I am apologizing in advance- I do not intend for this blog to become Coronapalooza.
But it's what is on my mind today.
As I mentioned a couple of times on the blog so far, my intent for the month of March was to write a blog post every day. It was advice that I received from a pretty savvy blogger and blog marketer Julie Nowell of (among other projects) BluntMoms. Since March 1, I have written a blog post on this blog every day. (You may have noticed an uptick!) And I have noticed an uptick on my stats.
I missed the opportunity to blog yesterday. I think I will blame Coronavirus! (Why not, it's for blame for everything else!) It's not really the viruses fault, but I did actually write a blog post, it just wasn't for this website. It was for our school PTA website, which I manage and write for. (and by manage, I mean I'm the only one that knows how to get on it or use it-- which is something that I need to fix.)
So the question remains, do I still have a streak of writing every day, if it didn't appear on the blog? Am I a failure? I'd say yes (to having a streak, and no to being a failure.)
I have ten or 15 projects, with blogs for a lot of them (and most of them are moribund.) In my ideal world, I'd write a blog post on each of them, everyday, but I've got other stuff going on.
I do feel I need to get more methodical/systematic about writing, but it will come. And as long as I'm writing everyday-- that's the real win!
This is a question that my doctor asked me regarding my working out streak (back when it was 60 days in a row) "Are you doing it for the streak, or you doing it for you."
At the recent Chicago Toy and Game Expo, I ended up chatting with one of the authors of a new book that can change a kid's ability to think, create, and imagine.
It's a book called The LEGO Animation Book, and it teaches kids (in a book format, obviously) ALMOST everything they need to know about creating LEGO Movies.
The authors, David Pagano and David Pickett have impressive LEGO resumes. Together they run a LEGO animation blog THE SET BUMP Pagano has his own LEGO production studio Paganomation, and his work has appeared in places like the Wall Street Journal, BrickJournal, and of course, Youtube. His co-author is the filmmaker behind Brick 101 and Nightly News at Nine.
Here's a sample of each of their works (Pagano first, then Pickett)
Really fun right?
In the book, they've gathered together some of their best tricks, secrets, and best practices to be a LEGO Animator. Some of the topics they cover are
Building a set so that it is modular and easy to re-use
How to work in different scales
Best ways to light a tiny set
How to storyboard
shot selection and composition.
What to look for in software and hardware for recording
Post-production
Sample page on building a one room set.
The book is full color, 200+ pages, and while suitable for kids, has enough quality information that adult/parent LEGO hobbyists will learn something as well. There's a lot of technical detail, including a brick-by-brick instruction to build a larger scale puppet that you can reuse again and again, and instructions on how to use spreadsheets to plan out your animations.
More than being easy to read, well-written, and filled with good intel (all of it true), what I really like about this book is the clear zeal that the authors have and communicate about their art form. Their passion and love of both creating stuff and the tools with which they create stuff is evident on just about every page.
Sample page on animating a walk
The book doesn't dwell too much on how to get ideas for your creations, although it does talk about brainstorming and improvising/playing as methods. It also details the incredible amount of work that goes into creating a couple of minutes of very good animation.
Let's be clear, this book is not going to suddenly make your kid a genius animator. The only thing that will do that is working his or her tail off, and failing a bunch of times before coming up with something amazing.
What the book will do is give him/her the tools and information to make them a better writer and animator, a bunch of tricks and ideas so they don't make easy mistakes and get discouraged before they can get good at it, and most importantly, show them examples of what is possible if they dedicate themselves to their work.
And really, what more can you ask for in a book like this?
I learned just recently that on Saturday April 18, the Poetry Foundation in Chicago is going to have a free event in honor of National Poetry Month, celebrating poetry for and by kids. (details below)
I am a big fan of both poetry and children, and while I don't think I can make it to this event, I hope that some of my readers can attend, and if you can't attend, that you take a moment to celebrate poetry with your own child.
To that end, I've pointed out some excellent web resources for children's poetry (reading and writing) below.
Also here's one of my favorite poems ever: Eating Poetry by Mark Strand.
Mark passed away last year, but this poem of his lives on, and is a great reminder of the joy of reading (and eating) poetry. It was one of the first poems I remember reading and completely loving. It makes several leaps of metaphor that just make perfect sense to me. I have been hungry for poetry ever since.
If you've got other resources to add, please tell me in the comments below and I'll add them to the list.
Children's Poetry Day: A Poetry Menagerie
Illustration by Diana Sudyka
Saturday, Apr 18, 10:00AM–1:00PM
Poetry Foundation
61 West Superior Street Chicago IL
Free Admission
Celebrate National Poetry Month with a delightful open house just for kids at the Poetry Foundation Library. This special weekend event will feature performances by Adventure Sandwich and Jasmine Barber, Animal Shadow Puppets led by Youth and Family Programs at the Art Institute of Chicago, and poetry writing activities for children up to 13 years old.
