Science and Technology

Science and Technology

Cute neighborhood bakery alert: Crema

Austin, like most big cities, I suppose, has the highest concentration of really cute, trendy restaurants and bakeries downtown, where all the folks who can afford six hundred grand for an adorable 1900 square foot bungalow live.  Those bastard bungalow-livers. (I'm just jealous.)

So those of us who live a little farther out on the outskirts of town are stuck driving deep into Austin for a cute cupcake or some good ambiance, and of course we all (or maybe just me) get inordinately excited when an actual locally-owned restaurant or bakery opens up in our 'hood (vs. chain establishments). I drove past this cute little cafe, Crema, the other day, and in the interest of supporting a business that has the guts to open up and be cute outside of Central Austin, I decided to try it out.  As you can tell from the photos above, it's a really great little spot and the food is yummy, too! Awesome cakes, cake balls, and cupcakes, and surprisingly good breakfast tacos. It would be a good place to bring your laptop and do some studying or working, or a nice spot to meet a friend for coffee or brunch. Just putting the word out to those of you who may live in Southwest Austin or plan on visiting.

Happy Thursday!
(view other around-Austin posts here)

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Something I've been working on

These days my thoughts have been utterly consumed by the possibilities of this gorgeous new studio space I'm currently sharing with another photographer. I've always felt like boudoir photography was where my business would eventually wind up, and this new space is turning dreams into reality. I am absolutely addicted to the loveliness that is boudoir - every part of it is fulfilling and fun for me. Boudoir photography isn't for every photographer, but ever since my very first session I've know that it's for me. 

I hesitate to say too much off the get-go, because so many things are still in the planning stages - like new branding, a separate website for boudoir, and of course marketing to a whole new set of people. But I am excited. So, so excited. It's nice to feel like where you're meant to be. I'll keep you posted as things progress! 

Here's a little peek at what's to come, as well as a special I'm currently running. If you're in Austin, I would love to have you in the studio! 

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8 PM on Thursdays

Oh man, you guys... I am writing this on Thursday evening, just after a phone call with my sweet Grandpa. Over the holidays he was in town with us from his home in Oregon, and I had the opportunity to listen and write down his answers to about the first half of the questions in this book. I had given the books to him and my Grandma each for Christmas last year, only she passed away suddenly in March, as many of you know, and I will never get to hear or read those priceless answers. But on Christmas Eve this year we took out his Grandpa book, and I started to ask and listen and write, and where before he had been incredibly, tangibly "low" as he faced his first Christmas in sixty-some years without the love of his life, we watched and noticed as his spirits were visibly lifted during and after answering the questions. He was telling his story. He was revisiting memories he'd had no cause to revisit in maybe years or decades. He was being listened to, and cared about.

During the time my Grandpa was there staying at my mom's, Matthew and I moved out and into our new home, and a few days later we had them over for dinner at the new place.

"Are you going to interrogate me again tonight?" My Grandpa asked hopefully, and I laughed. "Absolutely!" Again, it was so sweet to see how much he seemed to be enjoying this.

But we didn't get to finish the book, so I offered to call him every Thursday evening at 8 PM my time and 6 PM his, and we'd go over a few of the questions each chat. His home phone in Oregon must have rang at about 5:59, and he picked up after barely two rings... most likely waiting by the phone.

"Hello?" He said.

"Hi Grandpa!"

"Jen?"

"Yep, it's me! Ready for your interrogation?"

And you guys, I cannot even tell you how much it touched me tonight, to chat for 22 minutes with a man who should have died in the Korean War, but didn't... a man without whom I wouldn't exist. I can't tell you how much it touched me to hear him re-tell the story of how he met my Grandma. How he first laid eyes on her in the hallway of their Passaic Valley, New Jersey high school, after he got back from the war. She was with at least three other girls, he said, but he locked eyes on her. "If it's possible to fall in love at first sight," he told me, his voice breaking as it often does, "I fell in love. She was it, my whole life."

There's probably about a month's worth of Thursday phone calls left, but I don't know, I might just make up my own questions so it lasts longer. It is such an honor and a privilege to take that time. I know it's helping him through an incredibly difficult time, and somehow, it's helping me too. We so often live in such a world of ME ME ME, so focused on our own issues and endeavors and hurts and pains and joys, that we forget to reach out and be there for the people who were put in our lives to be there for. Don't ignore your grandparents - make time for them, get to know them, love on them. I wish I had done that more for my Grandma, but I'm content to know she knew that I adored her, and it really feels like the right thing to do, to help care for my Grandpa's heart in her absence.

Happy Friday, my friends, and thank you as always for listening to my thoughts... :)

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Don't hate me, but I hate weddings

Well, the cat's out of the bag. I hate weddings. PHEW. There, I said it! This little nugget of personal truth has been festering in me for some time now - really, ever since my own wedding, I suppose. But there it is. I don't like 'em. I'm not a fan. Sure, they can be totally gorgeous and fun for guests (I do enjoy attending them occasionally! Free food and booze! Celebration of love!), and I love looking at beautiful wedding photography, but there's always this little nagging voice in my mind that's like, seriously? 

Let me back up.

I was never one of those girls who dreamed about her princess-perfect wedding from the age of Barbies onward. I think the first time I thought about my wedding was, literally, after Matthew proposed to me. Then I was like, "oh shit! We'll need a wedding!" 

And from there on out, it was just a totally stressful affair, because A) I am not an event planner, B) hiring one wasn't in our budget, C) no really, I truly SUCK at planning events, and organizing little details goes directly against the grain of my personality, D) I was in the last semester of my senior year of college, working almost full time, and working an internship part time, E) my groom was living in California, and F) I DON'T EVEN LIKE WEDDINGS. 

So then all of this weird stuff started happening, like resentment because we couldn't afford the most gorgeous flowers and the most fantastic wedding favors and the most stunning venue. 

And frustration because everyone had an opinion, and it seemed like mine and Matthew's should be the only ones that mattered. 

And annoyance over arbitrary traditions and rules that everyone seems to follow like sheep, never asking "Why? Does this apply in modern day weddings? Does this work for our situation?" 

And money down the drain for things that poof! and disappeared the moment the wedding was over and everyone rushed home to watch the Super Bowl (because yes, our wedding was on Super Bowl Sunday afternoon - a direct consequence of having ME plan ANY event, ever).

Now, it may just sound like I'm bitter over my own personal issues with weddings. And in many ways, my own experience certainly does play a role. But I recently read this article, and it perfectly voiced how I feel and what I could never say as eloquently. 

"Imagine for a moment if weddings were prohibited, or better yet, if you could only have one after 10 years of marriage. How much money would be saved? More importantly, how many ill-advised unions would never happen in the first place?"

"And what if, as a society, we celebrated other milestones instead? Wouldn't it be amazing if college graduations were given the wedding treatment? If the commencement ceremony included a $3,000 dress and a $70-a-plate dinner for friends and family who came in from all over the country? Photographers, flowers, dancing, a band?"

Amen to that! And no one will ever take your degree away. Whereas, statistically, your marriage license only has a 50% likelihood of staying in force for a lifetime. 

I don't think weddings are all bad. I think, for some people, it can be a super joyous planning process, and perhaps you've saved for it or your family has saved for it, and so the money isn't an issue. I guess all I'm saying is that I hope you unmarried ladies out there will really think it over before allowing  yourself and your family to bleed copious amounts of cash out into your wedding, and before you allow the planning of it to take over your life and put undue stress on your relationships, or cause others (bridesmaids, groomsmen) a financial burden they maybe can't afford (they may be in other weddings, as well, and that gets SO pricey!). Before you put the planning of a wedding before the planning of a life. HERE is another really beautiful article with REAL TALK about marriage, which I highly recommend you read. No two marriages are alike, but it's really wise to be prepared for what will inevitably happen at some point after riding off into the sunset.

What are your thoughts? Love weddings? Hate them? Sound off if you have something to contribute to the conversation!

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Publishing 3.0 - A new model for independent educational publishing

My New Years resolution this year was to start work on a series of ebooks for iPads, e-readers and other digital devices. This has been my ambition since I published my first book Web 2.0 Tools for Teachers back in 2009, but I’ve never felt that the time, the technology or the market was at the right place.

Significant changes over the last couple of years though have led me to believe that now is the time to look at a new model of ELT publishing, at least for the realm of teacher development books.

The changes I mention above include

• A proliferation of increasingly low cost e-reading devices and tablets.
• The development of powerful free software and applications such as iBooks Author for the development of media rich ebooks.
• The combination of these applications with secure and reliable marketing platforms, such as Lulu and iBookStore.
• The development of crowd-funding platforms such as KickStarter and Indigogo.

I believe that the combination of these developments is now enabling individual teachers to write develop and launch their own products to the market on a commercially competitive basis with established publishers.

So why is this a good thing?
Well anyone who has ever approached a publisher with an idea for a book will know how difficult it can be to get it accepted. The established publishers are, by necessity, cautious about taking on new, innovative or risky projects. Producing and distributing paper-based books is a hugely expensive endeavor and in the case of teacher development books, the returns are likely to be small for both the publisher and the writer.

The changes I mention above, however, have the potential to liberate writers from the established publishing process and give them the freedom to develop their own projects and products independently.

• The proliferation of low cost mobile devices such as e-readers, tablets and iPads provides a really useful and accessible medium on which to publish teacher development materials. Instead of having your books at home on the bookshelf you can now carry them around with you on your device so they are on hand at the moment of need.
• These devices and the applications used to develop content for them are capable of providing a media rich experience with colour interactive images, audio, video and a range of interactive learning apps, none of which is possible in a traditional paper-based book.
• The combination of these applications with established secure marketing platforms means that writers with the commitment to see their projects through to completion can easily market them internationally and actually get a reasonable financial return on the work they put in.
• Crowd-funding platforms like KickStarter and Indigogo enable writers to raise the funds they need to develop good quality professional products that the market wants.

I’ve put the crowd-funding platform at the end of my list, but really it should be at the beginning, because crowd-funding doesn’t just supply the money to launch the product, it also acts as a market research tool to see if there really is a market for the product. If the people for whom the product is intended aren’t willing to invest in it to get it created, then it’s likely that there isn’t really a viable market for this product.

So this brings me back to where I started with my New Years resolution. I have launched my own crowd-funding project to try to create the first in a series of ebooks in a series that I intend to call The Digital Classroom. The first of these will focus on the use of online video as a tool for learning.

You can find out more about this project by following this link Digital Classrooms - Online Video or watching the video below.



If you think this is a product you would be interested in having them please do support it buy either buying and advance copy of the book or by sharing the link with others you think may be interested.

You can also get an idea of the kind of content the book will cover and even contribute your ideas for what the book should contain, using the crowd-sourcing questionnaire below. Just add your ideas and vote for the things you would most like included in the book. That way you can ensure that I produce the book that you need to help support and develop your teaching.


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You can also follow the project on Facebook by going to The Digital Classroom and clicking on 'Like'.

I hope you find the project interesting and that this post gets you started thinking about how you can produce your own book too.

Best
Nik Peachey

A peek at our new place

Words cannot even describe how happy we are to be in our new place... we're still surrounded by mess for the most part, and it will take weeks or months more before we're truly settled in, but to have this space of our own back, and to finally enjoy the fruits of nine long months of waiting... pure awesomeness. :)

I'm going to whine for one more minute about the process, and then you'll never hear a peep about it from me again. But for posterity's sake, I feel the need to mention one more time how frustrating it was to get here.

This is not a custom home. It's a small (by Texas standards), 2200 square foot track home, albeit a very beautiful quality one, which is why we chose the builder we chose. However, in the interest of sales, we were essentially deceived into believing our home would take four to five months to build, when this was contrary to everything our builder most definitely knew about the upcoming process. We said to ourselves it would probably take about six months, since these things never go as planned, and we signed on the dotted lines. From there on out, absolutely NOTHING went as planned. We signed the first week of April, and framing didn't even go up 'til mid July. Our "worst case scenario" October move-in date rolled around, and the home had barely just been drywalled. Then we were told we'd be in by November. Then we were told we'd be in by Thanksgiving. Then we were told we'd be in by December 16th or sooner. But in reality, we closed the day after Christmas, just after construction manager number four had taken over.

The truth of the matter is that we would have never in a million years chosen to build if we'd known it would take nine months, and if we'd known we would impose on my mom's hospitality for four months longer than we estimated, but it is what it is, and we're here now, and we have a really lovely home to show for it. So that's that.

Here's a little glimpse of the mess we're so, so glad and grateful to finally call home...

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