Wicked Cool Friendship Bracelets

Professor Jason Moulenbelt lead us in a group loom project creating the now pretty cool rubber band friendship bracelets. Jason’s sons, age 8 and 10, trade their creations for Pokeman cards. How nifty is that? We took plastic forks, broke the two inner tines, and made our own loom. With Jason’s colorful instructions, we all made these wonderful little bracelets. These are a bit less in demand, but at the peak of the craze, you couldn’t even find a loom for sale. That didn’t stop Jason from Googling how to make a friendship rubber band bracelet without a loom. And voila! Jason said that as a philosophy professor, he sometimes feels he doesn't create anything except confusion in his classroom. That’s why he likes to create actual things such as these bracelets. He also has an online store for his leather crafts including custom knife covers, belts, and knives. 

Get Healthy, Chinese Style

Dr. Mary Chen kicked off our new year's LIFE program this morning with knowledge and humor, while explaining the benefits of Chinese medicine in improving one's health. As Mary explained, Chinese medicine takes time and often multiple visits to see results, but those results are worth waiting for. Mary detailed the benefits of acupuncture, herbal medicine, cupping, and acupressure.

An acupuncture treatment lasts half an hour and uses small needles to stimulate the nervous system. Acupuncture can be effective in treating pain, improving circulation, reducing swelling or inflammation, treating women's issues like menopause or infertility, and even can be helpful in quitting smoking or drinking.

Mary noted that in the case of herbal medicine, it is always wise to consult with a doctor before beginning an herbal regimen. But the right combination of herbs can help to treat any number of conditions or problems.

Our audience had a ton of interesting questions, and we found out that both acupuncture and herbal medicine can be helpful in weight loss, and which pressure points help to alleviate nausea and headaches. Mary even demonstrated an acupressure technique on Claire to help relieve headache pain. Thanks to Dr. Mary Chen for getting our year off on the right start!

For more information on Chinese medicine, check out some books our library has on the subject.

Christmas in Curaçao

Eliza Priest, circulation assistant, is from Curaçao and did a fantastic job of giving us an insight into her world. The theme was Christmas in Curaçao and she made a brightly colored chicken and potato salad with mashed beets. Talk about pink salad. Curaçao is primarily a tourist economy with some agriculture. Cruise ships are a regular event in this island country off of Venezuela. It is primarily Roman Catholic because of the Spanish roots, but it is a Dutch island. Eliza made a spicy rice dish with tomato gravy sauce. She made little pastries of ground beef in a dough to be fried and a peanut butter cookie shaped like an “S” for Santa. The freshly fried plantains were a crowd favorite. There were smiles on everyone’s faces by the end of the hour. One of us even looked up the meaning of the yellow stripe on the Curaçao flag. It stands for the sun!

And later that day, her seventh grandchild was born, a young man named Liam! Congratulations, Eliza.

Giving Green

Reference Librarians Tracy Williams and Dorrie Scott showed us how to create upcycled gifts using household items. You won't be able to look at a glass bottle or a roll of duct tape without seeing the potential for a beautiful homemade item!

Here are some of the ideas they demonstrated and recommended:

Tracy made this by cutting wine corks in half and gluing them onto a wooden letter. You can dip the halves in red wine to give them all the same color scheme.	Dorrie made this by drilling a hole 3/4 of the way into a cork, filling with a tiny bit of soil, and then adding a small, live plant. She glued a magnet on the back, and adds a drop of water once a week.
Tracy created this jewelry holder with some sticks from her backyard, twine to tie the sticks together, and copper wire to hang the earrings. Be sure to sand the sticks to smooth them down.	Tracy made this by printing out a page of piano sheet music, painting it with tea to give it a yellowed look, and then using mod podge to glue it to a canvas. She printed and cut out the “W”, glued it to the canvas, and then painted over it when it dried.

• Dorrie recommended turning glass bottles or mason jars into beautiful decorations or organizers with paint or by wrapping them with rope. Make sure to run a strip of rope along the bottle first to give the rope coils something to grip onto.
• Ever got those advertisement magnets in the mail? Cover them in scrapbook paper to jazz them up, or tape two to a strip of patterned duct tape to make a magnetic bookmark.
• Paint natural wooden frames to freshen up the color. You can give them a distressed look by removing the glass and hitting them with a hammer before painting.
• Dorrie swears by chalkboard paint for any objects--flower pots, bottles, cans, mirrors...
• You can also mod podge a bunch of photos onto a canvas to create your own inexpensive photo collage.
• Create flowered pens by wrapping them in patterned duct tape.

Some of our audience members had some wonderfully crafty ideas, too!

• Create bracelets out of ribbon or tape spools, just wrap them in some pretty paper or fabric.
• Cover bottles in flat glass stones and put a small string of battery powered lights inside to make a beautiful light.

For more great ideas, check out the library's Pinterest page: http://www.pinterest.com/cyfairlibrary/

Show and Tell

Today at LIFE we did something different. We asked our LIFErs to come prepared to share a passion, craft, idea or just something interesting with the group. We couldn't believe how many diverse interests we had. Annie shared a Dead Sea Foam carved pipe which was white and beautiful. Ken remembered a former program and shared one aspect of this: TRUTH. It’s a way to think before you speak: T- Is it true? R – is it relevant? U – Is it useful? T- Is it timely? H – Is it hurtful? He had a funny way of saying that he needs to think about what he says more than most J Diana shared her passion for crocheting and learning what other passions she might have. Stephen knows a lot about a lot and can do lots, like craft giant aluminum sculptures such as a dragon and a Viking ship which he did as gifts to his daughter and son respectively. Pauline gave us Sudoku lessons. Arvis gave us glimpse into her family’s genealogy with a marriage certificate from the 1800s. Jennifer and Carolyn didn’t come with a plan, but Jennifer enlightened us on the benefits of foster care of which she is a success story. And Carolyn will cook us up a German cookie at the Dec. 6 program on green crafts. We loved welcoming Leyel Hudson and her ASL students who practice on us. We even got a short ASL lesson. Jennifer stopped by the Ref Desk to tell me that her son decided to take ASL as a result of her telling about this class. Serendipity! Usha gave a wonderful live demo of how to make a spicy, layered dip called Chaat (literaly to lick) and Jill gave us tasty sweets from Vietnam. Claire raffled off her cook book and her book, LIFE in the Library.

Many thanks to our creative and talented LIFErs!

JazzRoots or Kickin' Up Classics?

LIFE had a true treat today when Dr. John Wolfskill came to give us a preview of two upcoming shows, Jazz Roots tonight and Kickin’ Up the Classics on Thursday Nov. 21, both at 7:30. John started us out singing a form of doo wop with his jazzy lead. John read the lyrics of the song The Impossible Dream which evoked for him a quest. He is concerned about the state of the country and how our students may be lost. But, after this serious interlude, he introduced Professor Alan Johnson who not only teaches for the college, but also is a professional violinist. His violin is a beauty made around 1720 by the Klotz family in the Tyrolean Alps of Austria. He has had it for 41 years! His students made up our string quartet:

Olivia Alexandre on cello

Cameron Dempster on violin

Jessica Vance on viola

Annie Blackwell on violin

We heard selections from Handel’s Water Music which was created as music for the barge. The Largo was played as well. We learned a little about Antonio Vivaldi who originally entered the priesthood, but was drawn to teaching. He taught school girls of the upper class but who had questionable legitimacy. This fabulous quartet along with their director also played Spring concerto from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. And what quartet would not be complete without Mozart? Apparently Mozart had an IQ of about 178 and was not only prolific, but also extremely innovative. We enjoyed the Quarto in G major (first movement). Such talent we have at Lone Star College – CyFair.

Philosophy Study Abroad

Professor Mark Thorsby regaled our LIFErs today with stories from his study abroad class with Professor Maria Sanders to the United Kingdom. This was a philosophy and logic class which challenged their students to examine their lives and find out what makes them tick. Mark highly recommends Aristotle’s Ethics. We took a virtual tour via Google Street View to Oxford University in England and stood on the steps of the Bodleian Library questioning why we want an education. It is not only to improve our lifestyle, but also to further knowledge. Mark spoke about the Dark Ages when our society collapsed and records were not kept. It was the monks who founded Oxford University and to this day the students and faculty wear robes during exam time to commemorate the renaissance of knowledge and history. Christ Church School’s cathedral was the model for the Harry Potter dining room in Hogwarts School. The pubs of Oxford are places where community meet to discuss life, not just drink beer.

On we went to Edinburgh, Scotland and saw the beauty of a city not destroyed by bombs of the world wars. The architecture is rich and varied and David Hume, the famous philosopher, gave much of his wealth to create a beautiful public park. Lewis Carroll also wrote in Edinburgh and used the daughter of the dean of Christ Church, Oxford as a role model for Alice in Wonderland. His tailor had a funny hat and he turned out to be the Mad Hatter. Not to mention a big fat cat.

On to Belfast they went to question war and how the seeds of war and strife were sown over 500 years ago. The students were exposed to this culture of the United Kingdom and came home with an expanded life view full of depth and nuances.

We were especially struck by the study abroad program's wilderness training. It took the students' complicated lives, stripped them of paraphernalia, and allowed them to appreciate the simplicity of an unencumbered life: what matters is the character on the inside, not the window dressing of material goods.

Mark says that LIFE should take a trip abroad!