What Inspires Me #14-STRONG MUSEUM OF PLAY
PLAYTIME! We all need playtime. It’s like the adage, All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Well listen up Jack!
The mecca of playtime awaits!
The STRONG MUSEUM OF PLAY, is an entire Museum dedicated to play. Located in Rochester, New York, it’s named for Margaret Strong who “founded” the museum, originally as home tours of her collections which included more than 27,000 dolls. In 1969, Margaret obtained a provisional charter from New York to officially establish the Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum of Fascination. The Museum is open Saturday–Thursday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Friday: 10 a.m.–8 p.m. And virtually…
Museum Exhibits rotate—as most due—as I type, one can stroll through Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, try a Sky Climb, cruise the Toy Hall of Fame, the World Video Hall of Fame, and my favorite, naturally, Reading Adventureland!
No Boo-hooing if Rochester, NY is too far for you to visit in person, The STRONG welcomes virtual visitors to it’s online exhibits.
If, like me, your need for a dose of fascination, wild imagination, whimsy is STRONG, take a virtual tour! Playtime anyone?
Fin Pal asks Norman "Are You Blue?"
Ready to read Norman’s answer? Scroll down . . .
Glug
Glug
Glug . . .
Norman is blue in Tuesday’s picture, isn’t he. Icy cold! And he really might be chilly especially if the water temperature is below 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Goldfish are happiest swimming in water between 62 and 75 degrees. If the water is too cold, they will slow down and not move or swim much; if the water is too warm, bacteria and more algae grows so they can become sick.
Because goldfish are cold blooded, their body temperature rises or falls to be the same as the water temperature. So it is important not to dump new water into their bowl. Instead fill a container with water, drop in a bit of water conditioner (to remove chlorine and other chemicals) and then leave the water container beside the fishbowl overnight. That give the water time to reach the same temperature as water already in the bowl. If you don’t your goldfish could die from the shock of the difference in water temperatures.
For more about goldfish water temperatures and how to keep your goldfish happiest, click over to Fish Tank Master.
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish- about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl? Send him a letter!
Don’t forget to order your copy of NOT NORMAN: A GOLDFISH STORY and NORMAN: ONE AMAZING GOLDFISH!!
Poetry Challenge #238-Ready Boots?
What the heck are you doing reading this? Don’t you know what day it is? It’s National Walking Day (The first Wednesday each April), the one day per year declared— by the powers that be and the American Heart Association—a day to “get out, stretch your legs, get your heart pumping” by taking a 30-minute walk.
So in the immortal words of Nancy Sinatra, “Are you ready Boots! . . . Start Walking!”
Poetry Challenge #238
Ready Boots???
First things first: Take a Walk. That’s the order (and your heart will thank you.)
Now, after rehydrating it’s time to pontificate. Close your eyes and mentally retrace your steps. Pay particular attention to the colors, the sounds, the smells experienced on your walk. Now, recreate the wonders of your walk in a poem.
Structure your poem to look like the path you walked. If yours was a steady forward-march down the sidewalk, then keep your lines the same length and a measured beat so the poem marches down the page. If it was along lazy ramble, then vary the line lengths so your poem visually rambles.
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just do it!
*In the mood for more about Nancy, the “Icon of Cool.” Did you know Nancy Sinatra starred with Elvis in Speedway (1968); she was the first American to sing a James Bond theme song (You Only Live Twice in 1967); is half of the only father-daughter duet to ever top the Billboard 100 chart (Something Stupid); and sang about 10 chart-topping songs of her own, and has her own Hollywood Boulevard star!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2000+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
Finpal Asks Norman: What's Your Favorite Snack?
Ready to read Norman’s answer? Scroll down . . .
Glug
Glug
Glug . . .
Kelp is a kind of seaweed. Goldfish, like Norman, scarf it up—and anything green (so never never never drop green crayons in your fishbowl.) And, “because goldfish have no stomachs, they are constantly on the lookout for food. This means that goldfish will eat algae wherever they find it – off the sides of your tank, off decorations and plants, and off the gravel on the bottom of your tank.” -Lisbdnet.com
To read about other animals that eat seaweed, click over.
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish- about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl? Send him a letter!
Don’t forget to order your copy of NOT NORMAN: A GOLDFISH STORY and NORMAN: ONE AMAZING GOLDFISH!!
Poetry Challenge #237-Ticonderoga Moments
The moment I learned it was National Pencil Day (every March 30), a scene from my all-time favorite Broadway Musical turned film Bells are Ringing (link is to the Broadway show) staring Judy Holiday and Dean Martin popped into my head. Jeffery Moss (Dean) is a playwright who procrastinating. Millie Scott (Judy) who works at Sue’s Answer Phone, and has stuck over to Dean’s apartment because he’s about to miss a deadline, relays her schoolgirl procrastination story ala the pencil sharpener:
“I’d sharpen down to the GUH and then to the ROG and then to the TI and then to the Tuh.”—Millie Scott in Bells are Ringing
Okay, so this little musical segue is my TICONDEROGA …keeping me from getting with the prompt (or rather “point”?)
Poetry Challenge #237
Ticonderoga Moment
In honor of National Pencil Day, find a pencil—Ticonderoga or not—and write a poem on paper. You can write about anything. Think about how it feels to write with a pencil.
Maybe you should try that more often!
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just do it!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2000+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
What Inspires Me #13-Saltwater Power
If you are reading this, you are one of us lucky ones who have electricity, or access to electricity to power up our devices. But what about all the millions of people around the world who are not lucky enough to live within a grid?
Saltwater can fuel a battery powerful enough for children to study, people to see to cook and work and read, to charge a phone or radio, to guide a fishing boat home…
People in rural communities in the Philippians, South American, Africa—everywhere there is salt and water—and some human ingenuity can not have safe, non-toxic, environmentally friendly illumination. Saltwater light can be for you too—and me.
This Waterlight, produced by the Columbian company E-Dina, made of bamboo converts salt water into electricity, is completely waterproof, recyclable and reliable in any weather.
When filled with only 500 millilitres of seawater – or urine in emergency situations – it can emit up to 45 days of light and can also charge phones or another small device via its integrated USB port. Read more about Waterlight and E-Dina on this post by Dezeen.com.
For those living by the ocean, a quick dipper is all one needs to power lights, radios—even charge up cell phones.
As for Inlanders? 2 teaspoons of salt stirred into water does the trick.
Doubters???
Try it yourself. Click for step-by-step directions at miniscience.com
Make Your Own Saltwater Battery!
And here’s a link to a step-by-step Utube video from #cleanenergy.
LET THERE BE LIGHT!
Fin Pal asks Norman: "Do You Miss Your Family?"
Ready to read Norman’s answer? Scroll down . . .
Glug
Glug
Glug . . .
Just to be clear, when Norman wrote “small fry” he was not talking about the last crispy fried potato in a packet. “Small Fry” is what we call baby goldfish! And a group of goldfish is called a “Troubling.”
Do you think a goldfish troubling would be troubling to a shark? Or a treat?
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish- about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl? Send him a letter!
Don’t forget to order your copy of NOT NORMAN: A GOLDFISH STORY and NORMAN: ONE AMAZING GOLDFISH!!
Poetry Challenge #236-That Was a Close One...
It’s said, truth is scarier than fiction. That’s what today is all about. National Near Miss Day (March 23) commemorates our near annihilation ala Leo and Jennifer’s comedy-disaster Don’t Look Up.
What happened on March 23, 1989 was definitely nothing to laugh about. A massive mountain-sized asteroid, named 4581 Asclepius, came within 500,000 miles of colliding with the earth. In space distance super close! And unlike in the movies there was not one thing we could do have done about it because scientists didn’t see it coming until 9 days after its closest approach to Earth.
“On the cosmic scale of things, that was a close call.”
“Geophysicists estimate that a collision with Asclepius would release energy comparable to the explosion of a 600-megaton atomic bomb.” A collision would have had catastrophic effects on our planet. Scientists discovered the asteroid on March 31, 1989 – nine days after its closest approach to Earth.
Poetry Challenge #236
Happy Near-Miss Day
Have you ever had a near-miss? Not, perhaps, of asteroid proportions, but close enough. Or an almost but… One of those time when afterwards you shake your head thinking, “Dang . . .” Or, if you’d rather look on the bright side, can you recall a time when you thought you didn’t have a snowballs chance in the sunshine of getting something, or getting to do something, or winning—and you did?
Write a poem about that experience, good or bad. And, in the spirit of 4581 Ascelpius, add some hyperbole to make it even bigger-badder-better CinemaScopic even!
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just do it!
Could we survive being struck by an asteroid? In 1954 Ann Hodges did. View a photo and her account in National Geographic.
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2000+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .