What to take from "Kony 2012"?

If you haven't seen this 30-minute documentary that "has become the most viral video in history," you can watch it below or at kony2012.com.


KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

I have had a range of emotions regarding this video and the media frenzy that ensued. It began with anger and sadness as I was reminded of the horrors faced by kids in Uganda; then morphed into inspiration and empowerment to do something; and ended with confusion and frustration over the controversies sparked. After dwelling on it for the past week, and reading two specific articles today, these are my biggest take-aways:


1.) "Maybe we should evaluate the integrity of the Kony 2012 video by its ability to inspire…"

That's from a great article by Tali Hairston, director of the John M. Perkins Center for Reconciliation at SPU. He says that yes, the video is oversimplifying an enormous problem, and yes, the video may contribute to a recent phenomenon called Slacktivism ("The act of participating in obviously pointless activities as an expedient alternative to actually expending effort to fix a problem." Definition care of Urban Dictionary), but he also encourages us to respond to the video in a bigger way by building partnerships in Uganda, organizing prayer teams, or connecting with Central African communities in our own neighborhoods. "At the very least," he says, "it should challenge us to do more than just send money."

2.)  "'It's not as exciting as a bad guy, but extreme poverty is killing so many children before their fifth birthday,' says [World Vision's Rachel] Wolff."

In this article, Linda Thomas of 97.3 Kiro FM states that "there is an even bigger daily threat to the children of Uganda than Kony." That threat is the mosquito, as malaria continues to be one of the biggest killers of children in Africa, along with HIV, AIDS, and extreme poverty. World Vision has been operating in Uganda for more than 20 years, so maybe it makes more sense for some of us to support a program like this — one that has established relationships with the people of Uganda and thorough knowledge of the area and its complexities.


So much arguing has been generated over this video. If the video bothers you, I hope you don't let it discourage yourself or others from caring. If it inspires you to do something in Uganda, I would second Tali when he says, "Be aware, and be a giver. But also be educated." And if it inspires you to support one of the other gajillion issues humans are facing right next door and throughout the world, then awesome. To me, that is the blessing in the power of social media.

Beauty in SODO

SODO (meaning South of Downtown) is a very industrial part of Seattle. Lots of big warehouses and building supplies and train tracks. But it can be beautiful. And in this ugly winter weather when all I want is spring, I will take all the beauty I can get!

CrossFit… I love that stuff

So as you may or may not know, Darrick and I have become total CrossFit nerds. We love it! This year, we both signed up for the CrossFit Games Open competition. (During the Open, a different workout is posted each week, and you compete in these workouts in an attempt to get to Regionals.)  Since I'm still pretty new to this stuff, and not nearly good enough to be even slightly competitive, I hadn't planned on signing up. That is, until I read an article called The CrossFit Games Open for Beginners. There were two things that Aaron said that hooked me:

… the weekly requirement to perform as prescribed forced me to push harder that I would have otherwise.

Participating in the same workouts as everyone around the world in the Open increased my awe. In what other sport can you watch the competitors and then try your hand at the same thing?

And this weekend was the perfect example of this! Let me start by explaining the workout for this past week:

CrossFit Games Open Workout 12.2
Proceed through the sequence below completing as many reps as possible in 10 minutes of:
30 Snatch (M 75 / F 45 lbs)
30 Snatch (M 135 / F 75 lbs)
30 Snatch (M 165 / F 100 lbs)
Max Rep Snatch (M 210 / F 120 lbs)

A snatch is basically taking the weight from the floor to an overhead position in one explosive motion.

Below is a video of last year's "Fittest Woman on Earth" doing Workout 12.2. She got 109 reps (!!!!), which means she did 30 reps at 45 lbs, 30 reps at 75 lbs, 30 reps at 100 lbs, and 19 reps at 120 lbs. If those numbers don't mean anything to you, trust me that it's insanely good. 



 
Before Sunday, I had practiced the snatch once and I did it with 35 lbs. (Yes, you read that correctly. And yes, I was a little scared of this workout since it starts at 45 lbs.) Needless to say, as we got ready to head to the gym Sunday afternoon, I was telling Darrick how stupid it had been for me to sign up for the Open since I was going to embarrass myself with this workout. Regardless, I was going to attempt it, so we went to the gym and got warmed up with a few other guys who are also competing. During the warmup, the idea was to get 1 or 2 reps up of each weight (up to our max, of course). I was able to snatch 45 lbs fairly comfortably (I am definitely stronger than I was the first time I learned the snatch), but I couldn't get the 75 lbs overhead. Oh, well. Let's do this anyways…

Our amazing friend and coach GoGo counted for me, and with her guidance I did my 30 reps at 45 lbs, shakily (I was nervous!) switched out the plates to 75 lbs, and then… I did 10 reps at 75 lbs!!! I cannot tell you how amazing that felt! No, it is not impressive in the grand scheme of CrossFit, but it was freaking awesome for me. And just like Aaron said in the article, I "was forced to push harder than I would have otherwise." Had I not signed up for the open, I would have been sitting on the sidelines, still holding onto my 35 lb max snatch.

And then there's my hubby. His previous one-rep max snatch was 125. Guess what his score was in this workout? 60!!!! That means he did 30 reps at 75 lbs and 30 reps at 135 lbs. Holy canoli!!! I am a mighty proud wife, let me tell you. Plus, he's so good looking when he's doing work. :) Here's a little video of his first few snatches at 135 lbs:

 As Annie Thorisdottir said so perfectly at last year's Games:

“This is definitely CrossFit, and…I love that stuff.”

Oh baby

It's amazing the moment you realize you're ready to be a mom. Last week, we thought there was a chance we might be pregnant, and we were giddy with anticipation. Turns out it was a false alarm and we are not pregnant (yet!). But until that moment, I still had so many reservations about being a mom — mostly out of selfishness, including thoughts like "I don't want to give up my six pack" (okay, two pack) and "I like my life right now so I don't want things to change." How quickly I have turned a 180! Granted, we are still a little scared to be parents, but mostly we can't wait!!!! Here are some fun little things I love to look at when I daydream. :)

Bright colors (source)

Painted wall (source)

So snuggly (source)

Hoodie (source)

Kisses! (source)

The process

Per my lovely seester's request, I am going to share some images of my design process on the banners in the previous post. It's fun to look back and see where it all started! I can't share every little step (that would require its own blog), but I can share a few bits. Hopefully it will give you an idea of how I work, and maybe inspire some potential designers out there to try new things! ;)

The first two images are examples of elements I pull as potential pieces to the puzzle. My "image options" folders are always stuffed! I place and delete images faster than you can say "Sally Sold Seashells on the Sea Shore." That may be faster for some than others. :)

Anyways, I usually have an idea of the imagery I want to use, but I am constantly surprised by what does and doesn't work, so I like to gather together quite a variety. For example, there are 53 images in my "textures/watercolors" folder for this project. Some are purchased, and some are hand-painted and scanned in (see Chris helping me paint here). This first image is a purchased floral illustration (left), spruced up by placing a watercolor texture over it and make the texture a "clipping mask" (right). Can you see why the possibilities are endless??

This next image is an example of two of the watercolors I painted and then scanned. As I said before, I had 53 total images in this particular folder, so there was a lot to work with!

Here you can see two original sketches that didn't make the cut. I thought I wanted to use some cool branch silhouettes (left), but the result was sort of japanese, which is generally great, but not the look we were going for. The other version (right) was too pastel / soft / easter-ish / feminine. We decided we really wanted the colors to pop like crazy to avoid those very things!

In this final image, you can see a progression of the layers that make up the final product. The first image is the base, made using two or three textures layered together (this is where I begin playing with "blending modes" in photoshop, which determine how one layer interacts with the layers under it). The next two images show how things change as I continue to add more textures to the base. The fourth image includes the addition of the building and leaf photographs (first I made them monotone images — i.e., one-color images — and then once I had them in context, I played with their coloring and saturation); and also the floral illustration (mentioned above). I ended up using the floral illustration in white (without the textured clipping mask) because it stood out better that way. And then lastly you see the final touches: the borders, the "tag" graphic, and the SPU logo. Voila!

It's kind of a lot of information, and there are a lot of steps I'm skipping over. But that gives you a glimpse! Any questions, class? ;)