Outcome: To learn about Aboriginal art from Australia, to experience a different method of painting, i.e. with dots of paint and to think about filling a space with color as well as shape.

Materials: Brown wrapping or shipping paper or butcher paper in a cave wall color (brown, black or gray) cut or ripped a little bigger than a hand print, tempera paint of various colors including white or water color pencils, small ‘pegs’ to dip in the paint to create dots (can be little pegs from a peg board, the ends of unsharpened pencils-anything small with a  round end that will make a print of a dot) if tempera paint is used, pencils for names on papers and to trace hand, little cups for liquid paint (if tempera paint is used.), and many examples to show of aboriginal work from Australia-can be found on the web, and an example made by the teacher of how the dots will look, and of course a room full of little hands to trace.

Art History:  Talk about the importance of the aboriginal work in a society that values oral history, show examples and talk about the hand prints, the animals and how the things one sees every day in the environment become important in stories and in art.  Don’t get too heavy though-keep it simple.

Finished Product: A hand print created in a style reminiscent of aboriginal art.

Steps: 

1. Show examples of work and talk about the cave paintings.  Look at the texture of the walls.  Note the hand prints and little dots.  See if the children can identify different animals and talk about how the paintings are part of stories and history. 
2. Take a piece of brown paper and wad it up into a tight ball.  The edges can be clean cut, but I like to do ‘ripped’ edges to increase the illusion of a cave wall.
3. Show the children how to unwrap the ball and smooth it flat again on the table.
4. Pass out the paper and pencils and have the children write their names on one side and do the wadding and smoothing.
5. On a white board or chalk board, show the children how to trace their own hand.  When hand is traced, close the hand print so that a line goes all the way around.  Have the children do this step, walking about and helping when necessary.  Remind about adding a line to close the shape of the hand.
6. On the already started example, show how to make little dots of white paint on the line of the hand print, going all the way around the line.  Note to just dip the end and make a single ‘print’ rather than a moving the peg around like a paint brush or pencil.
7. Pass out little cups of while paint and the pegs, allowing for shared cups of paint if necessary, and have the children carefully do the dots on the outline of their hands. 
8. When a child has completed the outline (remind to go slow and careful), add another color to make another outline on the inside of the white line, showing example already created.  Go all the way around in one layer of other color.  When that is complete, repeat step with another color and so on until hand print is filled with layers of different hand prints. 
9. If your class is more skilled or older, one can add the simple shapes of animals that are seen in their own everyday life, and then repeat the outlining process that was used with the hands.
10. Water color pencils is a less labor intensive way to create the little bright dots of paint, but is more expensive and you lose the experience of creating with the pegs and dots of paint.
11. Allow to dry and display.  They can easily be mounted on another piece of paper, like black construction paper, to show off the work even more.  Enjoy!

Other lesson Plans:
http://socyberty.com/education/art-lesson-plan-for-kindergarten-through-third-grade-mandalas/

Beef isn’t the healthiest choice for dinner, and it’s not just because of its fat content. When beef is cooked to high temperatures through grilling, broiling, or frying, compounds called heterocylic amines are formed that are known to cause cancer. Fortunately, a group of researchers discovered a new way to lower the amount of heterocylic amines that form in beef when they’re exposed to high temperatures – so Americans can safely enjoy a steak dinner again.

Researchers at the University of Porto found that marinating beef in a marinade made of green tea for six hours reduced levels of heterocyclic amines in cooked beef by up to seventy-five percent. Unfortunately, they had to reduce the time the beef was marinated to two hours because longer times caused changes in the meat’s quality. A two hour marinade in green tea not only reduced the heterocylic amines in the beef, but didn’t alter the taste.

Marinating beef with other marinades – particularly acidic ones – also lowers heterocylic amine levels. Marinating in garlic, olive oil, or lemon juice reduces levels of heterocylic amines by up to ninety percent – as does marinating in red wine or beer. Beer is slightly better at lowering levels of these cancer-causing compounds than red wine.

Marinating beef isn’t the only way to lower levels of these cancer causing chemicals. Adding rosemary extract to ground beef before cooking also decreases the amount of heterocylic amines that form. Rosemary is a good source of carnosic acid, carnosol, and rosmarinic acid which have strong antioxidant activity. Rosemary powder may work also, but it’s more likely to alter the taste of the beef – although some people enjoy the taste of rosemary beef.

The bottom line? Marinating beef is a good idea not only for taste, but to reduce the amount of heterocylic amines that form when the meat is cooked. Keep in mind that any muscle meat will produce heterocylic amines when heated to high temperatures – including chicken and pork. If you don’t want to marinate beef in green tea, use lemon juice, red wine, or beer instead. It’s a small step to take to protect your health.

Eating sandwiches is an American tradition – and one that few Americans are willing to give up. What could be faster and more convenient than grabbing a quick sandwich to go? Unfortunately, the bread that most sandwiches are served on is made of refined carbohydrates that does nothing positive for blood sugar levels – or for the waistline. Bread may be the “staff of life”, but not when it’s made of bleached, white flour that’s stripped of its fiber.

Fortunately for those who are trying to cut back on empty carbs, there are healthier breads available that are made with whole wheat flour. The key when bread shopping is to look for the word “whole” on the label which means the entire grain is intact – not just the endosperm which is devoid of fiber and nutrients.

Sandwich lovers take notice. There’s a new healthier bread on the horizon that reportedly tastes better than traditional breads made with whole wheat flour. Scientists at the USDA Agricultural Research Service have developed a new bread made with barley which they believe offers superior health benefits and a more appealing taste.

Why is bread made of barley a healthier option? Barley is good for colon health because good bacteria in the intestines use it to produce butyric acid – a chemical that keeps the intestines healthy and lowers the risk of colon cancer. Barley also contains beta-glucan – a polysaccharide which helps to lower cholesterol levels. It’s also rich in heart healthy fiber.

To make this healthier bread, the developers used a plant carbohydrate called HPMC as a substitute for gluten – a protein which gives bread dough its structure. HPMC has cholesterol-lowering effects in animal studies which could make this new barley bread even more heart healthy. How does it taste? When researchers taste tested this bread against traditional whole wheat breads, taste tasters preferred it.

The makers are hoping this healthier bread will be a better tasting alternative to whole wheat bread and that it will have a positive health impact on people who have diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and obesity by providing them with a bread that won’t have a negative impact on their blood sugar levels. Hopefully, it’ll reach store shelves in the near future.

Over 7,000 people die in the U.S. each year as a result of medication errors. Many of these errors are due to the doctor having sloppy handwriting that a pharmacy or nurse misreads. Handwriting may seem like a small thing, but in this case it is the difference between life or death. So, think about the small things in your life. Sometimes the small things add up to create big mistakes. For example, keeping your checkbook perfectly balanced. Three – five dollar debits may sound like a small amount to go over your balance, but add the $30 to $40 dollar overdraft charge to each of them and 15 bucks just turned into over a hundred dollars.

Think Negatively

Thinking negatively may sound…well…negative. But, in many cases negative thinking can have positive outcomes. It is kind of like the teenager who never stops to think about the hours they will stay up with a baby, how they will buy diapers, how they will go to school, etc.. if they get pregnant. Instead, the teenager always says, “it will never happen to me.” So, when you make a life decision, stop to ask, “what could go wrong?” Continual positive thinking blinds us to the pitfalls of life. 

Think Differently

Habit can become your best friend. It saves you time, mental effort, and physical effort. However, it can also cause you to miss out on novel situations by only allowing you to see what you expect to see.

Slow It Down

Most people have this “fast” mentality. Everything from driving to eating has to be done fast, and it isn’t good enough to just do one thing fast, multitasking everything fast is even better- right? No! As my grandmother said, “One thing at a time, and that done well is a very good thing.” It is impossible to have a mistake proof life if you are driving 90 MPH, putting on makeup, texting, and changing the radio station all at once. Multitasking causes the error rate to go up and the productivity rate to go down. It might feel good to get everything done all at once and as fast as possible, but in the long run, the slower approach will be the safer and more efficient choice.

Anecdotes Beware

We often give vivid accounts of information more credence than they merit. If someone on T.V. claims they lost 100 lbs in 1 month…then it must be true. This skews our decision making and logical thought process. A CIA study from the 90’s advised operatives that anecdotes can lead them astray. They were told to not rely on anecdotal evidence and ask for averages….not testimonials. So, ask for the what, why, where, when, and how evidence.

Get More Sleep

This one is quite simple. If your mind and body is nodding off, then mistakes are inevitable. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that 100,000 annual police reported accidents involve drowsiness or fatigue as the causative factor. 1,500 of those accident mistakes involve fatalities.

Mood Based Decisions

Use logic to make decisions…not your good or bad mood. If you are in a bad mood, you will be less likely to think creatively and less willing to compromise. If you are in a good mood you will be more willing to compromise and think with more creativity, but you will also be more apt to agree to what suits you at the moment, instead of what suits you long-term.  So, weigh your decisions based on logic and your long term goals instead of what mood you are in that particular moment.

Use Constraints

Simple mental aids can help you make constraints. The color red works great because it inherently, from stop signs and red lights, means stop to our brains. So, if your problem is a shoe fetish and you need to curb your spending, then tape a red piece of tape to your credit card. When you pull it out to pay, that red tape will serve as a visual reminder that you may not need to spend your car payment money on a pair of shoes. If your problem is speeding, tape a red flag on the speed limit you do not want to go over.

After a short look at Aether Membrane, you can see what I mean about it being one of the best Walls ever.  It’s easiest to compare to Wall of Frost because of the comparable mana costs (switching RR in for UU) and the cool things that happen when they block.  However, Aether Membrane is definitely the better of the two, for a few reasons.  First, it has Reach, which one-ups Wall of Frost right away.  It’s nice to have a wall that your opponent can’t fly over.  Second, its ability is far better than Wall of Frost’s.  While the latter simply deactivates an opponent’s creature for a turn, Aether Membrane actually takes it off the board and forces your opponent to re-spend mana if they want to play it again.  That, to me, is a far more efficient way to keep your opponent from attacking you.  Although it has two fewer points of toughness than Wall of Frost, it’s simply a better card out of the gate.  If you’re looking for a solid blocker for your red deck, look no further than Aether Membrane.

Well, that’s about all I’ve got on this one.  This card is definitely not as recognized these days as it should be; I hope this article will be helpful in giving this card the props it deserves.  See you next time!

2.  Give clear marching orders.  You’d think that by now, women would know they can’t just toss out directives and hope for the best.  Whether you’re dealing with a distracted husband, or your teenagers, you must communicate exactly what you expect.

3.  Kick the TV habit.  Turn on the set only when a specific program you want to see is scheduled.  Institute a once-a-week “blackout” nights, when nobody in your family gets to watch TV.  It’s amazing what you can accomplish in the time you usually spend staring at the screen.

4.  Use your peak energy level. Knowing when it’s highest — morning, afternoon, or night — allows you to tackle your most difficult tasks when you’re feeling sharpest.

5.  Call ahead when you run errands.  Before you make the trip, call the library to be sure it has the book you need or the video store to see if that tape you want is in. A few minutes on the phone can save you an hour or more.

6.  Don’t play the waiting game, at the doctor’s office or anywhere else.  Try to book the first appointment in the morning or the first one after lunch. That way, it’s unlikely anybody will be ahead of you.  When you phone your doctor’s office to arrange for an appointment, make sure the receptionist knows you’re on a tight schedule.  And on the day of the appointment, call ahead to see if there’s a wait. No patient should sit around for more than 30 minutes. If the office can’t accommodate you within that time, think about finding another doctor (or dentist or therapist). Your time has value too.

7.  Toss it!  It’s much simpler to streamline your routine. Select the quality products you use every day and dump the rest.

Where are our story tellers today? We have plenty of preachers and moralists, but where are the tales that begin, go somewhere, and have a satisfying ending? Mark Twain knew how to tell a story. He was one of America’s best. Story telling is the oldest art, and it seems a lost art. Bashvis Singer said, “In art, truth that is boring is not true.” The mother to her child, the hunter to his peers, they did not just report, they told a tale. The more it was believed the truer it became.

The invention of print changed us and the story teller. The eyes and the ears are different listeners. Children who were the last listeners to the story tellers who used to entertain all ages, are exposed to new stories and finding it hard. Their stories today are realism without reality, warnings without wisdom, and humor without wit. The disturbing news is that more than 50 percent of children do not read a book for pleasure.

So, what can we do for children who don’t read. Why, bring back the story tellers. First there is a beginning that gets their attention, it goes somewhere, and has a satisfying ending.

“Many years ago in a land far away there was a gentle hearted girl in a land where spirits of beautiful ladies were said to dwell in the the branches of trees. – - – - – -In the time before time began, the sunbeam rider lived where the world was filled with wishes as bee hives are filled with honey- – - – -”

But always a story begins at the beginning. That seems simple enough to remember. You don’t have to start at the birth of the heroine to start at the beginning, still there should be a reason for a story starting somewhere, and not just at the whim of the teller. And the middle should not be so tight as to be lost. The middle is the place that leads the reader to the end.

All writers have trouble with the middle of stories. Some writers who feel they have a good story will simply link the beginning and the ending, not realizing the middle is the most important part of the tale. The middle is where the most important things occur. But children will not forgive a weak ending. Even with a good beginning, middle and ending, the story must have an inner truth. Nobody will be fooled without it. Story telling is the oldest religion. Our oldest form of remembering promises made to our various gods and to ourselves. A recording of our emotions, desires, and taboos. So, let the story tellers begin.

http://socyberty.com/history/america-the-beautiful/

http://writinghood.com/writing/creative-non-fiction/

http://quazen.com/reference/leontyne-price/

http://socyberty.com/history/the-grand-adventure-of-jacques-cartier/

http://socyberty.com/history/this-fertile-land/

If you would like to publish your short stories or other articles click here.  http://www.triond.com/rw/6239

I have been an aunt to young boys for only 4 years. Because of distance, I’m only able to see them more than a couple times each year, and most of these times are gift-giving occasions. Knowing what to get them as gifts seems to be harder every year. Having no children myself, I am pretty clueless to what young boys want. But over the years I’ve begun to really understand the problems that make this so hard and also some solutions.

Problem #1: I can’t compete.

My presents always pale in comparison to Mom, Dad & Grandmas. In my experience, parents and grandparents go overboard with gifts: new TVs to 8 year olds, game systems to 4 year olds, motored scooters, electrical train sets, etc. The kids are easily raking in gifts valued around a thousand dollars each birthday and Christmas. There is just no way I can afford to “compete” with that. Fortunately, I’m not I expected to.

Problem #2: Interests & Modern Brands

Have you been to the toy aisles lately? They’re filled with toys that are completely foreign to a childless adult. Thank goodness Barbie is still around (and it looks like the Munche Chees are making a comeback). But when you’re shopping for boys, than these nostalgic toys will do you no good. Even if you know your nephew loves the Bionicles, you probably have no idea which specific figures he already has or which one he wants.

Solution #1: Ask Mom

Don’t try to pretend you’re aware of your nieces’ and nephews’ interests when you’re not. Go ahead and ask their mother what kinds of gifts they’d like. She’ll probably be able to rattle off a long list.

Solution #2: Get Recommendations

Go to Amazon.com (or other web sites) to see what people are buying for children, and check to see how they rate those toys. Most store web sites will even have ways for you to search by age and gender to help you narrow in on the best gifts for that age group.

Solution #3: Channel Your Inner Child

Forget trying to find what your nephew wants, take a risk and get him something you think he might like. What did you like when you were an 8 year-old kid? Legos? Magic tricks? Kids are mostly exposed to what’s only being sold on commercials, so kids can miss out on fun things they don’t even know exist. If they’re old enough to read (even very basic books) than think back to those books you loved as a child. Shel Silverstein. Where the Wild Things Are. Most of us can remember a book that we read over and over again as a child. Isn’t that an experience you would love your niece and nephew to have?

Bottom line: Your presents may be cheap, they may be old-fashioned and they definitely won’t outshine Grandma’s gifts. Accept this as fact. Just try to make yourself happy. Find the things you enjoyed as a kid that you think your nephew or niece might, too.

And if you have other great gift ideas for kids, feel free to add them in the Comments section. I would love to hear what works for you during the gift-giving seasons!

While these fish are tropical in nature, they actually can survive in waters with temperatures in the high 50’s. Officials in Missouri have found these predatory fish in at least a few places in local lakes. But it’s not just happening in Missouri. Fisherman in other Midwest states claim to have caught piranhas.

How would these fish native to South America find their way to North America’s lakes?  Pet owners get sick of them. Or they didn’t get large enough aquariums and their piranhas outgrow them. Piranhas are often only 2-3 inches long in the pet store, but can easily grow six times that size. Piranhas can get up to about 7 pounds.

It would seem that the piranha problem in the Ozarks would disappear once winter hit, but unfortunately that’s not always true. There are some area where the water never gets colder than the upper 50’s.

It’s time Missouri puts its foot down about piranhas. Outlaw them. Texas has banned people from buying piranhas and businesses from selling them. Pet shop owners caught violating the law could be fined $500 per fish. Actually about have the states have enacted bans on piranhas. You can still find them for sale in northern states like Pennsylvania where waters will eventually get too cold for these flesh-eating fish

Fortunately piranhas can’t mate outside their species. Combine that with their limited tolerance to cold weather, and hopefully that’ll keep the piranha population to an uber minimum in the states. But better be safe than sorry, don’t swim solo in murky waters.

Good luck!