Design

Homework Help Site Has a Social Networking Twist

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Today’s NYTimes had any interesting article called, “Homework Help Site Has a Social Networking Twist”.  Poojan Nath is the founder of Piazza a website created to help students post questions and get answers.

“The whole idea of Piazza stems from the dynamics that I observed at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, an elite engineering school in India where Ms. Nath went to school.  There, she had seen how her male classmates collaborated on problem sets.  From the sidelines I saw how effective it was to get immediate help, from peers in the same room,” Ms. Nath, 30, said.

Although there are rival services, like Blackboard, an education software company, Piazza’s platform is specifically designed to speed response times. The site is supported by a system of notification alerts, and the average question on Piazza will receive an answer in 14 minutes.

Not in Kansas Anymore

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Hammock in Cahuita

Between the hammock and the beach, Cahuita was a very wonderful vacation.

Black Beach Cahuita CR

Beach CR

Our front porch….ahhh!

Front Porch CR

In search of Bruno the sloth

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You should be able to  view the video. I am still trying to figure out how to upload a video directly into my blog from my iPad.

Before and After: Bookshelf Organization

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Call me a bit obsessive if you’d like…but before you utter those words, just look at how much nicer this bookshelf looks after some simple organizing and rearranging.

BEFORE: years of messy, toss-it-on-the-shelf activity and dust
BEFORE: years of messy, toss-it-on-the-shelf activity and dust

How-to achieve the look:

  1. I took each and every book off the shelf.
  2. I separated the books by color and by size.
  3. Then, I re-arranged them back on the shelf in an order that would fit the bookshelf and was pleasing to the eye.
  4. Tip: alter the vertical and horizontal arrangement, of your books, to give more room on the shelf and some visual interest.

After: ahhhhh!
After: ahhhhh!

Rolling down the river

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Over last weekend we did some canoeing in Rhode Island with friends.  I was happy to have kept the canoe upright…during the hours long trip.  It was a good workout and fun to meet new friends…let’s not mention the ticks, low hanging tree trunks, and mosquitoes.

Megan and Mary

Megan and Mary

Fewer trees, roots and debrie in this area

Prom Dresscue-The Beginning

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It started about a month ago now. From the local thrift store a lilac pair of size 18, elastic waist pants came home with Xernay.  The cost? Under $2.  The vision?  Dresscue these pants and create Xernay’s prom dress. Luckily, since Juniors wear short dresses to the Senior prom, I felt we had enough “fabric” to pull this off.
Prom Original pants

Prom_1The fabric is a permanent crinkle. in a lightweight polyester fabric of some sort.  The inspiration for the Dresscue came from Elie Saab’s lavender couture dress that Mila Kunis wore to the 2011 Oscars.

Prom inspiration front

Click for a slightly larger view

Prom Inspiration backOf course, given the origins of these pants, the inset lace wasn’t possible.  So, I navigated towards the drape, fabric, lace and some rhinestone trim.  To get the shape, I cut off the pants just below the pockets and ripped the sides to create the arms and shoulders.

This is the front starting to take shape

This is the front starting to take shape

Then, I worked the back of the dress

Then, I worked the back of the dress

It worked best to remove fabric as we went along the process of many try-on’s, pinnings and bastings.  I made a couple of trips to several stores to find the chiffon and trims.

Prom Trimming5

Stay tuned for the big reveal….tomorrow.