Lisa Desatnik
Taking A Break
Happen, Inc. Art Flash Mobs At Cincinnati Pools This Summer
Children at area Cincinnati Recreation Centers will get an added level of fun this summer, when Happen Inc’s Community Canvases pop at area pools. The canvases will have an image from Cincinnati Art Museum’s Eternal Summer: Edward Henry Potthast exhibition, and children will be asked to join in on some ART FLASH MOB fun and help assemble the canvas right there on the spot on the fence at the pool. Parents you can join in too. Ten canvases will go up during the ten weeks that the Cincinnati Art Museum celebrates the Tenth Anniversary of the Cincinnati Wing . Those ten weeks are called Cincinnati Summer. Ten Cincinnati Recreation Centers are participating.
The first five are:
Millvale: Tuesday June 18th 11 am-1pm. 3303 Beekman Street
Pleasant Ridge: Saturday June 22nd 1pm-3pm. 5915 Ridge.
Winton Hills: Tuesday June 25tth 11am-1pm. 5170 Winneste Ave.
Hanna: Saturday June 29th 1pm- 3pm 226 Stark Street.
Bush: Tuesday July 2nd 11am- 1pm. 2460 Kemper Lane.
Community Canvas is a free Happen, Inc. program that turns an average chain-link fence into a famous work of art, literally bringing art into the community. The canvas begins as a collection of long paper strips, each displaying one section of a famous work of art. Community Canvas is a great way for a school, museum, library, community center, or other organization to bring art into the community. At the opening event, participating children and adults take turns weaving the strips into an empty chain-link fence. When the canvas its up it remains on display for 30 days.
Founded in 1999 Happen, Inc., a nonprofit organization, create a positive environment for parents and children through art-related activities and experiences designed to strengthen both the family structure and the community as a whole. An estimated 7,000 children in Greater Cincinnati each year experience the arts through Happen programs. Happen, Inc recently won the prestigious Cincinnati Post-Corbett Award for Arts Education and Outreach.
DIY Network’s Desperate Landscapes Is Looking For A Cincinnati Area Yard
DIY Network’s Desperate Landscapes is looking for a Greater Cincinnati yard in need of fixing up…one of the per-requisites? You must have a dog for this one. It’s a great opportunity for the lucky family chosen. I have information on my pet blog at this link: DIY Network’s Desperate Landscapes is looking for a Greater Cincinnati yard to transform into a dog friendly attraction. I have information on my blog. http://goo.gl/BmPsq
Words of Wisdom
Shoebox Letters – Daughters to Dads Will Touch Your Heart
For everyone who has a sentimental heart, who has been touched deeply by a special man she calls ‘DAD’, I have a recommendation for you. Shoebox Letters – Daughters to Dads is a beautiful compilation of letters that will uplift and melt you. Each one is a story about a loving relationship. It expresses words that so often don’t get spoken out loud. The book is a wonderful reminder to us all of the importance of appreciating those in our lives who make it special (one man in particular) and letting our thoughts have voice.
Clay Brizendine is the author of the book – and a husband and dad. Once on the corporate-American fast track, he has chosen to pursue his passion for health and wellness, including relationships.
Below is a sample letter from the book. You can buy it through Amazon.com.
Dear Dad,
We’ve always had a special bond. Call it what you will, “I’m the apple that didn’t fall far from your tree,” “the relationship between father and daughter.” When I once complained jokingly to mom that she loved her son more than me…her very straight-faced response, “Well…your father loves you more.”
I never questioned the love from either one of you. Now that I have a daughter, I think about the power of love between people and it reminds me of the first thing you ever told me. I know the story well because you tell it at dinner parties, to new parents and to my boyfriends growing up. In the delivery room, when I was born, you say you held me in your arms and whispered, “I will love you unconditionally for the rest of your life and the Red Sox will always break your heart.” Everyone laughs and remembers the second part. I remember the first. It has defined our bond. Now that I’m a parent I think about how profound those first words were. And while I’m extremely happy the second part has turned out to be only half-true, I’m especially glad the first hasn’t wavered.
The feeling that I was loved unconditionally enabled me to grow up and feel secure, even when things weren’t perfect. It allowed me to hear your anger when I did something wrong, take your criticism when I asked for your opinion (even when I didn’t ask) and gave me the self-confidence to take risks, seek challenges and admit failure. If you have love; you have something.
You can’t underestimate the importance of telling a person you love them unconditionally. You were always so vocal about it. You didn’t expect me to know that you loved me just because you were my dad. You made sure I knew that you chose to love me. You told me explicitly that you loved me in every phone call, every evening we said goodnight, at least once a day and after every fight. You wouldn’t let me walk away as a child unless I said it too. We even developed our own code for how much we loved each other. “I love you 7,” I once said when you asked me just how much I loved you. It is to the moon and back.
You extended this love beyond your children, showing us that you don’t need to be born into unconditional. You loved mom instantly and for 40+ years until she died. And you continue to love her now and you don’t keep it a secret. You have invited others into this circle and treated them as family. While I have seen people fall from your graces, everyone knows that if they needed you, you would whisper in their ear again.
You have shown me the power this love instills. You have truly loved me unconditionally for my whole life. I am grateful.
It does not mean you treat me like I have no faults. You have always told me that you will be honest with me. I can’t say that I always liked this approach you’ve taken. I much preferred hearing Mom’s “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it all” approach to life. But I do know that it’s always easier to hear your Truth because I know there’s an unconditional band-aid of love to put on when truth hurts.
I love you 7,
Kate