Teen Brains and Sleep

Something I've wanted to change for a while now is school start time for my teens who wake at 6:00 and 6:30 for school and who verbalize that the early rise is a problem for them, especially my 9th grader who has social studies, math, and science classes first thing in the morning...

NBC Nightly News on the web April 13, 2011

Stay up until midnight and sleep until noon?...
The latest studies out of Brown University and Bradley Hospital show that the mid to late teenage years require more sleep for their brains, possibly to recover from the daily assault of information as their brains are maturing and preparing for adulthood... Dr. Mary Carskadan says they need a minimum of 81/4 to 81/2  hours a night.

NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams

What compounds the problem today is the amount of late day distractions for teens... cell phones, electronic media, and other activities that extend their day later and later.  This lack of sleep may contribute to problems such as ADD, Obesity, and Depression in teens.

NBC Nightly News on the web

Parents please let your school know if this is a problem for your kids... sleep deprivation needs to be addressed in a serious way.  

One of the school districts in our area (Long Island) has changed the schedule and the high school starts at 9am with the elementary school starting in the early am slot... let's speak out at the next Board of Education meeting and let it be known.

A.P. Redesign!

photo Erik Jacobs; illustration Stephen Webster

Now that my high school freshman is looking at taking AP courses, I've suddenly been thrown into the world of AP courses trying to quickly educate myself about the in's and out's or better the pro's and con's of such higher education.
My son got a letter recommending him for AP Art History and when I asked around about it I was disappointed to hear about the tremendous amount of memorization involved in the course.
So when I picked up the NY Times this weekend, my disappointment turned to optimism for the future of my kids' educations.
The NY Times article, "Rethinking A.P.", says that the A.P. College Board is changing the courses for the better, making the courses more about critical thinking and less about memorization.  They will start rolling out the first revamped courses starting in 2012-2013 "Major revisions to physics, chemistry, European History world history and art history will follow, with the hope of being ready for exams in 2014 or 2015.

Erik Jacobs for the NY Times

While the number of students taking the A.P. Biology test has doubled since 1997 the median scores have dropped to 2's and 1's which equates to C's and failing grades!

I'm encouraged about these overdue changes... Finally!!!

Birds and Pigs

I'm not talkin' Thanksgiving either... I'm talkin' "Angry Birds" not organic free range either... I'm talkin' gaming, and not the kind you hunt down, shoot and pluck it's feathers in order to roast up for this years family feast... noooo, it's the electronic game my kids got me hooked on recently... I wake up and go to sleep with "Angry Birds"!
It takes some skill to play and I'm bragging here but I'm as good as and maybe a little better than they are too... shhhh, don't tell them I said so either, they'll deny it and be pissed and I don't need ANOTHER challenge right now... This lesson in physics (that's right!) is enough of a challenge. As they say on the game-maker, Rovio's website, "Each of the 120 levels requires logic, skill, and brute force to crush the enemy."

The black birds are my favorite

Plot, if any, is basically that the green pigs stole the birds' eggs and watch out those mamas are pissed! 

 For a peek at the game trailer... here's Angry Birds...

Hey Moms, I challenge you!

(Oh, it's free too.) 

A Powerful 11 Minutes

We're leaving on a trip to San Francisco soon, a beautiful city I lived in for 11 years before moving back to New York... "Why did you move back?", people often ask... well, that's another story for another time.

So last night when I thought I was tuning into Amazing Race, which was pushed back due to football running late, I caught the end of a story on 60 Minutes (an old favorite) about a man who recently found an old film, shot in San Francisco on Market Street only days before the 1906 Earthquake destroyed most of the city... 

60 Minutes, "A Trip Down Market Street"

A week later this happened...

...eerie, really eerie and sad, and a little scary since I wasn't thinking about earthquakes, only thinking about visiting my favorite spots, seeing old friends and of course eating my way through what I believe is the best city to enjoy a myriad of fantastically creative ethnic and fresh American cooking and not break the bank, like in NY.  

I experienced 3 earthquakes in California while living there... two in SF and one in LA. I'll be taking lots of photos and will write about the trip when I return.

Many new ideas come from California, a place where experimentation is the norm.

Big Bambu'

Yesterday we took the kids into the city (NYC) for a day of high and low cultcha at the MET and dinner in Chinatown...
The artworlds twin brothers, Mike and Doug Starn, were asked to create a site-specific installation on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art... the monumental bamboo structure is an ongoing work in progress constructed by a team of artists and rock climbers.  This network of 5,000 interlocking bamboo poles tied together with nylon rope is like a forest at the base and is walkable above on elevated pathways if you book the walking tour.  We came too late in the day for the tour yesterday, they were sold out by noon, but it was still very cool...

It was a spectacular fall day and the people watching was one of the best parts!

Tomorrow, more about our day...

Yo SITStahs!

Welcome to my blog... I roll out the PINK CARPET to you... and thank you for visiting 'Mama Lisha Lifestyle'...

Today is my special day in the spotlight among the thousands of SITStahs, the blogging SITStahs, the FABULOUS community of SITS girls... over 7,000 women bloggers supporting one another in this wild and crazy place called the blogosphere... where we're explorers of sorts...  21st Century explorers!

First... News... 
Did you know that, "More than half of web users will read blogs this year."... says eMarketer in a recent article, "The Continued Rise of Blogging".
Blogs will eventually become invisible...  that's not a bad thing, it just means that blogs are quickly becoming such an integrated part of our global social fabric that they will "become indistinguishable from other media channels".


About Me...

I'm a Mom (50+) and artist (painter), with a wonderful and dedicated (doctah) husband, and two great boys ages 12 and 14, who I love watching grow into (almost) men... and as their 'voices' and 'pits' call out, are BOTH experiencing full-blown puberty. 

  

Why "Yo" in my post title?... because I come to you from "New Yawk", and that's how they tawk around heea... the suburbs of Long Island... where seeking a richer life (as my tag line says) "for my family, myself, and anyone who will listen" is certainly a challenge and I love challenges!


Why Blog?
Having had a wonderfully exciting and fulfilling career (pre-kids and husband), I've had to reinvent myself along the way, using creative outlets that are available to me like painting, raising kids, and now blogging.

"I focus on family life with a creative and cultural bent. I like to write about food, fashion, family fun, art, music, and education."

Blogging is the perfect way to 'connect all the dots'... a way to tie your vision of things together, and connect that to people with similar interests, to cross-pollinate or link people and things together.  My post, Turn Off TV... Turn On Stumbleupon is about a great search engine, a tool connecting you to your specific interests.

How about a blog post for those of you who have had careers and are now full-time Moms... In a Former Life or one about the First Day of School.

For those foodies and fashionistas out there or Moms who just need some inspiration, there's Cranberry Compote Like Never Before, It's a Wrap!, or Spanx for Him?!

Epilogue...
After seeing my blog last month an editor of an online newspaper hired me as a freelance writer... so SITStahs, as they say around here, ya nevah know...

Wishing my SITStah bloggers wonderful things now and in the future...

Thanks for visiting!

If Things Could Speak

It's 2010 and THINGS can speak, now that there are companies like Stickybits, "a fun and social way to attach digital content to objects"...

Stickybits

 In The New York Times Magazine, September 5th issue, Rob Walker wrote a short, but eye-opening article about a technology that will change how we see 'things'...  just scan an object (it's barcode) and you'll get the story of the thing, maybe more data than you cared to know, but it's powerful stuff with many applications...

Itizen is another company, "offering an online service that provides a way to tell, share, and follow the 'life stories' of interesting things".
It's free to sign up with these companies and for instance, Stickybits has teamed up with Zazzle to offer products that make great gifts, or if you're in the job market, you can order a business card where you can attach your resume to it for a potential employer... that would surely impress them!

Tour YOUR Artwork!

Calling ALL... "Anyone - from anywhere in the world - can be a part of the project."... ARTISTS! 

The Sketchbook Project...

The Brooklyn Art Library is running a project where artists receive a sketchbook for $25, fill it with artwork loosely based on a pre-chosen theme, send it back to them by the deadline and it will tour the country in galleries and museums.

It's a simple idea and a great way to get yourself and your creative kids to put their ideas on paper for the world to see!

Oh, and teachers there is an educational and group discount available.

The Tour...

Examples of previous sketchbooks...

The deadline to sign up is October 31st, 2010 and books are limited.  I will have the link (see above right) posted on my blog until the deadline.

I will be choosing a theme for mine in the next few days.  Can't wait for you to join the tour with me!

Back To School Tools

Many of us Moms have made a few plus trips already to Staples for the obligatory back-to-school supplies. If your looking for something a little different for your tweens, teens or college bound children I found some great organizational tools that are well designed.  And for that reason they are on the MOMA Store (Museum of Modern Art) website.  So here are a few really I liked... they make great gifts...

Amigo Leather Desk Accessory

Tower of Clips

Conceal Bookshelf

Poster Hanger

If these are too nice for the kids then maybe it's time to buy something for Mom or Dad... and they're not expensive!

What organizational tools work for you?

A Local News Forum

Simply called Patch... "a local source for news, events, business listings, and discussion"... I heard about it through a friend, writer and teacher extraordinaire... Today was the launch of my local Patch in Dix Hills, NY, with editor Karen Forman.
I'm excited to be a contributor, writing articles with the 'Mom' audience in mind... about the spicy rumblings going on in my backyard...  especially when it comes to FOOD, where to get it, how to cook it, how other people cook it, how to eat it... fresh and healthy, one meal at a time!

Check out 'Patch' in your community, if you don't have one yet, maybe you can get one started!

Thanks Rissa and Sharon for turning me on to Patch!

The Digital Bookmobile Came To Town!

A Pleasant Surprise...
Yesterday, my 14 year old son and I just happened upon an eBook 'eVent' at our Long Island, NY library... it's hard to miss an 18 wheeler in the parking lot...

Download digital books, audiobooks, video and music... This FREE download service is available through the library website 24/7... and all you need is a PC, MAC, and many mobile devices too (i.e. Sony Reader, Apple iPod iTouch, MP3, etc.)...

Inside the Bookmobile

 All you do is Browse, Check Out, and Download...  so easy... To learn more about it and to check out the digital collection go to www.suffolkwave.org or go to the library website and look for 'Digital Bookmobile'... Millions of people are already using digital readers!

My only disappointment is that music and video are not available on MACs and it also doesn't work with The Kindle because the books are purchased from Amazon.

So parents, before school starts, now is a good time to check it out... oh, and many libraries throughout the country support this same service so ask at your library.

A Jazz Weekend

Pack up the car this weekend with just a few picnic things, especially lawn chairs and a frisbee, don't forget the KIDS, then head north (an easy drive) to BEAUTIFUL (about 2 hours from Long Island), I mean GORGEOUS Kent, Connecticut, for the Litchfield Jazz Festival at the Kent School...  you won't regret it.
  First of all, buy Lawn tickets (online or there), the weather is going to be perfect both Saturday and Sunday, secondly, you need to expose your kids (and yourself) to something other than Top 40 hits, even if they're running around seemingly ignoring the music, they're NOT, because they're like sponges, everything permeates those growing brains.

There will be food, crafts, and other exhibitors... something for everyone!

If your child plays an instrument you'll want to walk over to the 'Second Stage' and see the kids who attend the Jazz Camp perform in small group combos throughout the weekend...

My son attended the Jazz Camp and will be playing this weekend

More photos (by Antonio Monteiro) of the kids from previous summers...

                                                       

Tickets are $29 online and $35 at the gate per day for an All-Star Lineup... and the festival actually starts tonight!

Have a great weekend... and tell them Mama Lisha sent you!

MOMS: A 'Course' of Action

Stay-at-home Moms, I'm sure you've worried about your brain going to mush... and hungered for that intellectual stimulation as you're cleaning up poop for the ______th time...  Now that I have a teen and tween, the only poop I clean is the dogs in the backyard, but when I saw this article in the NY Times (April 18th) it was almost as good as shoe shopping, "The Free and Easy Downloadable Education".  

Great courseware online (my husband has been talking about this day for years now)... professors who are now "celebrities of cyberspace"... courses from Yale, M.I.T. ( a forerunner in free online education), Carnegie Mellon, U.C.L.A... and the courses, everything from "Visualizing Cultures", an award-winning, visually stunning, history course on Japan and China, to Linear Algebra to "Physics 21: Science from Superheroes to Global Warming" (for nonscientists), to French (for that romantic trip you're planning with hubby).  

For those competitive parents and kids, there are intro college prep courses for your high school students too, or other college subjects just for a taste of the college experience.

My first choice... Psych 123: The Psychology, Biology and Politics of Food"!... a series of 23 lectures asking questions like "Should the government be involved in shaping the nation's diet?"