(Re)Imagining Drones

(small drones such as these are available in many stores)

Awww... they are so adorable!  Right?

If somebody says "drone," our brains often leap to imagery of death-dealing monsters.  What else can we envision?  What do you imagine when you see a video like this:

A) FLYING DEATH-STARS OF TERROR & DYSTOPIAN SURVEILLANCE

or,

B) HOVERING BUDDIES THAT DO USEFUL THINGS & ENTERTAIN US

I suspect that this is a matter of mood & imagination...

Companies like Apple or Google aren't going to design a flying sphere just because it's cool, but I bet they have people trying to figure out ways a personal drone could improve our lives.  One guy already figured out how to use Siri voice control.  How long until it can order and then pickup my dinner?

The AR.Drone Film Festival - 2012 

This film festival is a significant attempt to intentionally push the public imagination, with drones being used as both a central subject and as a medium for story telling.  It shouldn't surprise us to see humanizing themes.  Enjoy.

"Samuel Eros Cupido" (Netherlands)

"The Flight of the Ninja" (Japan)

"What a Difference a Drone Makes" (England)

"Berlina" (Germany)

Goals & Hopes: #NY13SCBWI

I'm excited.  The upcoming conference is triggering the most embarrassing side of my inner-geek.  I'm tweaking my business cards (with QR tags)... and I'm twittering!

1. Preparations

Put aside teacher stress.  Put aside novel revisions.  Sleep.  Eat well.  Count my blessings.  Make time to review The Book.  Focus on the joy-and-wonder of it all.   My goal is to gain as much insight as I can about this story-craft field.

Overly complex QR tag.

2. Eye on Networking & Community

Experts emphasize the importance of personal relationships in the business.  My goal is to simply introduce myself to authors & industry people, with a humble eye on searching for a place in this art production community.  

3. Take-Aways

My hope is to come back to my revision process with sharper focus.  Another hope is to better understand this field in terms of the real people, so that I can better appreciate the business protocols and next steps.

Anyways, you will not regret watching this random dance/music video: 

The Best Outdoor Reading Spots in NYC

Summer time!

What are some of your favorite outdoor #ReadingSpotsNYC?

In NYC, we're lucky enough to have incredible public transportation.  We can sit on our butts and travel around town while reading.  The journey can become the destination quite easily. 

The city is filled with parks and waterfronts.  The parks are filled with benches.  Let's go!

Prospect Park / Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Pavilion at the Japanese Garden

Annual membership to the BBG?  Prospect Park itself has wonderful places to read, but the BBG is a spectacular place.

Plenty of benches at the Overlook. Look down at the Cherry trees & Rose gardens.

Cherry Esplanade.

Coney Island/Brighten Beach, Brooklyn

Hey, guess what?  There's actually an ocean nearby!  If you like dawn adventures, go there early and enjoy a fantastic morning.  Crowds probably won't arrive until 10-11am.

Enjoy the OCEAN breeze on the historic pier (with Russian & Chinese retirees trying to catch fish).

Beach towel or not, there's plenty of ocean seating.    I enjoy the end of the pier.

You'll also find several pavilions along the beach.

Riverbank & Riverside, Manhattan

Riverside Park, Hudson River Park, and Riverbank State Park offer many places to sit and enjoy life with a book.  I personally love the uptown views of the George Washington Bridge and the Palisades.

Great benches and regular kite flying (attempts)!

Gantry Plaza State Park, Queens

Across from the United Nations is this park with spectacular views of Manhattan.  There's also the East River State Park in BK with a similar view.

Claim your seat under the willows!

From here, you gaze across waters at the UN and  Manhattan.

Brooklyn Bridge Park

Ramble down romantic Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights to the promenade with its incredible views of Manhattan, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Statue of Liberty.  One of the greatest views on the planet.

These benches are prime real estate!

Central Park - Upper Half

The upper half of Central Park tends to be much more quiet and relaxed than the lower half.

Harlem Meer 

Off-hours, the benches around the meer make for a peaceful time. 

The Conservancy

There's a reason this garden is one of the top spots in the city for wedding photos (lol).  Nonetheless, you can find plenty of corners to read yourself into bliss.

One of the most romantic places in the city.

Shhhhhhhh....

The Pool & the North Woods Loch

The Pool always offers a fine reading getaway.  If you're really looking to escape, then explore the North Woods and the calming waterfalls hidden within!

Belvedere Castle, Turtle Pond, Shakespeare Garden

The castle makes for superb tourist watching.  Poke around the western side to find quiet corners and benches in the Shakespeare Garden.  Or go lay out on the great lawn above Turtle Pond!

You can find a quiet spot near the Castle or just sit on the vista.

Central Park - Lower Half

If you love the background energy and buzz of international tourists, then grab a bench on the Mall.

Explore the quiet brambles or just grab a bench somewhere.  Anywhere. :)

NY Botanical Gardens, Bronx 

Take the Metro-North Harlem line or cross over from Manhattan on the BX19 bus.  See their website for additional travel options.  It's a very large place with many spots to read.  A nearby zoo, too!

This place is massive with lots of spots to hide away.

Park on that bench under the bridge or wander over to the waterfall.

This may be the best argument for annual membership!

Morningside Park, Manhattan

Waterfall, ducks, and a looming Cathedral.

Inwood Hill Park - Where Eagles Roam

Did you know that bald eagles nest at the northern tip of Manhattan?  This park is a gem.  The northeastern section is great for plopping on a bench.  You may also want to adventure around (or over) the hill to the Hudson.

This quiet tip of Manhattan makes for a great escape.  Also investigate the local cafe.

The Hudson side of the park offers great views of the GWB and beyond.

Queens Botanical Gardens & Flushing Meadows

Grab the 7 train for a great adventure.  Hop off at Flushing Meadows or continue to the end, then walk down Main Street to the Botanical Gardens. Nearby zoo and museum.

The grounds of Flushing Meadows offer lots of benches and views.

The QBG offers quite a few enjoyable spots to sit.

I'm linking this image from gothamist.com

* Photos taken on an iPhone, sometimes using the Pro HDR and Pano apps.

Relatability? (a hard rain)

The photo above only shows a portion of the location.

I was walking by this massive community garden during a gentle drizzle.  In the distance, I heard acoustic music echoing over the neighborhood.  I loved the song.  The timing was sublime.

I saw a white ladder all covered with water.
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken.
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children.

The music was Bob Dylan's A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall'.   Can you envision this setting?  Can you smell the garden and the gentle drizzle?

Where was I?

The South Bronx.  Echoing from a tenement window was Dylan.  Not rap or bachata or salsa or r&b or merengue.   Dylan.  Is that "authentic"?  Expected?

Do we expect kids in the South Bronx or Harlem to know Metallica and Hannah Montana?  Or do we presume they only understand/relate to certain kinds of music and culture?

I think about the "urban youth" I've seen with their heads stuck inside Riordan and Rowling books.  Do we assume they'd rather read books about teens "like them"? What does it even mean to be "like them"?  Are they culturally situated (or segregated) first?  And then human youth second?

Teen Skater

I heard ten thousand whisperin' and nobody listenin'.
I heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin'.
Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter.

Another time I walked by that garden and then up Westchester Avenue towards the bustling Southern Boulevard.  If I look carefully, I notice so many nuances.  So many shades and shapes.  Skaters.  Tilted hats.  Retro-punk.  Retro-preppy.  Nerd-styles with tats.  I even see a redheaded young gal in 80s swag.  And new styles yet unnamed.

I met a young woman whose body was burning.
I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow.
I met one man who was wounded in love.
I met another man who was wounded in hatred. 

Do we presume a black or latino boy in the South Bronx cannot easily relate to the lead female character in The Hunger Games?  Do we truly believe they must prefer a book about a boy of color who loves basketball?  A boy who must grow up poor and struggle to avoid the complications of street life?  That may be very real for many, but is this the best basis for crafting stories and "relatability"?

Don't we risk reproducing the stereotypes that often frustrate youth and make them feel trapped? 

Where the people are a many and their hands are all empty.

Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters.

Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison.

Where the executioner's face is always well hidden.

Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten.

Where black is the color, where none is the number.

And I'll tell and think it and speak it and breathe it.

And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it.

Then I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin'.

Isn't it better to approach multicultural literature and story-telling with an eye on universal human themes that all adolescents tend to relate to?  Or do we think these children only watch TV and movies with characters of the same skin color and cultural background?  Do we think these children only listen to one kind of music in 2012?

Southern Boulevard.  Notice the 80s style on the hip redhead on the left.

If reading is about meeting new people and visiting new places, shouldn't we unshackle the teens of today and build them bridges upon broad human themes?  Even if we dig into matters of despair and poverty with diverse characters, how do we avoid typecasting based upon museum-style, static notions of culture?   Do today's kids even think about differences in the ways we believe?

If we can't envision settings and characters that break the typecasts and stereotypes, then we're in trouble as a species that needs stories for growth and reflection.

It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

(photos) City Breathing 2

A few more Spring snaps.

I found myself recently reading & writing while circling around on the bx19 bus.

Do today's children know how to play any of the old games?

Fog & Flowers.

The boy was beaming.

Southern Boulevard.

Photos taken with ProHDR and Pano apps for the iPhone.  All rights reserved on these photos by Jude Hollins.  

Street Games (inspired)

My dad grew up in Brownsville, Brooklyn.

He tells me of a time when diverse communities played together on the streets.  Stick ball, Marbles, Ring-o-Leavio, Hopscotch, Skelly, etc.

From streetplay.com

For those interested in this rich history, I strongly suggest finding the documentary New York Street Games.

A Green NYC? (inspired)

What if we were forced to quickly adapt to new energy sources, new food sources, etc.  What's possible?  How quickly would we adapt?  How might we rethink the urban landscape?

What if people started digging up concrete and planting food/herbs?

image from SphereTrending

image from thefreefarm.blogspot.com

What if "green became the new graffiti?"  

WATCH THIS DUDE.

Urban Farming is real.  Action towards sustainability in Hunts Point, Bronx, is real.

Green roofs are real.  This is Chicago's city hall.

I think it's going to spread (in spite of maintenance and liability hurdles).

image from WorldChanging.com

image from the Green Roof article.

image from sierraclubgreenhome.com

Solar energy?  There are entire towns running on solar and wind.

image from BBC

What about algae?  Photobioreactors are coming.

image from BIOS blog

Imagine bio-fuel growing all around us.

images from EcoFriend.com

New ways of thinking about sustainability are here.

image from Tuvie