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Good luck with your Major Design Project

Colin

Strike One

The first time this occurred, I was working from home and Becca was having a needy day. She just really, really, really wanted to be on top of me. No matter where I was in the house, it seemed as if she was one step behind me. As I was trying to gather her breakfast items together, some yoghurt and cereal, she kept one step behind me. The problem was that my kitchen is quite small and I wasn't being efficient so I was continually retracing my steps. Grab the cereal box... oops, forgot the bowl... turn around to get the bowl only to bump into Becca... got the bowl... turn to the counter to add the cereal only to bump into Becca... reach over to open the fridge door and grab the milk only to bump into Becca almost toppling her over. This went on for most of the morning as we moved from task to task.

So when Becca seemed content to quietly play beside me as I was putting the finishing touches on a writing project, I was relieved. I was especially relieved that she was fascinated with lining up the plastic ink cartridges for my printer and grateful that the ink cartridges were designed to make it impossible to get the ink out. I felt a sense of peace as I worked on my piece and listened to Becca signing to herself. A short time later, I once again glanced down at Becca and was jolted back to reality. My little angel baby had covered herself in marker from head to toe. I looked around for the source of the marker and my eyes fell on the printer cartridges. Had Becca somehow monkeyed with them and managed to release the ink? I turned one of them over in my hands and couldn't see how but I also didn't see any markers within Becca's vicinity. I quickly gathered up all the printer cartridges and threw them back into the cabinet they usually reside, grabbed Becca and tried to wash some of the marker off. After a few applications of soap, I began to despair the Becca would ever have marker-free legs again.

Strike Two
A few days later as the marker was slowly fading from Becca's legs, she and I were hanging out in the car as we waited for her abuelita (grandma) to finish with a dentist appointment. While we were waiting, Becca was sitting in the passenger seat with her babies (a Holly Hobby doll and a teddy bear) and playing her favorite game. This is the game where she screams, "Mine! Mine! Mine!" and clutches something (the bear, Holly Hobby or a hair clip) to her chest. She then begins to laugh hysterically as I pretend to take it away from her. Just as the game was in full swing, I received an important cell phone call and had to temporarily suspend the "Mine" game. Becca quickly lost interest in her babies and began to examine her surroundings. Within the blink of an eye, she spied a sharpie pen in the center console, reached out to grab it, yanked the top off and brought it to her face. A beat behind her, I grabbed for the pen only to grasp the air and watch in disbelief as Becca managed to add some crooked black whiskers to her cheek. Once again, indelible ink. This time on her face, great. I was now looking at my green-legged baby with whiskers.

Strike Three

The next time this occurred, Becca and I were once again in our home office. Becca was once again amusing herself as I was frantically trying to complete my mile-long to-do list before we left for ten days. This time, I had quickly checked around to make sure there were no print cartridges or stray markers lying around and had even given Becca a few toys to play with. Once again, I found myself lulled into a false sense of security as Becca quietly played and I finally managed to check a few items off the never ending list. Once again, I glanced down only to find Becca covered in marker head-to-toe. Except this time, I caught her clutching a green marker in one hand and trying to pick up two to three markers with her other hand. Apparently, Becca had spied the pencil case filled with markers tucked away on the bookshelf (the same one I overlooked a few minutes earlier). She then figured out how to unlatch the box, uncap the markers and began to draw. As I was crossing off tasks from my list, Becca was adding a big one-- scrub daughter from head to toe.

And I'm out!

Unfortunately not out of markers but definitely out of patience. How am I supposed to get things done AND keep her safe? Is it possible to ever completely toddler proof?

The kicker to this whole situation was having to participate in the marker conversation with Omar after each incident.

Omar (incredulously): What happened?

Me: She got into a marker and wrote all over herself (as I inwardly rolled my eyes-- wasn't it obvious?)

Omar: Where were you?

Me: Sitting right next to her.

Yeah, I am definitely feeling like the mom of the year. The good news is that we are going on two weeks without any more marker incidents (I hope I didn't jinx myself).

On that note, I better go and do a quick search for stray markers before Becca wakes up.

Mary Kate

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One of the very powerful (and unique) features of the Multimap API is the decluttering of markers.  See this example.

Another useful feature in the Multimap API is the restyling of info boxes (that open when you click on the marker).  See this example.

However if you want to restyle info boxes for markers that have been decluttered you need to follow a slightly different approach.  This is because the marker for the cluster is a separate marker, which won't have been touched by the your standard info box restyling, so will use the default info box style. What you need to do is add a handler for the 'declutterCluster' event.  This will be called every time a set of markers is clustered. The 7th argument to the handling function will be an anonymous object (basically a hash/dictionary/associative array) that they can set info box options on. So you could use something like the following:

mv.addEventHandler('declutterCluster', handleCluster);

...

function handleCluster(type, target, declutter_type, group_name, markers, cluster_marker, infobox_options ) {
  infobox_options['className'] = 'mpB';
  infobox_optione['minWidth'] = 170;
}

Thanks to John McKerrell for the approach and sample code.

See the full class documentation for more detail.

Natural Stone Mixture Clapotis ( 18 )

*SOLD*

Amber Chandelier ( 8 )

I will be listing more through out the week.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Now for something Special!!!

For my Blog readers ONLY I am having a sale!

Buy one set of Stitch Markers and get a second set for 25% off!
(lower priced set 25% off)

This is good for any of my stitch markers! Knit,Crochet and/or Clapotis!
No need to wait for a revised bill!
I will refund you the difference via PayPal!

All you have to do to get this deal is to put the following code into the note to saler box when you check out of Etsy! BLOG

Its as easy as that! But remember the sale is only good if you put the CODE in. :)

Sale ends Friday morning at 11am EST.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well thats all for now! Have a great evening and don't stay up to late! :)
Bye

Givin' back to the kids of 6th st.

I'm winding a hank of Shimmer into a little ball here at the office, and its slow going. This is one of those yarns that makes me wish I owned a swift: alpaca (especially fine alpaca) really likes to stick to itself. :P

I'm really having a lot of fun working on Wicked. My hands are teensy bit cramped this morning, but it'll be worth it to finish. I already have some ideas as far as changes to the pattern go. Mostly, I think I need to tighten up my cast on a bit. And I may go up or down a needle size next time. My gauge seems fairly on thus far, but... well, we shall see after we hit the armpits.

I also got some new toys in: stitch markers! I bought two sets from Sunneshine, and loved them so much that I bought two more. One set is completely in use on Liesl, who is hibernating until my 10.5s come in next week. Four are playing nice on Wicked. The rest... will be loved, assure you. I resisted the urge to buy stitch markers until recently, when I realized that I had passed the time of no-count patterns and had moved on to shaping.

I am also not feeling Flair right now. I bought all the yarn for it ... and it's just not speaking to me. :/ Still, I do have enough of the BSA Dyed Cotton to make a Megan-sized something. Cons: it's brown. Pros: I already have some cute cute buttons and it IS machine washable (in theory). And I could make Something Red instead, which I also have enough yarn for (in her size) ... then I could make my Flair the way I want to now: out of something a little more swank, like Andean Silk in Cranberry? It's just that I bought $40 worth of nice cotton, and it needs to be made into something to be loved. :/ And with that in mind, I remind you that I do have wee little give-away on my last post: just leave a comment suggesting a pattern (see post for details).

12:40 PM

So, I have no willpower. We went to get Les' first knitting needles on lunch, and I grabbed some BUTTONS!!! A huge grab bag of vintage looking buttons for like $4.  I figure, I'm working on cardigans and sweater; I need closure! (badumCHA).  This way, I can cast on and have buttons to fit almost anything.  Really.  There's this mammoth 1.5-2" button in there...  so, as long as I only need like 2 that match each other, I'm set for buttons for a while...  ooo!  Just found 4 that match!!! Those are off to the side for February Lady!

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
Really fun movie, continues much of the great story and characterisations from the first movie. Why Guillermo del Toro is not considered quite the world famous director in league with Spielberg is beyond me. Hopefully The Hobbit will finally do for him what LOTR did for Peter Jackson. Fantastic effects, brilliant action, wonderfully natural down-to-earth performances by the cast (which is hard to do in a fantasy movie), and even villains for whom you might even want to root.
Verdict: 4.0

The Live Debate: Shabery vs Anwar
It's the historic moment we're all waiting for. To be telecast live on TV9, Bernama TV and Astro AWANI, starting at 9pm. Hopefully, nothing silly's gonna happen before then, like maybe arrests of prominent people and all?

Also credit should given where it's due. Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek said this:

Ahmad Shabery said the debate had to be aired live so that the public would not have the perception that it was being doctored before going on air.

"The debate is to have a clear picture of the government's decisions and policies as well as to correct public perception on the matter," he said.

They could have shown a delayed telecast of it, or indeed, not shown it at all. But it's gonna be live, and I appreciate the Information Minister's determination to push this through. Hopefully, all your future decisions will help open up this country's much stifled and often silenced communication channels.

Much Ado About Nothing
All that traffic jams, and disgruntled people coming to work late, and all for what? A perceived threat? A vague idea of hostile demonstrations that didn't take place? Where's the so-called evidence, Mr Home Minister? If you have it, show it! I'm starting to get really annoyed at all these posturing from politicians from both sides of the divide who keep talking about having explosive evidence of major wrongdoing and what-nots committed by this Datuk and that Tan Sri. If you have it, show it!

Trust and Credibility
On that same vein, I've now come to accept that no politician can be trusted. Even the much hyped DSAI. I know lots of his supporters would lynch me for this, but a lot of the events of recent weeks tend to be so ridiculous and overblown that it's difficult to believe everything all these politicians are saying. Not DSAI, not Najib, not Pak Lah. Nobody. From now, I care not one iota for what you say, only in what you do. (Which would make me watching the debate a bit hypocritical, but the point of the debate - for me - is not in hearing what these people are saying, but rather allowing these people's sayings to be heard).

Gandhi-isms
At times like this, one can only hope a figure like Gandhi would once again walk upon this Earth. No aggressive posturing. No lies or double-speak. Straight-up honesty from the get go. Peaceful, non-violent disobedience. And above all, an outpouring of love for everyone, whether friend of foe. A person like that, everyone will follow.

Biggest Regrets and House of Cards
Just 2 cool videos I found via Boing Boing. The first is Radiohead's House of Cards video.

The other is this interesting video about regrets. Nice.

Just some things I've learned lately, and I thought I'd share with you!

Today's sketch met my old (and dying) Letraset Tria markers. Remember them? They had three tips (small, medium, chisel!) and cost $8? Well I still have a bin of some odd and mismatched colours.

Not sure if it's obvious here, but most images in my blog click open to larger versions of themselves, if you want to see a detail.

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For example, if I wanted a quick way to see what day I started blogging here, I could grab this Visual Organizers City Sights wall calendar and stick it to the wall with some Swingline thumb tacks, and I would be in business.  Oh - actually I would probably need a Sharpie too, wouldn't I?

Very vanilla, sage shadow, pretty in pink CS, pretty in pink taffeta ribbon, hodgepodge, scribble wheel and soft subtles markers

Inspired by Marcia, I used her card design for a page to show how you can use stamps on a page. I used the Scribble wheel and coloured it with my markers. I added ribbon and hodgepodge because a page is not  complete without ribbon :-) my DD loved it and i may use it for an upcoming class.

I have listed 2 new sets of Stitch Markers for you to enjoy!

Amber Chandelier Stitch Markers - Set of 8 Snag Free

Green Apple Chandelier Stitch Markers - Set of 5 Snag Free

Don't forget about my sale! It ends at 11am EST tomorrow! (7-18-08)

Buy one set of Stitch Markers and get a second set for 25% off!
(lower priced set 25% off)

This is good for any of my stitch markers! Knit,Crochet and/or Clapotis!
No need to wait for a revised bill!
I will refund you the difference via PayPal!

All you have to do to get this deal is to put the following code into the note to saler box when you check out of Etsy! BLOG

Its as easy as that! But remember the sale is only good if you put the CODE in.

[ $5 - $10 | 30 minutes or less | easy clean-up ]

Crayola Recoloritz is yet another product designed by Crayola to give kids another way to fill in line drawings of licensed characters from Disney.  As is common these days, it comes in a "boy" version (Cars) and a "girl" version (Princesses).  It is not, as you might think at first glance, a mess-free Color Wonder clone.  Rather, it essentially consists of six overhead projector markers, five preprinted opaque plastic sheets, and a sponge.  You could put together a similar kit with a couple of overhead transparencies laid over the image of your choice and a dozen transparency pens.  (And with a black sharpie and a basic understanding of how animation cels work, you could give a lesson in how cartoons are made while you're at it.)

While the markers will mark on surfaces other than the coloring sheets -- including clothing, faces, hands, and carpeting -- they seemed to wash off at least as easily as Crayola's regular washable markers.  And the re-usable nature of the product is a definite plus, assuming, of course, that your child doesn't get tired of coloring the same pictures over and over.  (Mine doesn't.)  The wet-erase nature of the pens ensures that your child won't be frustrated by smearing the portions she has already colored, as is sometimes a problem with dry-erase pens.  And at  just $10 per set, it would be difficult to find a cheaper re-usable alternative.  Yet, in the end, ReColoritz offer no experiences or skills that can't be learned just as easily through traditional crayon-and-paper coloring sets.

Verdict: Nothing inherently wrong with the product, but doesn't adequately encourage expression, creativity, or sensory play.

Score: 5/10.