From the Morning Call
Writing for Mikayla

Foundation to publish work that showcases disabled Lower Nazareth classmate.
By Arlene Martínez
Of The Morning Call

''Our Friend, Mikayla'' tells the story of a girl with disabilities. She's just like you and me, the students wanted to show in words and in drawings of a girl in a wheelchair at the playground, licking lollipops and playing.

The authors modestly accepted the praise bestowed upon them by school officials, guests including Nazareth Area School District Superintendent Victor Lesky and state Rep. Craig Dally, R-Northampton, and most of all, their cheering, shouting classmates.

Author and artist Melissa Mastro, 10, learned her drawing was the cover after she saw an image of it on the large celebration cake. She explained what inspired the drawing, two girls playing with Mikayla near a swing set. ''I felt when someone could see it people could see that you could have friends like this,'' she said.

In helping put together the book, Mastro ''learned you could be friends with someone who has a disability.''

The book is being published by the Bubel/Aiken Foundation, a nonprofit started by ''American Idol'' runner-up Clay Aiken. Its mission is to include people with disabilities in everyday activities. The book, said foundation Chief Executive Officer Kristy Barnes, tells the foundation's ''exact story and the mission for us.''

The driving force behind the book is Mikayla's mother, Kimberly Resh. In the spring of 2005, she met with the then third-graders several times, asking them to honestly talk about her daughter, what they thought when they saw her and what they thought of people with disabilities.

By November, she had received the support of Aiken's foundation but was sworn to secrecy.

Emotional and ecstatic, a tearful Resh addressed the fourth-graders. ''I need to thank you for being honest,'' she said. ''I have to thank Mikayla for being her sweet little self.''

The foundation gave $12,500 toward the initial book run of 3,000 books. The Nazareth Blue Eagle Education Foundation contributed $2,000, which will be used for the book's dust jackets.

It's the first book for the Bubel/Aiken Foundation, which works to create summer camps and other youth programs.

Eventually, Resh would like a copy of ''Our Friend, Mikayla,'' in every elementary school in the country. She's run price estimates for the approximately 50,000 schools and doesn't see the goal as too lofty.

The book will be available for sale online at the Bubel Aiken Foundation website.

Technorati tags: Clay Aiken, Bubel Aiken Foundation, American Idol, Our Friend Mikayla

Woke up this morning with a stitch in my side. Thought it might be gas pains from the anchovy laden pizza last night but quickly realized it just my inner child trying to get out. Yes, it is Saturday. Time for Saturday morning cartoons.

Saturday morning cartoons on the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) has become a ritual of sorts for me. I get up, grab a cup of english breakfast tea with enough sugar to make the spoon stand up, get my sugar and caffeine buzz on and giggle with Mr. Meaty and Yam Roll. <- a cartoon solely dedicated the very good adventures of, you guessed it...... a yam roll. The CBC's Saturday morning line up reminds of the days of The Muppet Show. It's edgy, interesting an accessible by both kids and adults. Well at least adults who check in every once in awhile with that wee little voice inside them. Laughing and being silly keeps you young.

An episode of Mr. Meaty.

Welcome to fast-food hell, right across from the Salad N’ Dressin in the second-floor food court. Josh and Parker are in charge around here, and what they lack in customer service they more than make up for in imagination.



Article:
Lenz unleashes more puppets
More after-school kids fare coming from Decode, March and Nerd Corps for CBC
Official Site
Help Josh and Parker in the Mr. Meaty Game

There is another cartoon that I love but it is definitely not for the kiddies. Post about that later.

Technorati tags: Mr. Meaty, Cartoons, Humor, CBC, Puppets

I love to play around with a video editor. It's one of my hobbies. Another hobby of mine is Clay Aiken. With Clay allowing video recording at his concerts, I get to enjoy both hobbies.

Clay fans are generous with their media and cameras. Often lending their cameras to other fans to participate in the recording of concerts. I was lucky enough to have a very kind Clay fan lend me their camera for the Rochester Hills stop during the Juke Box Tour last summer. I will post a montage of that footage in a later post. Haven't loaded it up yet.

In the meantime, this is a montage with the majority of the clips coming from the Independent Tour. It was one of the first montages that I made. Like the others it is black and white. I prefer working in that medium. It is set to one of my favorite songs - Slow Like Honey by Fiona Apple. Hope you like it.

Technorati tags: Clay Aiken, Independent Tour, American Idol, video editing

Since getting rid of my cable I rely on the internet to get my fix of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I hope I am not the only one who thinks John Stewart is hot. I like a guy with a big......brain. His wit just cracks my shi..stuff up.

This video made me giggle

Part One of the Video.



Part Two

Technorati tags: Jon Stewart, The Daily Show, Humor

Last night I attended the Jason Mraz concert. I am by no means "old", but I did feel like one of the oldest people in the joint. The audience really skewed young which I thought was odd. I really thought that were be more late 20s and early 30s people in the audience. I really like Jason's music, especially his extraordinary quick wit with his lyrics. Unlike so many artists today played on the radio, Jason can actually sing and sing well. I hate buying a CD and then seeing a person live only to realize their voice was CREATED in the studio with programs such as Pro-tools (I'm thinking of you Miss Ashley Simpson-she who wouldn't know a note if it smacked her upside her head.) Not that I have actually seen her sing in person, that sporting event she sang at was enough to convince me that hearing her sing live would be some form of punishment I was not yet ready to experience.

I made an attempt at getting some video last night but my camera distorted the sound beyond all recognition, along with the sound already being a little off. Maybe it was the venue. I also had a hard time focusing in low light, even though there is a setting for night movie. My next camera will not be a Konica Minolta. If you have any suggestions on a reasonably priced camera that will shoot video in low light with a good zoom let me know. I like my camera for what I generally use it for which is mainly taking pictures of pretty flowers and bugs (love bugs), but I want another one for concerts.

Overall I really liked the concert and would probably go see him again. Hopefully at a venue that isn't general admission and has better sound.

Related Tags: Jason Mraz

Technorati tags: Clay Aiken, Photography, Juke Box Tour

Technorati tags: Clay Aiken, Photography, Juke Box Tour

Technorati tags: Clay Aiken, Photography, Juke Box Tour

Well I haven't posted in a couple of days. RL caught up with me. Here are a few more of the black and white phots I took at the Toronto Juke Box Tour Stop. I apologize as I have yet to figure out how to link more than when one photo at a time from flickr using the blog this button. So I will do this in a couple of posts.

Technorati tags: Clay Aiken, Photography, Juke Box Tour

Don't have much time this morning, so I'll just post this. More to come later.

Technorati tags: Clay Aiken, Joyful Noise Tour

I am home sick today and completely bored. Tried to watch a DVD but the noise was giving me a headache so I thought I would organize some of the photos I have on computer. I came across this photo shot by suz4omc. I have to say at this moment it is my favorite pic of Clay. He looks absolutely ethereal. GAH!

I really am bored, so watch out I may post more.

Technorati tags: Clay Aiken, Joyful Noise Tour

You might have noticed the link I have to OpenOffice.org under my links section. I love this software bundle. In the past I used Microsoft Office but I truly hate Microsoft with the heat of a thousand EasyBake ovens. OpenOffice is an excellent alternative. And here is the best part......IT'S FREE!!! and does everything Microsoft Office does. It is completely compatible with Microsoft and other platforms so there are no worries there. My workplace still uses Microsoft Office but I work from home a lot and have never had a problem with conversion. So if you want to save yourself a couple hundred dollars click the link, download and discover the beauty of open source.



Great blog on tips and training for OpenOffice
OpenOffice Blog

Technorati tags: OpenOffice, Open Source, Microsoft Office, MS Office