Monday, April 28, 2008

Word Game and FREE RICE

Do you like words? If you DO like words and word games and are willing to help The United Nations World Food Program in a small way, there is a fun site called Free Rice.

Free Rice rules are simple: Click on the answer that best defines the word. If you get it right, you get a harder word. If wrong, you get an easier word. For each word you get right, 20 grains of rice are donated to the UN World Food Program.

A Player says:

They give you a word with four possible definitions; pick the right one and they donate ten grains of rice to a hungry person through an aid agency. (Don't say "why don't they just give the rice," because the rice is funded through ad revenue which they get by hits, and each time you move to the next page of choices they get another hit and can buy more rice. No game, no views, no ad revenue, no rice.) As you get words right, you move up to higher levels; the highest is Level 50, and I've managed to stay there for fairly long periods... but then they stump me with a word like nisus (yes, I should have studied harder in Latin class) and I drop back down. WARNING: This game may make you smarter. It may improve your speaking, writing, thinking, grades, job performance…
I played for five minutes and answered about 50 word definitions (with several mistakes, but don’t worry, the program gives you back the same word to answer correctly when you least expect it).

Give Free Rice Game a try, but be sure and keep your coffee hot and the phone muted, because this game can be addictive.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Windows Movie Maker - Song & Spring Pictures to Video

I have been trying out a new craft on my computer through the free Windows program called "Movie Maker". Since I had lots of digital pictures of growing flowers and some original oil paintings of flowers, I decided to marry them and created this video. Superimposed into the video is the upbeat song from the recent movie JUNO. This might give you a smile (just click on the arrow on the blue screen below).

lyrics from the movie JUNO

If I was a flower growing wild and free
All I'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee.
And if I was a tree growing tall and green
All I'd want is you to shade me and be my leaves

If I was a flower growing wild and free
All I'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee.
And if I was a tree growing tall and green
All I'd want is you to shade me and be my leaves

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were a river in the mountains tall,
The rumble of your water would be my call.
If you were the winter, I know I'd be the snow
Just as long as you were with me, let the cold winds blow

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were a wink, I'd be a nod
If you were a seed, well I'd be a pod.
If you were the floor, I'd wanna be the rug
And if you were a kiss, I know I'd be a hug

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were the wood, I'd be the fire.
If you were the love, I'd be the desire.
If you were a castle, I'd be your moat,
And if you were an ocean, I'd learn to float.

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.


By Barry Polisar (from Polisar)

Friday, April 25, 2008

Perseverance and Sox: If at First You Don’t Succeed…

My patience was tested yesterday when I tried correctly knitting the toes of a woolen sock. Mind you, I had gotten through the heel and gusset without problems, which are supposedly the most difficult part of creating a sock. But the toe was awfully hard to get right.

Here is a picture after my first attempt, entitled “naughty” sock. Note the toe was pointed. Yikes! Tear it out and start over. (This is called frogging in knittereze language.)
But, as with all things, perseverance paid off.
Perseverance is commitment, hard work, patience, endurance. Perseverance is being able to bear difficulties calmly and without complaint. Perseverance is trying again and again. (from Perseverance)
So, after several more attempts at "getting it right," this is the “nice” picture of the sock with a correctly formed toe. Yea!

Some Quotes:

The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't. ~Henry Ward Beecher

The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places. ~Author Unknown

When the world says, "Give up,"Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."~Author Unknown

Let's get on with today, and enjoy our small successes!