Fall Syllabus

Laura’s Blog Entry

Had my monthly book club this morning. Now I am inspired to dig into some more reading. Already started Eat, Pray, Love. Next month’s book is Gardens of Water. Bizenghast is a guilty, gothy pleasure (thanks, Mari). And Comic Book Tattoo is for inspiration. Comics and Tori Amos together? Oh yes. That sounds nice.

The Sleep Music Video “That Part of You” Debuts

We are happy to premiere our very first music video! It is for the song “That Part of You.” It was directed by Bill Poff and we love it! Especially in HD!

Please watch it, rate it, comment on it, link to it! AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, EMBED IT WHEREVER YOU PLEASE! Below is a link to the video on Vimeo. You can watch and even download it there in HD.

Watch and download at Vimeo

We couldn’t have done it without the help of the following people! Thanks so much to everyone who contributed to this project. You guys made it happen!

The Sleep is:
Neil Smith
Laura Smith
Dave Eberhardt

Directed by William Poff

CAST
Susan Jung – Woman
Steven Brumer – Man

Ben Saunders – Director of Photography
Thomas Green – Key Grip
Jim Tobergta – Production Design
Peggy Edwards – Costumes
Christa Harrison – Laura’s Makeup
Susan Pagliaro – Editor
Neil Smith – Post Production

Special Thanks To:
Jennie Chacon
Paula Rakestraw
Wilma Gaunt
Dave Flege
Pat Tobergta
Gayle’s Vintage Clothing
Riverside Center Antique Mall

Motivation for Kids

Laura’s Blog Entry

It’s back to school season! The time of year when I send my darling off to be educated while simultaneously gaining a few hours of solitude. Yipee!

The start of the school year is generally the toughest season of our year. Mari has always struggled with transitions. When it is something like this, where she has to give up her precious free time, it can be a big adjustment.

Well this year seems to be moving along better than usual. There are a couple reasons for that. First of all, she has matured so much this summer. Things that used to cause tantrums and outburst are now often accepted quite easily. The best part is she just beams when we tell her how proud we are.

Due to her ADHD, Mari has always been a bit behind her peers in maturity. I remember comforting her in kindergarten when some kids started calling her a crybaby because she just got very emotional over things. They had all outgrown those emotional outbursts, but she hadn’t gotten there yet.

Well, we are miles from there now. It’s been hard, but we’ve always tried to stay right with her, whatever her level might be. And then slowly challenge and encourage and give her opportunities to grow.

Generally, that means in the summer time we ratchet up the expectations. We choose one or two things we think she is capable of mastering and work on that.

We had two goals this year. One was for her to start making her own breakfast. I know – she was turning eleven and we were still making her morning meal. Well no longer. She is now responsible for that, and it is so nice!

Secondly, because we were taking the summer off from dance lessons, she needed some sort of routine to keep up her ballet pointe skills. I challenged her to work up to 30 reps of her special exercises, three times a week. She nailed that one, too.

Now the reason these goals were met was not because she is self-motivated or that we nagged her into doing it. What works for us is setting specific goals with a clearly defined reward at the end.

People with ADHD are often lacking in the ability to self-motivate if the task is not something they are interested in or that is fun. Most of us can just push on through and get the job done, but Mari can’t do that in more challenging circumstances. A reward system can sometimes make that motivation kick in.

We generally take a trip for ice cream, have movie night, or do something relatively inexpensive for our rewards. The dance exercises this summer gave me a cool idea. Mari has always wanted to win a trophy. She has read books and seens kids on TV win trophies in sports and other activities, and while she has won some ribbons, her extra-curriculars are not the trophy type. So I told her if she would master the exercises I would award her a trophy. She was so excited.

She worked two months and finally got there. We popped over to a nearby trophy and awards shop to see what they had available. We selected a tap dancer and Mari chose what she wanted on the plaque. The total cost was $7.40. Not bad for two months of work. She is still very proud of it and sleeps with it right next to her bed. If you have a child who is struggling to do a huge school project, or is overwhelmed by another daunting task, consider what might motivate them – maybe it’s a trophy with their name engraved on it.

Another tool we use on a day-to-day basis is a token system. It takes preplanning and diligence to start, but once it gets going, it runs itself.

You see, Mari’s favorite thing in all the world is playing on the computer. She would play from sun up to sun down if we let her. Which of course we don’t. So to be able to use the computer she earns tokens for performing certain tasks. Each token is worth 30 minutes of computer time. We use poker chips for this purpose.

For a kid with ADHD, the routine of the token system is helpful in getting them to remember what their responsibilities are. She wants to play, so she thinks to herself, “What can I do to earn tokens?” Works like a charm. Mornings used to be a nightmare. She’d stand in the bathroom and wander about asking, “What am I supposed to do now?” We even had a list posted in the bathroom, but she couldn’t remember to look at it. Once we assigned a token value to everything, she was motivated to remember on her own.

This system has changed our lives. We began it about five or six months ago. Between this system and her maturity, it is so much more pleasant around here.

Another helpful thing is that each homework task is worth a token. She has been doing a summer project due the first day of school and it has NEVER gone this well before. (As well as working for the trophy, she also got 2 token for doing her dance practice. Sometimes a small immediate reward is needed to keep a long-term goal on track.)

The great thing is you can customize this to fit your needs. My favorite thing is to catch her doing something good and awarding her extra tokens, just because. It really builds her confidence to point out good behavior.

I am so enamored of this system that I suggested to Neil that he give himself a reward for mowing the lawn – a task he abhors. He pooh-poohed the idea and said it wouldn’t work, but gosh darn it, that lawn has never been mowed as often as when he started going for a Starbucks after.

It may seem like a lot to manage, but the chaos and frustration we avoid by using the tokens is worth the effort. Here’s to a smooth start to sixth grade. We shall see!

Post Script…

I’ll have you know I finished up this entry and not 30 minutes later we had a major homework meltdown. Sigh. We had too many things going on yesterday and it stressed Mari out. As a result, homework became a big issue. But we’ll just wipe the slate clean and start fresh today. Parenting is fun!

Depeche Mode at Madison Square Garden

Laura’s Blog Entry

Neil put together a little highlights reel from Depeche Mode at Madison Square Garden. Included is footage from the after party at Rebel. I’ll be uploading individual songs, but this is an overview of the event. It was a great night we’ll never forget!

New York State of Mind

Laura’s Blog Entry

Our trip to New York was a wonderful, crazy blur. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon and headed out to explore. It took a bit to adjust to the crowds, but soon we were in the flow of things. Of course Neil and Mari had to immediately snack on NY Pizza (stop #1). Since we weren’t too far from Times Square, we went up that way to check a few things off Mari’s list. First of all she wanted to ride the Ferris wheel in Toys ‘R Us. It is full size. Very weird to ride it indoors.

In Times Square, Mari was especially thrilled to see “big ball” that falls on New Year’s Eve. And I got to browse through the Hello Kitty store. Heaven! We stopped for a touristy dinner at the Hard Rock Café and were immediate reminded of the reason for the trip: Just as we were seated, Depeche Mode’s video for “Strangelove” came on the screen. I guess they knew I had arrived.

On Monday we started the day with a view of the city from Top of the Rock.

The contrast of the buildings to the huge expanse of Central Park from that height is stunning.

Then we headed over to the American Girl store and had a little spree.

Mari and I had a wonderful time choosing some outfits for her doll. I do enjoy a well-merchandised store. New York has a ton of them. As well as some that aren’t so well merchandised, but we’ll get to that later.

After that adventurous morning we had some lunch at a super cool place we happened upon – Pop Burger. So hip. So delicious. That is how we selected all our restaurants – looking at menus as we headed to our next destination. New York certainly didn’t ever disappoint. After the refreshing break we went back to the hotel to rest for a few hours. It was a good idea we did as it turned out to be a late night. Mari went out with her grandparents for an adventure in Central Park, while Neil and I spent an evening with the Mode.

We started with dinner at Niles with online friend Beth, and we met Cory and another Mode chick who was incredibly cool but her name escapes me because at that point I was so excited for the show I wasn’t retaining much new data. As the time neared, we headed across to Madison Square Garden. I was pleasantly surprised that the seats I got had quite a nice view. We were on Martin’s side (of course) up a few sections, but not very far back. I shot quite a bit of video – which is hard while you are dancing, I’ll have you know.

The show was spectacular. Their performances are so consistently good. It is always worth the cost of the ticket. There was a solid two hours of music. Martin’s set included “Little Soul” and “Home.” He was there in all his sparkling splendor – in the sequin suit, not the shimmering lame, for those keeping score at home.

Dave sounded and looked fantastic. And Fletch seemed to be having the time of his life. I really felt that drummer Christian Eigner and Dave had the most fun performing the songs they had written together. Peter Gordano rounded out the sound as an additional keyboard and backing vocals. My gothy boots proved to be Depeche worthy, and my feet didn’t hurt a bit. Then it was on to the after party.

We ventured over a few blocks to Rebel, and after a short wait in line we grabbed a drink and made for the dance floor. The mix of 80’s and Depeche Mode was a blast! DJ Shred and DJ Shunt kept everyone dancing for hours. We were lucky enough to snag a bench seat up near the DJ’s, although I rarely sat for even a second. I shot more video. I can’t express how happy I get when I am in a room of people dancing to Depeche Mode. Neil nearly had to drag me out of there sometime around 2:00 or 3:00 – I’m not really sure of the exact time. It was so nice that our hotel was mere blocks from all the evening’s activities. After a quick walk home we crashed hard. What an amazing night!

Tuesday had us out the door around 10:00 AM and back to being tourists. We investigated Little Italy and Chinatown.

Nothing like Italian ices in the morning!

We walked through Kam Man Food Products and Munchies Paradise to soak in all the beautiful Chinese delicacies. We also hit Pearl Paint, a huge art supply store where we finally found Mari some illustration boards for drawing her Manga.

We stopped in at Sambuca’s Cafe for more pizza (stop #2).

They claim to have the best Tiramisu in Little Italy, so I gave it a try. No arguments here. It was fantastic. They also had multiple choices for herbal iced tea, as did many restaurants, and even street vendors. I could get used to that.

We took our usual afternoon break and then went back out to hit Borders and a magic supply store. Then we zipped down on the subway to catch a ride on the Staten Island Ferry.

Who knew it was a free ride? Nice views of the city and the Statue of Liberty. Great way to finish off the day.

Wednesday was our last day, and we made the most of it. More shopping. I don’t shop that much – usually only when I am looking for something specific. This was a real treat just to browse all the wonderful shops. We headed down to take in Soho and Greenwich Village.

As we waited for the shops to open at noon – what’s with the late start, Soho? – we saw the craft services table for some kind of video shoot, but couldn’t determine what was being filmed. Oh, also we saw a sign that Mad Men is casting, in case you are interested. A highlight for Mari was that we communed with the squirrels and the nannies in Washington Square Park.

OK, she only cared about the squirrels, but there were lots of nannies. And care-givers wheeling around older ladies in wheelchairs.

One of our favorite stops was Dean and Deluca, a fabulous gourmet food shop where we picked up a little gifty for our housesitter at home. The store that inspired us most was Desigual, a Barcelona-based company with the most amazing, colorful clothing and accessories. Wish I could have come home with a few of their bright cotton knit skirts. Yes, you heard me right, BRIGHT. I know. Not black. They were stunning. Neil could have bought a whole wardrobe of cool T-shirts. The way the patterns were mixed was a fusion of African and Asian and a little bit of who-knows-what. Fabulous.

That’s also the day we hit the shop Purl for yarn. See my previous entry for the details of that. After all the shopping, we were pretty wiped. The temperature was up in the 90’s and sweltering. We found yet another spot for pizza. This time it was No. 28 Pizza from Napoli (stop #3).

We spied the wood-fired pizza oven from the street and decided that was the place. And boy was it. After we all drank about a gallon of sparkling San Pellegrino, our new favorite beverage, our server delivered the most beautiful of pizzas to our table:

This was the best we had. Although we didn’t have any bad pizza, come to think of it. This was simply crushed tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, some garlic and maybe some olive oil, topped with basil. Heavenly. It gave us the strength to hit Forbidden Planet for comics (which was a bit of a maze, super crowded and overwhelming to navigate) and then get on the train back to the hotel.

Once more we ventured back out that evening to shop at one more comic store: Midtown Comics. It was really impressive. So organized. I got a little giddy with all the nice labels on the shelves. It was also really busy. What is like Free Comic Book Day in Cincinnati is apparently the level of traffic for a typical day in NY. I picked up a gothy Manga called Bizenghast that Mari recommended. Now I am hooked and ordered the rest of the series from the library when we got home.

Before dinner we walked over to the Flat Iron District near Madison Square Park so Mari could visit Manhattan Saddlery. Yes, you can buy saddles, bridles and riding wear in Manhattan. Of course you can. She looked at everything admiringly until we had to practically tear her out of there.

Finally, we ended the trip with another random restaurant find, Jack’s Restaurant and Bar. Again, we just wandered up and down the side streets looking for a menu posted that seemed to fit the bill. The food was amazing and finishing off the meal with chocolate dipped strawberries was sublime. Couldn’t have asked for a better close to our visit.

I have to admit I had my fears about this trip. Some were the basic things – food would be ridiculously expensive, we’d get lost on the subway – but also that it would be too overwhelming. That I wouldn’t have the energy to do everything we wanted to do. I didn’t want to disappoint anyone else by not being able to keep up.

As it happens with most risks I take, I ended up being more energized than drained. Don’t get me wrong – we were completely exhausted when we left. But my mind was going 90 miles a minute. So much beautiful architecture and design. Such delicious food. Cool people. Stellar service. A performance by Depeche Mode that was worth the 8-year wait. Trips like these energize me to get home, cook, rearrange thing, write, garden, make stuff. It had been way too long.

Oops… thought I was finished. Neil reminded me that although he didn’t get to make his highly anticipated trip to Brooklyn to eat at The Chip Shop, he convinced his father to detour into New Jersey and stop at Rutt’s Hut for hotdogs. What would we do without Food Network to tell us where to eat?

Yarn Porn

Laura’s Blog Entry

We are home sweet home from our adventure to New York City. As I gather my thoughts about everything we did, I thought I’d go ahead and share a couple of my purchases – of the yarn variety.

I hit an amazing yarn store in Soho called Purl. They have an inspiring website that Susan P. told me about. When we decided to go to NY, I knew I had to visit. My quest was for some fancy sock yarn. Now that I’ve made a few pair, I think I can invest in some of the good stuff. And what I found was indeed good stuff:

This is from Fannie’s Farmhouse. It’s called Fannie’s Fingering Weight and the color is Sedona. The cool thing is that this yarn is from wool that Fannie – I assume it is Fannie – raises herself, spins and then kettle dyes. A one-stop shop. I was immediately drawn to the colors. The touch of brown just makes the turquoise pop. Think I’ll go for knee socks from the toe up so I can just keep knitting until I run out of yarn.

My other purchase was my first bit of Koigu. This is a Canadian yarn with a powerful reputation in the knitting world. I can see why – it is really beautiful in both texture and color.

Can’t wait to get knitting on these new yarns. But before that happens, I need to show my progress on some older items. I got in some good knitting time on the road.

I finished up the back of the Flirty Sweater and decided to knit both the fronts at the same time on a circular needle. That way they will match exactly – at least that is the plan. Moving along nicely.

I started some gift knitting as well, because after awhile, I get sick of knit two, purl two on the sweater.

This is a market bag. The pattern is from Lion Brand and I like it a lot. I had tons of this cotton left from when I crocheted a bath mat. I may get two of these out of the yarn if I’m lucky.

Finally, I picked up some Cotton-Ease to start on a baby gift.

I adore this lime green colorway. It makes it fun to work with. This is a crochet project, just to mix things up. I will post links to the patterns when I finish the projects.

Now I am off to do more laundry and recover from the 28 hours I spent in the car over the past 10 days. When I laid down last night I swear I was still moving. Hoping that sensation passes soon!

Depeche Mode Withdrawls

SOP032 – Silver Sharpies and Sparkles

Download this episode

Show Notes
Neil tries to honor the VJ’s of old, and we decide to boycott a holiday – cause some of them are just plain stupid. Our struggle with math pops up yet again, and we give some love to a new TV show. It ain’t Battlestar Galactica, but what is?  Mari shares the fruits of her Apple Camp experience. Fruits … get it? And we weigh in on some Depeche Mode documentaries as we prepare to see their Tour of the Universe. That’s right Martin Gore, we’re packing up our gothy boots and coming to see you! With tunes by Flunk, Venus Hum and Pat MacDonald.

Music Guide
“Untitled”
Artist: Neil Smith
http://www.neilsmithmusic.com

“Blue Monday”
Artist: Flunk
Album: For Sleepyheads Only
http://flunkmusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/flunktheband
iTunes

“Run Annie Run”
Artist: Venus Hum
Album: Venus Hum
http://venushum.com
http://www.myspace.com/venushum

“Craziness”
Artist: Mari Smith

“Reset Me Lord”
Artist: Pat MacDonald
Album: Purgatory Hill
http://patmacmusic.com
http:// www.myspace.com/patmacdonald
iTunes

Misc. Goodies and Links
Does anybody even read this stuff? Doubtful. Yet we write it out for you each and every month. Gosh, if someone would just write us a lovely iTunes review we’d know it was all worth it.

Do you Twitter? Swell! Follow us at http://twitter.com/smithsocc.

Depeche Mode: The Dark Progression
A nice little summary

Official Depeche Mode After Party for NYC

Gallery of Guys Neil Finds Attractive

Sequin Photo by Muffet used under Creative Commons.

The obligatory Depeche Mode Link
http://www.depechemode.com