IT’S BEEN A YEAR!

So this post has been a long time coming, but as I’m sure anyone understands, things get suddenly very busy around the holidays. I did, however, take the time to edit some pictures of my hair using the Camera+ app on my phone. I hope you’ll enjoy seeing the drastic difference of styles my hair has gone through since December 10, 2010.

12/10/10

Even within the week of December 10, 2011, my hair changed a lot! Observe... One week before the anniversary, the blonde from when I bleached it on October 12^th has grown out, and you can see my natural hair color underneath:

12/3

You can also see the natural curl in my hair returning:

12/3

12/5

12/5

12/5

The mohawk is more of a fauhawk, an “essence” of the past, if you will:

12/5

12/5

Here’s some more of that natural curl. I made a “wave” by twisting the hair while it was wet:

12/5

12/6

12/6

Later that day, I tried to “straighten” it:

12/6

I also had fun with my Camera+ app editing these photos into bright colors and a “grunge” look:

12/6

12/6

12/6

Here I tried to see if it would still “spike” straight up:

12/6 - It didn't stay like this for long!

Usually whatever I do to my hair when it’s wet is how it will stay when it dries. Some days I have to give in and let it fall down. Sometimes this ends up looking alright:

12/7

And some times it does cooperate and stand up!

12/9

But when I ride my bike, it tends to look like this afterwards:

12/10 - Helmet hair!

One year to the date after shaving my head, this is what my hair looks like, once I’ve washed my helmet hair:

12/10

A few days later, I tried putting some gel in:

12/15

The next day, I actually made pigtails!

12/16

If you look at them from a certain angle, it’s an illusion of me having “real” hair again:

12/16

And then you have the sweatband. Perfect for warmer running days when a full hat would just be too much. Kinda makes me look like a ninja or something:

12/17

One day I went a little crazy and decided to see if I could put all of my hair up in mini ponytails. 8 hair ties later, voilá!

12/19

12/19

In the end though, this story is not about my hair. It’s about creating opportunities for my students to be able to utilize technology that anyone else like you or I would have access to. As this year comes to an end, my focus for the next semester’s classes highly emphasizes technology – recording music on the computer and iPad to make CD’s, creating music videos, using the internet to research the history of songs, finding musical apps on the iPad…the list goes on and on!

And once again, I’m still looking for funds to purchase an external hard drive to protect all of this valuable creativity that’s being captured.

Honestly…can I be really honest for a minute? I really can’t stand asking for money. This may come as a surprise, since I asked for and received $1650 throughout this project. I’ve grown a lot in this whole process, in being more outgoing, and just learning to ASK.

So many people want to give money, but no one is bold enough to ask! So if it’s on your heart, please consider making a tax-deductible donation. One way or another, we will find a way – and you can be a part of that!

Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed to the project, whether financially, or simply by supporting my students with  positive thoughts – even if you’ve never met them. I know they appreciate it!

SO YOU HAVE THE COMPUTER – NOW WHAT?

Wow, having a computer and iPad for the MTI program has been so amazing. It has been a challenge to set everything up, and while I don’t have all the programs perfected yet, I’ve already been able to utilize the technology for many things. First things first – using AppleCare and my year subscription to Apple’s One to One program!

• The One to One trainers have helped me come up with solutions for things such as converting and viewing video files, making a DVD that will play instantly on a computer or DVD player, and setting up the iTunes store for purchasing apps on the iPad. There’s still a lot to learn!

• Speaking of video files, one of the things we need to do for the MTI program is share videos of sessions with other MT’s in the company. In the past, we’ve found that sharing a DVD is a good solution, because then we don’t have to find a time when everyone can come observe the intern at the same time (this is nearly impossible). However, the MacBook Pro did not come with iDVD. Very surprising! However, I was able to copy the app from an older MacBook, a free solution to the problem. This is very important when you work for a nonprofit!

• I am SO GLAD that I decided to get AppleCare for the Mac. Why? Because the speakers were defective! AppleCare covers the cost to replace them. I just got the repair estimate by email – $548.

Replacement speakers = free!

Now for a few stories about using technology in classes!

• My intern started a 1:1 case study with a student. She does not have an assistant, and is unable to simultaneously play the guitar, sing, assist the student with hand-over-hand, and give verbal prompts. Therefore, using GarageBand and our Blue Snowball microphone, I helped her record first a keyboard background to the song she was using, at exactly 90bpm, in two different styles. Then she recorded her voice on top of the chords. Finally, we shared the different versions of the song to iTunes and put them on the iPad. Now, she is able to plug the iPad into our keyboard (to amplify the sound), and is hands free to work with the student, while still providing “live” music!

screen shot of the iPad

• We have Relaxation classes every day. One of my goals was to hook up the iPad to our Somatron, which is a mat with speakers that connects to a radio and vibrates to the music. Well, I figured out how to do this! For the first few days, I had students take turns laying on the mat. One day in class, I had students gather around the Somatron, take their shoes off, and place them on the mat. Then I opened GarageBand on the iPad, played a pre-recorded string loop, and set the instrument to keyboard on a pentatonic scale. I played various notes, and talked with the students about the difference in feeling between the high notes and the low notes. It was wonderful to see the students’ reactions to feeling the vibrations! A few students started moving to the music on their own. Their reaction when I found a low bass loop was awesome too! It's a massage with music... If you've never tried a Somatron, I highly recommend it.

•  One of my current class projects is creating a story that’s told through narration, familiar songs with re-written lyrics, and instruments representing various sounds (i.e. a maraca for a chirping bird). I use the computer to take notes, because I type much faster than I can write, and therefore I can get the students’ ideas written down more quickly/efficiently. I have the students record the instruments in GarageBand with the Snowball mic, and listen back for the best recording. The next step will be to record musical background for the songs (they’ve chosen my guitar as the background) then have one of the students record the vocals. Last, I will have another student record the narration, and put it all together!

• We started a music video project quite a while ago, and with everything going on (changing locations, settling into a new routine) it’s taking a long time to get back into it. One of the problems is that I started the recording on a different MacBook. Well, I’ve finally transferred those files to my new MacBook, and we’re slowly getting back into the project! Still on the list of things to do is recording the vocals, and filming the two remaining scenes. And of course, putting it all together. Stay tuned for the completion of the video:

With all of the valuable data I’ll be storing (video, GarageBand recordings, etc.), it will be very important to back it all up. After much research and talking to Apple employees, I discovered that the best external hard drive is the Western Digital My Book Studio with 2TB of storage. These can run up to $250. Yikes! That’s not exactly in the daily program budget! So, the fundraiser continues. I’ve left the Donate button up at the top of the blog, with the disclaimer that “Further tax-deductible donations will go towards technology to supplement the MacBook.” Well, I’ve found the first piece of supplemental technology that I need! Will you help spread the word? Thanks!

Just for fun, here are some recent-ish pics of my hair growing out:

10/12/11 - bleached the blue (almost all) out!

11/8/11 - crazy hair!

11/19/11 - RAAM reunion party (red gel)

11/21/11 - new Ironman sunglasses (some day...)

11/23/11 - hat hair after running!

I've gotten a lot of compliments, so I'm leaving it alone for now. We'll see how it behaves as it gets longer... In the meantime, please help spread the word!

ARRIVAL OF THE MACBOOK!

So this post has been a long time coming, but you can imagine how busy I’ve been with a new computer! After deciding exactly what I wanted (15” MacBook Pro with a 7200rpm drive and antiglare screen), the front office helped me place the order. About a week later – which seemed like an eternity even after waiting 9 months – it arrived! Although I don’t have any children, I equated the feeling to waiting for the birth of a child. Except in this case, I had no idea when the “child” would be “born.” When it finally came, I was so excited!

I set to work pretty much immediately on getting the computer up and running. I named it Helen (she is, after all, the founder of the company).

When it asked me for a picture, just for fun, I stuck my head in the photo. The computer wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for my bald head!

Speaking of my bald head, I’ve started to grow my hair out. I still have a mohawk, but now I’m letting the sides grow:

I’ve actually cut the mohawk twice since I started to grow it in April. This morning I discovered that the front was now too long to spike straight up. It just kept falling over! So I decided to just let it do what it wanted:

Oh yeah, and by the way, instead of getting Logic, I decided to get an iPad. Did I forget to mention that?

In case you’re wondering what picture is on the screen, that’s actually my hair. I was using the Photo Booth app and showing it to students when I discovered this “light tunnel” feature. Students have been loving the iPad! Their reactions to even just seeing themselves on the camera have been so fun. When we ordered the computer, it came with a $100 gift card for apps. The first one I bought was GarageBand for the iPad!

It has already worked miracles on the day to day here at A.R.T. Center. The Smart Guitar feature is particularly exciting for students. I had one student who was agitated one day. As soon as I put the iPad in front of him, he began strumming the “guitar” and calmed down almost immediately! So far I’ve used the computer in one of my Music Therapy classes to record sounds for a story that the students have been collaborating on writing. The story is illustrated musically, so we’ve been recording the sounds. I also had one student cut the unnecessary parts out, and label the remaining sound clip by typing. She was so excited to share with everyone that she used the computer!

I’m looking forward to creating classes next semester that are based around recording and creative use of this new technology, and making it as accessible to our students as possible. Stay tuned for more stories!

THE END!

What? This can’t be it!!

That was my thought last Tuesday, during an all-staff meeting, when the CEO announced that ASD was going to match the rest of my funds. I had raised $1600, and had $1400 to go. So at first, I thought she meant that I would raise $700 and the company would match that. But I was pleasantly surprised, and actually shocked, to find out that she meant that the whole $1400 was covered!

It’s been almost a week, and I’m still in disbelief. Bald Love has been such a huge part of my life for the past 8 months, and in some strange way, it’ll actually be a little sad to see the project end!

Just after getting the news, our new HR people made a donation. They wanted to put a picture of my head on their website. Pretty cool! So this is the last pattern I’ll be shaving onto my head:

Design prep!

8/9/11

8/13/11

I shaved the HR pattern a second time for my 10-year high school reunion on 8/13. There were three guys at the reunion who had shaved heads. My husband was glad he wasn’t the only one! And since the left side of my head was completely bald, I felt like part of the “club.” Take a good look at my bare head, this is the last time you’ll see it!

So now the question is, what do I do with my hair? I guess a fauxhawk will be first… But in the meantime, IT’S TIME TO GO COMPUTER SHOPPING!!!

Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed to this project. I’ve been so blessed by everyone’s generosity. It’s been a long 8 months, but it just goes to show that patience pays off! Thank you for your patience too, as some of you have probably been wondering if I’ll ever get the computer! And don’t think this is the end of the story. It’s only the beginning…