Here in Highland Park » hpplnj

Racer Reaches Ruin Rui

Leora — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:43:35 +0000

Patrick, the racer in my son’s four part film series, reaches Ruin Rui in this final episode. To see episodes I, II, and III, visit YouTube. This was one of the films featured in the Highland Park Teen Film Festival in early February. He also wrote a film that was produced by an eighth grader (my son is a seventh grader) with various teen actors and one librarian actress, but it is not (yet) online.

I’ve been spending a lot of time uploading videos; last week I set up a video for a client on a site not yet public, and today I uploaded two teen films to the Highland Park Public Library Teen Film page (Ite’s Adventure and Baby Troubles). There are a lot of details with converting films to the proper web format then getting them online without errors, especially if they are large files, which films often are.

My son tells me in this final episode the bowling pins are attacking Patrick the racer, but in the end he prevails. The scene takes place right next to my herb garden, which is currently still covered in snow, but the snow is melting.

What To Do in New Jersey

Leora — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:50:14 +0000

wall mosaic detail at Raritan Valley Community College

If it’s a Sunday morning and my daughter wants to go on a trip, I often head over to Lucy Banta’s Twitter account njfamilymag. Every day she tweets activities in New Jersey, most for children but some for adults, too. This past Sunday I found out about a play called “If You Give a Pig a Pancake & Other Story Books” at Raritan Valley Community College Theater. So the daughter and I headed over to Raritan Valley Community College to watch the show. It was a lot of fun; I especially liked the dramatizations of How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long and the Lily’s Big Day by Kevin Henkes.

Our main disappointment with the show, however, was that the actors did not come meet us outside the way we had experienced at the Forum Theater in Metuchen. RVCC also has strict rules about no photography during the show.

This coming Sunday, however, I won’t be needing to check Lucy’s account; I’ll be heading over to the Highland Park Public Library to watch the annual Teen Film Festival. My son told me he wrote the script for one of the films and put together a short animation film as well. It’s my birthday that day, so come join me in the celebration!

I found out by reading Carl in Jerusalem that the National Museum of American Jewish History will be opening in November 2010 in Philadelphia. Philadelphia is only a little over an hour away from Highland Park by car, so we will aim to head to the new museum after it opens.

Dragon of Highland Park

Leora — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:26:21 +0000

Dragon hanging at the Highland Park Public Library

This dragon is on display in the children’s room at the Highland Park Public Library. I took the photo on one of our trips to visit Belle, the therapy dog. Belle is on vacation until February. Have a good holiday, Belle! See you next year.

This is the whole colorful quilt.

For more photos with a little or a lot of red, visit Ruby Tuesday:

Reading with Belle the Dog

Leora — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:59:08 +0000

Belle is a dog. My daughter has been reading to her once a week at the Highland Park Public Library. Last year my daughter struggled with reading even the simplest words. This year she is making progress, and she feels comfortable at her reading sessions with Belle, who is sometimes called a “therapy” dog.

This past week she chose to read a Fancy, Nancy book to Belle. See more of Belle and my daughter on the Highland Park Public Library photo gallery.

I am glad Belle has a red collar, so she can be my Ruby Tuesday post for this week. For more photos with red, visit:

Weekly Review with Pumpkin

Leora — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:03:50 +0000

Pumpkin, detail from watercolor painting of Three Squash, 2009

For a short time only, one can see my pumpkin on the children’s page of the Highland Park Public Library.

Images on my Blog

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

Mottel writes about how and why we don’t blow the shofar on Shabbat
Michelle feels like she fell down the rabbit hole. (oh, dear)
Mary (our wonderful Ruby Tuesday host and much more) wishes a Shana Tova to her Jewish friends.
Highland Parkers (lots of whom I know) cleaned up the mugwort.

Learn Social Media in New Jersey

Leora — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:27:07 +0000

Eva Abreu, a Social Media consultant, will be giving a series of 4 lectures on Social Media at the Highland Park Public Library.

Thursday, September 3: Introduction to Social Media

What exactly is Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn? Learn how to cultivate business relationships online. Find out how much time is needed and how you will benefit. Eva Abreu is who will show you how to plan and implement your Social Media Campaign.
Thursday, September 17: Using Twitter
Learn why everyone is on Twitter, how to set up a profile, and how to choose who to follow. Also, what to “tweet” about using seach features. Finally you will know how to collaborate and connect online and offline.
Thursday, October 1: Using Facebook
Facebook isn’t just for kids. Learn how to set up your profile, the difference between a group and business page, and how to post events.
Thursday, October 15: Blogging – How To Start
Why should you start a blog? Learn what the difference is between a blog and a website. Find out about easy blogging tools, how often to blog, and what to write in a blog.

You may register at the library, by phone or register online.

Tweet This!

Eva’s latest venture is New Jersey Social Media. Learn more on her site.

On November 16, I will be giving a Twitter Research Workshop at the library. More information on that workshop coming soon, including a blog post on how one can do passive or active research on many current topics on Twitter.

16 Beautiful Library Logos

Leora — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:43:21 +0000

Which ones do you like? Do any of these work better for you and why?

Logos pictured (from left to right by row) are from Brandon Township Library, Swathmore College Library, Library Initiative Logo, Free Library of Philadelphia, International School Library Day, Central Savannah River Library Association – CSRA, Oldham County Public Library in Kentucky, Saline District Library in Minnesota, Edgartown Library on Martha’s Vineyard, Goshen Public Library in New York, Miller Library at University of Washington, Highland Park Public Library in Highland Park, New Jersey, Little Falls Public Library in New Jersey, Rosenberg Library in Galveston, Texas, Brookline Public Library in Massachusetts and Princeton Public Library in Princeton, New Jersey.

The Saline District Library link and the Library Initiative Logo link both talk more about library logo design.

Tweet This!

Week in Review with Tulip

Leora — Fri, 01 May 2009 11:58:21 +0000

Orange and yellow tulip in my garden, April 2009

On My Blog

Today’s Flowers: Grape Hyacinths and Creeping Phlox
Watery Wednesday at Sandy Hook
Sky Watch at Sandy Hook
Nature Notes: A Pictorial View of Sandy Hook

A Month of Modern Jewish Holidays

Delicious Pickled Radish

What is RT? (I’ll give you the answer now: it’s Re-Tweet! More on Twitter in future posts)

Upcoming in Highland Park: The Highland Park Public Library is once again having a book sale! (and my neighbors put a lot of energy into putting this together, so three cheers for them. You’ve seen their red bud, magnolia and dogwood trees on my blog). It’s the same weekend as the Annual Street Fair, which is on May 17. If you live in Central New Jersey, you can donate books from May 11 to 14.

Elsewhere on the Web

Coach Lisa on Payment vs. Exposure
From the article:

Some of you get paid to speak; others hope to get paid one day. One thing that we all face as paid speakers is the issue of payment vs. exposure. That is, we will be invited to speak pro bono, or will be offered less than our usual rate, and we’ll have to decide if it’s worth it to take less money in order to get exposure or visibility…only a few of my pro bono speaking engagements have paid off in clients or future speaking engagements. Read the rest.

How to Build Natural Immunity against Swine Flu

Rabbi Yoseph Breuer: the Rav of Frankfurt and Washington Heights (via G6)

Week in Review with Azalea

Leora — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 03:23:44 +0000

A Pink Azalea Bud Opening in April 2009

I had a very busy day on Friday (did work for two clients and I cooked), so I didn’t have time to put up my weekly review. So why not put it up on Saturday night? Enjoy.

On My Blog

Social Media Networking at Central NJ Libraries: I did my first presentation to the Edison Public Library on “Twitter, Blogs and Websites” this past week. As I can say I was very nervous beforehand, afterward I admit I had a wonderful time! Part of it was the supportive group of people with whom I was speaking, and part of it was the great responsive audience.

Yom HaShoa, Holocaust Memorial Day:
A Child of Survivors Writes
Many links to what others have written about Holocaust Memorial Day

Promote a Business without Spam? My interview with Itzhak Schier: if one wants to learn about a topic, write a post!

Windows of Jerusalem: I’ll post the whole building tomorrow. Those who guessed got so close!

Nature Notes: Spring Trees

8 Photo Memes to Improve Your Photography Skills

Mom in Israel hosted KCC; I used it as an opportunity to discuss meat consumption. And I wrote up a recipe for Stuffed Squash with Mushrooms.

Ruby Tuesday at the Circus

Today’s Flowers Visit Macys

Upcoming events in Highland Park/Edison: Thursday night I will be speaking at the Highland Park Public Library. On Tuesday night, related to Israel Independence Day, Rick Black will be reading poetry at the Highland Park Public Library. And Wednesday is the annual walk around the block by RPRY in Edison for Yom Ha’atzmaut, so I suspect I will be taking pictures of children wearing blue and white and waving Israeli flags.

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

My thoughts and condolences go out to Melissa of Sunbonnet Cottage who lost her dear sister this past week.
Mottel has gone on another Eastern European trip with great photos and descriptions.

Social Media Networking at Central NJ Libraries

Leora — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:09:51 +0000

Three Thursdays at Three Libraries in Central New Jersey

Eva Abreu introduces presenter Jessica Levin (standing), Adam Wolf (at laptop)

Last night was the “inaugural” presentation of our Social Media Networking Talks with Eva Abreu as our “Social Media Tour Guide.” Annie Boccio talked about the many friends she has made via social networking. We had a presentation by Paul Grzella about Getting Published in Daily and Weekly Newspapers and MyCentralJersey.com. I presented “Twitter, Blogs and Websites” — more about my presentation in a separate post. Adam Wolf showed ways to target audiences in Facebook; he used his wife’s business, Places Everyone, as an example of how one can attract attention to your site using Twitter and other social media. Jessica Levin taught us how celebrities used traditional media like television and magazines to brand themselves; one can now use social media as a way to brand one’s business or organization.

Thank you to Graham Gudgin for his important role in arranging last night’s talk at the Edison Public Library.

Next week at 7 pm: Highland Park Public Library, 31 North 5th Ave.

One woman asked a question about poor spellers. Can one advertise one’s business via social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs) and misspell words? If it’s a small business, what do you do? Suggestions?