30 August 2013

Life of Art SitRep #186 The Doing and Undoing

I felt proud of myself because I updated all of my calendars for 2014 and added a few more. Think that makes it about a week earlier than last year.
Green Water 2014 Calendar Poster
Green Water 2014 Calendar Poster by RocklawnArts
Browse Green water Posters online at Zazzle.com

Also Rocklawn Arts blogged New iPad Cases at Rocklawn Arts! and New Candy Tins and Jars at Rocklawn Arts!
Get 25% Off Candy Jars and Tins with your favorite Jelly Bellys or mints until September 2, 2013 at 11:59pm PT!

Use code: ZAZZLETREATS

As for undoing, loads of products have been auto-generated and added to my shop. At first blush, that seems like it'd save a lot of time... except that I've already made all of those products that I wanted to, so now I'm having to go through and delete hundreds of things that I can't stop. Sigh. By the looks of my email, I've got another batch to delete.

And lastly, I read Popular Photography Sept. 2013 issue.

How was your week?


A year ago on TTaT: Best laid plans...

28 August 2013

Becoming a Supple Leopard: The Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Preventing Injury, and Optimizing Athletic Performance

Becoming a Supple Leopard: Movement, Mobility, and Maintenance of the Human Animal29. Becoming a Supple Leopard: Movement, Mobility, and Maintenance of the Human Animal by Kelly Starrett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Highly recommended if you are an athlete, trainer, coach, or someone with a physically strenuous job. I don't really fall into any of those categories but the book was for me too.

If you weight train, I'd call this book essential. You need to know you're performing your lifts correctly to both maximize your potential and to prevent injuries that can be exacerbated by repetitions over time. The book is full of photographs demonstrating a variety of exercises and common faults to avoid.

How does this relate to me? A lot of the gym exercises are models for movements we use in everyday life. Picking up laundry, your kids, or any lifting really. How many times do you sit down and stand up in a day? Squats are a model for how to do that without ruining your knees.

If you don't want to be a hunched over, pain-ridden person when you get older, this book matters to you.

I first saw Kelly Starrett on a segment of a Creative LIVE workshop. He has a doctorate in physical therapy, owns a CrossFit gym, and has worked with thousands of athletes to resolve injuries and improve their performance. He has seen his work in action.

I was intrigued by his talk about mobility and started watching and trying his free Mobility Workout-Of-the-Day videos from the beginning.

I've been doing what I call easy yoga for years with little change. I've always been inflexible and figured that's just how it was. After doing some of Kelly's MWODs, I noticed some improved flexibility. Kelly believes we can all improve our mobility, and I am on board.

It's not fast or easy, but with his test, do a mobilization, and retest approach, you can see the results. Even if I skip the test/retest, I can usually feel the difference.

Chances are you don't realize how matted down your tissues are and the amount of mobility you are missing. A lot of us spend a lot of time sitting in front of computers every day. That takes a significant toll on the body.

The book contains over 170 pages of mobilizations broken down by parts of the body with text and photographs demonstrating the actions and what they help or improve.

Many are scaled for different levels of ability, which is good because even when I look at something and think, "Oh, I can do that," I often find I'm too stiff.

There are a lot of different actions to try. I found myself reading, then going back a few pages to try something out before continuing. It's a great reference that I will be using often.

I'm committed to his 15-20 minutes a day for mobility work. The beauty is you don't even have to do it all at once. You need to do 2 minute chunks to effect change generally, but you can split it up and fit it into your day.

I dinged it a star for typos and no index though the contents are pretty good. I also wish he'd put his basic approaches for the mobilizations in the glossary for easy reference (e.g. smash & floss, pressure waving, paper-clipping). I bookmarked that section so I can refer to it as I assimilate his vernacular and try out his MWODs.

The book is a lot of info to take in, so might want to see what his Mobility WOD videos are like to see what you think first. I really like that he loves the scifi movie Dune even though he's a big, athletic, flexible guy. I also enjoy reading and hearing about how the body's muscles, bones, and fascia interrelate. His content is smart and accessible.

If you're not ready to put in some effort (2+ minute chunks!) that may be uncomfortable to effect change, you might not be ready for this book. I still recommend it though since there are things you can incorporate into your day.


6 years ago on TTaT: One true fan

26 August 2013

A Glimpse of Summer

The following 3 photos show how I most often appear when photographed:
And no, I don't I usually walk around with my collar flipped up, but it was chilly and windy that day so I was using everything I had.


A year ago on TTaT: Wonder Woman: Mission's End

23 August 2013

Life of Art SitRep #185 Caught up!

I'm excited because I just finished adding my photographs and designs to the new Jelly Belly Candy tins and jars now available on Zazzle. You can pick your favorite flavor! Or get an assortment or mints. Cool!

Adding new products to my shop has become an epic affair as I've added more and more designs and photographs. Worth it though.
Red and White Zigzag Glass Candy Jars
Red and White Zigzag Glass Candy Jars by RocklawnArts
Check out Pattern Candy Tins online at zazzle

I also finished adding Watches, Flip flops, Samsung Galaxy S4 Cases, Skinit iPad Cases, and Skinit iPad Mini Cases. Woo!

In addition there was a bit of maintenance: downloading, deleting, and updating stuff.

Also watched Powerful Communication Owns the Room with Bill Hoogterp on creative LIVE. Really interesting. If nothing else, I took away, "Trust your instincts more and act on them faster." Easier said than done certainly, but something to aspire to.

That sounds like thunder so I better wrap up. How was your week?


A year ago on TTaT: Would you like cheese on that?

16 August 2013

Life of Art SitRep #184 No sooner F than E...again

So I finished creating the Samsung Galaxy S4 vibe cases, SkinIt LeNu iPad Mini Cases, SkinIt LeNu iPad cases, stickers, flip flops, and watches for all of my existing designs. Huzzah!

Alas, I consider my photographs a separate category, so I had all of them yet to tackle. I was over half way through creating the new products for those when some more new product offerings became available.

I was going to pass on them to simplify my life, but the little candy tins and jars are pretty cool and you can pick what flavor Jelly Bellys you get in them.

I made templates for the glass jar and rectangular tin and picked up where I left off adding all the other products. I'll backtrack once I get to the end of my photograph list.

Here's a small sampling of my efforts:
Double Arch Jelly Belly Candy Tin
Double Arch Jelly Belly Candy Tin by RocklawnArts
Find more Double arch Candy Tins at Zazzle
Epimedium Flowers Case For iPad Mini
Epimedium Flowers Case For iPad Mini by RocklawnArts
Check out other Epimedium Skinit Case at zazzle.com

Watched Conquering Crappy Light with Lindsay Adler and Erik Valind on Creative LIVE.

Remade a few templates to give better orientation for images.

Downloaded some calendar templates for 2014.

Read July 2013 Popular Photography issue.

How was your week?


A year ago on TTaT: Note to self, vol. XVIII

09 August 2013

Life of Art SitRep #183 Watches and The Slog!

If you've been following along, you know I've been adding new stickers, cases, and flipflops to my existing designs in my Rocklawn Arts shop. It's really taking me longer than I thought it would. Beyond that, this week I discovered Zazzle is also offering watches now. So I made templates for them and continued plodding forward. Once I got to the end of my designs, I went back to the beginning of the list to add the watches for the designs I'd already added everything else to.

I really wanted to finish that this week, but I counted at least 24 more designs to go and decided to call it a night before I start making mistakes. And there's still all the photographs to do! sigh. I'll get it done. Eventually.

Some highlights:
Blue and White Chevrons Watches
Blue and White Chevrons Watches by RocklawnArts
View Cool Watches online at zazzle
Yellow and Black Chevrons Sandals
Yellow and Black Chevrons Sandals by RocklawnArts
See more Caution colors Flip Flops at zazzle.com
White Polka Dots on Red
White Polka Dots on Red by RocklawnArts
Find other Red Casemate Cases at zazzle.com

The Slog had a few nice breaks however. I went to an art & craft show, an exhibit at an art museum, and shot 129 photographs. I should've asked to stop on the way to the craft show to get the landscape photographs I wanted but I was endeavoring to be accommodating. What was I thinking?! Perfect skies are transient. Ah well, I can try again another time.

I updated my LOA summary and links files with the new products.

Reordered the subcategories of most of my store folders.

Also consolidated all of my desert photographs into one main folder. And huzzah! it's showing up in my store at last. Sigh of relief.

How was your week?


3 years ago on TTaT: Northshire Bookstore: not to be missed!

08 August 2013

Back at Cheers

"Hey, Claire. How are you?"

I had just walked into the bank where everybody knows my name.

"Hey, Shelby, good thanks. How are you?" I said.

"Good."

I added, "I mean, I'd be better if I won the lottery." Alas, last night's Powerball winners were from New Jersey and Minnesota.

"You won the lottery?" she said.

"No, no, no," I was shaking my head, trying to backtrack as quickly as possible. "I'd be better IF I won the lottery.

"Oh," Shelby said, understanding what she'd misheard. "I'd be happy for you if you won."

I considered and discarded a couple of replies related to the bank. She sounded sincere to me, so I just soaked in the nice sentiment.


3 years ago on TTaT: Sketchbook, page 41

07 August 2013

Peter Duck: A Treasure Hunt in the Caribbees

Peter Duck: A Treasure Hunt in the Caribbees (Swallows and Amazons, #3)28. Peter Duck: A Treasure Hunt in the Caribbees by Arthur Ransome

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The stakes are definitely raised in Peter Duck, the third book in the Swallows and Amazons series.

A ripping adventure! Lets you enjoys the rigors of sailing vicariously.

I recommend reading them in order to learn all the characters and their relationships. The kids in these books are pretty awesome: reliable, helpful, kind, hardworking, and they are rewarded for it with a freedom you don't much see nowadays.


A year ago on TTaT: Land Lease

02 August 2013

Life of Art SitRep #182 Flip-flops and cases!

For someone who zigs and zags flip-flops did not seem out of place. By chance I noticed that Zazzle was offering them now, so I created some templates and started adding them to my shop along with the Samsung Galaxy S4 vibe case, SkinIt LeNu iPad Mini Case, and SkinIt LeNu iPad cases. I also made another set of templates for the cases. Eventually I will catch up to where I left off adding stickers.
Navy and White Zigzag Flip Flops
Navy and White Zigzag Flip Flops by RocklawnArts
Look at Blue Flip Flops online at Zazzle.com
Black and White Zigzag Flip-Flops
Black and White Zigzag Flip-Flops by RocklawnArts
Browse more Pattern Flip Flops at Zazzle
Navy and White Diamond Pattern
Navy and White Diamond Pattern by RocklawnArts
Find other Blue Casemate Cases at zazzle.com
Checkered Red and White iPad Cover
Checkered Red and White iPad Cover by RocklawnArts
Shop for Red and white Skinit Case online at Zazzle.com

I consolidated my Black and White Photos into one category with subfolders since I think that will work better with Zazzle's redesign of their site (and thus mine).

Watched Travel Photography with John Greengo on Creative LIVE.

Updated LOA summary for end of month.

Did monthly backups. Have you backed up yet?


5 years ago on TTaT: Subterranean