Insights&Inspiration

This is just a great little story I want to keep spreading the word on.

The ESPN E:60 story itself, along with the two teasers, are just really well done pieces highlighting a great story with a great message.

The focus of the story – Chelsea Baker – is just playing a sport she loves and giving it her all. But by doing so, she is also really helping to break down some huge barriers in women’s sports in general.

You go Chelsea!

Chelsea Baker E:60 Teaser

Chelsea Baker E:60 Teaser 2

Or if you have a few minutes, watch the complete ESPN E:60 story

We were having a wonderful visit with my grandparents just recently.  They are really our favorite people – happy, vibrant, smart – both in life choices and overall intellect.  Though they could retire and live off of grandpa’s fireman pension and their social security, they choose to continue to both work so that they can live comfortably, affording the extra luxuries that they only now are able to spoil themselves with.

I found myself looking at them and hoping that Ryan and I are as happy and comfortable as they are when we are their age – a discussion Ryan and I have had numerous times.  We see a lot of similarities in their relationship dynamics and hope that we are able to be in a similar position as they are in 50 years from now.  I started reflecting on what it would take to make sure we follow a similar path, and why it is that so many families seem to miss the mark on this one.

Smart life choices is huge – but consciously maintaining the relationship is really the key, I would venture to guess. (more…)

Now that my daughter, Makenzie, is nearing the one-year mark, she is really starting to interact with her environment in an actively thoughtful way. Though going from crawling to walking is no doubt the biggest milestone yet, sometime the little milestones are just as exciting to witness.

For example, she is now beginning to assign words to inanimate objects (her first inanimate object word: “baseball” – thats my girl!).

And just yesterday I got her dressed but hadn’t put her shoes on yet.  I then walked into my room, leaving her behind me for a moment, only to turn and see her walking towards me carrying her shoes that she had found and picked up completely on her own – as if to tell me its time to put her shoes on now.

She has even figured out how to scroll through my photos on my iPhone! (more…)

This video is both a brilliant insight into the basics of user experience, as well as a lesson on what our children will grow up expecting from technology.  Its equally adorable as well.

The original post that this video was a part of can be found here; it is also a great article, expanding on the specific user experience lessons that can be taken away from this simple first interaction between a young child and a brand new iPad.

This post is for those of you who – when I say “I play baseball” – say “Oh, you mean softball?”.  The misconception is far far too common, and something needs to be done to educate people that #1, girls can an do play baseball, and #2, baseball is an entirely different sport than softball.

The Gender Bias

I think we all fall into the trap of assuming that baseball is a man’s sport because historically, that is where the focus has been and we have not been taught otherwise.  Shoot, even in this post I found myself color-coding the “baseball” notes in blue and the “softball” notes in pink – obvious subconscious gender bias right there.  There is no sense in denying the facts – baseball used to be a male-only sport and for the most part has remained this way, other than a few instances of exceptional women fighting for a moment in the spotlight. (more…)