Picture no. 16: The toys and joys of childhood

Eugene Field (September 2, 1850 - November 4, 1895) was an American writer best known for writing poetry for children and humorous essays. Some of you might have come across his melancholy poem “Little Boy Blue” with such lines as:

The little toy dog is covered with dust,
But sturdy and staunch he stands;
And the little toy soldier is red with rust,
And his musket moulds in his hands.
Time was when the little toy dog was new,
And the soldier was passing fair;
And that was the time when our Little Boy Blue
Kissed them and put them there.

“Now, don't you go till I come,” he said,
“And don't you make any noise!”
So, toddling off to his trundle-bed,
He dreamt of the pretty toys;
And, as he was dreaming, an angel song
Awakened our Little Boy Blue---
Oh! the years are many, the years are long,
But the little toy friends are true!

I took the picture above in the early 1990’s. I used Kodak T-Max black and white film (if I remember correctly) and my beloved Canon AE-1 Program camera with a Vivitar 28-210 mm zoom lens. I first saw the rusted cans of baby milk products but I felt that something was missing. I looked around the area and then I then saw an old rubber doll that my nephew (five years old at the time) had discarded. I placed the rubber doll in one of the cans and then I shot this picture.

Free online resources on creative and journalistic writing for teachers and students

WritingFix is a global resource for Writing teachers and students with hundreds of free interactive writing prompts, lessons and quality resources for classrooms where writing is taught, not just assigned.

Some of the interactive writing prompts are:

Daily Writing Prompts
Interactive Writing Prompts for K-6th Grade
Right-Brained Writing Prompts using serendipity and creativity to launch a piece of writing
Left-Brained writing prompts
Writing Lesson of the Month Network for teachers around the world

“The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe”

“The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” from C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia has become a beloved classic the world over. Four children walk through a seemingly ordinary wardrobe into the magical land of Narnia. A fantastic adventure begins to unfold as Aslan the Great Lion is pitted against the evil White Witch. Battles are fought, heroes are made, and one of the children has committed a crime that demands the death penalty... What will happen? Take off on an adventure you never imagined ...

Listen now to “The Narnia Story” or download the MP3. (If you have trouble extracting a zipped file, you may need to install a free program. Just click this link to download a free copy of ZipReader.)

Picture no. 15: Footprints in the corridor

I took this picture sometime in 1991. A group of students on their way to our school’s Speech Festival had covered their whole bodies from head to foot with some sort of powder. As they walked barefooted, they left footprints along the corridor. I hesitated shooting the footprints because I wanted to save my favorite black and white film Kodak Tri-X for the Festival. But I eventually decided to shoot two pictures (this one) and another from the opposite side. Moments later, our school janitor mopped away the footprints.

I am sure you have heard the song “Footprints in the Sand” several decades ago. (No, I am not referring to the Leona Lewis version which I will discuss below.) It became number one in Billboard’s Gospel chart and then crossed over again as number in the pop charts. The song used a poem of the same title as its chorus. Several writers have claimed authorship of this poem, namely, Ella H. Scharring-Hausen, Mary Stevenson, Floyd Keeton, Burrell Webb, Carolyn Joyce Carty, and Margaret Fishback Powers. Whoever the real author may be, here is a version of the poem for your reading and writing pleasure:

One night I had a dream.

I dreamed I was walking along the beach with God and across the sky flashed scenes from my life.

For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me and the other to God.

When the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand.

I noticed that at a time along the path of my life there was only one set of footprints.

I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of my life.

This really bothered me and I questioned God about it.

“God, you said once I had decided to follow you, you would walk with me all the way, but I noticed that during the most troublesome time in my life there is only one set of footprints.

”I do not understand why in times when I needed you most, you would leave me.”

God replied, “My precious, precious child I love you and I would never, never leave you during your time of trials and suffering.

When you see only one set of footprints it was then that I carried you.”

Wikipedia describes the Footprints poem and its influence in this way:

Footprints, also known as Footprints in the Sand, is a popular allegorical text written in prose. There are three versions of the poem all with the same title but different authors. While critics have debated the literary merits of the piece, it has been enormously popular worldwide, especially among American Christians.

The text describes a dream, in which the person is walking on a beach with God (in some versions, specifically identified as Jesus). They leave two sets of footprints in the sand behind them. Looking back, the tracks are stated to represent various stages of this person's life. At some points the two trails dwindle to one, especially at the lowest and most hopeless moments of the character's life. When questioning God, believing that God must have abandoned his follower during those times, God gives the explanation: “During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you”.

A song based on the poem, called "Footprints in the Sand", was written by Per Magnusson, David Kreuger, Richard Page and Simon Cowell and recorded by Leona Lewis. It appears on Lewis's debut album Spirit which debuted at number one in nine countries, including Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, New Zealand and Germany. It also holds the record for the biggest digital album sales in a week ever for a new artist, male or female.

Lewis’ “Footprints” song is SportRelief charity's official anthem for 2008. There is also a complimentary "Footprints In The Sand" ringtone. Click the picture to view the video. The lyrics of the song are posted below:

You walked with me
Footprints in the sand
And helped me understand
Where I'm going

You walked with me
When I was all alone
With so much unknown
Along the way
Then I heard you say

(Chorus)
I promise you
I'm always there
When your heart is filled with sorrow
And despair
I'll carry you
When you need a friend
You'll find my footprints in the sand

I see my life
Flash across the sky
So many times have I
Been so afraid

And just when I
Have thought I'd lost my way
You gave me strength to carry on
That’s when I heard you say

(Chorus)
I promise you
I'm always there
When your heart is filled with sorrow
And despair
I'll carry you
When you need a friend
You'll find my footprints in the sand

When I'm weary
Well, I know you've been there
And I can feel you when you say

I promise you (you)
I'm always there
When your heart is filled with sadness (when your heart)
And despair (and despair)
I'll carry you
When you need a friend (need a friend)
You'll find my footprints in the sand’

(I promise you)
(I'm always there)
When your heart is full of sadness (sadness)
And despair (And despair)
I'll carry you (I'll carry you)
When you need a friend
You'll find my footprints in the sand.

Picture no. 14: “Sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset ...”

A lot of you may be familiar with the Broadway musical “Fiddler on the Roof” from which the song “Sunrise, Sunset” came from. The chorus of the song goes like this:

Sunrise, sunset,
Sunrise, sunset,
swiftly fly the years,
one season following another,
laden with happiness
and tears.

Wikipedia summarizes Fiddler’s history, distinctions and awards:

The original Broadway production of the show, which opened in 1964, was the first musical to surpass the 3,000 performance mark, and it held the record for longest-running Broadway musical for almost 10 years until Grease surpassed its run. The production earned $1,574 for every dollar invested in it.

The show was highly acclaimed and nominated for ten Tony Awards, winning nine, including Best Musical, score, book, direction and choreography. It spawned four Broadway revivals, a successful 1971 film adaptation, and has enjoyed enduring international popularity. It is also a very popular choice for school and community productions.

I took this picture sometime in 1989. I purposely framed the setting sun between the metal frames of a water tank in the foreground and the antennas in the background. Because I focused on the sun itself, the metal frames on the foreground became out of focus. Please remember that when taking pictures of the sun, do not place it dead center. Follow what is known as the “Rule of Thirds”. Please surf to my Campus Connection blog to know what this rule is all about.

When used as the inspiration for an essay, the setting sun usually evokes emotions of loneliness or serenity.

Picture no. 13 (series): The joys of high school

The pictures above show a high school class having fun during their picture taking for the school annual. Why don't you try writing captions for these pictures? Notice that one of the guys at the top row started everything when he pushed off his classmate.

How to give better presentations (The Morgan Freeman Rule)

Great video on how to give better presentations, using Hollywood movie posters and discussing, among others, the Morgan Freeman Rule


PresenTired: "The Voicemail" from Scott Schwertly on Vimeo