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ISSUE 1 | MAY 2018
Blast-Off!
Also in this issue: What type of Sims Gamer are you? Check out p. 6 to find out
Bob Burns
THE VAN SHOW How the Austin Public Library is bringing authors to kida across the country
How one native Texan learned to never stop trying
5 Creative Ways to Get Your Kids to Play Outside A few methods to re-think playtime
A news article discusses current or recent news of either general interest (i.e. daily newspapers) or of a specific topic (i.e. political or trade news magazines, club newsletters, or technology news websites).
Of all the PATHS you take in
life,
make sure a few of them are
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May Contents
3 Editors Note 4 Author Bios
Learn about some of the writers that contribute to Blast-Off!
7 Secrets to an always-healthy kid Carrie Taylor discusses how she manages to keep her kids healthy in a messy world.
15 Activity Corner Word Searches, Puzzles, and More!
17 Rainy & Sunny Day Activities Some ideas for DIY games and crafts for any type of weather.
25 Feature Analysis How does the use of first person in Alex Tizon's Feature My Family's Slave create empathy for the criminals?
-ON THE COVER8 What Type of Sims Gamer are You? Get to know Austin's newest puppet talk show host and see why Texans are talking
11 The Van Show Are you a simmer for life? Maybe you don't understand why your son won't stop walking his digital dog. See what all the hype is about!
19 Robert Burns: Prone to Injury Bob Burns was always managing to hurt himself growing up, but it never stopped him from achieving his dreams.
21 5 Creative Ways to Get Your Kids to Play Outside Bob Burns was always managing to hurt himself growing up, but it never stopped him from achieving his dreams. Issue 27 | 234
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ISSUE 1 | MAY 2018
Blast-Off! Editor in Chief Kali Carpenter Executive Art Director Kali Carpenter Staff Writer Kali Carpenter Columnists Kali Carpenter Contributors Carrie Taylor, Jayme Moye, Ana Dziengel, Sarah Dees, Chief Photography Editor Kali Carpenter Copy Chief Kali Carpenter Associate Art Director Kali Carpenter Photography Editor Kali Carpenter Associate Photography Editor Kali Carpenter Designer Kali Carpenter
Editor's Note
Activity and Education are the keys to Success in Kids Dear reader, I have spent most of my life as an avid activist for children. With 3 god-children of my own to watch out for, i'm always on the look out on the best ways to make their lives better. The one thing that will light up those children's eyes more than anything is being able to say they learned something new that day. So where does that passion go when the birthdays start piling up?
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Fostering a love of learning is essential to children's growth. We all know it, but it can be hard to implement when there are so many digital means of entertainment distracting our little ones. Studies have found that taking a simple 15 minutes a day making your kids go outside with you to play can encourage a vivid imagination and better prepare their minds for new ideas and lessons. So, the next time you have 10 minutes to spare, get outside and play!
EDITORIAL OFFICES 3014 W William Cannon Dr Austin, TX 78745 SUBSCRIPTIONS (512)300.1286
Whether it's going to your local library for a scavenger hunt or just going to the park for an impromptu stroll to bird watch, get the family outside for a little fun in the sun.
P.O. Box 78745, Austin Texas Outside the United States: (810) 911-3209 Blaf-Off Magazine is independently published by Issu and Canva. blast-off.com
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KALI CARPENTER Editor-in-Chief
Author Bios Jayme Moye has written hundreds of narratives for nearly 50 publishers including National Geographic, New York, Travel + Leisure, Fodor's Travel Intelligence, Men's Journal, and Outside. Her assignments have taken her from Afghanistan to Iceland, and she's amassed dozens of writing awards, most notably in 2014, when the North American Travel Journalists Association named her Travel Writer of the Year.Â
Sarah Dees is a mother of 5, with 4 boys and one little girl. She is the creator of the blog Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls, and spends her days playing with her little ones and getting new ideas for fun things to do for cheap. When Sarah's not writing for her own site, she writes for magazines all over Austin.
Finding that there wasn't a good place to find a creative community for her children online, Ana Dziengel created the website community Babble Dabble Do. Now, Ana spends her time switching between managing Babble Dabble, freelance writing, and of course, playing with her little ones.
As a current stay-at-home mom and parttime freelance writer/editor, Carrie Taylor enjoys consuming large amounts of coffee and watching the Disney channel. Before her adventures in caffeine and carnival madness, Carrie worked as a journalist for the Houston Chronicle, as well as a contributing writer to the Community Impact Letter.
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Blast-off HUMOR
SECRETS TO AN ALWAYS-HEALTHY KID by Carrie Taylor
HUMOR
"Y
our kids never get sick – you’re so lucky!” I hate to brag, but I’ve heard this from more than one friend. And it’s true. My kids are incredibly healthy (knock on proverbial wood). For families in search of the key to wellness, let me tell you how we keep our doctor visits to a minimum. First, we own two dogs. Two dogs that shed. Two dogs that, when you just look at them the wrong way, drop a pound of fur on the ground where they stand. This means there’s dog hair (and presumably dander and whatever ungodly organisms live on dog hair) everywhere – in every corner,
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stuck to dried slobber on baby’s face, stuck to baby’s hands and inside baby’s dirty diaper (so, presumably also inside baby’s digestive system). Second, my children are habitual shoe eaters. It’s like thumb sucking, except repulsive and lacking any cuteness. The baby likes to end a long day by slipping someone’s sweaty shoes over his hands and bear crawling across the house, then trying to take a nice, juicy bite out of the heel. This daily and admittedly horrifying exposure to everyday bacteria and filth has manifested itself in a steel gut. Sure, there are random bouts of IBS we can’t really explain, but it’s nothing a few cases of Greek yogurt and diaper cream can’t fix.
Third, my kids like to eat. This means items like sticks, leaves and Cheerios from underneath park benches. I pride myself in not being a helicopter parent, so what’s a mom to do? I try my best to swat as many unmentionables as I can from those little grubby hands, but most days I just accept the inevitable. Now, it could be completely valid to say I’m just lucky, and none of these things have anything to do with my children’s health. But I’m a silver linings type of person.
"I pride myself in not being a helicopter parent, so what's a mom to do?"
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THE 4 TYPES OF GAMERS WHO PLAY THE SIMS by Kali Carpenter
HUMOR
I The Sims franchise has over 50 game expansion, packs, and worlds for purchase individually
f you were a child during the 90s, you probably remember a time when you played or watched a friend play the Sims. To an outsider, this game seems like a boring simulated reality where you make an avatar and play out their mundane simulated lives, buying furniture and sending them to work. To gamers who grew up with the sims, it was a game that taught an entire generation how to flirt, fight your enemy, and maybe burn your house down as you lived out the life you imagined you had. While this trend seemed silly at the time, celebrities like Jessica Williams and J.K. Rowling remind us that simulating our own realities and more in the Sims will never truly die. With that in mind, here are a few types of Sims gamers we all know and love.
The Owns-Every-Pack-Rat These are the die-hard simmers. They’ve played every iteration of the simulated reality and have probably created the same 'Joe Shmo Simmian' avatar for each one to “maintain consistency” throughout their gameplay. They have a calendar reminder the day each pack or expansion goes on pre-order to make sure they can play it the microsecond it releases. Looking through their bookmarks bar will lead you to dozens of blogs and YouTube channels discussing each update in explicit detail, and when you ask, they can explain down to the code why they spent another $20 on a collection of hats and scarves for their sim’s dog. Each person in their town is custom styled with the latest fashions and has their own careers and goals tenderly chosen by their creator to utilize each new interaction and sound they’ve purchased. These pack-rats may have given EA a a month’s salary over the years, but can you say that your sim’s town has a spa AND a dog spa with a miniature dinosaur in it? We didn’t think so.
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HUMOR
The Overachieving Procrastinator
"Who needs to put pants on in the real world..."
The overachieving procrastinator is the hardest working simmer you will ever meet, virtually that is. These simmers spend years of their lives perfecting their sim by maxing out every skill possible in the game, from photography to rocket science and vampirism. This may lead to never leaving the house, but who needs to put pants on in the real world when your sim is wearing a tux at all times? These simmers will spend the entire weekend mastering the art of gourmet cooking and opening their own restaurant in the virtual city of Windenberg while burning a container of instant Mac N’ Cheese in the microwave. Their real house might be a pig sty, but they would rather spend the afternoon virtually doing their sim’s laundry than move their stained jeans an inch closer to their hamper. Overachieving procrastinators may not be the most exciting co-worker or hiking buddy, but if you ever want to know how to unlock the 6th dimension alien-space race in the Sims 4, they’re the person you want to call.
Many Overachieving Procrastinators make sure their sim is living the dram life with the best things simoleans can buy
The Sim Reaper
The Grim Reaper isn't going on a vacation anytime soon with the Sim Reaper in town
Ever wondered what it would feel like to murder an entire family and use them to haunt your sister-in-law? Wonder no more! Like their name suggests, Sim reapers love to create characters and people – Jimmy from homeroom who pulled my pigtails – and find unique ways of killing them in game. Simmers will lure unsuspecting Sims into their house of torment only to lock them inside a room with nothing but a barbeque pit and a curtain to a window that was never there. Hungry little sim? Why not go cook over that open flame by the combustible fabric? Oh snap, you caught fire! Here’s a pool for you to jump in – ooh no! The pool is surrounded by walls and you can’t get out now; that’s a real bummer for you, Jimmy Sim. Love killing sims but feel too weird making people you actually know? Why not create a family of random sims to kill off and haunt the next poor sims who move in? There’s no limit to the ethically ambiguous destruction sim reapers can cause to their virtual worlds. Just try not to spend too many hours attempting to befriend the Grim Reaper; you can’t kill him; we’ve tried too.
The MOD Queen/King These simmers have every mod available to the sims, and even make a few of their own. Their sims look less like game creations and more like artistic renderings of their imaginations. They will spend hours scouring the internet for that custom desk that perfectly matches the one in their real home, only to find that it doesn’t come in the exact shade of brown they have come to love and code their own. The mod queens and kings of the sim world cannot be restricted by the man that is the code machine of EA; their sims will have their weed and smoke it too – E rating be damned! Sims in their towns walk around wearing Gucci and Louis Vuitton, or for those particularly adult mod royalty nothing at all, and spend their time with creations like Khaleesi. The owns-every-pack rat may have all the latest spa packs and jungle expansions, but they’ll never get to ride a dragon with Santa. Sims can finally look just like that selfie you spent 2 hours photoshopping!
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Blast-off FEATURE
Feature query Sherida Mock Editor2003@austinfamily.com
Dear Mrs. Mock, Libraries and schools in small towns across the country struggle to find the money to bring in authors for readings and visits, but with Van the Monster on the case they can introduce their kids to some of the biggest authors in the field free of charge. Meet the Austin Public Library’s newest puppet talk show host, Van, the Monster on a mission. Along with his puppeteers Devo and Gabriel, Van travels around Texas interviewing children and teen authors and playing games with them on his YouTube channel. Van has over 50 interviews on his site with over 30 in postproduction, and his website offers guides for teachers and librarians to integrate videos into different programs for all age levels. I propose writing a feature article on The Van Show for the Austin Family magazine to run. Your audience shares a large demographic with the public library and I believe they would be very interested in learning more about the digital show. This story would work as a unique community or event piece; Van is also the newest mascot for the library’s summer reading program, and now is the perfect time to garner interest in summer programming. The piece would be around 1,000 words with photographs from various events available to use.I have several writing samples you can view on my portfolio at www.kalicarpenter.com. Thank you for your consideration of this article,
Kali Carpenter 3014 W William Cannon Dr. Austin, TX 78745 512.300.1286 kcarpent@stedwards.edu
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FEATURE
Van the Monster with his puppeteer Gabriel Ransenberg and producer Devo Carpenter
THE VAN SHOW: How Literature Live is Working to Bring Authors to the Masses by Kali Carpenter Photos by Ellen Scott
“Hey everybody, this is The Van Show and today we’re talking to my friend…” You’re sitting in front of your computer trying to find a video about Neal Shusterman - the renowned author of the Unwind, Everlast, and Scythe Series - for your class assignment tomorrow, and for some reason you’re staring at a Robin-Egg blue puppet with big eyes and a mouth like Cookie Monster. You’re about to turn it off because lord knows y our 5th graders won’t stand for puppets, but then the little blue guy starts asking real questions. BLAST-OFF MAGAZINE
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“You won the National Book People’s award for Young People’s Literature in 2015, and the speech you gave was so moving. What was that night like for you? ... What’s it like writing a book with your son? … You like to write about realworld issues by creating worlds that draw out those issues to the extreme. How can you not be scared all the time??” And you’re hooked. Somehow this little blue monster has tapped into something you can’t look away from. He
Van interviews Neal Shusterman at the Texas Library Association national convention
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asks real questions peppered in-between stories about the author’s pets or hometown He plays games with the authors, stacking dice on Popsicle sticks in their mouths or never-have-I-ever; he gets to know Authors in a real way.
Who is Van? Van is a Monster on a Mission. He is Austin’s very own virtual puppet talk-show host, and he has over 60 interviews online through YouTube and Facebook. He is also the creation of Devo Carpenter and Gabriel Ransenberg, puppeteers for the Austin Public Library’s Literature Live department: a group that produces puppet shows throughout the city’s libraries. Most of the shows are based on children’s books in order to get children interested in reading at an early age. Carpenter is the producer of the show, and her merry band of puppeteers were invited to the Texas Library Association’s national convention. Van was going to be interviewing 37 authors for the next season of the show, and their interviews would be displayed on the floor for patrons to watch live. It was the biggest event the show has had since their start 4 years ago, and the excitement around the idea was palpable in the convention center.
"there was no way they could afford to bring in an author"
Van taking a dip at Zilker Park getting ready for his "Wher is Van?" game for the Austin Public Library's summer reading program
Van is the brainchild of Carpenter, who was concerned with the lack of funding in smaller districts for author visits and literary outreach programs. “I would go into libraries in tiny towns like Silsbee and know that there was no way they could afford to bring in an author for a reading or talk. These communities have to choose between bringing in one author or buying new books for their children’s section for the entire year,” Carpenter said. While visiting her grandson in Houston one day, she was watching her 800th toy review on YouTube when a furry idea popped into her head. Those small towns may not have the funds to get authors into their towns in person, but with access to the internet, she could bring authors to them digitally! By utilizing her skills as a puppeteer and the library’s connections to publishers, he could film one-on-one interviews with authors and publish them on YouTube for anyone to enjoy and use in their programs. And just like that, Van the Monster – named after the grandson that sparked inspiration – was born. While Carpenter is Van’s creator and boss, Ransenberg is the man behind the monster. Ransenberg is a youth librarian in one of the local Austin libraries, and he takes his job as the little blue monster seriously. Most of his days are spent huddled underneath a table holding his hands above his head for hours on end, but the moment Van begins to talk you forget all about Ransenberg's troubles and become mesmerized by the monster. After her interview, even children’s Author Roxie Munro couldn’t help but wave goodbye to Van and forget Ransenberg, even once the cameras were off.
Trudy Lidwig plays Never Have I ever for the first time BLAST-OFF MAGAZINE |
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FEATURE
Van and His Digital Home William said Van’s interviews reminded him that anyone can write if they try, and he’s been practicing writing stories for his sister ever since. Stories like these will hopefully become more common the more popular Van and his talk show get. Van, Ransenberg, and Carpenter show that the world of children and young adult literature is longing for a digital platform for authors and their audience to connect. With access to the internet, any school or library can bring Jane Yoken, Neal Shusterman, Chris Barton, and others to their campus for kids to meet and learn about. The Van Show reminds us all that sometimes it’s as simple as getting to learn about who someone is that helps us nurture a love of literature, and that comes free of charge on your world wide web.
First videos posted by Van the Monster were filmed in the Literature Live studio
How Van Impacts the Friends He Meets If there’s one thing you notice about The Van Show, it’s how much fun it is. Children love the goofy games and big, fluffy puppet; teenagers like the deep questions and variety of authors; teachers like the educational benefits to their classrooms; and authors like getting to take time out of their press tours to play around with a puppet for a few minutes on camera. The Van Show allows for a unique creative outlet that the publishing industry never realized it needed. Emily Heddleson, a Marketing Manager at Scholastic Inc., was excited to bring her authors to The Van Show and thinks it’s something more publishers should get into. “Every one of my authors spends the rest of the day after their interview with Van bragging about how much fun they had on the show. It’s a perfect way of getting our talent to a new audience while giving them a bit of a break during a tough sales campaign.” That sentiment wasn’t uncommon at the conference, and dozens of authors and publishers wandered by Van’s booth to get information and query about their own potential interviews with the puppet talk show host. Unlike other events that try to focus on the books being sold,
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The Van Show prefers to get to know the writers behind the book and remind readers that being an author is a real job done by real people like you and me. Not only does this give authors a chance to take a break from peddling their words, it allows The Van Show’s audience to make personal connections to the people behind the books they love. Those connections can foster a love of reading that lead to vibrant, diverse careers for the students who make them. William is one of those students. He’s a sophomore at the local high school that stopped by the booth to thank Ransenberg and Carpenter for fostering his own love affair with books. “I found Van’s interview of Michelle Grimes for my little sister – She’s a big fan of Pidge – and I realized we were a lot alike. We were both from Dallas, both loved huge dogs and playing in laundry shoots, and she was a new author! Here was this lady in her 30’s or 40’s who wrote and published her first book that my little sister won’t put down! I thought authors were big names that wrote books the day they left school, and this lady is my mom’s age.”
Check out Van's newest adventure as the mascot of the Austin Public Library's Summer Reading program!
VISIT VAN! To see what Van and the Literature Live! crew are up to, visit library.austintexas.gov/TheVanShow You can watch all of his new videos, see what his newest adventure is, and even request an interview with a specific author!
Activity
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Corner
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Sunny-day activities for the family:
Watercolors & Oil by Ana Dziengel
If you just think of watercolors as those little pre-made trays with a teensy-weensy brush your mind is about to be blown. The first thing you need to do is erase that association. The second thing to do is order yourself some liquid watercolors. Like right now. The third thing you need to do is explore the possibilities of what watercolors can do!
Materials: Liquid Watercolors Watercolor Paper Eye Droppers– we use these all the time- you’d be surprised at how fun they are for art making! Cooking Oil Trays or plates Paint containers space outside fo the mess!
Use this project as an introduction to the concept that oil and water don’t mix. Show your child that no matter how hard you try these two liquids will avoid each other at all costs!
Step 1
Mix your liquid watercolors and water in individual containers. Pour cooking oil into one separate container.
Step 2
Place your watercolor paper in a tray. This project is messy!
Step 3 Using an eyedropper, drop watercolors on the paper.
Step 4 Using a different eyedropper drop oil onto the paper and watercolors
Step 5
Repeat these steps as desired. Before the art turns into a mess of brown I suggest limiting the number of time you repeat the process. If your kids are excited to do this, have multiple pieces of paper/trays on hand for them to make more art!
Step 6
Without disturbing the mix too much move to a safe location to dry.
Step 7
Let dry for several hours or overnight.
The fun thing about this project is watching how the artwork changes as it dries. The oil punches out the color over time. And in case you are worried about oily art, over the course of a day or two the paper should dry out completely. To hasten the process hang the artwork up to drip dry or move the artwork to newsprint once the watercolors have absorbed into the paper.
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Adding a little oil to a watercolor painting is an easy art project for kids and way to sneak in a little science. Watching the oil drops move around on the surface of the paintings is a captivating activity in and of itself and the oil really intensifies the color of dried watercolors.
Rainy-day activities for the family:
Laundry Basket Skee-Ball by Sarah Dees
For most of us, there will come a time when you either can’t or won’t want to leave the house because of the nasty weather outside. I know it’s already setting in at our house with our toddler. I’m digging to get creative and find new things to entertain her as the weather has gotten sufficiently wet enough to cut our daily walks quite short. Before long cabin fever sets, and you run out of things to do. Enter laundry basket skee-ball! I don’t think my youngest has the skills to really pull this off, but I don’t think that will bother her much! A couple months ago, I bought Janie a pack of ball pit balls at Walmart on a whim. It has turned out to be money very well spent! All of the boys (and Janie too) have been enjoying the balls and finding a surprising number of things to do with them. Laundry Basket Skee-Ball is quite simple. My husband turned a Costco diaper box into a basic ramp that launches the balls into the air. (I think we have made something with almost every Costco diaper box we’ve purchased – last time it was a Hot Wheels car race track!) To make the ramp, Jordan cut off the top and one end from the box. Then he used a couple of cereal boxes to create a curved ramp and taped it in place with duct tape. To play the game, simply roll the balls up the ramp and launch them into the laundry baskets. It works best if you kneel to roll the balls. We have been using two baskets, with the closer one labeled 50 points and the farther one labeled 100 points. I had created this game with Jonathan (almost 4) in mind, but he’s not quite coordinated enough to roll the balls and not throw them. He probably could figure it out how to make it work, but he hasn’t been interested. However, Owen (6) and Gresham (9) have been loving this game! It’s the perfect thing for Owen to do inside during nap time. He is just dripping with energy, and indoor active games that aren’t crazy are just what I need for him when the weather is bad. If you need ball pit balls, there are always packs of 100 on Amazon or at Walmart. Keep in mind that if you are trying to fill an indoor ball pit or a plastic swimming pool, it’s going to take more than 100. If you’re just playing with them around the house, 100 is plenty to pick up off the floor! Thankfully, the toddler thinks it’s fun to clean them up. We store ours in a laundry basket – a taller one that the ones in the photos (we've learned our lesson.)
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Below 1. Bob at age two 2. Bob at age eleven 3. Bob today at his law firm
PROFILE
ROBERT BURNS PRONE TO INJURY
By Kali Carpenter Photographs donated by family
In 1996 Robert B. Burns left a prestigious career as a partner at Wilson, Grosenheider & Burns to start a new firm – Burns, Anderson, Jury & Brenner — with his brother-in-law and close associates. This was a gamble that paid off in the end, With Burns the top Railroad attorney in Texas by Texas Monthly in 2007. Burns has won dozens of highprofile cases across the state, is a strong political supporter and has served as a board member for multiple organizations and advocacy groups such as Planned Parenthood and Feed Texas, and he’s a member of the 10-gallon blood donation club for the Red Cross. While Burns is known as an upstanding citizen today, if you were witness to his many hospital trips as a child you would be surprised his nickname wasn’t Lucky. While many adults regret the injuries they receive as kids, Burns' injuries helped him learn to never give up, and made him who is is today.
Growing Up in the South Burns grew up in the small town of Carmine Texas, a magnet for injuries, including one that cost him the sight in his left eye. Burns learned the importance of fairness and equality while learning to live with his injuries, and those lessons have driven his dedication to his work, both in the law firm and his community. BLAST-OFF MAGAZINE | 19
“Integrity is a big thing with me,” Burns said. While most families prefer to change their lifestyles to compensate for needs when an injury permanently affects a family member, Burns’ family and surrounding neighborhood made a point to treat him the same as everyone else. They were patient and made sure that he got a fair shot. Not only did this give him the confidence he needed to learn how to live a normal life with his disability, but it pushed him to succeed, and guided his work.
It's a Miracle He's Alive In 1956 Burns was five-years-old. He was underneath a picnic table playing hide-and-seek when his then three-year-old sister Judy Burns threw a corn cob that bounced up and hit him in the eye. The result: a detached retina. Burns had to lie face up, completely still for a month, so the retina could naturally re-attach. His parents kept him still by placing boxes on either side of his head. After the month was over, miraculously his sight returned. The next summer, on the evening of the annual Well Diggers Ball, Burns and some friends were playing Mumblety-peg – a game where the players throw their pocket knives into the air and try to get them to stick into the ground. The sun had started to set, and he decided to head home to
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see his parents off on their big night out. As he walked across the front lawn towards his house, he heard his friend shout “Look out!” “So, of course I turned around and looked up to see what I was looking out for, and his pocket knife that he had thrown up in the air in my direction came down and hit me in my right eye – the other eye,” Burns said. The pocketknife completely penetrated his right eye, but an emergency surgery allowed him to regain his sight. But the surgery had created scar tissue on his retina, and has he grew the scar remained the same. This caused the scar tissue to pull his retina completely off of the back of his eye and made him lose sight completely in his right eye from the age of six. After the confirmation from the doctor that there was nothing to do to bring his sight back, life went back to normal. Burns’ sister Judy Burns recalled, “Mom and dad said once that they had decided early on they were just going to be normal about his injuries, and gently encourage him to have all the normal experiences, even if it involved a few extra steps.” When Burns was twelve years old the family went to visit his mother’s family for Christmas in Texas. Him and his seventeen-year-old cousin decided to take their rifles out and go hunting for possums that Sunday. “On the way back to the car, as I understood it from my cousin later on, he pulled the trigger to make sure there wasn’t one stuck in the rifle – which there was – and fortunately I guess, it was pointed at my leg instead of my back or my head,” Burns said. His cousin shot him right through his tibia. When they returned to his grandmother’s house, Burn’s father pulled off his boot, poured the pooled
Above Bob Burns (top left) with family
blood out, and drove him 90 miles to the nearest hospital. "Even though all of these accidents happened to him, his family life was stable, and his community life was stable,” said Tammy Annette Burns, his wife and long-time friend.
Live and Let Die Although he had recently been shot through the leg and could only see out of his left eye, the summer after his injury he joined the Little League team as a first baseman. “I never considered anything that happened to me to inhibit what I wanted to do,” Burns said. “Physical traumas can, and did in my case, make you more determined and less likely to view other temporary setbacks as permanent.” And determined he was. In high school, Burns joined the football team, played the trombone and became the drum major for the band, was a wrestler, ran track, played chess, and was a member of Civil Air Patrol - a high school Airforce organization.
helped shape the person he is today. If he never got shot in the leg, he may not have pushed himself to join the little league team. If his sister had never temporarily blinded him as a little boy, he may not have learned the patience necessary to raise a family of 5. If his friends had never blinded him in Mumblety-peg, he would not have gained the empathy needed to be the community leader he is today. If Burns’ could tell those panicking mothers anything, it would be to take a breath and know that there’s a pretty good chance that those injuries will be the best lessons they can ever learn.
"So, of course I turned around to see what I was looking out for, and his pocket knife that he had thrown up in the air in my direction came down"
Burns said he has never let his blindness or any of his injuries slow him down. While many mothers who see his scars and hear his stories mentally panic thinking about their own injury magnets, he likes to think that those injuries Right Bob Burns today . BLAST-OFF MAGAZINE | 20
B l a s t - O f f
NEHCTK S'ETNAD FO YSETRUOC / REVOOH NERUAL :YB DELYTS / ZITRO YESLEK :YB DEHPARGOTOHP
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A R T I C L E
5 Creative Ways to Get Your Kids to Play Outside By Jayme Moye Originally published on Fatherly
I
n the era of iPads, Xboxes, and meticulously scheduled after-school activities, it’s not terribly surprising that most kids respond to “go outside and play” with a blank stare. But that doesn’t mean you should stop saying it. “Kids need regular, unstructured, outdoor time,” says Peter Hoffmeister, cofounder and director of South Eugene High School’s Integrated Outdoor Program, and the author of Let Them Be Eaten By Bears: A Fearless Guide to Taking Our Kids Into the Great Outdoors. Hoffmeister, a father of two, has some creative ways to get kids to play outside in the Digital Age. Here’s his top advice. By definition, a "magazine" paginates with each issue starting at page three, with the standard sizing being 8 3/8" x 10 7/8".[citation needed] However, in the technical sense a "journal" has continuous pagination throughout a volume.
Start by Looking Inward Young kids model their behavior after the behavior of their parents. If you want a daughter who reads, she needs to see you reading for pleasure. Ditto if you want your son to pick up after himself. So first, consider your current relationship with the outdoors. When was the last time you went outside for pleasure — something other than a workout, yard work, or walking the dog? If going outside has become nothing more than a chore for you, it won’t
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Children need unstructured time outdoors, even if they'd rather spend the day on the couch. Here's how to make it happen.
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Let Your Kid Take The Lead Dragging Junior along on a three-mile hike isn’t much fun for anybody. Instead, let your children determine which activity you choose to do outside. Your job is to get them to a patch of wilderness; their job is the call the shots. You may end up picking wildflowers, climbing a tree, exploring off-trail, or all the above. Kids will engage more with the outdoors when they do so on their own terms.
Get Dirty On Purpose Our sanitized culture can deter kids from playing outside by making them subconsciously equate “healthy” with “clean.” Show them that it’s OK to go barefoot in the yard —kicking off your shoes and reading on the lawn feels amazing—and embrace inclement weather by playing in the snow, or taking a puddle-stomping walk during a downpour (“Hey, let’s go outside and get soaked!”)
Sleep Wild In the dark, even camping in your suburban backyard can feel adventurous, so bring out the sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows for a night of sleeping under the stars. The experience is thrilling—no matter what your age. Letting kids feel the wander and, yes, fear, of being beneath the wide-open sky can make them a little bit braver, and a little more curious about the outdoors.
Don’t Confuse Organized Sports with Playing Outside Soccer practice and playing outside do not accomplish the same thing, except for maybe increasing Vitamin D. Modern child psychology tells us that, beyond organized sports, kids also need unstructured play, the kind that’s not adult-supervised nor adult-driven. So, the next time you tell your daughter to go outside and play, and she responds with that ‘What the heck do you want me to do out there?’ eye roll, consider that being out there and wandering is exactly what she needs.
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SCHOLARLY ARTICLE
Feature Analysis
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SCHOLARLY ARTICLE
MY FAMILY'S SLAVE:
How the First-Person Narrative Helps Foster Empathy AN ANALYSIS BY KALI CARPENTER
Alex Tizon’s Atlantic feature “My Family’s Slave” is a deeply personal essay that blends the personal narrative format with a research article discussing the rampant slave industry in the Philippines. Tizon uses the firstperson style and blends personal stories of his childhood with historical references to the Philippines and a close past-tense story of taking Lola’s remains back to her village to be buried.
Tizon begins his essay with a detailed, colorful description of Lola and immediately references her as his family’s slave. Beginning this way not only helps the reader create a precise snapshot of Lola in her world, but it mimics Lola’s own identity. We are given a mere two sentences before Tizon identifies her as a gift that was given. Immediately after we see the word slave, italicized to allow it to stand out on the page and pull you to it. In this same way, Lola’s identity as an independent young girl was almost immediately taken away and replaced with the stamp of property. The use of the first person instantly connects the reader with the author and material. I believe this is meant to create an empathy for the narrator within the context of the story; his family may have owned a slave but telling the story as a first-person narrative lets the reader see the emotional struggle Tizon faced growing up. This would be significantly more difficult to achieve in a third of second person, because distancing the reader from the narrator distances them from the heart of the essay: the impacts that poverty and corruption in the Philippines have on the people and immigrants transitioning into a first-world government. The essay jumps back and forth in time between Lola’s childhood, his own, and his trip to bury Lola. This jump in the story does two things: it keeps the reader connected to the narrative, and it allows the reader to make deeper connections within the text. One example is in the beginning of the piece. Tizon describes Lola’s fears of moving to America with his parents; his father convinced her she could go by telling her she could have an allowance to send home to her -literally- dirt poor family. Since the reader has already been informed within the first 4 sentences that Lola is a slave, the assumption is linked that this potential money will not actually come to fruition, and 2 paragraphs later Tizon confirmed those assumptions by directly stating that Lola never got her allowance.
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SCHOLARLY ARTICLE
This slow trail of narratives within the time jumps give readers an insight into each person in a way that makes a bigger impact than a linear story progression would be able to. If Tizon simply talked about how his father wouldn’t give her money to send home to her sick mother because their finances were tight, then the reader wouldn’t have the same reaction as knowing only two paragraphs earlier he conned her into coming with them by promising to give her that money. Later in the essay, Tizon tells of the time he got into a fight with his mother over taking Lola to the dentist. When he finally confronts her with the use of the actual word slave, he shows her becoming viciously defensive of their relationship. This fight is difficult for the reader to witness, and the frustration with his mother is palpable. When Tizon tells of his mother’s passing further along in the essay, he talks about her taking her last rites with a priest. “The priest asked Mom whether there was anything she wanted to forgive or be forgiven for. She scanned the room with heavy-lidded eyes, said nothing. Then, without looking at Lola, she reached over and placed an open hand on her head. She didn’t say a word.” This paragraph calls the reader back to the fight and his mother’s refusal of her mistreatment of Lola; Tizon shows his mother’s resignation and acceptance of what she had done, as well as Lola and the Author Alex Tizon before they left the Philippines.
cementing his forgiveness in her actions.
All of this is supporting the main non-narrative commentary the essay is trying to make about the poverty of third world countries and the ethically ambiguous transition of immigrants from corrupt governments. The reader is given this entire narrative of Lola within the context of her time as a slave in the United States with Tizon. While the reader is given a glimpse of the world Lola and his mother were raised in that created their possessive relationship, most of the story is from Tizon’s days in the US trying to come to terms with his family owning a slave in a country that outlawed slavery. Historical references to the General and the economic situation at play at the time Lola was given to Tizon’s family show a country filled with corruption. Tizon gives the historical context of slavery on the islands to help the reader understand the economic struggles at play that put Lola’s family in a place to comfortably sell their child to another human being – something Americans today wouldn’t be able to conceive of. Unlike in America, Slavery on the Islands is a cultural phenomenon dictating social status; the size of your pocketbook will determine if you are property or not, not your melanin count. Telling this narrative with first-person gives Tizon the ability to pull the reader into the story and create emotional connections to the people in question. This empathy combined with the knowledge of the deep historical roots and current cultural status of slavery in the Philippines creates a vague call to action in the reader to at the very least learn more about the issues plaguing the islands. While Tizon never directly calls for any action, his feature was met with outcries for change and scholarly research into modern slavery across the world. In this way, Tizon and his family can finally say that they gave Lola her
Left Lola and the author in 2008. Right The author with Lola’s sister Gregoria.
life back. She may not have lived as a free woman, but her memory will live on as the light that shone onto the forgotten women hidden away to work for free in homes across the Philippines.
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Blast-Off! Hidden Picture
Can you find:
The woman reading The girl with the mitten bag The missing remote-controlled car
The squirrel drinking The boy in the checkered shirt The man in the sandals