Nobody Panic (Kelly McFadzen)

Take the time to smell the flowers, swim, or cast a line and fish.

No need to panic-

This Is Not a Waste of Time

If you're like me, you used to think moustaches were a complete waste of time let alone a waste of facial space.  Boy have times changed.  A decade ago, a few guys in Adelaide, Australia, got together to grow moustaches during the month of November and a global movement was born.  Chances are you can name a handful of friends and loved ones who are now Mo Bros all in the name of promoting men's health.  Oddly enough, this is what was on my mind when Kelly's book "I'm Really Not Wasting Time" came across my desk.

Sure my own moustache leaves a lot to be desired.  Some might even consider it a complete waste of time, but getting screened for prostate cancer (or any type of cancer for that matter) isn't.  My dad didn't think so, and they caught the cancer in time.  Not everyone is so lucky.

With that in mind, I made art to raise awareness.  By taking some tried and true slogans and campaigns, I used a combination of apps (gimp and snagit) and software (pages) to create this Movember collage.  Hopefully it might inspire others to make that appointment they've been meaning to make for a while.  Believe me, it's not a waste of time.   

#learning2 Sketch

I learned a lot this weekend at the #learning2 conference.  I had an amazing opportunity to be in the presence of so many creative educators that good things were bound to rub off on me (and fittingly for Kelly's theme, it was absolutely NOT a waste of time).  I was fortunate to attend a 1 hour session on "visual note-taking" where the unbelievably talented Nicki Hambleton (@itsallaboutart) got us going taking notes on an iPad with Adobe Ideas.  The section on "A Whole New Mind" in my sketch is what I completed during her session, and the rest of the stuff on the page is some doodling I did afterwards, plus some photos taken along the way (thanks, +Jay Atwood +Nicki Hambleton @klbeasley )

I've been inspired.  I'm purchasing a stylus and there'll be no turning back for me!

Thinking of Home

Rock Falls Post Office, Illinois

This is a photograph of the post office in my hometown. The nicest people work here. They have known me since I first moved to Japan and my mom started sending me care packages. Since then, they have followed me around the world and back home again.  They are always friendly and helpful. They always give me a smile despite my asking them to weigh everything and give me every option for mailing it. :)  B delivers mail to my mother's house. She is the kind of person who bakes us muffins when times are tough and delivers packages to my mom's door because she can't walk out to the mailbox. Whenever I visit other post offices, I remember why I appreciate the people at the Rock Falls Post Office so much. When I am there, I am reminded that I am at home.

Kelly's theme is "I'm really not wasting time." One way that I like to waste time is by going through the endless number of photos on my computer and picking some to edit. Lately, it seems, I never make time to do that though. Thanks Kelly for giving me a reason to play. I took this photo this summer when I was at home. It is actually five photos of the same thing at different exposures. I used HDR Pro Photoshop to combine the images into one HDR (high dynamic range) image.

I Really Should Be Working!

The theme of my book "I really should be working!"  Which of course is what I should be doing right now, but this is so much more fun! I must get that darn yearbook finished so I can get back to my doodles.

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