text:
Dr. Howard Rollins, EHRtv AIMS specialist and medical consultant, interviews Lionel Tehini, President & CEO of Acuitec.
Category: HIMSS12, Tradeshows
Date: April 16, 2012
Views:25,101 views
Dr. Howard Rollins: This is Dr. Howard Rollins with EHRtv. Today, I'm at Las Vegas HIMSS 2012. And I am with Lionel Tehini, the CEO and President of Acuitec. Lionel, thank you very much for being with us.
Lionel Tehini: Thank you, Howard. Thank you for having me.
Dr. Howard Rollins: So we're going to talk about your AIMS system and beyond your AIMS system, what Acuitec really has to offer. As an anesthesiologist, I deal with a lot of people in that–– in the–– in the field and when you talk about AIMS, people think that that's the all encompassing solution. But I don't think that's true, that really goes much further than that, doesn't it?
Lionel Tehini: It certainly does. There is a misconception of what an AIMS really is, most people categorize an AIMS as to what majority of anesthesia involves and that's intra-operative charting.
Dr. Howard Rollins: [Right], yeah.
Lionel Tehini: AIMS is a lot more than that.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Uhum.
Lionel Tehini: AIMS should be anything that involves anesthesia care whether it be pre-operative assessment, post-operative rounds, intervention during an ED environment, helping someone to administer a block somewhere in the hospital, all the documentation that anesthesiologist does encompasses an AIMS. Over and above that is the scheduling of resources, is the management of resources, is the assignment of your resources to do these types of tests, you got tracking, managing of people. And then you got the day of surgery management.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Right.
Lionel Tehini: Day of surgery management, most people don't understand that most hospitals rely on the anesthesiologist in charged to help the charge nurse schedule and move cases around to help get the load done. And if that's done in a grease board without taking into consideration technology, it's–– it's a waste of time because they're working on information that's not really real-time.
Dr. Howard Rollins: That's really what's happening right now in probably upwards of 85% of––
Lionel Tehini: Oh, easily 85% of hospitals. I mean you're going to a hospital operating room today and you just see grease boards everywhere. So information systems that–– anesthesia in the operating room is the true, the most sophisticated healthcare as far as I'm concerned, of anything in the hospital. If you look at the technology involved in anesthesia, it's the most technically advanced delivery of healthcare than anybody else has got, but yet they're the most updated as far as EHR is concerned because they're still using paper.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Right.
Lionel Tehini: So you look at all the anesthesia machines, they're high tech. You look at the monitors, they're high tech. You look at the base monitors, they're significantly high tech; the prompts are high tech. Everything that they use is pretty much high tech and it's the most advanced in healthcare. But when you come down to the electronic medical record and these people are capturing these things on paper and if they want to know the status in the room, they got to call inside the room. If an anesthesiologist is overseeing the case and he's got a CRNA at the bedside, he's going to physically walk into the room. He doesn't get notifications of events that are occurring. So technology has come a significant long way and yet AIMS seems to trail.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Penetration is low. To what do you assign that responsibility?
Lionel Tehini: I think there are a number of reasons that that's the reason. One is I think electronic–– the whole EMR system in the U.S. lacks implementation.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Right.
Lionel Tehini: And that's because of failed implementation. And I think the failed implementations come generally across healthcare because of lack of education. Clinicians need to be better educated. We're making assumption in the EMR market that we are dealing with computer literate individuals. Unfortunately, most of these clinicians have never touched the computer during the training. So when we tell them to use a mouse or click on something or navigate something, they don't have that capability.
Dr. Howard Rollins: But you know, it's funny. Anesthesiologists, if there was one specialty that I could pick that I could say they really are ahead of the curve or really into technology, it's anesthesiologist. But yet, we, and I include myself in that have resisted getting–– getting away from the paper record and I think part of it is the fear of artifact.
Lionel Tehini: Correct.
Dr. Howard Rollins: The fear of being out of control of our little space.
Lionel Tehini: Now, on the contrary to what I was just saying, you're a hundred percent correct, anesthesiologist on the other hand, are tech geeks.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Right.
Lionel Tehini: They have to be because they work with technology all the time. So they know the problems of what technology can do. They know that technology can create issues as well as solve issues. So their concern is anything ending up on the charts, that they have not vetted, validated, and made sure it's correct. So artifacts are a big, big issue.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Right.
Lionel Tehini: Majority of the systems in the market, to my knowledge, all the AIMS systems in the market, the exception of GasChart, which is our product, does not allow you to review your–– the data before it ends up on the chart. We allow charting in three different mechanisms. One is manual, so they can enter the chart manually, just like they do on paper today. The other is automated which is taking the data as it comes out of the machine in whatever frequency that they wanted and just putting that data as the machine says it is on the chart. The third and the most preferred mechanism that we have all our customers use especially when they're first implemented, is what we call semi-automated. What semi-automated does, it presents the data as captured, captured bin data that comes off a machine to the clinician, the clinician can vet that data before they chart it.So we talk about captured data versus charted data. Captured data is what comes off a machine; charted data is what the anesthesia team vets before they put on their chart. That is one of the big keys of our success is the fact that we are able to do that. They are able to edit that data and know how to explain all these artifacts away such as when a surgeon's leaning on a cuff so there's an incorrect reading because the proximity came loose or whatever it is. So they have many, many ways to do this kind of things and so that's what–– that's one of the biggest strengths of our system actually. And I'd love to claim the success of it but it wasn't my doing. It was a requirement that is part of the original development of this. That system would never have gone live at Vanderbilt if we were not able to have done that for the Vanderbilt clinicians because they did not want to sit to explain away artifacts and spend most of the case having to do that.
Dr. Howard Rollins: I was going to bring that up, in fact, that your system was in fact developed by anesthesiologists that are leading––
Lionel Tehini: Absolutely.
Dr. Howard Rollins: –– University–– Vanderbilt University Medical Center and I think that that speaks volumes to the input that you had in developing this system.
Lionel Tehini: Absolutely. I mean Vanderbilts are phenomenal about that. Extremely bright individuals as I'm sure you understand.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Yes.
Lionel Tehini: Not that–– not that anesthesiologist in general, I mean I've learned a lot about anesthesiologist. They have the greatest sense of humor.
Dr. Howard Rollins: (Laughs)
Lionel Tehini: They are tech geeks and they really, really are easy to work with because they are–– they do understand and they are very, very intelligent. And the thing I like about anesthesiologist, if I had to be a clinician, I'd be an anesthesiologist because you don't go home with the patient. When you leave at the end of day, you don't have any patients. It's a great––
Dr. Howard Rollins: I'm really starting to enjoy this interview. This is great.
Lionel Tehini: (Laughs) So yes, Vanderbilt plays a huge–– they played a key role in our development and they still play a huge role in our development in making sure that clinically said, we don't do anything dumb, that our workflow doesn't inhibit their performance and the ability for anesthesiologist to administer their work and be able to do their job. So they all–– they are very great partner but they are very, very difficult as well in validating things. At the slightest little thing, the number of clicks, the ability to get to information instantly, they don't want to have to scroll, click anything. Everything must fit on the screen.So that's another thing you find about our system, it's very ted-based and it's very obvious and it's very driven around what we call "forcing functions" to help the clinicians make decision and see what they need to finish the chart with. So it's very intuitive when you look at the screen. And as I said, I'd love to create–– I'd love to take all the credit for this but that comes because of the clinicians we work with. Vanderbilts are great people.
Dr. Howard Rollins: They are very part–– very particular.
Lionel Tehini: Very particular in that and our customers that have joined the group and become users of the system have become as particular and have seen the value of it. So they don't let us off the hook either. I mean they understand the value of what they got from Vanderbilt.
Dr. Howard Rollins: And tell me about VPIMS. So I understand exactly what that means.
Lionel Tehini: VPIMS is a–– stands for the Vigilant Perioperative Information Management System. It's a fully comprehensive information system for the perioperative environment. We start from the time a patient goes into the surgeon for a surgical consult and we manage the entire process from a clinical perspective, patient communication, history and physical, everything we start at that point and it flows right through to the time a patient is discharged from the perioperative environment. Even to the point of post-surgical CQI with our first surgical CQI module, but everything that happens in the system is aggregated in one complete system.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Able to report to AQI and other reporting agencies?
Lionel Tehini: Absolutely. So it's able to report not only billing information to AQI but clinical information, too. Most of the AQI dated to date is related to billing information. We are one of the first people to be able to do clinical information that we send in to AQI. And AQI has been a great organization to work with as they work out the bugs in the XML and they target their former track to accept this chart of clinical information because really the amount of data that is being captured, what happens to a patient in a 2-hour window in the operating room, doesn't happen to a patient anywhere else in healthcare for days.
Dr. Howard Rollins: That's right.
Lionel Tehini: The intensity of data and the magnitude of data that's on the patient is huge and for that to be transmitted easily across to an aggregation system such as AQI is–– is a test that AQI has undertaken and they did a good job of it. But it's not something that they can just say, "That's a cookie-cutter. Let's go with it." It's set in a standard that is completely different to anybody else, so we're fortunate.
Dr. Howard Rollins: And today a rather large percentage of patients that are–– pass to a hospital, at some point pass through the operating room.
Lionel Tehini: Well, I would say majority of our customers, I would say probably close to 75%, the least would be 75%, sometimes it's up to 90% of the hospital, patients that end up in the hospital comes to our system; the one exception being Vanderbilt, obviously.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Yeah.
Lionel Tehini: I mean Vanderbilt is a huge monolith of healthcare but most of our facilities outside of Vanderbilt are pretty much driven around surg– surgeries. And the interesting thing is even though the system is built at Vanderbilt which is a complex environment, the system is so simple to use and so simple to configure and install that we are able to downsize it to some of our hospitals that are full 800-bed hospitals––
Dr. Howard Rollins: Uhum.
Lionel Tehini: –– and yet they've got at patient surgery centers which are 14, 16-bed facility outside like patient surgery centers and they are able to use exactly the same system with exactly the same configuration in those environment. So it's not good for just one huge complex like Vanderbilt, it's actually driven around the surgery centers as well.One thing I will point about what Vanderbilt has done which is actually brilliant for our management perspective, they have created–– within our system, you can create what we call management parts. So you can mange each–– you can break your hospital up and you can break your OR up into various different what we call parts and you can manage it as if it was small surgery centers.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Uhum.
Lionel Tehini: So you can have a part of four Ors and you can manage that as its own independent team, its own metrics, its own measurement capabilities, its own performance key indicators and you can––
Dr. Howard Rollins: In a large institution, that's fantastic.
Lionel Tehini: –– you can push through that and so what it helps them do is measure performance at a different level that nobody else is able to do because–– because our system is built by academicians, is geared around this key–– key performance indicators the ability to report this indicators out real-time unsurpasses anything else in the market. And that's one of the biggest strengths that we have is that we can help you make real-time adjustments in your operating room environment so that you'd eliminate overtime or you move cases around so that people can get more efficient and get things done. So it's–– it's because the structure of the database and I would say 90% of the credits has to go to Vanderbilt for that.
Dr. Howard Rollins: And there are a few things I'd like to discuss. One, you mentioned the word workflow and to–– we anesthesiologist, workflow is key. We don't want our workflow interrupted. If we want it enhanced or we want it left alone; number one. Number two is interfacing. Interfacing is so important because it's easy to have all these things but will it interface with everything else I've got and the hospital has? And number three is implementation because I know that your company touts themselves as very, very strong in the implementation process so that you can bring this whole system to reality. So could you dress–– address those three concepts?
Lionel Tehini: So let me address interfaces first because I think interface is, as we just mentioned, how complex the anesthesia environment is.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Uhum.
Lionel Tehini: A lot of the AIMS system out and a lot of the other people use third-party vendors for the integration to talk to these device monitors. We don't. We have developed our own drivers, at our own drivers certified and we talked in over 90% of the different devices that are on the market today that are being marketed by these vendors such as Phillips, GE, Dräger, and etcetera. So we have developed our own drivers to capture that information. The reason we do that is because our customer is–– there's nothing–– we talked about mission-critical applications, and AIMS solution is the most mission-critical application out there they have to deal with, okay. And I've dealt with systems since the 80s.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Uhum.
Lionel Tehini: And we've already used this term mission-critical applications. Well, this is mission-critical to the patient, not so much to the anesthesiologist as much as it is to the patient so information is absolutely important that it's accurate, correct, refers to the right people. And the reason why we've done this is because if there's a communication breakdown between the device and the software, the last thing we want to do is have to contact a third-party vendor and try to get the support person on the line to get online to bring that back up again because five seconds could be a matter of life and death in the operating room.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Right.
Lionel Tehini: So they know they go one–– one place to contact. They pick up the phone, as a matter of fact, they text us from the operating room, they tell us "OR 1 is down". We immediately go in and we fix it. The other thing that we've done, which is unique and no one else has really done this in the industry as a whole, is we've developed what w call a product called Sentry. Sentry is based from the same philosophy as what healthcare is. It monitors every single aspect of our system so it monitors every interface. It monitors every communication protocol and it monitors every single system to make sure that the systems are operating.If it's not, it does an immediate notification. If it finds any fault in the network, any fault in communication, any fault in our connection coming lose on a device, we know about it before the actual clinician knows about it. So our support staff can be reactive and get on there immediately and starts solving these problems rather than waiting for a clinician to send a text to us or call us to say to us why aren't we getting the data from––
Dr. Howard Rollins: That's unique to Acuitec?
Lionel Tehini: Absolutely unique to Acuitec. So we've put that into our system and we monitor every single interface. We also have built into our system an integration engine, an HL7 compliant integration engine. So our communication with third-party systems for health information exchange whether it be the EMR, or whether it be any other foreign systems such as a lab system or a pharmacy system, we manage that all into through our HIE integration engine. So it's all built in our system. Interface is very important and we–– we have a team that focuses on that to make sure it's compliant, everything is working and we monitor those through Sentry. And that's why we built Sentry because we know how critical this is inside the operating room.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Right.
Lionel Tehini: Implementation, the biggest failure, I think, in healthcare systems globally whether it be healthcare or any other system, as a matter of fact, is the failure of implementation. And that's what leads to most catastrophes is implementation, they don't focus enough time and do implementation method–– methodically. We follow a nine-step process for implementation. We do not skip as step. Every step has to be done, okay?I was fortunate enough to be groomed by the Japanese in the 80s and 90s and they follow a very disciplined approach in manufacturing that I was able to bring into software when I did a software implementation. And we never make assumptions. Everything has to be signed off at every step and validated and vetted according to a quality control. If they have hardly in place, we vet it, we validate it. We don't assume. That's why we are able to do our implementations in a very rapid fashion.
Dr. Howard Rollins: How rapid?
Lionel Tehini: We can come into a facility and we can be up and live. The shortest we've been up and live is 60 days. The longest we've been up and live is a 120 days.
Dr. Howard Rollins: That is a short timeframe.
Lionel Tehini: And the–– the 120 days happened because of a delay in the delivery of server from Dell.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Are you there when you go live?
Lionel Tehini: Absolutely! We–– there's no–– that is part of our contract. We will be on-site when they go live and we will be on-site for a minimum of two weeks when they go live because you can then, for 95% of the things––
Dr. Howard Rollins: Uhum.
Lionel Tehini: As the 5%, it comes with––
Dr. Howard Rollins: It's the details, right.
Lionel Tehini: And you can do, they can simulate 95% of the cases; that is the 5% of the cases that they forgot about.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Right.
Lionel Tehini: Or the scenario that comes up and they're like, "How do we document this?"
Dr. Howard Rollins: Uhum.
Lionel Tehini: And where do we document this and how do we capture this and what should I attempt to put for this, etcetera. So going live is a very, very critical time in our office. We have standby people 24 hours to make sure that they–– standby purely for their customer because not only is it critical from an application standpoint, but it is critical from the technology standpoint because that's when you're going to find that the switch doesn't work properly or they haven't configured a certain environment correctly. That's when the proof is in the party. Going live is when the proof is in the party.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Right. Now––
Lionel Tehini: And you can't afford a failure because it impacts the delivery of care to the patient.
Dr. Howard Rollins: And finally, I don't think we hit on workflow. But briefly, allay my fears if I have any that my workflow is going to be interrupted or changed in any way for the worst when you come into my facility.
Lionel Tehini: Absolutely not. I mean our system is designed, as I mentioned to you, it is designed by anesthesia team. It's designed around your workflow. So one of the things we do, as a matter of fact, in our demonstration, when we go through an evaluation with the customer and they come in and we come to our facility or go to their facility to do a demo, we'll take them through a quick 15-minute navigation to show them how the system works, what the various indicators on the screen mean, what the forcing functions are showing them as far as errors or missed–– mischarted information is. And then we hand over the keyboard and the mouse to the anesthesia team in the room and we let, we help them open up a case and then we say, "Go ahead and chart the case."
Dr. Howard Rollins: Uhum.
Lionel Tehini: And 99% of the time, they can chart the case. As a matter of fact, we had one of the guys come back to us and use a quote from Geico saying "This is so simple, even a caveman can do it."
Dr. Howard Rollins: Uhum.
Lionel Tehini: And it is not because of what my company has done, it is because of what we learned form Vanderbilt and what we learned from our users. They are very, very harsh as I mentioned earlier on what we do. So it's–– your workflow does not change; it actually supplements perfectly into your workflow and it makes it an awful lot easier. Our biggest concern with AIMS is as–– as the–– as the clients get used to it and get more comfortable with it, we're scared that they're going to switch over and start Googling. So you know, because they're going to assume the system will take care of everything.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Right.
Lionel Tehini: But that's why the–– the semi-automated, not only it is good for making sure no artifacts get on the chart but it's also good for drawing attention to the clinician at the bedside to look at the artifact values and make sure they make decisions. On top of that, we have Vigilance. Vigilance is our remote patient monitoring system which delivers real-time information to the anesthesiologist or any clinician that subscribes to it anywhere. So they can get electronic notifications, they can look at the data remotely, they can see exactly what's going on, so there's no chance of anybody saying, "I didn't know that was happening." The only reason why they can say the didn't know that what was happening is because they're basically switched off, and went to the coffee shop and they were out of contact. As long as they are on the network, they have access to the information and while where they're on, they can take care of their patients.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Thank you very much. Lionel, you're enthusiasm shows. You know your product inside and out. It's an impressive product. I really appreciate you spending the time with us.
Lionel Tehini: Oh, we–– we appreciate your time and thank you very much for having us.
Dr. Howard Rollins: Thank you very much.
Lionel Tehini: Thank you.
Dr. Howard Rollins: This is again Dr. Howard Rollins with EHRtv and I've been with Lionel Tehini with Acuitec. Thank you.
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text: Now here is a rare Soundgarden shirt for sale. I guess jokermes has had this stashed away for years. This is the infamous "Fingaz4life". In case you didn't know this is a Soundgarden N.W.A. rip of "Niggaz4life". Not many of these shirts exist in good condition and they were not sold in stores. Most die hard fans want this shirt, you will have to fight them off.

subset: commoncrawl


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These are words that all hit a chord in me. I love people being open, and, call me creepy, but I can usually detect when they're not.
I have a read a lot of articles on being real - I've talked it, heard the songs (Stain Glass Masquerade, anyone???), seen the memes, the gifs, the videos. I have also given it a good deal of heart and head consideration and this is what I think.
Because what bothers me is how being real is different to almost every person you meet. Yes, we are all different, but we are all also humans. We think, we feel, we have triumphs, and we fall. We were all made by the One God - whether we acknowledge the point or not - and one day we will all face eternal life or eternal death. These things are true. They are the reality of all of us.
The thing about reality is that you cannot change what was your reality. The past is in the past. It is set in stone. Does that mean it controls the reality of your future? No. It may have influence because actions - whether your own or the actions of others - have consequences, but the only only person on earth who has control over your reality is you. This not to say that you can control every circumstance that comes your way, and it does not mean that if you deny the bad things that happen in your life they will go away. What it does mean is that you can control how those circumstances affect you.
To me, being real and describing your reality is so much more than what is happening in your world right now. I think being real goes beyond what anyone can see, what you feel, and what you think about yourself. Let me explain.
We all have struggles. We're human. One of mine is that I am convinced that people don't really like me that much. Even as I type it, I smile at myself. It is so stupid! Right now, I don't think much of it at all, but as soon as I am around other people, I have to fight with myself in my head constantly to avoid retreating completely so that I don't annoy anyone, or so I tell myself.
The reality of this life is that there are two kingdoms at war - two very real kingdoms, and they both want you on their side. In order to get to your soul, they have to get to your head first, then your heart. These two are the pathway to your soul. The mind is an aggressive battlefield. Whichever kingdom - the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of Darkness - that you give ground to will eventually become your reality. This does not mean that the other kingdom ceases to exist, but that it has a weaker and weaker influence on you as you continue to give ground to the kingdom you choose.
This is not to say that if you have discouraging or deprecating thoughts, you are not a Christian any longer, but know this for certain: God will never discourage you. So the moment thoughts of self-deprecation and discouragement to come, shut them down and tell them Who you belong to.
Reality is made of the kingdom you choose to give ground to. Some time ago, I was hurt and offended by something someone did to me. For quite a long time - nearly a year - I struggled with seeing that person. I didn't want to see them. I could hardly stand to think of them because it opened up the wound so deeply and it hurt too much. After a long time, I was given a word from a godly minister friend of mine - who had no idea what I was struggling with - about dealing with hurt and taking my heart to Jesus to be healed. It took time, but nearly a year on from that moment, I can confidently say I no longer hurt from that wound. It has left a scar, and I am reminded of it when I see this person. But I also had to make a decision concerning how I treated the person who had hurt me. From the very start - even when I was still angry and aching so much - I decided that my hurt was something that no one outside the family needed to know about, because I needed to treat the person with the love and grace of Jesus. This became easier as I healed and I have been able to grow and flourish beyond the pain that was inflicted. It was not easy - it was excruciatingly hard. I had to lecture myself in my head, 'I refuse to inflict pain like it has been given to me. I am a Child of God, and I love others as I have been loved by Him.' And the funny thing is, the more you tell yourself something, the firmer you hold to it, and the more you believe it.
Because of this experience, I find that love now flows from me more freely and openly than it did before. This is not to say that I never lose my patience, never resent someone, but forgiveness comes easier now. Because of my determination and reliance on God - sometimes only expressed through prayers of tears because words could not come for the pain - my joy and my peace abound. In fact I have been able to determine that this whole painful period of my life has been absolutely instrumental to my growth in God, and the Fruit of the Spirit in me. I choose to be kind and good and gentle to those around me. I try my utmost to be patient and faithful in all I do. Self control guides what I say and who I say it to. All of this is like a muscle - the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets and the easier it comes.
I am not claiming to be perfect, or better than anyone else. I have struggles. Everyday, I have struggles. My struggles are very real.
My God is also real. He has done amazing things in my life and while I do have real hurts and struggles in my life, to me, my joy and peace are even more real because I have experienced the comfort and the power that occurs when I choose to operate in the fruit of the Spirit, instead of my emotions. Emotions are so shaky and unreliable. Love - God's love - is unfailing. His joy is never ending, and His peace is unshakeable. If you see me, and I look happy and confident and peaceful, it's because I am. I might be hurting and sad inside, but the joy and peace that comes from the Holy Spirit is so much stronger than the emotions I happen to be feeling that day, so I choose to live out of His Spirit rather than how I feel. Paul wrote in Philippians 4:4-9:
Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
I have such incredible respect for the person who comes out of a difficult time and it only comes out afterwards that they have been struggling. Apart from a few close confidants, no body else knew. "But you were so peaceful! How was it you didn't tell anyone?"
They answer, "I didn't need to - God's love, joy and peace sustained me. His Spirit comforted me. He provided a few close people to encourage me and He encouraged me Himself."


text:
Original paintings & drawings, consisting of stylized nudes and portraits, for the most part..
©2006 - 2017 Nina Kuriloff
All rights reserved. *Reproductions of Nina Kuriloff's artwork may not be made without her express permission.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Red-Haired Nude in Hot Colors
I completed this painting yesterday. It is 10" x 8" which is a giant size for me!
It is a painting that I completed in gouache on paper.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Another drawing of a butterfly...........
a very small drawing of a BUTTERFLY
Saturday, August 12, 2006
This is a small-sized painting of a nude who is striking a dance position for a basic dance class: Dance 101.
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text: 2008/8/8 Noah Romer <klevin at eskimo.com>: > William Lai wrote, On 08/08/08 04:03: >> http://downloads.openmoko.org/releases/Om2008.8/Om2008.8.uImage.bin > > Is this not the u-boot image? I thought it was and tried to flash it > using `dfu-util -a u-boot -R -D Om2008.8.uImage.bin`, but that failed > and on the screen of my Freerunner, it says, "End of write exceeds > partition end." Should I just re-flash the 2007.2 u-boot image? > > Thanks. > > -- > Noah Romer | Knowledge is power. <snip> I believe that is the kernel image. I'm using a u-boot image from the buildhost ... I think this one, but I'm not positive: http://buildhost.openmoko.org/daily/freerunner/200808/20080805/uboot-gta02v5-latest.bin Nathan


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A macro view of the past
It's ironic that after 25 years, I find myself returning to Mac macros. Way back in college I worked in the Carleton bookstore, which bought some new-fangled database software to run its billing/shipping/inventory. Since I was more Mac-savvy than most of the adult full-timers, I was in charge of creating a few macros to speed up some of the data entry. I don't know how useful my initial experiments were. I hope I wasn't to blame for all of the inventory miscounts we had – you've never seen so many "Quantity: -1" records in your life. It certainly couldn't have had anything to do with the foolproof system we used: we would ring up the price of each book on the NCR cash register, complete the sale, and then write down the ISBN of each book on a pad of paper by the register. At the end the day, or during a lull, somebody would walk over to the Mac Classic and enter in the day's ISBN numbers. I still say the best skill I acquired from my early days in retail was to use the numeric keypad.
So now I find myself back with an iMac, and an extended keyboard with a numeric keypad, finally returning to the concept of macros. Sure, macro programs have been around for a while, but I guess I'd become inured to the drudgery of repetitive data entry. No more.
So now I'm using Keyboard Maestro to create macros for repetitive tasks that need doing in DT. They probably are also possible if you know Applescript, but I don't. I do know, however, how to press keys. As long as food pellets or power-ups are involved.
Most importantly, I realized that even though DT doesn't provide a way to batch edit documents' metadata, I could create a simple macro that would carry out the 10+ steps required to add the metadata for a single record: open Document Properties of selected record, wait .25 seconds, tab down 5 times to get to the Keyword metadata field, type in "note" (or a separate macro for "thought", for "map"…), close the window, and go to the next record.
Now if I can only figure out how to do it for multiple selected records, some kind of macro loop.
We're getting closer, people.
Devonthink, scripted
Busy with administrative, research and teaching matters, but I managed to carve out small bits of time late at night to tweak Devonthink with some Applescript and Keyboard Maestro. Mostly code monkey stuff, with the assistance of my programming wife, but helpful nonetheless. Don't continue reading unless Devonthink, Applescript and macros get you excited. Read More…
As I was saying…
This time, Pickering and Chatto's catalog. Warning: if you are interested in all sorts of nooks and crannies ('holes and corners', if you will) of early modern Europeana, wear a bib when browsing. And bring your wallet.
Books of direct military note include:
Tis the season for publisher catalogs
From Boydell and Brewer's latest catalog:
Lieutenant-General Sir John Cope, the leader of the British army, has been ridiculed, in song and history books, for losing the Battle of Preston pans – the first major battle of the 1745 Jacobite rising. His defeat led to the invasion of England, in which the Jacobites almost drove King George II from the throne. But was Cope really to blame?
The Jacobite Risings occurred after Parliament ousted King James Stuart in 1688 and installed a new dynasty. Stuart loyalists, many of them based in Scotland, took up arms repeatedly in futile attempts to restore James's descendants. The 1745 Rising, led by Bonnie Prince Charlie, was the last. Martin Margulies traces Scottish history up to 'the '45, describes the sharply contrasting weapons and tactics of the opposing armies, and follows the Prestonpans campaign from the time Charlie landed, almost alone, on the remote Isle of Eriskay through the moment his tiny force destroyed Cope's regulars in an early morning Highland charge.
We just can't get enough of those High Flyers I guess.
Jacobites bite back
Oates, Jonathan. The Jacobite Campaigns: The British State at War. Pickering and Chatto, 2011.
The military aspects of the Jacobite campaigns in eighteenth-century Britain are considered in this study. Taken from the viewpoint of those loyal to the Hanoverian Crown, the three mainland campaigns of 1715–6, 1719 and 1745–6 are examined, using research based on primary sources: memoirs, diaries, letters, newspapers and state papers.
Oates looks at how the eighteenth-century military machine operated in a domestic context, as well as its effectiveness. Such a focus adds a new dimension to the study of this period, and allows for further questions as to the uniqueness of the Jacobite rebellions.
Now 75% off if you subscribe to their email list. Or, I suppose they could buck the trend and only charge $25 for the book in the first place. But that horse has already left the barn, as they saw.
Buddy, can you spare a scribe?
Interesting NY Times story on the increasing use of scribes by physicians – you know, those who claim to be "doctors."
Three weeks of training gets you a scribe that follows you around with a laptop in hand and takes notes on your interactions with patients, with the scribe company charging $25 per hour ($8-$16 for the scribe). Sounds like something academics could use: there don't seem to be nearly enough research assistants floating around. Only problem: that going rate is a bit high.
Apparently all the computerization is one of the biggest complaints among physicians. A money quote from the article: "a recent article in the journal Health Affairs concluded that two-thirds of a primary care physician's day was spent on clerical work that could be done by someone else; among the recommended solutions was the hiring of scribes."
From one doctor to another, I hear ya. Though History must be more challenging, because I've had limited success getting some of my department's past office workers to do much more than photocopy.
Computerized medical records were supposed to make everything efficient, but I guess they forgot the lowly data-entry clerk. I didn't. So now we're going back to the days when secretaries actually did typing for doctors, at least the medical kind. Funny how technology sometimes takes you in circles.
What to do, what to do
With the new semester approaching (why is the most appropriate metaphor an oncoming locomotive?), I thought I'd get prepared ahead of time. Feel free to follow along.
Last year I got around to reading David Allen's Getting Things Done. Over ten years old, it's a bit of a cult in the private sector and with IT people especially (witness its coverage on Grad/ProfHacker). Reading the book for myself, I was fascinated by the way in which he broke down all the types of tasks and projects into discrete elements, and combined them into a coherent system. And his discussion of the psychological barriers to organization and productivity rang oh-so-true to my ears. If you know much about his system, you've probably seen this summary diagram floating around the internet (and you know I give him extra credit for creating a diagram with icons):


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As per usual, I am amazed by how fast this month is gone. I can't believe it's nearly Christmas! I hope everyone has had a good month as is settling into the holiday spirit 🙂 Anyway, onward to the wrap up!
What I read this month…
Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy #6-10 by Cassandra Clare et al.
I really enjoyed these last few stories 🙂 I've read the 10 novellas over the last three months, so it's nice to have finished them. You can find my review of each story here.
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
I really liked this book, and thought it was very unique and stood out in the busy YA Contemporary genre. If you haven't already read this book, I would definitely recommend it! You can find my review here.
The Assassin's Blade, Crown of Midnight, and Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
I have fallen head-over-heels in love with the Throne of Glass series. This is such an exciting world, with amazing characters and engaging plots. I'm currently reading Queen of Shadows and, let me tell you, it's just incredible. I don't think I can wait till next year for the fifth book! You can find my review of CoM here, and my HoF review here.
Link by Summer Weir
I got this book through NetGalley, and I was very pleasantly surprised. I think it's still available for request on NetGalley if you want to check it out here. I posted my review earlier today, and you can find it here.
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
I was pretty disappointed with this book. I had high-ish expectations because of all the hype. It was only really the second half of the book that I actually enjoyed. Anyway, you can hear more about that when I post a full review in a few days.
What I posted this month…
I got into a bit of a routine this month with what I was posting. I didn't have as many other posts as I would like, but hopefully I will come up with some interesting stuff next month. I posted a total of 21 posts this month.
Weekly memes:
Top Ten Tuesday (this one is semi-weekly AKA I do it when I feel like it): Book to Movie Adaptations, Quotes I Loved
WWW Wednesday: #6, #7, #8, #9
Friday Finds: #8, #9, #10, #11
Paint My Body Red by Heidi R. Kling
The Light That Gets Lost by Natasha Carthew
The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
Boy 23 by Jim Carrington
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare (et al.)
Link by Summer Weir
Blogger Recognition Award
Dragon's Loyalty Award
What happened with my blog this month…
I big thank you to everyone who has visited my blog, and liked or commented on any of my posts! I'd also like to thank every who has nominated me for awards this month 🙂
Views: 388
Visitors: 119
Likes: 227
Comments: 100
Follower Count: 86
What I did with my life this month
I finished all my uni assignments a couple of weeks ago, and I've had two exams so far (96% on one, 90% on the other), and I still have two more to go (one this Thursday, one next Thursday). So yeah, all that is wrapping up incredibly quickly and, before I know it, I'll have graduated with a Diploma in Audio Engineering! Whooo!
I went and saw Mockingjay Part II with my sister the other week, and we loved it! If you haven't seen it yet, you definitely should! If you have seen it, what did you think?
I saw it again today with my best friend and it was just as good, if not better, the second time around. Also, afterwards, we were hanging out at the library (as you do) (they have free wi-fi), and we decided to start writing a story. It was just gonna be a silly one, but we ended up planning a decent amount of a story. It's a sci-fi/high fantasy kinda thing, and we waaaayyy time coming up with names for things. So yeah, my friend wanted to let me be the main writer, but we have a really good basis for a story, which is fun. Hopefully I actually finish it this time – I'm notorious for planning stories but never writing them >.<
Another big thank you to all my lovely followers! I've had another great month with the book blogging community, so thank you all so much. I hope everyone enjoys the silly season!


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Here you can find a short list of the most popular posts at DragosRoua.com. The degree of popularity for each post is a combination of post's traffic and my personal valuation, so take this list as a mere tutorial for finding your way in my blog. Enjoy!
The Making Of An Online Business (series)
30 Sentences For A Millionaire Mindset (series)
How To Follow Your Passion And Make A Living
The Real Cost Of Being And Entrepreneur
How To Self-Publish On Amazon, Kindle And iBookStore
10 Ways In Which Artificial Intelligence Is Disrupting Our Lives
77 Business Tips For Starting An Online Business
How To Build Reputation With A Blog (series)
100 Tips On How To Write huge List Posts
7 Questions To Ask Before Publishing A Blog Post
The Utterly Incomplete Guide On Monetizing Your Blog
The First 6 Months Of Blogging (series)
The First Year Of Blogging (series)


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Cutting time
The Astros made their first significant round of roster cuts Monday, sending 13 players to minor league camp.
Pitchers David Carpenter, Cesar Carrillo, Jorge De Leon, Arcenio Leon and second baseman Jimmy Paredes were optioned to minor league camp as dictated by their status on the 40-man roster, which is unchanged.
The minor league invitees — pitcher Douglas Arguello, infielders Koby Clemens, Brian Dopirak, Jiovanni Mier and Jose Carlos Thompson, outfielders Jon Gaston and J.D. Martinez and catcher Rene Garcia – were reassigned to minor league camp.
The cuts came one day after the Astros finished the bulk of their split-squad games with five in the first two weeks and one in the last two weeks. The need for the enlarged roster waned, and regulars will start getting more and more of the playing time.
With righthander Sammy Gervacio having previously begun rehabbing in minor league camp, the Astros are down to 49 players on the major league camp roster (including Jason Castro, who is doing his rehab in Houston). They need to reach 25 on the active roster by opening day.
Wandy scratched
Wandy Rodriguez is expected to miss a full turn in the rotation after being scratched from today's outing with shoulder tendinitis, but is expected to return this weekend for his next start.
Rodriguez said that he was bothered by the inflammation when he last took the mound Thurday, but the pain went away.
"I can throw because I feel it only on about my first six throws," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez will be shut down for a few days.
Aneury Rodriguez will start Tuesday's game, which was supposed to be Wandy Rodriguez's five-inning outing as he builds up to regular-season readiness. Jordan Lyles follow as the Astros race to get their starters real starters' innings as split-squad games dwindle. Lance Pendleton, Enerio Del Rosario, Sergio Escalona and Casey Fien are also on the travel roster for the game against the Orioles.
Wallace shines
Brett Wallace went 2-for-3 with a double as he got the start against Cole Hamels .
"We want this kid to get as much – it's almost like forcefeeding him – experience," manager Brad Mills said.
The Astros often gave Carlos Lee starts at first base against lefties last season, putting Jason Michaels in the outfield. The lefthanded-hitting Wallace has never had a problem with lefties, hitting them as well as righties in his roughly two seasons in the minor leagues.


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In the past week, I've read several studies that are scary to me… it's the scary truth about what's hurting our kids. We all know that what our kids hear becomes their inner voice, but it's hard to control what they hear from others, isn't it?
CNN recently interviewed Dr. Jean Twenge, author of iGen and her interview worried me – because I saw the truth that I would be facing in just a few short years. Dr. Twenge started doing research 25 years ago on generational differences, but when 2011 -2012 hit, she saw something that would scare her to the core. This is the year when those having iPhones went over the 50% mark.
Think about what that really means: it was when people began to have access to the digital world. Social media took off, sending videos & photos increased (along with feelings of being left out). The line that separated our home lives from our school/work & social lives became very blurred.
The results of that should scare all of us.
- This was the year that more kids started to say that they felt "sad, hopeless, useless… that they couldn't do anything right (depression)."
- They felt left-out and lonely.
- The depression rate is rising even faster among millennials (up 47 percent) and adolescents (up 47 percent for boys and up 65 percent for girls. (source: BCBS report)
- Depression Diagnoses of major depression are rising fastest among those under age 35.
- Depression Diagnoses have increased 47% since 2013 among millennials (ages 18–34)."
- A substantial increase in suicide rate.
Before I give you any more info, I want you to look at these graphs and look at how the information correlates to the iPhones being released. They aren't hanging out with friends nearly as much.
They aren't dating as much.
More likely to feel lonely.
They are getting less sleep.
She goes on to say that we are in the worst mental health crisis in decades. You can get her book, iGen, with my Amazon affiliate link here, to read the rest of her findings.
Why is this happening? Why are kids more depressed because of electronics?
Think about when we were in school – we didn't know every time that there was a get-together that we weren't invited to and we didn't see pictures of each outing, game, or party.
We didn't care what we looked like when we were hanging out with friends, because we were the only ones that were there- I can remember sitting around with my best friends in our sweatpants, just laughing – I didn't wear makeup or care if I had my hair fixed just right, because the worry of a phone or camera wasn't there.
Think about bullies. When we left school, we left them. If teasing happened, it didn't happen at home. It didn't happen so publicly. Everyone couldn't see it or know what they were teasing other kids about since they weren't there. Now, it's all public knowledge, and anyone can join in or watch. It's horrifying.
I can't imagine being a tween or teenager now. Although- as the parents of children, we have to believe it, because we have to help our children navigate it.
According to Victoria Prooday, Occupational Therapist & writer at YourOT.com, "There is a silent tragedy developing right now, in our homes, and it concerns our most precious jewels – our children… Researchers have been releasing alarming statistics on a sharp and steady increase in kids' mental illness, which is now reaching epidemic proportions:
- 1 in 5 children has mental health problems
- 43% increase in ADHD
- 37% increase in teen depression
- 100% increase in the suicide rate in kids 10-14 years old"
She goes on to say that "Today's children are being deprived of the fundamentals of a healthy childhood:
- Emotionally available parents
- Clearly defined limits and guidance
- Responsibilities
- Balanced nutrition and adequate sleep
- Movement and outdoors
- Creative play, social interaction, opportunities for unstructured times and boredom
Instead, children are being served with:
- Digitally distracted parents
- Indulgent parents who let kids "Rule the world"
- A sense of entitlement rather than responsibility
- Inadequate sleep and unbalanced nutrition
- Sedentary indoor lifestyle
- Endless stimulation, technological babysitters, instant gratification, and absence of dull moments"
How true… and how sad.
You can read the rest of her story and more at yourot.com
I couldn't agree more. According to TIME.com, "Despite the rise in teen depression, the study, which analyzed data from the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, reported that there wasn't a corresponding increase in mental health treatment for adolescents and young adults. Researchers said this is an indication that there is a growing number of young people who are under-treated or not treated at all for their symptoms. "
The article goes on to say that it's not just teenagers, it's young kids- in elementary school. "Counselors like Ellen Chance in Palm Beach say they see evidence that technology and online bullying are affecting kids' mental health as young as fifth grade, particularly girls.
"I couldn't tell you how many students are being malicious to each other over Instagram. "I've had cases where girls don't to come to school, and they are cutting themselves and becoming severely depressed because they feel outcasted and targeted." She says she now sees cutting incidents pretty much weekly at her elementary school, and while they vary in severity, it's a signal that not all is right."
What can we do about it?
1. Swap Chores for Screentime
Responsibilities increase their self-worth. Example: if you don't set the table, we can't eat. If you don't wash your clothes, you will have nothing to wear tomorrow:
"To develop a high self-esteem a person needs a purpose. A key component to high self-esteem relies on how you view yourself regarding contribution. In other words, in the child development process, chores are a big role in a kid's self-esteem." ~Impact Parenting.
Swap Chores for Screen Time. If they want to have screen time, they need to pitch in first. They need to learn that work comes before play. This will drastically cut back on their electronic time without any nagging or yelling from you. You can purchase the cards here.
2. The AAP now suggest screening all children for depression starting at age 11.
3. Get back to what we did before phones (back to what our parents did when we were young)… spend time playing games with our kids.
4. Spend dinnertime talking.
5. Drop everything that you are doing when your kids get home from school to TALK to them.
6. Make dinner without having the TV on, the phone close by, or the tablet tuned into something.
7. Use any 'car time' to talk to our kids (maybe even by not allowing electronics in the car)
8. Be sure that your child is getting enough sleep. This is a substantial contributing factor. screening all children for depression
9. Don't keep a lot of junk food in the house. Limit junk food & replace it with fruits & vegetables. If your child is picky, they can certainly find a fruit or vegetable that they like. (I've taught our kids to make smoothies, too, but they have to clean up after themselves, or they lose the privilege of using the blender… they LOVE to make them, so this is a consequence that they will not want to be placed on them).
Join the one-on-one time challenge (30 days) for FREE.
11. Have a no-tech week and tell your kids to "go play!" Don't feel the need to always play with them. My job, as a play therapist, is to teach parents how to play with their kids to help them, so while I always think that playing with your kids is a good idea, but I also want them to play alone. I want them to learn how to keep themselves entertained.
12. From the time that our kids were very young, I gave them time to entertain themselves, and now they are able to find ways to keep themselves busy (drawing, playing, building, etc..)
13. Don't rescue your kids. Here's a recent example that happened in our house:
I've started having our kids pack their lunches (with my supervision), but yesterday one of our sons decided to wait.. .and wait… and wait. When it was down to 10 minutes before leaving, he asked me to pack it. I said no, and he then asked for lunch money. I said, "I think it's upstairs in your piggy bank if you have some in there." His face said it all. I wasn't going to buy him out of this. It was his responsibility.
It is NEVER easy to teach our kids these lessons, but they serve our kids well. He quickly made himself lunch and was on his way. He learned a valuable life lesson about preparing himself for the day.
14. Talk to your kids about why they need to come to you if something is wrong. I talk to our kids about all of this, and they know that I would do anything to help them. I say it daily… "If you are ever feeling sad or left out about something and it becomes too big for you to handle easily, come to me."
Yes, it's a lot to tell them, but it is the truth. I need them to know it. It's not a joking matter, and it's not one to take lightly. Talk to your kids TODAY.
15. Make a rule with yourself that you will limit YOUR online distractions when your kids are home. Set a time that you can put electronics away… for example: Make 3:30-9:00 a no-tech time for you, the parent. (or whatever hours your kids are home). It will not only benefit your kids, but it will help you, too.
Yes, it's the scary truth about what's hurting our kids, but we have the power to help.
Here are more posts you might like:
"Mommy, will you lay with me?"
Why it's Better to spend money on Family Vacations.
It's so true – it almost breaks my heart
As you say we as parents and grandparents have to change the way we take care of our children and grandchildren. Not only must we dedicate the time we spend with them to them and talk with them, make them really useful in the family – but very important we must play with them and HUG them, kiss them, hug them again. The brain reacts when we get physical with our children and dopamine and other neurotransmitters do the same. This can counteract depression in a natural way.
And – we need more hugs, kisses and in general more contact between people of all ages. Let us make love – let us make our lives full of love ❤ and sunshine ☀☀
I love this. I have a nonprofit Family Patterns Matter. This is what we address and discuss with our youth. They are the ambassador who can with the right tools from adults in their life bring change with their peers.
YeS! I fully agree with you and the article saying put down the electronics! YES, communicate face to face & voice to voice~relationship!
The one thing that always makes me wonder is kids saying they are bored. I was never bored, If I had free time I'd find something to do like read, a real book. We got told to go out and play when we got home from school, and that was interacting with all the kids in the neighborhood. After dinner was homework time, then bath and bed. We had chores on Saturday, and they had to be done. There were a few of us who went to the first persons house and do her chores, then moved on to the second person. But I had time with my Mom, drying dishes as she washed, lol. We went to church and Sunday school every Sunday. Our Mom's didn't work tho, Mom working has added a whole new wrinkle. And yet I still I suffered depression and still do.
You nailed this right on the head
I Absolutely agree with all that you say! However, I see a huge breakdown of this loving, supportive interaction pattern as children become teens and develop a mind of their own. This stage is always challenging for us parents, and it is sometimes hard to see how much our teens still need hugs, words of encouragement, and a curiosity from parents as to how they view things. Parents find it hard to shift from being in charge of everything to gradually letting their teen have a say in what they do. I think that being loving, understanding, and listening to your kid is just as important–maybe moreso–than when they are younger. Good parents hold their ground on rules and policies that keep their teens safe, while still opening up these topics for discussion in order to foster mutual understanding, love, and respect for each other.
Wow and thank you for this article! Much of what you wrote here is what is leading me to start Little Rooted Minds. We need families to wake up and realize they need to step in and do things differently because the impact is so harmful to their kids.
This gives me hope. Finally some one that agrees with me and is willing to share it. If we don't start making changes were destined to fail. Parents should stop buying them. There excellent baby sitters,but crave the human touch.
Thank you soo much…i have 3 kids, aged 13, 11, 6. Two boys and a girl, this really helped me alot.
Agreed! I really needed to read this. While my kids don't have electronics, and I homeschool, I still sometimes struggle with structuring our day, and I know that is important in setting limits/boundaries. I will for sure make a note of these things. Kids need chores and responsibilities, even though sometimes they don't act like it. <3
Thank you for this. As a mother of 3, with a niece who took her own life, this scares me so much right now…. esp with an ex who doesn't seem to acknowledge any of the points you raise. When on his time, they get unlimited screen and minimal quality time with him. How would you advise to deal in that case (NB: this is a high-conflict separation and he is so bitter, that nothing I do/say would be taken as being for the kids; in his eyes, it's just about me)?
When parents have conflicting ideals it is never very easy. Thankfully your children have a chance to compare and contrast and will most certainly benefit from less screen time when they are with you. Please don't waste any energy on trying to get their dad to change. Have your children read articles like this one, CNN reports about the cons of too much screen time etc… and they will start policing themselves!
Ruth. Oh how your heart must be breaking! I am so sorry about all this.
It is super important that you make your understanding of a healthy life clear to your children. The "no phones" box is a great idea. You might need a lock for it though.
As your children migrate back and forth from an angry, irresponsible dad, to a loving, firm mom, they will begin to see the wisdom, the difference, and to appreciate it. They should not be allowed to use their phones except in your presence, b/c angry dads like to call during mom time. It has to be a rule. Especially at night while everyone sleeps but them. Sadly.
But in firmness, there is room for smiles and laughs. It's hard not to frown and holler, but smiling firmness, followed by excitement over whatever is next on the agenda, will be a memory they can draw from as they choose their own lifestyles eventually. And do plan the precious times you have with them. No time for wasting! Whether you color together, picnic, ride bikes, play Monopoly, or whatever you lead them into, make it quality they can appreciate and remember fondly when they are at the angry place. And do allow downtime, too. Find great books or classic movies that they can all snuggle down with and enjoy together. And do goofy fun things. Like roast marshmallows over the stove in the kitchen. or rearrange the living room in some nutty way or whatever. Make laughter happen. It's good medicine.
Some great points. Unfortunately, we live in a world where discomfort is sometimes considered abuse. If the child had not made lunch AND had decided not to spend their money to buy their own lunch, there may have been some well intentioned person that made the leap in logic to say that the child was being neglected.
I hear too much of this.
I agree, Barry. I'd told my son to put his coat where it belonged. Later on, when he hadn't, I told him if he didn't put it in its spot and couldn't find it in the morning, he'd have to go to school without one. Sure enough, he couldn't find it and went without. The carpool driver that day, dropped the kids off at school, then went back home to home get him one of her son's. She called him out of class (this was years ago) and gave him the coat because she felt sorry for him.
We live in a warm climate and if it's a certain temperature, the kids don't go outside.
When she called me later to tell me about it she started off saying, "This was probably a learning lesson, but,,," and told me the story. She didn't want him to be cold.
I was so upset. This was a mother who did her kids' homework when they were too tired to do it.
I just finished teaching a class on Positive Guidance, and my class touched on many of the points you listed in the article. With my students being in their late teens and early twenties, the topic of cyber bullying is a major concern to them. They have witnessed it and many have dealt with it. It is truly alarming! Not long ago, I was in a restaurant with three friends. A nice looking family came in and were seated in a booth adjacent to us. This family, parents and children, each got out their cell phones or IPad and NEVER conversed! They only talked when the waitress took their order. Even more scary was when they continued to be engrossed in the electronics once their food arrived. We never saw them talk to each other. As a grandmother to six children, I understand how it can be in a restaurant when the wait for the food order becomes long. Also as a mother and an early childhood educator I see the importance of teaching social skills and manners when in a restaurant. I just hope and pray that families grasp the issue of how detrimental technology can be to the overall social and emotional development of children. To be honest, I totally dislike social media and truly think this has been a major breakdown in relationships rather that building relationships up. After all, why talk to one another when you can read it all anyway? And with social media, there is often no filter on what is stated. It is just sad to me! Thanks for your article. I plan to forward the link on to my students and the parents of my grandchildren.
Joyce, As a 70 year old grandmother of 5 grandchildren I totally agree with your views! I always wonder why parents of children age 16 and under would let their children become addicted to a smartphone. I believe if they need a cellphone, just purchase a no contract phone , like Tracfone, and use it for just outgoing/ receiving calls when away from the home. Upon returning home, they turn in the cellphone until they go out again. No texting, no social media, no internet, no games.
If the child needs to email, etc.,then have them use an iPad, or the home computer under parental guidance.
We grandparents see the writing on the wall…we can only be advocates for our grandchildren and try to be there for them and hope and pray for their survival in this fast paced, impersonal environment they are growing up in. I will not be around in 30 years to see how detrimental the age of technology will be on their physical and mental well being……how it will effect their brains, their posture and their fingers/ hands…..Thank you Becky for the wonderful informative subject matter…I 100% agree with everything!
Gob Bless our children…..Children Come First!
I have high schoolers, a freshman and a junior. I'd love to take away all electronics in the evening but nowadays 90% of their homework requires use of an electronic. Whether it's accessing the teacher's page for his/her online assignment, use of chats to do group projects with kids not in your neighborhood, or just typing up the report on paper, there is the forced need for electronics access. It drives me nuts! And it doesn't help. I agree so much with these findings. The times my kids are off in their quiet rooms for homework is when they need less electronic access but if I take stuff away, they can't complete their homework.
Our kids do all homework requiring Electronics at the dining table where we can monitor their activity. No Electronics allowed in their rooms. This way, we know it is purely school work and nothing else.
I totally agree! Having schoolbooks I'm& homework on line is very bothersome as you can't be watching over your teen every minute which means they can be gaming or skyping while doing their home work and you won't know. Even if you know what they are up to it's hard to limit unless you start wiping their computer or iPad clean every day which is unrealistic these days. 🙁
Love your article.
Have you heard about Brad Huddleston, Digital Cocaine. Please look it up, our school had him come speak 2 yrs ago good info
I love this article especially the part you wrote about you say to your kids, "If you are every feeling sad or left out about something and it becomes too big for you to handle easily, come to me. I want you to know that if you ever hurt yourself, you would be hurting your whole family. My happiness would go away with yours." My nephew turned to drugs in 2012 and has been a heroine addict since. He has overdosed at least 4 times, last night was one. I think it is so sad that people are not spending time as a family and doing all those things you have listed. Our 11 and 8 yr olds are not allowed to have phones or computers with internet access. They are only allowed minimal tv time through the week, but it doesn't bother them. They would rather be outside playing or talking or doing game night or crafts. The 11 yr old does not like that she cannot have a phone because "everyone at school has one", but we have a different way of living and raising our kids. I worry for their future every day!!
This articulates many of the observations and speculations I've had over the past 15+ years in youth ministry. Thank you for your work. So helpful.
Please think of the medication as a bridge for your daughter to walk back over to you and her previous life. I have been on medication for depression for 20 years and if I miss a dose I can tell….my mind just starts thinking of really sad things and I withdraw from life. When I take the medication I can think of those same sad things but not become incapacitated by the thoughts. Adolescent and teenage girls' hormones are changing a lot and it is a critical time for the brain. If she gets the medication now then there may be a possibility that her brain will wire itself in a way that helps control the depression for life. Neurons that fire together will wire together… so if she doesn't get the medication now then she may set herself up for a lifetime of being prone to depression. The brain does not finish growing until ager 25 so she still has lots of time left. Please get her the medication. And also lots of exercise. lots of exercise. A team sport or individual sport.
I'm very sorry about your situation and glad antidepressants have helped. However, your understanding of antidepressants is off base and I felt it a little alarming to read this advice. I kindly and respectfully disagree. Please read on…
Antidepressants are NOT intended to be long-term (as you said, they are a "bridge"). To put it simply, your brain by design exchanges chemicals for "normal" functioning. When we're depressed, the brain is exchanging less of our "happy" chemicals. When this is long-term and you seek advice from a medical doctor they often default to prescribing "Antidepressants". This is supposed to be a short-term solution that serves as a "crutch" if you will , and provides the brain the "happy chemicals" it was not making itself.
Take note – when you're depressed, *most of the time* there are reasons. Your brain is CAPABLE of producing its own "happy" chemicals. It simply is not when we're depressed right?
When you take Antidepressants, you are providing the brain the "happy" chemicals it did not have enough of. Dangerously, if you stay on these medications, your brain will STOP producing it's own "happy" chemicals because it no longer needs to. Your pills are doing that for it, right?
Just like when a walking person must be in a wheelchair. If it's Long-term, what happens to the legs? They atrophy (wear away) right? Perhaps the arms pushing the wheelchair become incredibly strong and disproportionately developed. The body and brain are designed to survive and adapt.
This is when the process evolves into someone being essentially 'trapped' on the medication for "20 years" and cannot get off the drug. Like you said, when you miss a dose you go back to depression. That's exactly what happened to you unfortunately and it's very common.
The brain does indeed "wire together" and Antidepressants trained your brain to not need to produces it's own "happy" chemicals. It's extremely difficult if not impossible for people long-term to stop taking Antidepressants.
Please be aware antidepressants are to be a SHORT TERM ASSIST and should not be a front-end treatment unless absolutely necessary. Seek actual therapy to address the source(s) of issues and work on healing (Talk therapy, art therapy-great for kids).
This coupled with seeing a naturopathic doctor (or have your MD run panels) to get the body in check (why not?). Taking a combination of yoga,meditation, equine therapy and/or Neurofeedback while doing talk therapy. My kids do these practices and see a play therapist as an outlet for issues beyond my ability to help with. I'm trained in psychology and nearly all these other modalities. They are all nothing more than brain training exercises and 100% of them are proven effective against depression. There is substantial research on the effectiveness of mindfulness and meditation (& yoga) on depression.
Medications are generally intended to "suppress". Talk therapy & the other modalities mentioned are designed to "bring it all up" and manage it. A *quality* therapist coupled with adjuct healing modalities will open space for the deep core issues to surface (not be forever trapped as trauma).
It is not easy, remember as parents to take care of yourselves too. With Love…
As someone who has had severe depression for my whole life, I have had continuous, exercise and talk therapy. No medications have worked ( I'm now 36 with a toddler of my own). Everyone is different. Everyone. I have had to realize that there are MOMENTS of happiness and have had to teach myself to be "happy".If, by chance, my daughter has this genetically passed to her,(I do everything in my power to raise her correctly and with lots of guidance and love) but if she ends up on an antidepressant the only thing I'm worried about is if she's happy. Unfortunately, we lost my husband and of course her father when she was just 7 months and me 34, so I'm worried not having her dad will affect her for life. I tell her that I am both mommy and daddy, but her daddy can always see her and protect her. It's hard to handle with a near 4 year old. My point being, antidepressants aren't the devil. Some may need as a bridge and some for life. If the person is happy; what does it matter?
Love and light,
Very well said Gina. Everyone's body is different and everyone's brain reacts differently. My now 16 yo son tried to commit suicide almost two years ago (April 19th) and after hospitalization, medication and Lots and lots of therapy, specifically cognitive behavioral therapy, we are just now beginning to see the happy, self confident, outgoing, goal oriented and funny kid that he used to be. No, I did not want him to have to start antidepressants at 14 yo. However, I would do ANYTHING to help him from going back to where he was mentally 2 years ago. NO parent should ever have to go through the nightmare that we've experienced. I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy what my son went through and has been through in the past two years. There is not a day that goes by that I don't relive the night of April 19, 2016 in my head and my heart. If he has to remain on antidepressants for the rest of his life, I am now ok with that fact. Hearing his dr and his therapist tell us for the past two months that they see no signs of suicidal thoughts/ideations and that in session and between sessions he is continuing to work hard on using the skills that he's learned to cope when the depression tries to creep back into his brain, was like God saying to me, "I got this and he's going to be ok mom". I still find it difficult to not hold my breath24/7, to not continuously stress, and to relax and enjoy his 'new-old self' , however, my heart swells when he comes in the room and he's laughing and telling jokes and picking on me and he says, "Mom, stop being so serious and have some fun". I'll probably always have a little guard up and my radars in tune where he's concerned but at least we have the help of his wonderful dr and therapist at anytime that I need reassurance.
The meds he is on are Provil 40 mg every morning and Buspar 30 mg 3 x a day and he's also on Neurontin 600 mg at night to help with sleep, depression and restless leg.
God bless each parent reading this and remember our children are gifts that God entrusted us with and He intended for them to be a top priority in our lives only behind Himself and our spouse.
Thanks for the great article. I have an almost 8 year old and I'm convicted about my time on the phone. It's an easy distraction. I like the idea of parents having to put down the screen when the kids are home. We do limit screen time for her, however, I don't think enough.
I know this is going to be a contraversial statement, because I do believe that the phone world we all live in can isolate us (and I love and use my iphone just as much as anyone). I also feel that in this day and age children and young adults are not brought up with a belief in God as much as generations past. Children do not have groups of people outside of school to support them (whether that is at a church, synagogue, mosque, etc), nor do they have faith that there is a God out there who loves them unconditionally and will help them get through tough times. We teach our children now (me included) to power up and add more stressful layers to their lives- accelerated school classes, sports, academic activities, community service, but rarely do we tell them to let go of the things that they don't mentally need.
Thanks for adding that comment to this important discussion! I also feel it's an integral part of raising healthy kids. We've been through 3.5 years of struggle with our daughter. Things started going bad at the end of her 8th grade year. I needed a belief that God was there and had a plan for us, even in this painful and frightening time just as much as she did!!
Love this article! Even with all we've been through, I have to remind myself and our kids time and time again about our screen time!!
Very well said Kristin
This article really makes me think about my own actions! My daughters are still small but I don't want to give the wrong example with being on my smartphone all the time.
Get the book nutrient power by William Walsh to learn about using targeted nutrient therapy for depression and related issues. Mensah Medical has 2 wonderful doctors who do this – and info for teens regarding nutrient therapy. They treated our son with fantastic results – no meds. They are the future – definitely look them up!
Thank you for sharing this!
Last year around March I watched a Netflix show called 13 Reasons Why.
It changed my life!
My eldest is 9, but I started looking at the teen youth in my church and consciously reached out, and began tutoring and mentoring… I know for a fact one didn't commit suicide because "someone" listened…
psychotherapy can help her learn coping skills and bring her smile back!
Jill, I'm thinking that would be better defined as cognitive behavioral therapy. Learning effective ways to cope. Learning is cognitive and ways to cope are behavior. It's the only type of treatment I would personally recommend.
I used cognitive behavioral counseling with a lot of my clients when I was still doing counseling. Many ppl are skeptical at first but it really does help if you learn new coping skills and APPLY them. They are skills that can be individualized to any age group and can be anything from talking to journaling to going fishing to meditation. The most important factor is that the individual USE the skills after they determine they are helpful. The skills can be used in coping with depression, anger, sadness, addiction and even pain. Everyone could use a little CBT in their lives.
Great article. Do you have a print only version without all the graphics and videos? That would be greatly appreciated. I hope to pass the article on to parents at our school – giving all credit to you of course.
Love the article! I agree with and do most all of what you are recommending, but I was hoping to be able to print it for my teenage boys so they could see that it is not just their crazy mother that is pushing this idea. However, the only option you have is for me to send it to them electronically….no "Print" button. Seems a bit contrary to what this is about. I will try to copy and print and hope that it works. My boys spend more time than I would like on devices be it phones, Xbox, computer, etc so we are always having to revisit this…. It is also very hard to get them to understand why we want them to do something else….I think their life depends on it more than we realize.
Wow… so many important and essential tools in raising emotionally healthy confident children. I was very impressed by the guidance in your article. Thank you!
Is it possible to print the article without all the ads and extras? Especially the idea list of "So What Can We Do About It?" I am an elementary technology teacher and think this could be valuable information to share with parents. Although I love using technology as a tool for learning, creating, and sharing ideas it is important to notice how it has impacted our daily lives.
Thank you!
I teach 4th grade and I'm seeing more social-emotional needs from our students. They are seeking so much attention at school because I believe they don't get it at home. It's not just our students that come from poverty it's all kids. I'm guilty of checking my phone, e-mails, seesaw, google classroom at night when my kids are home but I try and not do anything from 4-8:30. I'm also a classroom with one to one iPads but we use our iPads as an educational tool not a babysitter. In fact, I have one math game on my student iPads. I loved your article and want to share with my parents because it's becoming so scary and we as teachers can't teach the academic part and social-emotional.
Really great article! I really love what you wrote:
"If you are every feeling sad or left out about something and it becomes too big for you to handle easily, come to me. I want you to know that if you ever hurt yourself, you would be hurting your whole family. My happiness would go away with yours."
It's a very simple, yet powerful message. It's hard to imagine where these stats will be when my two year old is a tween.
This article is very good. What l find a is a great way to overcome some of this. I find getting kids involved in sports or other activities helps with the technology phase. My kids and now my grandkids are involved in sports and other activities so instead of constantly being on a phone or Ipad. My grandkids would rather be outside than in the house because of their other activities. I know this isn't something that all kids will do but it is one way to keep kids from being in the house and isolated. Parents need to be aware of their children and know their different moods and that will help them. My grandkids also hate bullies and they would be the first ones to stand up for the child being bullied.
Add on to the list of what to do about it-spend time outside! Nature is an amazing prevention and cure!
I saw a woman carrying a two year old and talking on the phone. She said, do you want talk (to who she was talking to.) The child said, No Mommy, I want to talk to YOU.
I would say that the first two graphs could have something to do with the now infamous no Child left behind act which started in 2002, requiring children to accomplish more and more homework than they ever have in history. This is also when childhood rates of depression and suicide started drastically increasing. The third graph, about children feeling lonely, could also have something to do with their parents being on their phones so much and ignoring them. I propose that the answer to these problems lies in focusing less on how technology is ruining our children's lives to focusing more on the critical importance of parents being more present for their children combined with letting children have more freedom, autonomy, and control over their own lives.
I think you're onto something with the autonomy and control idea! I was homeschooled for several years, and I was stunned as I watched my friends and peers in public schools live days (and lives, really) that were totally planned out by someone else. Starting about when I was in 9th grade, I sat down with my mom and determined what classes I needed to take each semester to get accepted to NC State or a comparable college (which I later was). My other classes were largely up to me, and I designed self-study programs in art, music, and physical education. The upshot? When I got to college, I was already prepared to plan my own schedule, manage my time, and chart my course. Now, working as a community journalist at 20 years old, I'm completely comfortable scheduling my work, interacting with professionals and government and law enforcement officials decades older than myself on a daily basis, and handling responsibility with little day-to-day supervision.
I love your reminder about letting them have unstructured time and time to become bored. However, I struggle with a polite way to tell my daughter to "go play by herself." If there's one thing I feel guilty about, it's when I tell her she needs to go play. If I'm not entertaining her or allowing her to watch TV, she is completely on top of me/underfoot and getting into everything she's not supposed to. She does not play well by herself, and I always feel "mean" after I ask her to go play by herself.. Any tips? Or other ways to relay the message?
Great article now go onto the Melissa and Doug website. We have a Take Back Childhood mission. Read about our mission it sounds very similar to what your talking about. Melissa is very passionate about our mission and has a blog written about what's happening to the children of today and the toys we manufacture to help children! Our hope is we can bring back childhood the way it used to be and that parents understand boredom is actually a good thing in a child's life.
I have always wondered about the influences of day care, both parents working, unlimited TV, no rules, now constant messaging even when the kids are within talking distance. Speaking of distance, that is what has become of our children-they are being distanced from all that is human feelings. Now I have the answer and it is unsettling and predictable.
Betty…two parent working families does not mean umlimited electronics and no rules. And daycare was wonderful for my extremely extroverted kid. We were lucky to have some balance with me working part time, but it is entirely possible to have good family values with working parents.
If these effects were the result of a product that came out of a bottle it would be illegal and the company that made it would be sued. But, they put the word "smart" in the name and everyone fell for it.
Thankfully our teenager has absolutely no desire to have a social media account. He has a phone but only searches for memes or youtube videos about WWII or world history. We monitor what he is searching online regularly and encourage actual 'friend' time. We have friends over often so they can have human interaction like we were built to do.
This article is spot on … and it's the main reason we've not let him get too involved with anything online.
I read many articles – this one resonates more with me than anything else I have read – as an educationalist and parent I completely agree. We all need to take action and share this message and advice.
One of the hardest part of parenting kids in middle school is the knowledge that all of their friends are online. So if I want my kids to connect with their buddies, they're going to do it through an Xbox Live game or on a football app. While I'd like to remove these things from their lives, I think it's important to find a balance. So I'm that mean Mom that makes them turn it off after 30 minutes and go outside.
And boy, do I agree on telling them to go play. People are amazed at how "well behaved" my boys are, but I attribute it to expecting them to amuse themselves from a young age. It's not my job to be your entertainment center. (Which is not the same thing as spending time connecting as a family!) This is such an important article. Thanks for writing it.
It's a scary world with too many young people feeling low….sometimes with no apparent reason….sometimes overprotection. I am guilty of this, trying to give my beautiful funny intelligent daughter the life I never had which appears to have backfired. Your statement is true about hurting the family as it feels like she cuts me every time she cuts herself.
She was 12 the very first time and did it with a friend so they could be 'officially emos' – 7 years later it has become a go to in times of stress (sometimes daily/sometimes weekly) and most definitely a habit. My lovely daughter appears happy and confident and has friendships. She always had a balanced access to social media. I sourced access to different therapies as i wotk with young people so now very skilled and well read particuarly in tbis area. However, sometimes you are just too close and emotionally involved.
She was recently given medication (last year) and the contraceptive pill at 15 then the implant at 16 – in the hope it was a hormonal issue. She says she is happy and feels she can talk to me but if not she has other options in her friends and family. She has always had a huge amount of love from my partner and I and family and close friends and i believe we have been good parents so we ard very close….. but she still cuts her beautiful body.
It breaks my heart but i must resspect her decisions to do this as she is now a young adult. I leave the communications open and ensure she has medical supplies and she knows i love her unconditionally.
I am frightened what happens when she runs out of places to cut. If only love was the answer to everything 😦
*she does have a name but I am keeping her privacy so apologise for the her/she throughout.
Hey Claire, not sure if you'll get this message. But your daughter is the same I was. Happy, full of life and friendships and active but still cut herself. It was an addiction and not one that medication could cure. I had (and still have) clinical depression but was high functioning, which it sounds like your daughter is as well. What stopped me from cutting was my mother sitting me down at a table to talk and out of no where she brings out a knife and puts it to her arm. She didn't cut, but she asked me how it made me feel to see her like that? And obviously it felt painful. She explained that that's how I was making her feel and I stopped. It wasn't easy to stop but I didn't want my mother to hurt. I'm not sure if you'll choose this method, but it worked for me. I'm extremely empathetic so I understood right away what my mother was feeling. I hope this information helps you and your beautiful daughter. Wish you both all the best. <3
the article is spot on. I was lucky, or had the foresight – to raise my kids with plenty of outdoor activities, sports, etc. we had a trampoline and zip line outside, and a pool table inside. they have phones, and game stations, etc., but were not allowed on them at free will. when they were younger I refused to have cable TV so they were not tempted to lay around and watch it all day. we rented movies on the weekend – otherwise it was sports and family time. Using positive reinforcement and requiring chores of them always. I can't tell you how many times I heard "but other kids parents don't make them do this" – and to that I said "well then they aren't doing a good job" My kids are grown now – successful college students who are leaders. Captains of sports teams, honor students, and well adjusted young adults. I feel very blessed and hope that parents recognize the need to PARENT their kids. Take time, this is your most important job and it needs your full investment.
One Thanksgiving I met my family at the door and as I greeted each one, I requested the cell phone go in a basket. The shocked faces on the children I expected but not the hateful remarks from the adults . No one was telling them they had to give up their smartphone . Our relationship has never been the same.
My only issue here is that some of the members of your family have other families as well. When I go to my husband's side of the family, it would offend me if someone told me to give up my phone. I'm already giving up the day with them, and I would not want to also give up the chance to see pics or get texts from them on a holiday. It's not easy to not be with those you love.
Along with the many alarming things you brought to our attention is the easy access to harmful material such as pornography. Even if your child doesn't have a phone or has a phone with great filters, other children do and can introduce our children to things that will change their lives at a very young age. This happened to one of my daughters at the age of 9. I didn't find out for several years later after she had seen some horrifying things and had predators in contact with her. SO SCARY!!! She is now 13 going on 20 and is in counseling. I've since learned that this isn't out of the ordinary these days. That knowledge is very sobering and beyond sad. I share this so other parents and caregivers can be aware of this danger.
Depression can also develop into schizoaffective disorder and it takes careful medical and social treatment to get back our loved one. Money and opportunity isn't always there from the professionals and family members to bring our "loved one" back to reality.
When did Facebook become prominent? That is the real cause IMO. The phone simply provides the access to it. Get your kids and families off FB and many problems will be solved. At a minimum, insist on ONE Family account that everyone uses.
Very interesting article. I feel I'm very lucky after reading this. My children have had smartphones since they were 17. They have both graduated college with bachelors degrees. They both have great jobs and seem quite happy with their lives. I don't think their smartphones in anyway did any damage to them. They are on them a lot but the enjoy them and I just don't see any harm in owning them. And they aren't going away they will be around for generations to come. I enjoy mine a lot also.
While I completely agree with everything written in this article, this is only part of the problem. It doesn't serve anyone to just focus on one aspect and ignore all the others. I would say a significant other part of the problem is school. I'd be interested to see how the increase in pressure to perform in school matches with those graphs? As long as parents allow (and in fact support!) the pressure being put on today's students, they are just as much part of the problem.
Agree. Wholeheartedly.
Regarding the lunch packing issue, Pinterest has a ton of great ideas of things that can be made on the weekends, and kids can basically " grab one from column A and one from B and one from column C, so as to make their lunch very quickly. If that doesn't work for your family, institute that they make their lunch the night before. Eliminates lots of issues.
Start screening at age 11?? My son would have been dead at age 10 if I hadn't caught it! And it all went back to bullying – by his step mother! If I hadn't caught it by how he was acting and overheard conversations, I would have lost him. But I got him in with a psychiatrist and then on to a psychologist for several years. His dad and step mother didn't agree that it was her fault, of course, but we figured out ways to work around them. He went on to serve 9 years on the Marine Corps, has 2 engineering degrees, but finally found his happiness as a police officer. He's now a step dad to 3 kids, and doing a wonderful job with them!
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Two for two!
Act 2 is now up on Fifty Two Acts, that is two down, only fifty more to go 🙂 For this weeks act I created and uploaded an animated icon, it is linked to my wordpress account rather than a specific journal, so it will also be my icon for this blog as well as the fifty two acts site. Tomorrow I am planning to upload larger versions of the images that I used to create the icon and some technical information about the process I used to create them.