Sojourn

Well, one thing I just had to do while my mum was helping with Jacob was a bit of crafting! I love Jakey to bits of course, but I've been quite "art-deprived" for awhile now. I'd actually been thinking about this stop-motion experiment since the last weeks of my pregnancy, but then I was just too big to get on my hands and knees and futz around with little dolls and props. So as soon as I had a free afternoon, I rushed to give this a go!

Unlike my other stop-motion efforts, this one was an experiment in fitting images to music, rather than the other way around. Well, I realised soon enough that it wasn't that easy or straightforward, but I rushed to put something together anyway while I had the opportunity! Certainly it was a good breather to have that me time. This is a song that has served as a lullaby for Jake, so hopefully you'll enjoy it, if nothing else :)

Have a peaceful, blessed rest of the week!

just a quick one!

Hello everybody! Just a quick little post today! First, a picture I took of Jakey at five days old! Hello little cutie!!! I LOVE him! He is such a good baby :D

Here he is sitting in the Boppy pillow Ro and I used when we were babies! Hello Jakey!! I love you!! Mwah mwah mwah!!!

And second, a little movie I made of my sister and me singing to Mommy in the hospital! (She was eating properly, but we wanted to sing her the song anyway).

Mommy says thank you so much everyone for your kind words and good wishes!! Have a super lovely day!! See you again soon!!

curiouser and curiouser

Hello everybody, it's me Rebecca -- from My Amazing Days!! This morning Mommy woke up really cranky because she had another achy, disturbed sleep, but she cheered up after her prayers because this was the title of today's devotion: "God's Perfect Timing"!

The Bible quote was "But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing" (James 1:4). "'Due season' is God's season, not ours," the devotion said. "We are in a hurry; God isn't. He takes time to do things right -- He lays a solid foundation before He attempts to build a building... We may not always know, but we can be satisfied to know the One Who knows. God's timing seems to be His own little secret. The Bible promises us that He will never be late, but I have also discovered that He is usually not early. It seems that He takes every available opportunity to develop the fruit of patience in us.

"Vine's dictionary of Greek words begins the definition of patience as "Patience, which grows only in trial"... Patience is vital to the development of our full potential. Actually, our potential is only developed as our patience is developed. It is God's way -- there is no other, so why not settle down and enjoy the journey?" (from New Day New You, by Joyce Meyer).

I was glad Mommy felt better! Then I decided to show her my little movie that I had been working on yesterday! Do you know what the "twilight zone" is? It is the middle layer of the world's oceans, that part of the pelagic zone that goes down from 200 to 1000 metres below the ocean surface (the pelagic zone is any water in a sea or lake that is neither close to the bottom nor near the shore). According to Wiki, some light penetrates this deep, but it is insufficient for photosynthesis. Animals such as swordfish, squid, wolf eels, cuttlefish, and other semi-deep sea creatures live here. They are adapted to life in near darkness, cold water and high pressure. Also, there is enough sunlight for animals, such as the chain catshark, to be fluorescent!

Mommy enjoyed my little movie -- I hope you will too!! Have an awesome weekend and see you again soon!!

Guest blogger Rebecca!

Hello everyone! How are you? I am Rebecca from My Amazing Days, and I am guest blogging today! First, I will help my Mom share some craft stuff. This is a picture of Mommy's Cat Head pins! Aren't they cute? You can wear one on your sweater or your coat or your bag -- no one else will have one like it and you will look super cool! The dark blue Chartreux cat at the bottom is already sold, but the other two are available! I will try to help Mommy list them in her shop soon.

Isn't this cat beautiful! His colours are so lovely and he's really adorable!

I did ask Mommy to make me one if she could, so she did! I chose this little kitten because he reminded me of Ming Ming! This cat is a baby Ragdoll, and he's tiny and super cute and lovable.

OK, now let me share with you something I did! This is a little film I made of my tortoise Shelly! Shelly is solar-powered and can walk, shake his head, and wiggle his tail when you put him in the sun! I bought him at my school's science fair. I hope you like my little movie! I have posted some questions about it on my blog to see if you paid attention!

Oh, speaking of the sun, it has been 35 degrees here every day lately. Worse, there has been horrible smog and haze from forest fires in Indonesia which has made the pollution index here reach the "hazardous" level. The air is very smoky and there is a constant smell of burnt wood, even in our house. Kids and old people, and people with heart and respiratory problems, have been told to be extra careful and stay indoors. It even affects flight visibility!

These annual fires -- from about June to September! -- are caused mainly by land clearing and "slash and burn" agricultural practices in Indonesia, which means they are set deliberately. It is done because it is fast and cheap. I think there seems to be something really wrong when this sort of thing can be allowed to happen annually. The most awful part of it is how it affects the wildlife there, such as the orangutans. The blanket of smoke is so bad here, I can't imagine how bad it must be there! You can read more here :(

Now I will share with you some pictures I found. This is a picture of my Mom and me! We were waiting at a bus stop and playing a game. We always have lots of fun together and she's my best friend!

I saw that my Mom posted some baby photos of Ro and me, so now I'm posting one of her haha! Here she is in her little baby suit. Isn't she cute! She is lying on top of a car and my Grandma is holding her legs. The car looks quite shiny and clean so I guess it was ok.

Here is a picture I found of Ro and Sophie! They are sitting at the window waiting for me to come home. Sophie is one of our cats (we have three). Sophie is a Maine Coon. My Mom rescued her when she was a little kitten (Sophie I mean, not my Mom). Now she is pretty huge (I still mean Sophie haha!). You can read more about Sophie here.

And this photo shows our Baby's changing table. We made space for it in our room. I thought it looked so nice so I took a picture. That little girl is a painting by the Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara. We have had it for a long time. My Mom thinks the girl looks like me and Ro!  

OK, that's all for now! Thank you for visiting Mommy's blog! See you again soon!

if thou wilt

Poor Becky was grief-stricken when she found two of her mealworms dead, and asked that I help her memorialise them. While it was indeed a sad event, I am glad that she has a heart even for God's littlest creatures.

A daring new indie film about young love and life in all its poignant, moving rawness.

(Well, a little educational filmlet I made for Becky about her mealworms. Still, it was moving, no?)

Tweedy

A new movie, with a very dear friend of Inky the Octopus!

This is Tweedy, our eight-legged star! Tweedy is a charming little fellow made entirely of heathered black wool yarn. He loves reading, and looking at the stars, and well, obviously he loves lounging about on things as well. Tweedy would make a dear companion, as well as an adorable addition to a nursery or bookshelf. He's perfect for Halloween too!

Tweedy is in the shop now, looking for a loving home with lots of toast and tinned pineapple. Who knows, he might make another film in the meantime haha!

I was greatly saddened this morning to hear the sound of chainsaws outside my home. At first I'd thought it was just some pruning of the trees by the road, but looking out my windows, I saw that it was in fact the beginnings of the complete destruction of the last parcels of forest that once carpeted this entire estate.

These trees have been here since I was a child; they used to grow so thickly together that you could barely make out what was beyond the first few rows. The whole place would be alive with the sounds of birds and frogs and crickets and numerous other animals scurrying secretly within the foliage. Everywhere it was a deep, deep green, and the air would be so cool and smell so clean.

And now, the incalculable greed of developers and investors has bulldozed its cruel way in. I had in fact written to a certain minister with regard to this, not once, but thrice; almost needless to say, I did not even receive a token letter of acknowledgment.

For those of you who are so blessed to live surrounded by nature in all its life and splendour and beauty -- relish and delight yourselves in it, be daily thankful for it, do all you can to preserve it.

I'd taken these photos when it first became obvious that even this last patch of forest had been condemned. I felt we simply had to have some record of what it looked like. I didn't want my kids to forget.

This picture kinda captures what it's all about.

When I was a child, there used to be a tiny village in the midst of all this jungle; the people had little thatch-roofed homes, and raised their own chickens. I used, in fact, to play with a boy who lived there, a little ragamuffin who never spoke. They all disappeared when the land was taken for the construction of block after block of apartments.

Ro is still too young to fully grasp that what we'd just walked through would all be gone. As it turned out, it was in fact our last walk through there; the very next day, they started boarding it up.

Goodbye.

Excursion

And -- more stop motion experimentation! This was 255 frames for about four minutes of film -- very effortful lol. I've certainly learned a few things from this experience. For one thing, a tripod is definitely handy; I used one for the first time ever to do this (yeah, I did Inky with one hand haha).

I also realised quickly enough that a tiny digital camera which cleverly switches itself off every few seconds is not helpful. Plus if, like me, you're using a computer that's at least 10 years old -- save, save, save; at every turn, and at every moment. Trust me, you do not want to have worked on a hundred frames and then have to start all over again. I guess people who do this seriously for a living have to have fairly sophisticated equipment -- plus a team of assistants.

In any case, B wanted me to do a movie with her Sylvanians, and I decided to make it educational for her; and, well, it's about time those Sylvanians do some work around here!

Blessed weekend everyone :)

Inky

More movie experimentation! This was 38 frames for just 24 seconds of film -- effortful! I've read that it takes an average 1,440 frames to make one minute of film -- you just have to marvel at the people who do entire movies.

But here is Inky, the star of the show! Inky is a sweet little fellow made entirely of black yarn. He loves reading, and listening to dinner conversations, and well, obviously he loves lounging about on things as well. Inky would make a charming companion, as well as an adorable addition to a nursery or bookshelf. He's perfect for Halloween too!

Inky is in the shop now, though I must admit to feeling greatly tempted to keep him. Perhaps for more exciting films haha!

See you soon!

Waddle*

Ooh, I don't know which I'm more excited about -- this awesome book Ro borrowed from the library, or the fact that I just learnt to make a tiny mini-movie! With sound!

Anyone who knows me knows what a technophobe I am, so humble and unsophisticated as this little filmlet may be, it's a gigantically huge achievement for me haha.. I'd actually just filmed the book, but then I couldn't help feeling it would be much, much nicer with music. And it was, which just confirms how very important a movie's score is!

As for the book, it's Waddle, by Rufus Butler Seder. It uses Scanimation, a six-phase animation process, which was created by Seder. Going through the book, you feel a curious "antiquated" sensation, as if you were viewing the images through a Victorian kinetoscope. Seder has several titles in this series; check one out at your local library today!

Have a dreamy, creative weekend everyone :)

* Wonderfully, despite the fact that hordes of other people use and upload the same piece of music on Youtube with no problem, my video had to be the one that gets blocked in certain countries. I'd originally used a recording of me playing Comptine D'un Autre Ete, but have now replaced it with Carly Comando, a distinctly better musician haha.. Thanks to everyone who let me know they couldn't play the original video :)