Let's Take a Stroll, Shall We?

It's Saturday and a wonderful day for a stroll down MemoRay Lane. Let me give you a little background about Ray and I'll try to be brief because we have a lot of Ray ground to cover.

How he got his name: On July 19th, Claudia put up this photo of a light bulb and asked that everyone submit a name for our new mascot. 32 names were submitted. On July 21st, National Tug-o-war Day, Claudia broke the 32 names into two teams and the tugging began. In the comment section, readers submitted their choice of Team A or Team B. The tugging started at 5 am and as each bracket had a winner the names were split again. That went on for five brackets until 8 pm and our little light was deemed Ray Wattson.

The ink behind Ray: Peggy was masterminding the birth of a mascot with Claudia behind the scenes. She had submitted some computer generated drawings to Claudia. I was over at Claudia's house one night discussing how she was going to bring her newly named mascot to life. We needed someone to draw Ray. I was reluctant to offer because I didn't know if I could deliver. I even suggested another doodle blogger to Claudia that she contacted via email. After talking and doodling and a lot of laughing about how he had to wear purple boots , I told Claudia that I would go home and sketch some Ray's for her. And the rest is history. I became the pen behind Ray.

Purple Boots: Back in May of 2008, Cassie Y. was trying to get Maureen to come to Texas. Cassie asked Maureen if she would like purple boots. Maureen replied that she would be shot in New York if she wore purple boots. It became a running joke noted in more posts and in Taste of USA. So, of course, it was only fitting that Ray wear purple boots.

Ray Games: A fun game we play with Ray is hiding "HLA" throughout the drawing. There is a number by his boot and that is how many HLA's are hiding in the picture. Some are harder to see online. And I admit, I need some practice at hiding them.

His age: Ray is ageless and given the birthday of September 7th by gathering random numbers from readers that were then put into this super calculation: 16+6x2.2+540/8.5-6x2+0+3x7.5= 970.85. Drop the zero and the .85, leaving us with 97... September 7!

Marital Status: Ray is single and a bit of a player. I'm pretty sure new reader, Margaret, has a pretty big crush on our friend Ray.

Is your CamelBak full of wine? Do you have your walking shoes on? Here are some instructions for you. Scroll down and enjoy the images of Ray. I've provided tidbits about each drawing of Ray. If you want to read the post that Ray featured that day, you can click through the links and go back. If you want to see a larger image, you should be able to click the image but some of them may not get much bigger. If not a new GalleRay is now available at Highlowaha.

Now that you have a little history, let's get started on our stroll.

Soon after Ray was named he escaped the Beeny household and set out to bake cookies with Highlowaha readers. Sugar Ray took his light bulb cookie cutter and now travels to readers homes where they bake and decorate Ray Cookies spreading the Highlowaha love. Ray has been to Euless with Cassie, to Tera and Treye's house, and is currently at Maureen's house. I hear he has an itch to get over to Arizona to see Julie. I could be wrong about that. Want to host Ray in your home? Post a comment or email highlowaha218@gmail.com to get on the list.

Ray's first drawn appearance was when he flew over to Beijing and attended the Olympics. He rubbed elbows with star Olympians and partied like a rock star. I wonder if he still talks to Michael Phelps?

Ray's no dummy. He knows school is cool. His purple boots and his bald head were all shined up and ready to hit school to impress the girls. It just goes to show, you're never too old to learn.

On September 19th, Cap'n Purple Boots played Virtual Pirate Bingo with a group of readers. Boy, was it fast paced, crazy and fun! Prizes were donated by readers and there was plenty of stealing going on. There was also a silent auction. The bidding for one of the first Ray Wattson Highlowaha t-shirts.

Birthday Ray surprised Claudia on her birthday, October 7th. You never know when Ray is going to surprise you.

Count Raycula swooped in to celebrate Halloween. One thing about Ray, he's always in the holiday spirit. From the beginning, I knew when Halloween came along Ray was going to be a vampire because I just love those teeth!

DemocRaycy loves politics. He couldn't get enough of CNN. He and Claudia would sit for hours in front of the TV talking about the candidates and the issues. I only stayed for the coffee. On November 4th, DemocRaycy was one of the first lights on, doing his duty and voting.

The idea of a blog-a-thon was started in the fall to help raise money for Helping Hand and a family in need. It was our goal to help a family have a great Christmas. Writers committed to be on the blog for 15 minute blocks of time and write a scary story. Who else was more qualified to get the story started than HemmingRay. I will let you in on a secret. This room was inspired by the Library at my beautiful office but it pains me to look too closely at it because there are so many perspective errors. The Library at my office is so much more beautiful than this drawing.

We woke on Thanksgiving morning to Rayflower, a pilgrim ready to get his turkey on. Rayflower spent Thanksgiving at the Beeny house. He set the table and helped with the decorations. I think Rayflower is one of my least favorite Ray's because I forgot to draw him. Claudia emailed me asking when she could expect the drawing and I was in scramble mode.

In December, HoliRay had a surprise visit from his cousin, Noel, after not seeing her in six years. She's one of those big shiny red lights from New York and is constantly embarrassing Ray. I think HoliRay was a little nervous having her around but I think all went well because we didn't hear any holiday horror story from him. Well, until...

Jingle All the Ray. Pretending to be Santa, Ray gets stuck in Claudia's chimney, though that doesn't look like her house at all. This is one of my favorite posts from Ray. Tears flowed on Christmas morning when I read Ray being stuck in the chimney with a roach because on Christmas Eve, I was over at the Beeny's when the infamous roach made his real life appearance. I still laugh when I read it.

HooRay rang in the New Year at Times Square with champagne, party noise makers and the nine things he was looking forward to in 2009, hair plugs being at the top of his list. Yes, Ray is something of a party animal.

Claudia gave us some time to settle into 2009 and had us thinking on what resolution or goal we would set for ourselves. Goal Fishing brought us Sting Ray to help prod (literally) us to achieve our goals. Ray must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed this morning because I think some of our readers didn't like Ray so much this day. Watch out! He'll stick you!

On Sunday, January 18th, Claudia and I were at the local pottery shop in Southlake. I was busy painting Ray on the Super Bowl for the trophy for the Super Bowl Snack Throwdown that was hosted at Strubles Suds. It turned out pretty cute for our first pottery experience. The Super Bowl Winner was AZLori for her onion dip.

While we were sitting there, Claudia was throwing around ideas and all of the sudden she says, "InauguRay!" Ray and I were tight on time but he agreed to come out of Secret Service Retirement to serve as security at President Obama's inauguration and he was hurried off on Air Force One to be there in time. He encouraged us to give some predictions of what items will cost next year. We're all so proud of Ray.

On Valentine's Day, AmoRay was floating on cloud nine due to some low wattage cutie at little Italian restaurant. He blew us some quick kisses, told us that our recipes had to be special for the upcoming Highlowaha Recipe Book (send your special recipes to: tmichalski05@jcu.edu), told us to share our Valentine's Day plans and he was off. Back to the low wattage cutie.

We're almost there. Deep breaths, happy thoughts. It was getting exciting behind the scenes at Highlowaha with Award Ceremonies, getting a new website and adding people into the fold. But it all got done. From the Red Carpet, to a hurricane siren in the middle of taping, straight onto a blooper reel. And, who better to get us to turn off all electronics, wrangle the kids and pets, and get the show started than AnniversaRay? He had the perfect seat: Row 2, Seat 18.

Oscar has nothing on Ray. Winners at the Peoples Choice Awards received an award in the shape of Ray who is holding the Spirit of 218. Here is my award hanging on my wall. Cute, huh?

This version of Ray is eager to give the Gift of 218. How about you? Nominate a family by sending an email to highlowaha@gmail.com. Give a donation at the Gift of 218 link, whether it's $2.18 or $218, all are welcome and most appreciated. Our first Gift of 218 will be unveiled soon so you'll want to keep checking in for that exciting news.

But that's not all! Ray was the first feature on the Highlowaha t-shirts that were given to contributors who submitted their High, Low and Aha on the 18th day of the month. Those readers were then put in a drawing for the coveted shirt. This tradition continues with a new twist this year. You can pick any Ray that has been posted for your shirt. Fun, right? Kristen, I know you asked Claudia to surprise you on Thursday but does any of this change your mind?


Whew! Was that a stroll or marathon? I don't know about you but I'm beat! But, I'm always looking forward to where Ray will show up next. Do you have an idea for a Ray? Drop us a line in the comment section or email us at highlowaha218@gmail.com. And, if you can't get enough of Ray or you're having a problem viewing any of these photos there's always the new GalleRay at Highlowaha. Look for the link at the top.

Thanks for hanging in there with me. I know it was long. Signing off until Monday...

HLA Patchwork Fashion Show

Today is another big day in this week of Highlowaha Orientation. Today we will introduce the newcomers to the concept of patchwork denim. For the veterans, today, I will introduce a new patch yielding initiative for our community.

First things first! So, what is patchwork denim, anyway? Well, the idea came to life in June of 2008 when I was visiting Claudia in Grapevine, Texas. We were spending our day whacking our thoughts and ended up passing by a Girl Scouts of America store. Having Claudia's obsession with the Girl Scouts in mind, we turned around and went back to the store just to look around for a while. We ended up staring at the walls of patches in the store and that is when it hit me! Why can't we, Highlowaha, have our own patch system? That is when the idea was born!


In August, we introduced the idea to the community and encouraged everyone to get a piece of denim (jeans, apron, purse, etc.) and designate it as their HLA Patchwork Denim! Each community member's denim also includes our Troop Number (in true Highlowaha fashion), 218. After choosing their patchwork denim, readers began earning patches by participating in certain Highlowaha events which are deemed "patch yielding events". For example, in this past year, patches have been earned for participating in our Decathlon Olympics, pumpkin carving contest, ornament exchange, and many other events.

This brings us to the present day and our Highlowaha Patchwork Denim Fashion Show! I have received photographs of 8 Highlowaha readers and their Patchwork Denim! Let the Fashion Show begin, ladies!!!

Thank you to each of you for submitting a photo and giving the other readers a look into how GREAT your denim can look when you begin earning patches! Your participation in this fashion show has now earned you a new patch for your denim, and it will be on its way to you soon.

Finally, it gives me great pleasure to introduce a new patchwork denim initiative today! As many of you know and others will soon begin to learn, our community is full of dedicated people who are committed to this community. There are times when members of the community truly go above and beyond to give an extra effort to our community. Examples of this would be Cheryl and her generous drawings of Ray for special occasions and Heather's hard work putting together the Awards Show for 2/18. For these members of the community who go "above and beyond" and truly exemplify excellence in our community, we will be giving them the "Bee's Knees" patch. First a little history on Bee's knees.

A bee's pollen-baskets, are located on its tibiae (midsegments of its legs - knees). The phrase "the bee's knees," became popular in the U.S. in the 1920s. "The Bee's Knees" is a term indicating excellence - the highest quality because bees carry pollen back to the hive in sacs on their legs. The allusion is to the concentrated goodness to be found around the bee's knee.

In the same way that a bee provides excellence through the pollen they carry in their knees, we believe that members of this community also provide excellence through the work they contribute to the community. Bees pollinate flowers and we here at Highlowaha like to pollinate our lives through making memories and impacting the lives of those in our community. As recognition of those who are providing excellence, we will periodically recognize a member of the community with the Bees Knees patch which is to be stitched into your patchwork denim around your knee.

A few final notes on patchwork denim before we end for the day...

• Need patchwork denim to get started? Have no fear! We have in our possession 6 denim purses and aprons to be given away today. If today was the perfect motivation you needed to get started on your denim, then you will want to get in on this! Today in the comment section, submit a suggestion of an event for which we could give away a patch in the future! The first 6 people (who still need to start their denim) to suggest a patch idea will be sent their denim! Already have some denim started? Feel free to make a suggestion anyway!
• Year Two Patches: Do you already have some patches that you earned during the first year of our blog? If so, let me know in the comment section today! We will be ordering "Year 2" patches (as pictured to the left) and want to order one for anyone that is going into their second year of earning patches! Just think, newcomers- this time next year you could be earning a year 2 patch!

Signing off until tomorrow...

Whack Attack

Announcement at the end.

If the focus of yesterday's orientation was all about the RAK, then today's is all about the Whack. Newcomers, welcome to our third Highlowaha tradition to be shared this week - Whack On The Side of The Head Wednesdays.

Background. There has been a belief, from the inception of Highlowaha, that if we are to be a blog powered by creativity then we must do our part to actually develop the very resource on which we rely so heavily. To assist me in this weekly commitment of personal development, I invite Roger von Oech to join us at the table. Roger (I feel like we should be on a first name basis by now) developed a deck of 50+ cards called a Creative Whack Pack. Each card outlines a creative principle and then poses a follow up question to assist you in applying the principle.

Each week we use Roger's creative principle by applying the question to a dilemma or to a Highlowaha project. Each reader is invited...encouraged to take a crack at whacking the idea of the day. It's like doing a 20-minute fitness video for you mind. Overachievers, anxious to earn extra fitness points, might also apply the weekly principle to something going on in his/her own personal life.

I dare say, it works!!! Over the course of the past year many a good idea has come out of our weekly Whack on the Side of the Head ritual, including things such as Spirit of #218; Taste of USA; the infamous Altoid table project - more on that later; Birthday Eve; and the Reaching for 5,000 campaign, to name a few. I have high hopes for this year and don't want to waste another minute before jumping right in.

I should keep today simple, since it's orientation for some of you and the very idea of whacking yourself on the side of the head is new enough. But, I can't. I will introduce von Oech's creative principle in a minute, but first some more food for thought (consider it the appetizer).

Seth Godin, another creative marketing guy who I follow, recently made this this statement as part of a daily blog post. "Too often, I hear about businesses that just might be a dream come true for their owners, but hardly for the people they seek to recruit or the customers they hope to snare. What do your prospects dream of? What would get them to wait in line?"

Godin's notion is what I would like to whack today. Katie, Heather, Cheryl, and I aspire to create a blog community you might have only dreamed about - something for which you would,"wait in line." Having said that, let's introduce von Oech's creative principle for today - the creative whack that will assist us in having break through ideas...

Combine Ideas: "The time has come," the walrus said, "to talk of many things: of shoes - and ships - and sealing wax - of cabbages - and kings. Combining unusual ideas is at the heart of creative thinking. The ancients mixed soft copper and even softer tin to create hard bronze. Gutenberg combined the wine press and the coin punch to create moveable type and the printing press. What different ideas can you combine?

The goal? Use von Oech's creative principle of combining ideas to whack Godin's challenge of creating something (in our case a blog) so "dreamy" it would get you to, "stand in line." In other words... What different ideas can Highlowaha combine to develop a blog so dreamy, you might actually, "stand in line" to have access?

Note: Does anyone else think it's funny that I pulled a card titled, "Combine Ideas" on a week that I combined two ideas to develop the whack? Weird.

Announcements:

• E*X*T*R*A*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y: Your incredibly generous response (over $500.00 already) has officially been matched by your willingness to nominate families deserving of our mission - providing experiences that, without our support, might otherwise never happen. Thanks to all of you, we not only have enough money to grant two gifts, but we also have the lead on a deserving family. The principle of Six Degrees of Separation requires us to be a little covert about granting this first gift. Want to know more now? Check out Highlowaha on your Facebook.
  
• Patchwork: Tonight at 5:00 EST is the last day to get Katie a photo of you in your Patchwork Denim. Don't miss out on the fun... and the chance to earn another patch!!!
  

Signing off until tomorrow...

RAK Attack

Announcements at the end...

First, a quick note. Can I pick 'em or can I pick 'em? I would say I hope each of you is enjoying Highlowaha's new contributors as much as I am, but I know you are because we have had close to 700 visits to our site in the past six days. At this rate, we're sure to top last year's record of 5,000 views in 46 days!

Another day, another orientation event.

Today we introduce (or reintroduce, as the case may be) one of Highlowaha's favorite traditions - The Random Acts of Kindness Box (RAK Box).

Background. One week last year I was feeling "blah." It could have been the tides, alignment of planets, a bad week for Libras, dreary weather, PMS.... Who knows. I'm a firm believer, however, that one of the quickest ways to snap yourself out of a bad mood is to do something nice for someone else. I quickly declared that week Random Acts of Kindness Week and for six days we performed a daily act of kindness. One day I left gently used books for the taking at Starbucks. Another day I challenged all of you to join me in doing a random act of kindness, and on a third day I introduced to you my Random Act of Kindness Box.

Each Highlowaha reader was invited...asked... begged... implored... to send me a postcard with his or her address. Once a postcard was received it was placed in my Random Acts of Kindness Box and then, when I was feeling particularly blue... or generous, I dug into my box and randomly selected someone to be the winner of a prize. All kinds of fun items were given away, from baked goods to cookbooks, fun pads of paper, gift cards, and t-shirts to name a few. It's a new year, but this old idea is here to stay.

Part of this stunt is about me loving mail. If you send me a postcard with your address on it then I get mail and you become eligible for fun Highlowaha prizes. It's a win win. Problem. If I let returners rest on their laurels and use last year's postcard, then I get less mail and new readers think, that next year at this time they can also sit back and eat bon bons. If, however, the playing field is leveled so, each year old and new readers alike must submit a new postcard, then newcomers are assured their place at the table is just as secured as a long-time reader.

Yeah, yeah, I know... this means you having to get (or make) a postcard, slap a .27 cent stamp on it, and make a trip to the post office. I'd better sweeten the pot if I'm going to get the likes of readers such as AZLori, and other post office avoiding folks to participate. It just so happens I can. Weeks ago I did a training session and got paid in the form of a Target Gift Card. Rather than walk in the store and have the $100.00 disintegrate, before I get passed the Dollar Bins, I've decided I want to invest it in you (alright... and in a week's worth of good mail. I'm not totally selfless).

There are four $25.00 Target gift cards for the taking. Here's all you need to know about winning one. Send me a postcard to Claudia Beeny at 4012 Harvestwood Court, Grapevine, Texas 76051. On the back, include your name and address. If you're a lurker and don't want me to know your name, then just sign it "Loyal Lurker." Include the name and address of a friend and he/she will also get a shot at winning one of the $25.00 gift cards. Cards will be distributed as follows:

• One $25.00 Target Gift Card goes to the person who sends the first postcard I receive.
  
• One $25.00 Target Gift Card goes to the 18th post card I receive.
  
• The remaining two $25.00 Target Gift Cards go to the reader whose name (and whose friend's name) I draw from the Random Acts of Kindness Box on Friday, March 6.
  

That gives you all plenty of time to get your postcard, get your stamp, and get them in the mail! One more note. Heather made her first official Highlowaha post yesterday and yielded close to $500.00 in donations. I'm trying to give money away. Don't let her show me up... please! She's competitive and she'll never let me live it down.

Announcements:

• Gift of #218: Thanks to the generosity of our readers, we have already raised close to $500.00 toward our new service initiative. Our blog will work to provide deserving families of Spirit of #218 experiences. Projects might include sponsoring a birthday party, a family trip to an amusement park or the movies (with all the works), a family portrait, or tickets to the circus. All of you will help determine which families and which projects. We estimate $250.00 per gift which means we can already grant two! Way to go.
  
• Email Subscriptions: 19 of you have already subscribed to get our daily post in your email box. You know it's true. Getting our fun post in your email box is the equivalent of getting fun snail mail in your post office box! Do it today.
  
• Patchwork Denim Fashion Show: Newcomers, you'll have to wait until Thursday to find out what all the fun is about. Old timers... if you've earned a patch (or two or three), slap them on something denim, take a picture, and email it to us by Wednesday at 5:00 p.m.
  
• Cook Book Recipes: Tera's looking for some Highlowaha Love in her mail box. Send her your favorite recipe to Tera Johnson, 2590 N. Moreland, Apt. E22, Shaker Heights, OH, 44120. Or email it to Tera at tmichalski@jcu.edu.
  

Signing off until tomorrow...