. I think about our country and wonder the inevitable, will things ever change?

We stayed in last night. Andy made Indian food, and we voted. Some decisions were easy, some took more reading and thinking, and some I couldn't decide and so I went with my gut. But really, isn't that all voting ever really is? Going with your gut? I mean, really, what else is there?

Either way I'm glad I voted. But one thing still gets to me...at the top of my ballot, the heading on top of the list of candidates it states:

"Your vote for the candidate for United States President and Vice President shall be a vote for the electors supporting those candidates."

So does my vote actually count? Not if I vote against the electors. Darn, I almost bought into the lie.

Who is Man...for realz this time

So, Who is Man is practically officially done (there may be a change in the website address we use as the tag, but as far as the rest of it, it's done).

The last version of the piece was my first attempt at anything like this ever, and a rough version of what was in my head. This final version feels so much better, has more polish, and is a bit more creative. I hope you like it...and if you don't I'd seriously like to hear it, just make your comment anonymously so I don't get my feelings hurt.

Don't be shy, go check out the final version of Who is Man I'm very proud of this version. I can't wait for it to get out and be seen. And really I hope it helps Gutenberg College attract more students, cause that's the point.

Click on this Who is Man LINK
Enter the password: gutenberg
And...do it.

I'm also so ready to get going on the other two videos in the series. I'm collaborating with my husband and Kasey on this so that's another really good thing about it. I think most creative endeavors are better when they're a collaboration.
ANNnnnnnD. I'm out.

sometimes love surprises you

There was a time when you loved him just because. There was a time when you loved him because he smiled and held on tight and made you feel gushy inside. There was a time when you loved him, even though it was tough, but because you had history you loved him.
And then there was the time when you loved him because you got to know him in a way you'd never known him before, his personality, his likes and dislikes, his temperament, his shy behavior, his excitement when he sees you and runs and grabs onto your legs...

I'm of course talking about Zain...(for this post anyways, but in reality, I feel like this about most all kids, and especially all the kids in my family.)

There's and a journey love seems to take when you watch a baby from month to month - sometimes from a distance, and at times with months in between but - the child grows and changes before your eyes, and the love I have for all my these kids grows and changes too.

This was the French family's first trip to see our new house...with a little one in tow and one on the way, you can see how few and far between visits like this may be, and so we cherished it.

What should I begin with? To answer all of the classic questions first, I'll just say, "yes."


Yes he opened and shut doors and cupboards. Yes he took dvd's off he shelf. Yes he wanted to help shut the fridge door every time it opened. Yes he ended up playing with tupperware on the floor. Yes he wanted to play in the cat dish. Yes the cat ran away from him and hid under the bed the entire time he was here.

But more importantly, he has a personality all his own and I love him for it.
He looooves couches and so he would sit and squish and bounce and roll all over the couch, for like, ever.



He also loves shoes, or bringing people shoes, or helping people put on their shoes, or maybe he just loves going outside and this is his way of telling you, "let's go outside." I don't know for sure which part of the shoe thing he loves, but the point is, he walks over to where your shoes are and brings them to you and holds one while you put the other one on, and watches intently as you do.



Don't ask me how he knew, cause Andy has like 3 pairs of shoes by the door, but Zain went and got the ones he'd been wearing earlier and brought them to him and held one while he put one on and then watched while he tied the second one. Too much. Look how serious he is about the whole thing.



He also loves Andy. Like goes to him and asks him to pick him up. Sits with him at the table, not like every minute of every day, but enough to make me melt a little bit inside.



And he's shy. Soo freaking adorable. This is one of his shy moments.



Oh and he loves Magic (the gathering)



...BOXES.

He also pitched in with the laundry. So that was cool.



Check out this freakin adorable family. Bam!



And another boy is on the way. So lock up your daughters now, cause if his brother's half as cute as Z...oh and they're also going to be genius level smart, I know it's not fair.

Weekend visit countdown.

Today we woke up, Andy made me breakfast in bed, I was lazily signing up for NaNoWriMo, and writing my earlier blog, and then we proceded to clean the house...we're awaiting the arrival of our dear friends, Andy & Jen. Along with them will be little Mister...you remember little Mister...









Well...he's grown up...he walks, talks-ish, and is a little person



What am I going to do with a little person in the house? I guess we'll see how things would be if we had a little person of our own in the house...no I'm not announcing anything mom and marianne. :-)

Stay tuned for pictures from our weekend adventure...if I can get him to stand still and pose for a photo or two.

I guess it's like a contest

I'm officially signed up again this year for the National Novel Writing Month. You can keep track of me on the NaNoWriMo website, my profile is moxie.girl. You can only view my profile if you sign up to participate, so why not? Go ahead. Write for a month and see what happens.

This year I'm taking an approach to writing for the NaNoWriMo a bit differently. This year I am working on a collection of short stories. Stories that I'll sit down and write, not a novel by novel standards, but then again, for me this is a practice in writing discipline, not to produce a work that I'm utterly in love with and that fulfills all of my dreams of the work I'd want published.

Comment if you're doing NaNoWriMo this year too and tell me your profile name so we can encourage each other throughout the month. If you're not participating in the writing, check back here for updates on my progress and unedited excerpts of my stories.

OH. One more thing. Happy Fall, this is the best time of year, enjoy being outdoors while you still can.

Shameless self promotion

The Pushplay Blog is back into the swing of things...meaning regular updates, behind the scenes photos and new video posts will be coming at you for days, weeks, and months to come.

So. Go check it out. Pushplay Blog
Add it to your list of Favorites, and add me to your favorites while you're at it.
Bookmark it

Become a follower, tell your friends, link to us, help get the word out about our business and our work. We'd appreciate the support.
Thanks. and Do it.

I'm pushing PUBLISH with my eyes squeezed tightly shut.

So here's the deal. The video was debuted yesterday at the Gutenberg Oktoberfuss event. Although it received rave reviews, I was less than ecstatic. The guy sitting at the sound board, seemed to, well, how do I put this? He didn't take much pride in doing a job well done.

Not only did he not size any of the videos properly, but he didn't turn the volume on until after it began...thus people missed the beginning of each video. Annnd. More to my dismay, he had the treble turned way up and the bass completely down. No bass means no impact.So the painstaking effort I put in to hit certain beats was completely lost.

I'm uploading the video right now on to Vimeo. But since there hasn't been an official "approval" and since I'm a super perfectionist about certain things, there are a few adjustments I want to make, I'm not making the video live. But. Before you have a little moment, I'm providing the Vimeo Link and password here for anyone that would like to go watch it.

Vimeo Link: Who is Man
password: gutenberg

I'm obsessed with this project

As some of you know, there are two things simultaneously being fed right now. My creative endeavors and my desire to give back. I am working on a video/web spot for Gutenberg. There is no live footage. No actors. No voice talent. No gear or camera work. No shoot days. No director. No crew. No craft service. No P.A.

There is a list of quotes. There is amazing, originally composed music. And there is me.

I took off a day and a half from work this week and created something I'm very proud of. Of course there are things I would go and tinker with. I am a closet perfectionist after all. And, unfortunately, it hasn't been debuted and approved yet, so I can't post it here. But if you are one of the few readers that will be at Oktoberfuss today...well. Don't be late coming back from lunch. You'll be one of the first to see it.

I'm proud. Really proud of what was created by a few talented people's collaboration and my obsession with the project and Gutenberg. It simply, and effectively asks you to join the conversation (a tag line I came up with and am super proud of the impact.) It is hopefully the rough beginning of a seamless online campaign to attract new students and attention for Gutenberg.

I just keep getting these little urges to go back and change a few things here and there...ah...let it go. Let it be.
I'll post it as soon as I can.

feelings.

I've been in a mood of something I can't put my finger on. If you ask my husband, he'll probably tell you it's due to my cycle in someway. But I think it's more than that. For some time now I've been sad about the state of the world, and most recently, the U.S.

It has a little bit to do with my job I think. I love my job, everyone knows that, and that's not the point, the point is more that after I work really hard on a project, for days, hours, months even, and I've neglected my relationships and my house, and myself. Well, I sort of wonder what it's all for. Why did I work so hard? Yes, I needed to pay the mortgage and all the other bills. But, is what I'm doing actually important to the health of the world, the state of society? No. Absolutely not.

I feel like I should make some public service announcements or something...you know like how celebrities make the Vote ads? At least they're sort of making a difference (?)



I think a bit of this stems back to my teaching days, when people would respond to my job with comments like:

You are doing such a selfless, wonderful thing (not really, they pay me)
That is one of the most under appreciated professions, good for you
Your mother must be so proud
What an honorable thing, to give of your time like that (it is true, I did give a lot of my free time to teaching...and this usually fell under the "they don't pay you for that" column)

But anyways. My job now receives comments like:

That's so cool
Your job is so great
You are so lucky
Oh I would love to do that
Your job is so exciting

And all those things are true, along with my job is stressful, and hectic, and time eating, and long hours, and crazy. And again, I love my job. But really? What am I actually doing?

It's funny that I'm going to say this, but one of our clients is Reach Group Consulting and Lisa Johnson, who wrote Mind Your X's & Y's which, granted is a marketing book, but touches on insight that is honestly relevant and true about Gen X and Gen Y.
Anyways, she talks about a Give Back spirit that resides in our generations. The idea that while we love our computers, music and technology, we also have a desire to give back, to volunteer, to make a difference in the world around us and at large.

I have to say, when I was a teacher I think this desire was satisfied through the impact I had on children and their families. If they struggled with reading, I worked extra with them and their parents to come up with a strategy that would work for them. If they were going through a hard family time, I would give them extra attention on the playground and provide them with a safe environment or be there for their parent to listen and encourage.

But I wasn't doing it for praise, or even really thinking about it, I just did it. But now. Well, I think it's been a while and I'm feeling a gap of sorts.
So. I'm working on it, it sounds weird to say it, but I guess I'm working on giving back, volunteering my time for a cause or something I care about. I can't donate money right now, so I'm donating talent.

I'm working on something right now that's in the very beginning stages, but I'm really excited about it.
Stay tuned.

boo-YA

After the men returned from their ride, we had a party of sorts.
happy birthday this guy



and a going away for this guy


All in all, a good time was had by all. Now for my favorite picture from the night.

a last ride for now

good bye. we miss you.