Io adoravo creare storie con Big Jim e i suoi nemici.
Era il mio compagno di giochi e di avventure
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Hi everyone,
I can recall quite a few toys/ objects. I played a lot with Barbies. With a friend, we used to stick together objects we’d find in the garden into sculptures. We’d seat on the garden wall and eventually sold a few.
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Growing up, I really enjoyed programming my computer. My dad introduced me to programming and we built a digital version of a board game that I had created for school. As time progressed, my project ideas became increasingly complicated so I had to learn more to be able to carry out my visions. My typical approach was to get a book about a topic, do the exercises, and apply the ideas to my own projects. It was challenging and I thoroughly enjoyed the process.
My project ideas were driven by personal meaning. Some were based on my own curiosity, some were useful to me, some were useful to other people, and some were for entertainment. Some things I built included websites about my favorite video games like StarCraft and Unreal Tournament, a flash card program to help me learn vocabulary for French class, a website to help my classmates share photos of their projects from art class, and a program to prank my brother to trick him into thinking he was in The Matrix (I don’t think he liked this program as much as I did 
).
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Powerbook 100 by Danamania is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 ↩︎
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iMac G3 by David Fuchs is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 ↩︎
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Mud ! That was also my favorite. I was always trying to cook something or develop a magic formula from soap and grass
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If I have to choose objects that are still a constant in my life I should say all kind of cooking items and books
Music has always been a love of mine. I play several instruments and collect instruments from my travels. My Aunt gave me a musical jewelry box with a spinning ballerina for my 9th birthday. It was a treasured object.
I was so curious about how it worked I decided to (carefully) dismantle it to investigate the mechanisms inside. Seeing how the mechanism worked inspired me to learn all I could and to build a music box mechanism (it’s called a “movement”) for a song I had written for piano.
I got as far as working out the scale for the “comb” and drawing a schematic on grid paper for where the “pins” were placed on the “cylinder”. My family was financially insecure and so I was never able to get access to the materials and tools I needed to actually build it.
Just remembering and describing my process brings me to a place where I think I need to revisit this childhood project as an adult with more access to resources to see if I can actually follow through and build this project.
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@Shauna if you build your music box, please do come back and post about it at some point in the future. I had a musical jewelry box just like yours (also given by a beloved Aunt) 
I also had dreams of one day making something similar myself, so you have seriously inspired me 
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@JayElf Thank you for validating this would be a worthy project to spend some time on. 
I think sometimes as adults we deny ourselves the “luxury” of indulging in a project that is completely outside of our “adulting responsibilities”. At least I know I struggle with this, but I am actively working to create a life space to honor my own creativity and passions while still maintaining my adulting responsibilities. I will keep you posted. Please do the same if you decide to take it on as well!
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so wonderful to hear you are actively looking at creating that space you need to honour your own creativity and passions. And Yes @Shauna : ) that’s absolutely a deal !
I don’t recall any specific object, but I perfectly remember one of the best books ever which was like an inexhaustible source of ideas for me. It was a DIY book from the 70s when constant shortages in Polish stores and general scarcity of resources made everybody more creative in a sense of looking for different solutions and upcycle and reuse various objects. Although I was a child in 90s, this book was still a treasury of knowledge and ideas. I used it to create some toys and make little everyday objects. It also instilled in me a deep conviction that nearly everything can be of use and that recycling and upcycling are natural phases in the life cycle of things. Additionally, it was written and illustrated in a way that is still an example of how valuable good instructions are - as they teach not only how to do a certain thing, but also how to approach more complex issues and methodically look for solutions.
Here is an example of an instruction from this book to create a super simple toy that inspired me to create a whole bunch of different characters:
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I played with legos and a toy called bionics. I remembered that I would love to follow the instructions in the kits and build the different toys. I’m not sure why I liked to do it but I did. Later in life, I’ve always enjoyed reading manuals or putting together furniture. It’s like a fun puzzle to me. Manuals, despite being manuals, can sometimes be confusing and require problem solving to use the properly. I always liked that. Maybe that’s the more creative aspect of building from a manual. I also liked building random things with legos but have a stronger emotional attachment to building things from a set of instructions.
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how cool and inspiring to be both an actual comic book character and a roboteer, @KathyCeceri 
wondering if you remember what magic you imagined your formula might do ?
(and whether you were ever successful in developing it @Alecamebsb ? ;) )
When I was little, TV was a novelty. First, they were black and white, and color TV was rare and unique. We got a new color TV, and watching shows was a rare treat. There was a program, “Emergency!” that heavily influenced my first adult career, a professional firefighter/EMT.
The show highlighted the life of paramedics, a brand new medical field, as they lived and worked in the Los Angeles County Fire Department in the hills surrounding Los Angeles, California in the 1970’s. Their life was enchanting, exciting, and fulfilling. My best friend and I ran around the playground at school pretending we were the rescue squad performing great feats.
My interest was also fueled by my mom, a nurse, and advanced first aid instructor on weeknights. My brothers and I were always the “victims” for her classes. She needed victims for people to practice on, and she needed childcare ~a perfect combination in her mind. The bonus, we all learned first aid.
My passion for this type of work followed me through elementary and secondary school. In high school, I helped teach CPR and first aid classes in the Science Department army school, as well as for American Red Cross. We were also part of the Disaster Response Team for Red Cross. In addition, I participated in my high school’s work experience program, riding along with Palo Alto Fire Department’s Paramedic Rescue squad!
As a senior in high school, I became an Emergency Medical Technician, volunteered for a local volunteer fire department, as well as worked professionally as an EMT with an Ambulance, Limousine, and Hearse service.
The burning passion I gained from watching the medical/ rescue drama continued. I attended Mission College’s Fire Science Academy, got my AS in Fire Science along with other State Fire Science certificates.
A small group of 30 of us started taking written, physical abilities and oral exams all over the State of California to become a professional Firefighter. We all got progressively better with the more tests we took. I learned you can take the grueling physical abilities teat using brute force, or using biomechanics and finesse to accomplish the same tasks. Those skills carried me through my fire service career.
In August of 1981, I applied for Santa Rosa, California, Fire Department, among many others. I took their written and physical abilities tests September 30 and October 1 of that year, and was invited back for an Oral Board, October 30th of that year, and by mid November, a Chief’s oral Board! I received a phone call in late February 1982 that I was hired by Santa Rosa Fire Department! I started March 3, 1982 to be the Department’s first female firefighter for that department. I couldn’t believe I could get paid for something I loved so very much! I feel very privileged to follow my passion and dreams. I was blessed to work professionally as a firefighter for 13 years- 11 with the City of Santa Rosa, and 2 years prior as a Volunteer. I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.
I retired from the fire service after suffering a career-ending injury fighting a grass fire. I rearranged my ankle stepping in a gopher hole during the firefight. Despite 3 surgeries, I was unable to return to the line of duty. Though I am sad to have been unable to continue , I still feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to follow my passion so successfully.
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That would be a beautiful project indeed… 
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Yes Jay I remeber ! Make plants grow faster and enormous like in the magic beans tale. I spent many afternoons adding plants like rose leaves , parsley etc to soap and water. Now a days when I make tobacco and soap to cure my fruit trees I have the same feeling of those days.
Maybe some day the magic arrives … or its like magic when my fruit trees get healthier
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Oh! I remember it too! 
@Alecamebsb 
;D
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Roller skates. A pair that clipped onto the bottom of my shoes & tightened with a key. I skated up & down the sidewalks of our suburban neighborhood. These were wearable “gears,” requiring no extra mental step for projecting myself into a different abstract/sensory world.
Movement is still very important to me: I love robotics, hiking, dancing, ice skating. And I tend to believe that the mysteries of the universe & the answers to difficult problems in math & physics are best approached from the perspective of movement.
Here’s what they were like:
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I vividly recall that i loved rockets when i was a kid. I use to write NASA to request magazines. I got to know of astronauts and the Space Shuttle etc. This made me decide to learn Science when I went to the High School. Still I love rockets even though I am into Computer Science. Maybe I would have being an astronaut if the conditions in my family had favoured me. Nevertheless, I still remember the beautiful photos of these gigantic machines and the astronauts in their red space suits, this fueled my curiosity to loving to know more about science.
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