What a fun video about family history. At first it was rather hum-drum but then it takes a fun twist so don’t give up.
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Zodiac has an odd quirk that he picked up after he was neutered. He loves to rub on people and couches much like a cat. Only problem is he is much more energetic and lively than a cat. So while a cat rubs gently against your leg, Zodiac tends to zip by with a not so gentle shove. I wonder if it is his way of scratching an itchy spot? It seems kind of fitting for his name since the U.S. Navy call their rubber rafts, zodiacs, I figure that Zodiac is our rubber boy.
Things are finally starting to move on this years candy window. And I decided it would be a good test of my Doable Approach to a story project. I’ve not thought of my candy windows as story projects before but they really are. Good windows tell a story, even if it is a simple one. The telling of the story is what makes the window more interesting. Plus the reason I do the candy windows is because of the joy I felt when I went to see the ones ZCMI did years ago. It was a favorite Christmas tradition and story projects are about family traditions too. So I’ll start by outlining what I’ve done so far.
Step One: Decide
This step happen many months ago when I committed to do another window and the theme of “Christmas Movies” was picked. I did a bunch of research and decided to use “A Charlie Brown Christmas” as my inspiration. I checked it out from the library and watched it. Then I gathered some images from the internet of the parts of the movie that inspired me.
At this point everything go put on hold, because I didn’t know which store window I would be in. Today I was able to move forward again.
Step Two: Organize
With the window location picked, I could look at my options and see what I have to work with. My original layout was for a landscape shaped window but the one I have is vertical. So I adapted my design for the space. I’ve got my colors and a basic list of what I’ll need for the project. Now I need to look through my candy stash and see what I have that will work for this project. Then I’ll be ready to move on to Step Three: Analyze.
Recent Candy Windows:
Even though Zodiac is far from perfect, you always know where you stand with him. He has a pure heart with no concept of deception. He loves with all his heart and is always happy to see an old friend or make a new friend. This trait will serve him well the rest of his life, no matter what the future brings.
One of the important things in planning a story project is the workflow. This in an area that I still need lots of work and disciple. Even though I know that I should get the text done for a book project before I start all the other stuff, I keep finding myself moving forward with the design and layout when the text isn’t done. I’ve made it all work out in the end but I’m sure it would be faster and probably more effective too if I had followed a better workflow instead of jumping ahead.
So my tip for the day is figure out what needs to be done for your story project and the order it needs to be done in. Somethings can happen in parallel because they aren’t dependent upon each other. But other things need to wait until the right time in the project. My goal is to do a better job of planning my workflow and then actually stick to the plan. I’ll report back here to let you know how I do.
Here is a post from a year or so ago about Workflow for publishing with Adobe Creative Suite. There is some good information here.
Zodiac has had the best of relationships with two other puppies in training. First was Yakira (puppy #5). When Zodiac was young she was his guardian and mentor. As he grew older their relationship evolved into buddies. Through it all the two of them had many lively and exciting romps. When she returned to GDB for training he truly missed her.
A few months later Dune (puppy #7) came on the scene and Zodiac got to be the mentor. Yakira taught him well and he did many of the same things that Yakira had done for him. Though Dune’s personality is very different from Yakira’s, Zodiac and Dune have just as close a relationship. They can run full tilt around the house and a few minutes later be snuggled up together for a nap. Dune is going to miss Zodiac when it is his turn to return to GDB for training.
Since Zodiac is now officially “in class” it is time to step up the pace on posting the pages from his book. I’d like to get all the finished pages up by the time he graduates. So I’ll be posting a page everyday until I’m finished.
Zodiac is on in a zillion. Though he looks pretty much like many other black labs, he has a unique combination of personality traits that we have come to love and usually appreciate. He has this adorable way of looking up at you without really moving his head. This makes it so the whites of his eyes show. He has a slightly scruffy coat and really thick toenails. Zodiac is curious about everything and always wants to help when you are doing something usual. He loves to supervise me when I’m vacuuming. He is an excellent traveler and enjoys seeing and doing new things. Though he is the sixth puppy we have raised for GDB and he won’t be the last he is the one and only Zodiac.
Zodiac in the kennel kitchen
We got to see Zodiac today! He has grown-up so much that he recognized us before we recognized him. He was very excited of course. The last three months of training have added lots of muscle to his chest and his back legs. Bill commented that he now moves like a panther. It is easy to imagine him pulling in harness with the way he moves. His body is starting to fill out to match his over-sized feet.
We had lots of fun walking around campus, taking photos and hanging out in the paddock where Zodiac and Dune got to play. That was my favorite part, just hanging out together on the grass enjoying being together for a little while. Too soon we had to make the move to return home, but we are secure in the fact that Zodiac is doing great. I can see improvement in his impulse control and paying attention to collar cues in just the little time that we spent together. I think he is going to make a great guide dog for his new partner.
We brought home a young retired guide named Santini to her puppy raiser in Utah. Dune enjoyed having another dog in the car for the long trip home.
Zodiac like most labs has his wild moments when he dashes around the house. Some times I’ve heard this called labby loops. With Zodiac it is more of a zigzag than loops. He runs full speed one direction then abruptly changes direction and then changes direction again. He does this for just a couple of minutes and then he is back to normal.
Still fighting this cold, so here is an interesting post on project planning. I think the principle here can be adapted to planning a story project.
I’m finally admitting to myself that my allergies have spawned a cold, but I don’t want to miss another post of doing story projects. So here is a link to some detailed information on doing an oral history project on the Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center.
Here is a brief outline of the planning part:
telling family tales 