Archive for the 'MuseCubes' Category

Nov 30 2011

MuseCubes Help Stave Off Cancer?!

Sitting might cause cancer?! It sounds extreme, doesn’t it?

That’s the announcement in a growing body of research. According to the American Institute for Cancer Research:

As many as 49,000 cases of breast cancer and 43,000 cases of colon cancer occurring in the U.S. every year are linked to a lack of physical activity.”

Furthermore, sitting for long periods of time can increase indicators of cancer risk! Evidently, doing a high intensity workout at the gym doesn’t help if you end up sitting for the rest of the day.

All the research is pointing to the importance of taking multiple breaks in the midst of your workday.

So, if sitting too much increases your risks for cancer, and if MuseCubes encourage you to take breaks from sitting, does it follow that MuseCubes decrease your risk of cancer? Hmmm. Perhaps that claim is a little far fetched.

However, a set of MusesCubes conveniently placed near your computer is a great little reminder to take an occasional break.

I keep MuseCubes in several strategic spots in my office. Sometimes I choose to roll them; other times I simply look at them and think, “Oh, right! Move my body!” Then I’ll get up and take a walk or go wash the dishes — anything that gets me up and moving.

Do you need a set of MuseCubes to serve as your take-a-break reminder? Or do you know someone who does? If so, contact me and I’ll hook you up with a set or two. You can also check out the free iPhone app.

This blog entry is re-printed from www.musecubes.com.

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Jul 10 2010

Doing Slow Business in a Fast Business World

***WARNING: This blog post contains some technical jargon. Don’t worry; I don’t understand many of the terms, either. Thank goodness for context clues!***

Why iMuseCubes Development is So Slow

It takes many folks up to 40-80 hours over three to four months to develop their iPhone apps. It’s taking Wendell and I over a year!!

That’s Wendell in the picture, by the way. He’s my iPhone app developer. He’s also (thank goodness!) my good friend.

It’s not surprising that our process has been so slow, given the limitations with which we’ve had to work:

  • Wendell and I both have full time jobs,
  • I don’t have the money to pay him upfront,
  • Wendell doesn’t own a Mac so he has to borrow mine, and
  • Wendell is learning Xcode (Apple’s program that develops the apps) as he works.

These constraints have necessitated that we work slowly.  In some cases, really slowly.

How Slow Business is Helping Me Find Balance

Which is why I’m grateful  to have discovered a movement all about the gifts of living life more slowly.  Here’s what blogger Jerry Stifelman says in an entry titled Slow Business: A Manifesto for Reclaiming Our Lives:

Just as the Slow Food movement is all about really getting into food and the community it engenders, we think we need a Slow Business movement that’s about the quality of work and the experience of doing it -- as opposed to the alternative — namely the tendency to turn work into an ever-escalating arms race of longer hours, quicker email responses, and an obligation to be checking your Blackberry at your kid’s birthday party.

This ever-escalating arms race had gotten a bit out of control in my life recently, as I juggled MuseCubes and my growing academic coaching practice.  Needless to say, my weekends were wittled down to naught. And I certainly wasn’t enjoying either the quality of my work, or my experience doing it.

In the spirit of slow, though, I’ve relaxed my expectations about how much each of these projects will grow this year.   I’m still moving forward on all of them, just one small step at a time.

Lowering my expectations for how much each of my projects will grow has allowed me to reclaim my weekends, balancing relaxation and adventure (neither of which had been in my life on a consistent basis).  As Jerry Stifelman says, slow business enables me to live as if  I matter, my relationships matter, and joy matters. Hallelujah!

When the Rest of the World is Moving so Fast: The Down Side of Slow Business

However, slow business can also have it’s downside. Take the iPhone app.

Apple is constantly updating its operating systems and app development processes. Since we’ve been working for over a year on this app, we’re constantly encountering technological roadblocks that result from these updates.  Often, the first chunk of our twice-a-month work sessions  is spent troubleshooting outdated technology. Sometimes we lose the entire four hours to updates!

Just today, for example, it turned out that the provisioning profile on my iPhone had expired; we couldn’t move forward until we’d updated it. Luckily, Wendell moved past this road block pretty quickly.

However, during our last two work sessions, we weren’t so lucky.

Apple had updated it’s version of XCode (the program we use to develop the app), which takes hours to download, depending on the internet connection. Then, we had to coordinate all the new iPhone operating systems with this new version of XCode. Between the downloads and the troubleshooting, we lost about four hours of development time. That’s almost a whole month’s worth of work time. Arggghhh!!!

Patience Pays Off: What You Can Expect from the Updated iMuseCubes

Today, though, we were able to move through our roadblock rather quickly.  And the truth is, iPhone app development seems to go pretty quickly without the technical glitches! All morning I’ve been writing this blog entry (using Wendell’s Dell laptop) while Wendell’s been lying on my couch working on the app (isn’t that a great picture of him, above?).

Infact, I wonder how he’s doing today? Let’s check in:

Me: Hey Wendell, how’s it going?

Wendell: Good! Within the next little bit, we will be able to not only download the expansion pack, but have it integrated into the process so that it loads the right sound files. Then we’ll be really close! We’ll just have to plug in Apple’s purchase API. After a little clean up, we’ll be ready to sell the expansion pack!

Cool! For the rest of you, let me translate: See, we already have a free version of iMuseCubes available for download from iTunes. However, soon we’ll have expansion packs available for purchase. Expansion packs will be sets of  additional verbs centered around themes, like:

  • Barnyard (with verbs like “Bark” and “waddle”)
  • Wild things (with verbs like “roar” and “slither”)
  • BeeBop (with verbs like “croon” and “twirl”)
  • Sports (with verbs like “cheer” and “dribble”)

As I finalize the verbs for the expansion packs, I’ll probably send out a survey to my community to get ya’ll to help choose themes and verbs. Got any good ideas?! Stay tuned to my blog for more updates…

Finally…

Just now, Wendell chirped, “We’re close! We’re really close!” However, that was followed by a big “Oops!”

With just 20 minutes to go during today’s work session, we’ll get as far as we can get.

And that will be great!

 

 

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May 03 2010

iPhone App Update: The History of iMuseCubes

It’s a sunny Sunday afternoon, and I’m crunching pumpkin seeds alongside my hero.

His name is Wendell Martin, and he is the iPhone app developer for iMuseCubes.

The iMuseCubes development team has decided that it’s time to be more “out” about the iPhone app development process.

So get ready, dear readers! From time to time I’ll be posting updates. And since this is the first one, how about a little history of the project?

Where Will I Find a Programmer Who Will Work For Free?

A year and a half ago, I was overwhelmed with my new life as an entrepreneur. It felt lonely and risky, and I felt adrift.

I had so many creative ideas, but I didn’t believe I had the skills or the resources to bring these ideas to fruition.

For example, the task of creating an iPhone app for the MuseCubes seemed completely insurmountable! I had no technical skills, no money to hire professionals, and no desire to work alone.

The Resources are All Around Me

One day I was complaining about this to my friend Randy while we were on a walk. Suddenly, he asked me some questions that changed everything:

“What if the resources you need are all around you? What if you don’t have to do it alone? What if all you have to do is ask?”

A few months later, the very first iMuseCubes meeting adjourned. It turns out that Randy’s friend Wendell is a Java programmer who’d been curious about learning to program on the iPhone. He liked me and enjoyed the MuseCubes. Furthermore, he didn’t need to be reimbursed for his time until after the iMuseCubes began to make money. And Randy was willing to serve as business manager for the project.

It turns out Randy was right. The resources were nearby. I didn’t have to work alone. And all I had to do was ask. Amazing!

Limitations Create Unique Opportunities

We had a team. But we also had limitations.

Wendell, for example, didn’t even own an Apple computer, which is a requirement for programming xcode. We decided that he’d simply come over to my house to work, and thus: a new guideline for collaboration was born: no one was expected to work on the project alone. We would always be accompanied by another member of the team.

On the one hand, this isn’t the most efficient way to work. Sometimes weeks would go by without moving forward on the project. Sometimes we’d spend the first half hour of a three hour meeting gabbing… about dating, relationships, job searches, and more.

But on the other hand, working together became so much fun!! We both looked forward to our work sessions together. Wendell commented that programming is usually a completely isolating experience during which he’s hunched over a lonely computer in a cubicle or at home. However, the iMuseCubes project was entirely social and creative.

We sat next to each other on the couch. I used Wendell’s PC while he borrowed my Mac. I brought him snacks and drinks. We always kept a set of the real MuseCubes nearby, and when programming got tricky, we used them to shake off the stress. Totally fun!!

And the best part was: when Wendell left my home, I didn’t have to do any more work on the app. And neither did he. We were free to lead our regular lives. No homework!! What a relief!!!

Even this blog post, I’d like to point out, was written while we were working together.

A Year Later…

It’s hard to believe a year has passed!

On March 25, 2010 iMuseCubes 1.0 became available as a free app on iTunes. If you’ve got an iPhone, check it out!

It’s still a rough version, and we have so much more that we want to do with it. I’ll blog about those plans later. Because we’re still smoothing out the edges on the app, we haven’t done any real marketing (other than a shout out on Facebook, and this blog entry).

Without any marketing, though, there are 102 phones who sport the app. And the cubes have been rolled 613 times. Yay!!

What I most want to celebrate is: we did it!! At our own pace. In our own way. And I’ve learned (at least) three valuable lessons:

  1. The resources are all around.
  2. Warm bodies working with me are key to collaboration.
  3. Slow work is satisfying work.

Wendell, Randy and I are meeting again in two weeks. More news then…

Filed Under MuseCubes | 3 Comments
Jan 29 2010

How My Clients and I Learn from Each Other

LakeMerritt

I recently took a walk around Lake Merritt with a former academic coaching client. What sweetness! One of the things I adore about my work as an academic/life coach for teenagers is that I get to build strong connections & collaborations with young people. And those connections don’t usually die when the client/coach relationship ends.

This young woman and I walked and talked — about friendships, dating, love, and of course, life as a college freshman.

Multiple Choice, F’s, and Advocacy

Turns out that she made mostly As and Bs in her first semester of college — but also one F. I asked her to tell me more about this F (which happened to be in her favorite subject, one out of which she wants to build a career. Extra odd to get an F).

Turns out the teacher gave only multiple choice tests, and this young woman has a learning disability that makes multiple choice tests especially difficult. I’m simply amazed that her college allowed her to fail out of a course that didn’t provide an alternative assessment strategy for someone clearly diagnosed with a learning difference.

Luckily, this young woman understands the value of relationships and networking. She is not shy to stand up for herself and ask for what she needs. She said she will — and I’m hoping she follows through — petition to write a paper as an alternative assessment. She understands the content, after all, but just can’t identify the information when it’s worded in a multiple choice format. (Those classes she got As and B’s in? Yep, you guessed it, the class grades were based on essays and in-class discussion).

I’m thrilled to see this former client continue to practice her self advocacy skills. I’m also thrilled at how this kind of client/coach relationship is not simply a one way street; mutuality is the name of the game in my work.

When There’s Too Much Good Stuff

As I walked to meet her at Cafe 504, I was feeling overwhelmed with the “too muchness” of my life.  Too many close friends, too much interesting work, too many requests for my time (all of which I want to say “Yes!!” to).

The question at the forefront of my mind was: what do I do with MuseCubes?! I love the product, I love the IDEA of building it into a successful business, but I really don’t like the ADMIN WORK necessary to build the business. On the other hand, I love my academic coaching relationships, and I want MORE of those. I don’t have time to build BOTH business. But do I want to let the MuseCubes go? No!!!!!! Maybe?!?! I don’t know!!!!!!

I was thinking about this question as my young friend was telling me about taking that 90 question multiple choice final exam. “I tried everything!” she said. “I even tried your MuseCubes thing, shaking myself and yelling. But I just didn’t recognize any of the answer to the questions.”

Ahhhhhh, this is exactly what I needed to hear. “I even tried your MuseCubes thing.”

Of course, in her situation, the MuseCubes didn’t help her find the answers. But they gave her a concrete idea for something productive to DO when she was feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, and at her wits end.

Just when I start questioning the value of some of my work, I get a little message from an angel saying: “MuseCubes are worthwhile! My life is better because of it.”

I immediately felt less stressed about making a decision about the business side of MuseCubes. I suddenly felt TRUST that I will find the exact best way to build this business and maintain my own life balance. It might mean I need to take a little break to reground myself. It might mean the business takes a different form than I expected. But I needn’t fear that I’ll have to abandon my baby in order to reground myself again.

My former client and I hugged each other goodbye at the end of the walk. “I love talking to you,” she said. “I always learn so much from you.”

“I love talking to you, too!” I answered, while thinking “I always learn so much from you, too.”

Filed Under Academic Coaching, MuseCubes | 3 Comments
Jan 21 2010

Make Your Own MuseCubes?! Reflections on Creativity, Entrepreneurship & Ownership

SelfMadeMuseCubes

As a product inventor, people often ask me whether I’ve “protected” Musecubes. Certainly, I’m in the process of trademarking and copyrighting my products. So in that sense — yes.

But with any creative idea, to what extent do I truly “own” it? And would I really want to?

A year ago, I found out about a preschool teacher who made giant MuseCubes by covering boxes with wrapping paper, and adding her own verbs.

Just today, I stumbled upon Dayna Collins’ blog, Alley Art Studio. Wow! I’m stunned at Dayna’s creative application of the MuseCubes idea. In her own words:

Our creative project for last night was to design and make a personal set of MuseCubes. I heard about Muse Cubes sometime last year and went online and bought a set. I used them during my last Artist’s Way session and they were great fun. Basically, one cube has words related to noises and sounds you can make and the other cube has action verbs, i.e., shake, bend, and dance. You roll the dice and do as instructed. You might be howling and bending, or laughing and shaking. You get the idea.

I absolutely love how Dayna personalized the Cubes. And aren’t they beautiful?! I’ve included one of the pictures, above, but I highly recommend going to Dayna’s blog and checking out the gorgeous art work yourself.

Back to that question of ownership. I think of the MuseCubes as my child. And as poet Khalil Gibran points out in The Prophet, we do not own our children:

Your Children are not Your Children
They are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

The timing of Dayna’s blog is ideal for me in terms of MuseCubes business development.

Because I live in the land of America — where we encourage entrepreneurs to get bigger, better, faster — I’ve been feeling the pressure to turn MuseCubes into a mass-produced, commercially viable product. And I won’t say that I’m NOT moving in that direction. Perhaps I want to!

However, one of the pleasures of this delightful product is the homemade beauty of each Cube. And Dayna’s blog entry reminded me of just how stunning the cubes are when they are decorated with random art cutouts.

As Khalil Gibran reminds me, the idea of MuseCubes – that we are all inherently creative; sometimes our creativity gets buried underneath thinking and mistrust; and movement, whimsy, and silliness are GREAT tools to unlock our stored gems — is not “mine.”

So I still don’t know which direction I’m going to go with the business. Will I mass produce? Will I quit altogether and sell the idea to someone with more resources & time? Will I continue making small, homemade ones by hand? Will I sell MuseCube making kits? Will I put more of my focus onto the upcoming iPhone app?

What I DO know is that more and more people (in general) and women (more specifically) are taking to the Cubes. This is an idea that, now that it’s born, can’t be stopped.The whimsy, creativity, and surprise that comes from a random roll, and subsequent shake & howl, really does open up our creativity and sense of possibility.

What might happen if I now, following the guidance of Gibran, “strive to be like them”? In other words, strive to have my business processes and goals be more like the MuseCubes themselves — whimsical, creative, flexible?

I’m not sure what this all means, but you can be sure I’ll blog about it when I figure it out.

Thanks, Dayna, for your creative application of MuseCubes — and for inspiring to expand my vision of how my invention might play in the world.

This entry is a re-posting of an entry that first appeared at www.musecubes.com.

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Dec 19 2009

Flat Jack Sells MuseCubes for the Holidays

FlatJackMuseCubes1This Monday I posted a challenge to myself: to sell 126 MuseCubes before the holidays. Well, I didn’t get close to that number (I didn’t quite expect to, but the number 126 was special — see below — to me so I used it as my symbolic goal).

I did sell 41 sets of MuseCubes, though! Not bad given that the extent of my marketing including: (1) two weeks of carrying a basket of MuseCubes around with me wherever I go, and (2) one week asking folks on Facebook and Twitter to repost my MuseCube announcements!

There’s something else I’m excited about: whereas last year I sold 126 MuseCubes to people who know me, this year the bulk of the sales came from people who DON’T know me directly, but are loosely connected through social media. This points to the power of neo-marketing, and gets me excited about putting more effort into nurturing relationships around the globe through my blog, twitter, and facebook.

A final pleasure to announce: just yesterday I received Flat Jack in the mail. Flat Jack arrived to me from an elementary classroom in Vermont along with the following note:

Dear friend,

Our class read “Flat Stanley” by Jeff Brown. In this story a boy named Stanley Lambchop is flattened by a bulletin board. He doesn’t get hurt — in fact, he has many fun adventures as a flat boy. …

Enclosed is my very own flat traveler that I made. Please help my flat traveler to have adventures during his visit with you. In January send him back home in the enclosed envelope along with letters, drawings, and photos to tell us about his time with you.

This is primarily a geography project so please also include information about where you live and what it’s like there.

Thank you,
Mr. Leal’s First Grade
Union Elementary School
Montpelier, VT

I had fun bringing Flat Jack with me as I packaged and mailed all my MuseCubes orders this morning. The picture above shows Flat Jack in the MuseCubes basket along with the new MuseCubes brochures as well as a flower that just recently fell off of a tree. (I think it’s a cool geography fact that California actually has flowers in the winter; in Vermont, where Flat Jack is fun, he just has snow!).

Here’s a picture of the basket underneath the flowering tree…

FlatJackMuseCubes2

And here’s Flat Jack lying on top of envelopes filled with MuseCubes.

FlatJackMuseCubes3

Flat Jack helped me bring the MuseCubes to the post office, and we mailed them off to Texas, Washington DC, Florida, Seattle, and Texas. Soon I’ll actually put a map on the website so that we can watch the MuseCubes fever spread like wildfire across the country (once I launch the iPhone app, I anticipate it stretching across the world as well!

A final note to Mr. Leal: I’d hoped to write a blog entry that’s more first-grade friendly. Sorry that this has ended up being more “grown up” than I expected. Just let your students know — and Jack in particular — that Flat Jack is having a great time. He’s so glad that he doesn’t need his winter coat, since he forgot to put it into the envelope when he got mailed to California.

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Dec 08 2009

So Many Ways to Use the MuseCubes!

Today at Wing It! rehearsal I was feeling kinda down in the dumps. But then Bobbie, one of my fellow performers, knew just how to lift my spirits: she told me about some of her recent MuseCube moments! I made a point to snag her at the end of rehearsal and ask if she’d be willing to repeat her stories to my iPhone camera. And voila!

Enjoy this short video in which Bobbie shares how:

  • how a teacher of gifted and talented students uses the MuseCubes she received as a gift
  • how her grandson is a bit shy about “moan”, but loves them anyway, and
  • they’re such a great icebreaker at her church meetings.

Do you have a story about your favorite MuseCube Moment? If so, do tell!

And if you’d like to create a MuseCube Moment of your very own, I’d be honored if you bought a set or two.  I’m hearing over and over what a unique, surprising, and useful gift they are. Order a pair at www.musecubes.com.

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Dec 04 2009

One Of The Most Thoughtful Gifts Ever

Taiko Kathryn

Awwwww! I’ve always known that MuseCubes make great gifts. But it’s nice to hear it directly from the recipients. Here’s how composer and Taiko drummer Kathryn Cabunoc, describes how the MuseCubes helped her break through stuckness:

…writing solos is so hard. That’s one of those things that have never come easy for me. I sit down and get up and sit down again and I get one line out at a time–and very laboriously so. I suppose it will get easier someday.

A friend of mine gave me a great gift a week ago. They’re called Muse Cubes, and when you find yourself with writer’s block, you pull out these babies and give them a roll. … The instructions said that we’re more creative when we’re not standing still. And they’ve worked! I’ve howled and bended, sang and wiggled. It’s helped! It lets me get out of my head for a minute and then return to work again with a fresh mind.

They’re one of the most thoughtful gifts I’ve gotten in a long time.

MuseCubes KathrynJudging by the picture in Kathryn’s blog post, she got one of the original MuseCubes sets, no two designs alike. Some day this might be worth a lot (finger’s crossed!).

Feel free to read the rest of Kathryn’s blog entry about MuseCubes here. To order MuseCubes, go to our Etsy store.

This blog entry was first posted to www.MuseCubes.com on November 27, 2009.

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Dec 04 2009

Can Howling Make You Smarter?

howl

Wowzers! I invented a new use for the MuseCubes today. Story first, then tip below:

The Story: Singing Unlocks Brilliance

My friend Annie came over to cowork with me this morning. We usually meet for 3 hours, each working separately on important projects. Nothing like a fellow warm body to get these two solo entrepreneurs focused!

Today Annie needed some help. She was trying to write an essay, but was feeling stuck. I suggested she get up, dance around my big living room, and talk while she moves. In InterPlay lingo, this is called a Big Body Story.  I took notes, because I know that amazing ideas get unlocked when we move our bodies. And boy did I have to scribble hard — she was saying some great stuff!

I was surprised, though, that movement wasn’t the only trick to unlocking Annie’s creativity.

Afterwards I pointed out that Annie often uncovered a new brilliant idea whenever she would sing! More specifically,  when she sang the words “I don’t know what to say!” Usualy her singing was silly, often her head was thrown back with a more full throated sound. Each time (at least 3!), she always found a fun idea right after she sang.

MuseCube Tip: Roll Just the Voice Cube

Of course I couldn’t help think of the MuseCubes.

If you own a pair of MuseCubes, try this next time you find yourself feeling stuck:

  1. Roll the voice cube alone.
  2. Sing some words in the manner that the cube suggests. For example, if you roll a howl, try saying “I don’t know what to say!” in a howling way. Or if you roll “whoop”, try whooping the words “What should I write next!?”
  3. Roll the cubes at least three times.
  4. Go back to your work and see what’s new for you.

If you don’t own a pair of MuseCubes, you can still play with making silly noises while you talk. But if you’d like to get your own set of Cubes (or if you know someone who needs them!), please visit www.MuseCubes.com.

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Nov 16 2009

MuseCubes & the Right-Brain Business Plan

RBBPCubes

“I want me some of THAT!” was my reaction when Jennifer Lee showed me her business plan –  a hand-made, collage-covered 3″x5″ accordion book all about Jenn’s business Artizen Coaching. That was a year ago.

This weekend I finally GOT me some of that, by attending Jenn’s workshop on The Right-Brain Business Plan. She provided all the art supplies, and led us seamlessly through visualizing, brainstorming, and collaging, and now I have the beginnings of my very own fancy-schmancy business plan. (Still need to add a lot to the plan, but how great to have the draft!)

RBBPdraft The picture above is a close up of one of my favorite pages on the plan. There’s a woman with wings, and a hot air balloon flying high over a map.  Over the next month I’ll be adding words and numbers so that the creative vision is bolstered by a practical plan.  I’ll blog about it here so you can watch the businesses unfold — quite literally! Stay tuned for more info about how I plan to grow academic coaching and the MuseCubes.

Speaking of MuseCubes, did you notice them in the pictures? What a joy and an honor to have Jenn infuse “MuseCube Moments” into the workshop. Jenn sensed when the rest of us were hyper focused on our art-making and needed a little shaking up.  She rolled the cubes and got the entire group bouncing and howling, twisting and groaning.  Although I originally invented the Cubes for individuals, they’re clearly a perfect tool for groups too.

In fact, do you know any group facilitators who’d love a new tool to get their groups to shake things out? They make an inexpensive yet unique (and practical!) holiday gift! Order sets at  www.MuseCubes.com.

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