Sonlight's Latest

...will be revealed Monday.

Until that time, I will only give you a teaser image:


Coming Soon...

I am super excited!

Don't forget to get your pictures in before Sunday!

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

Ethics, God, and Debate

Read this long article and the comments that follow.


JJ

For those who don't have the time to read a long article, I'll try to sum it up:

A "religious studies" professor states that he is completely different from a theology professor because he focuses on how and why religions exist (from a social level) whereas theologians focus on defending a made up set up beliefs (from an errant view). He is thus, naturally, frustrated that the two are so often lumped together. There's also a bit about how theology leads to no knowledge but only lies because god doesn't exist...

The comments tear this article apart (for the most part), though there is a rather interesting comment that seems to agree.


I've not really had an idea of what to say about all this, but it reminded me of a debate recently held at my alma mater. Now, people can disagree that God exists, but I think Craig did a good job of showing that God does exist. And, from the articles linked at the bottom of the announcement, Craig had the better argument.

But, as Doug TenNapel points out:

Hitchens won the debate. It's not the argument of the debaters, it's the condition of the audience that wins the day. While few of Dr. Craig's arguments are dispersed through culture, even religious culture, I've been raised on most of Hitchens' arguments. Dr. Craig's arguments are true and well-reasoned by difficult to comprehend on a first hearing. Hitchens' arguments are what we'll find spoken against God on prime time television, at the water-cooler, I've even heard some of them on Animal Planet. Culture generally makes Hitchens' argument by default. And it's easier to claim the skeptic's nothing than affirm the something of God...

I find this kind of thing fascinating, and important to consider.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

P.S. There is a new Box Day Flair at the bottom of the Widgets page.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

I'm back!

While on my short vacation I had the opportunity to start reading and thinking about two books that have some interesting applications (implications?) for Sonlight... but since I haven't had a chance to spend too much time with them yet, I'm not going to tell you about my thoughts in this post. <Bwahahaha ha!>

Instead, I will quickly remind you that Sonlight's Photo Contest ends this Sunday!

So, if you want your beautiful pictures to have a chance of ending up in the Sonlight catalog, or on the cover like Ariana's family (she mentions it toward the bottom of the post), then you need to start snappin' and submittin' your photos!

The good news is that, because of the work we did last week, you can now upload huge .jpg images.

What are you waitin' for? Send in your Sonlight pictures now.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

P.S. And don't forget: I'd love to add your Box Day stories to the Sonlight Box Day page as well.

Timelines and Timetables

Organizational skills are essential to get through huge projects like MathTacular or Discover & Do. In editing, you must keep track of hundreds of activities with many little clips and graphics and audio files which all combine to make hours of educational fun.

But sometimes my internal organization and penchant for order gets hijacked by the necessity of getting something done quickly. ...always with the hope that I will never have to go back and sort out the mess again later. Like the timeline I was building just a few hours ago:


Messy Layers on a Timeline

It's always nice to have tools that can help you keep track of everything, especially as need arises to make changes. And in homeschooling, Sonlight's IGs can be a huge help in this area. In media production... I have no such handy tool.


And just a heads up: I'm going to go visit in the in-laws for an extended weekend, so I probably won't see you all until Wednesday. We leave tonight sometime after 9pm, and your thoughts and prayers are much appreciated as we travel.


Have a great weekend, friends!

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

P.S. Since I am trying not to compare my rather juvenile writing to the brilliance of others, I am happy to refer you to Billy's post about good days. It is excellent. And you'll find that post and lots of other interesting bits from the blogosphere in what I think are Other Posts of Note.

A Few Fun Images

A couple evenings ago one of my friends, Marie, came by and we did a photoshoot. My best friend, Jason, is really good at photography, and we keep trying to find subjects he can practice on... and I tag along because it's fun.

We were shooting in what will be Eduard's room, and our model suggested we snap some pictures of her reading some of the children's books. Jason then came up with the brilliant idea of having her read Time for Friends. And, sure, I stayed up past midnight that evening, but I got to help my best friend practice his photography and got an awesome promotional picture for my little book:


Marie Reading Time for Friends

[By the by, Marie said the story was super cute. So... you should get a copy if you don't have one already <smile>]

In even more directly Sonlight related news, we have debugged an issue surrounding submitting large images to our Photo Contest. You can now upload .jpg images that are up to 25MB... which is huge. And we've said that you could for a long time now, but now you really can.

In attempting to fix the bug, I had to run a couple of tests. Here are the results from one of them:


Bob - The Fictional non-Homeschooling Sonlighter


And one more little thing:

If you open an image of any of Sonlight's products, you will now be greeted by this cheery little guy while your image loads:

See if you can find him--er... "it"?--floating around Sonlight's website...

Enjoy!

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

Gambit, Gamut and Gauntlet

Gambit: an opening remark intended to secure an advantage for the speaker (wordnetweb)

And now that you are all supremely interested and feel that I know what I'm talking about, I will shatter that myth.

Because the word I was looking for this morning was actually: Gamut-a complete extent or range.

But other than gambit, the only other word I could think of was gauntlet, which also isn't right. Though, when I came in this morning, I felt that the gamut of my experience was a gauntlet because the gambit of an email I sent yesterday was wrong.

Luke turns on his computer and discovers that the email he sent yesterday had the wrong subject line. Luke thinks to himself, 'Self, this is less than ideal. Good thing it only went to 28,000 people...'

Luke proceeds to struggle to focus for the rest of the day while everyone scrambles to figure out how to make it right.

Which is the other possible title for today's post:

D'oh! The Turning of a Big Ship

Sonlight isn't huge as far as corporations go, but we are bigger than when my mom and dad pretty much did everything back in the day. Then, if something like this had happened, my dad would write an apology and send it.

Done.

Today it's a little different. We get a bunch of feedback, have a writer synthesize that down, get it approved, tested, tweaked, coded, and finally sent...

The good part of all this is that we can be methodical, careful, get wise counsel and ultimately help more people. But it's certainly slower than if Sonlight were a one man band.

We're no longer a sailboat that can tack--hmm... turns out it's actually "beating"--its way up a stream, but we can help many, many more people get to where they want to go.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

Is It All In Your Head?

I have a sensitivity to wheat. If I eat something "wheated" then something goes wonky in my body and I suddenly have difficulty responding to negative situations appropriately. But I didn't figure this out until I was in college.

And it took a while for me to believe that wheat did, indeed, throw me off.

In fact, it wasn't until a year of not eating wheat had gone by that I could feel the shift if I had any. And there were enough times when I ate wheat without realizing it--and freaked out; only to discover that, say, Teriyaki sauce contains wheat--that I came to accept the fact that I have a sensitivity.

But before that, I was pretty sure it was just a negative placebo. An excuse. Life was just really horrible when I had an "episode"--the wheat, just a convenient scapegoat.

My distrust of my body's signals was due in large part to the fact that I know placebos work. People really do get better taking sugar tablets they believe are a wonder drug. Which, I guess, further indicates how right my mother-in-law is: We know so little about how our bodies work, there are many things the medical world just doesn't know yet. Like, what's up with wheat sensitivities.


This morning I came across this very short paragraph about educational placebos, and it got me thinking. Give it a read; I'll wait.

...

Much like my wheat sensitivity, I don't think education is a placebo. But there is something to be said for the mystery of how education works. Everything from radical unschooling to the most strict and mass-produced of public educations have lead to some wild successes as well as dismal failures.

How? Why?

<shrug>

What this does mean is that homeschooling is a fantastic option. Perhaps not a panacea, but also not a placebo. And homeschooling with Sonlight could be just what the doctor ordered...

(figuratively speaking, of course)

 ~Luke Holzmann
A Friend, Not A Doctor

Marketing

Three posts on marketing today: one, two, three.

And me?

Well, I have a few thoughts bumping around, but nothing solid.

Amy Bayliss' post further indicated the need for me--and my best friend, Jason--to get our book out (raise your hand if you knew I was working on writing a book). Dana Hanley's post made me think of my gamer wife (who plays World of Warcraft, Sims, and FreeCol, not Barbie's Disney Musical Dress Up Shopping Pony Show III). And my dad's post contained a very interesting video link that was, well, interesting. And I'd be interested in your thoughts (especially if you have a rebuttal, which I will then ask you to send to Perry <smile>).

But all that has almost nothing to do with the rest of this post.

I'm part of Sonlight's Marketing Team. And that sometimes feels very odd to me because... well, most of the time I really dislike marketing. I've read and listened to many marketing "gurus" who spout off their "surefire ways to make a trillion dollars in your PJs from home in less than six minutes, your money back, guaranteed" with such amazing steps as:

1. Sit at home in your PJs
2. Do a ton of market research to find a product you can sell for a trillion bucks
3. Create said product
4. Find a person to buy it
5. Sell it to them by using things that motivate them to action (be very specific)
6. Reap the rewards 6 minutes later

It could just be me, but I don't resonate with that kind of thing.

I also just don't "get" the idea of getting the word out so more people will buy. I resist "hard sales" and "cold calls" and talking up your product in a "salesy" way. I hate most sales copy I read--it just feels pushy and insincere to me, in the most falsely sincere way. And I think I have very odd views of marketing in general. And even when I wrote good copy for my production company's website, I didn't get any clients. So, what am I doing here?


I'm connecting with people so I can do my best to help them.


And that is something I love doing. And that's something Sonlight is big on: Letting people know how we can help them. Not making money--though that is essential for us to keep doing what we're doing--but helping homeschool families around the world. Helping you educate your children. And I can get behind that.

I love doing it.

And if I have to post videos of an attractive young woman talking about everything Sonlight gives you in an Instructor's Guide... well, I'll do it, even if it is an obvious marketing ploy of using youth and beauty to sell the0 product <smile>. [the videos aren't very clearly marked; click on any of the little links under "Relax and enjoy homeschooling your children"]

By the by, that "attractive young woman" in the videos is Laura Lee, one of our copywriters. She is currently in the hospital giving birth to her first child. Please be praying for her and the baby.

Thanks!

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

Get 'er done

I haven't watched much Larry the Cable Guy, nor am I recommending that you do. But his phrase "git-r-done" (which, I think, should be written as "get 'er done"--hence this post's title) can get funnier the more times it's repeated and the later it gets.

I'm just sayin'.

But there are times when I feel like I just can't get it all done. And sometimes that's depressin'. But if I remind myself that it's okay, that I'm never going to do everything, that the fact that there is more to do is a good indication that there is still purpose to life ...well, then it's not too bad.

It's harder when you can't get everything done because you're waiting on a few elements to come together. And I am.

Waiting.

Once they get here--my kids, a few updates to Sonlight, a couple new features and tools--well, then there will be much rejoicing--yay. Until then, I need to be okay with the fact that I can't do it all, that I have to wait, and that Monday will come with renewed opportunities to work on things that we didn't get to today.

Have a great weekend!

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

I have never been so keyed up

[title link here]

Seriously?

No one else gets all giddy about Box Day stories?

Well, I do.

They make me so happy. And that's why I want to share them with you (and I want you to share them with me so I can share them with the world!). Toward that end, I have started another blog--for ease of updating--where I will post the Box Day stories you send to me. I already have a few up, so please send me yours!

boxday.blogspot.com

Hop on over there, get some inspiration, and then send me your Box Day story.

Please!

...oh, and commenting and letting me know how much you enjoy reading said stories is also a very acceptable course of action at this point. Thanks! <smile>

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

I Can Haz Box Day Stories?

[title link here]

Okay, I'm super excited: I'm working on a new little project to highlight Sonlight Box Day stories.

But to be able to do that, I need yours.

And those of your friends.

...what?

No! Not the boxes themselves; your Box Day stories! <sheesh> People thinking I want to take away their Sonlight materials... <smile>

So, please, if you have a Box Day story, send it to me! I would love pictures and video clips too (if you have them on your blog, Photobucket or YouTube account already, just send me the link; it makes it easier for me).

Send your Box Day stories--and any applicable media/links--to: lholzmann[at]sonlight.com

Don't forget to come up with a clever title for your story if you have one. If not, I'll come up with something slightly less clever but still effective.

When I've got a few stories, I'll make this thing public.

...it's gonna be awesome <smile>.

Not sure what Box Day is? Feeling lost and a little left out? Don't fret, there are a few examples of Box Day stories in my Other Posts of Note. Speaking of which, there is an article by Rebecca LuElla Miller that I think is, well, a a post of note, so give it a read.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

Insecure

'What am I, 12?'

I ask myself that every now and again.

Because I feel that way every now and again.

And I think I've been this way since I turned 13.

I'm insecure. I get bogged down. I'm immature.

Yesterday was one of those days. I struggled to write my post. And after I hit "Publish" I almost went back to add:

ETA: This is a lame post. Feel free to skip. Sorry for wasting your time.

And, as if to prove how far off my preconceptions are, I got fantastic comments that were totally encouraging.

And I read Lysa Terkeurst's latest post which reminded me that half of my insecurity stems from trying to prove that I'm better--or, at least, equal to--other bloggers. 'My thoughts matter! I'm important! Believe in me!'

How quickly I forget that I have specific gifts and talents and I need to use to bless others, not try to make myself look better. You'd think I'd remember a lesson that I first wrote about back in 2006. But no. No, I like to compare myself to every measuring stick that's taller than me. I want to hear not just that I'm "doing enough," but that I'm rocking!

And, being as narcissistic as I am, I'm guessing you're feeling the same way about some area of your life. If that is, say, homeschooling, stop comparing yourself to those who finish a Core in 6 weeks and then move on to differential calculus with their seven year old. Those kinds of tales, while impressive, are usually just depressing because then I wonder what I was doing at that age (search for "composer")...

That's why I much prefer to read stories from people who are successful but not superstars. They're encouraging because I could see myself get there with just a little more time and effort.

And you can too, it just may take a little time and effort.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

Evil Prevails

They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."

~Lord of War (there is language on the quotes page)

I strive to be a good man, but I rarely act.

In fact, just this weekend I chatted with my best friend about a political hot topic: Abortion. Since I read blogs of all persuasions, I was giving him some of the reasons that I've read recently that come from "the other side."

After a while he looked at me and said, "Where are you coming from with all this? You state these opposing views but you never say where you stand. What are you getting at?"

I said, "The current arguments are getting us nowhere. It's the same with homosexuality and a bunch of other issues: People just aren't discussing this because they're calling each other names. I want to find a way where we can keep talking."

"That's the difference," he replied. "The other side is coming from such a different worldview/perspective that we can't talk. And that's not going to stop me from trying to get involved at a legislative level to get our nation going in the right direction."

That was sobering to me. And the point is well taken. But...

But these are my friends, people I care for, fellow bloggers who are really smart, good people... they merely look at the world from a completely different perspective. And while I firmly believe their perspective is flawed/wrong, they're not going to see it my way, especially if I keep using phrases that point out the "evils" of their way of thinking.


And even if I did speak up, does it help?

I read a post earlier today that demonized a popular Christian figure. I left a comment that I thought was well reasoned, backed with Scripture, and gave another view. I'm not sure how it will be received, and I doubt the comment will be published. And, ever since posting my response, I've wondered: Should I have just kept my mouth shut? Am I helping anyone (especially Sonlight) by challenging people to think through their ideas?

I write such responses because I want to be active on the blogosphere, but does it help people think through things better? Is it helpful?


Presuppositions. Pet ideas. Hidden agendas. Assumptions. All of these allow bad ideas to prevail, which then, in turn, allows evil to prevail.

Even if you can come up with rock-solid logic that cuts to the heart of the issue, the heart of the issue doesn't matter. Evil still prevails.

Much like religious discrimination in our nation.


May your family continue to strive to be good, have the wisdom to know when and how to act, and may we all rest in the grace given to us while evil continues to prevail. Because, yes, evil prevails, but it doesn't win.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

4 Years!

Brittany and I were married 4 years ago today.




You can see a few more pictures from our wedding on our abandoned family blog. The wedding went great! ...I just had a huge zit on my forehead that popped up that morning and the haircut I got was way, way too short. Good memories <smile>.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

P.S. In other news, we shipped two boxes to our first Sonlight Sweepstakes winner. Congratulations, Tonya! We look forward to cheering with you on your first Box Day!

A Little Help from My Friends

Thank you to everyone here and on Facebook who helped me figure out that math issue yesterday. I knew that was what was wrong but I couldn't get my head around it. Y'all are the best!

And having friends who can help you figure stuff out is super important with things that are complex but can be hugely rewarding. And this post got me thinking about it even more.

Growing up I played a cheap knock-off version of Tetris--which, I've since found out, is probably okay because of the sordid legal history of the Russian game (check out the documentary my wife really liked: Tetris: From Russia with Love).

No one really had to explain the game to me. I figured it out pretty fast.

But since that time, I've started playing World of Warcraft. And, as Seth points out in his post: WoW is far more immersive than Tetris (though, I would add, both can be equally addicting <smile>). In fact, it really helps to have someone who knows the game sit down with you when you start playing WoW. They can explain everything, show you how it works, and get you pointed in the right direction as you set out on your first quest to clear the forest of unwanted pests that are ruining the lives of the locals.

And that's probably one of the many reasons Blizzard includes a 10-Day Free Trial account with every copy of the game.


Tetris vs. WoW

The same is true of Sonlight. Unlike some other programs, it really helps to have someone sit down with you and talk you through Sonlight the first time (or two). Many people come to Sonlight because a friend showed them how it works and got excited about starting their own journey.

If you want to know more about Sonlight but don't have a friend who will "show you the ropes" by sitting down with you and showing you how it works, then contact one of the Sonlight Curriculum Advisors who can answer your questions and get you started.

Want to help some noobs get started in the world of Sonlight? Want to get some coin for passing on your love of Sonlight to others? Then become a Sonlight Affiliate, and let us reward you for giving a little help to us and your friends.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

Updates, Outtakes, and Odd Dates

First, some really cool news on the Sonlight website front:

1. We now have a new Cart at Sonlight.com. Hop on over there and look in the upper right corner of the window. There's an awesome "View Cart" button that pops out from the side. How cool is that?

Pretty cool.

2. We've extended our free Live Chat hours! That means that you can get help from a Customer Relations representative until 7pm Mountain Time. How cool is that? Well, to loosely borrow from the kid in The Incredibles:

That is totally wicked!


On to MathTacular:

"What percent of ½ is an eighth?" Easy, but just in case you're a little rusty, I'll break it out for you:

x * ½ = ⅛ (divide both sides by ½)
x = ⅛/½ (solve division of fractions by flipping and multiplying^*)
x = ⅛ * 2/1 -> x = ¼ -> x = 0.25 (multiply by 100 to get a %)
x = 25%

But then we turned it into a word problem:
"What percentage of half the income of the farm (which is how much is used to pay wages) is paid to one of the eight farm hands?"

Working out the numbers we naturally get 25% again... but wait, there are 8 guys, so how could any of them get ¼ of the money?

...umm...


cipherin'

No matter how I worked it, I couldn't get it to make sense. I ended up with things like:

x% = 1/400% workers
$1 * $8 = ⅛
and my personal favorite: x% * ½y = ⅛

But if I stuck with just the numbers, I got 25% every time.

I know it has something to do with how we're saying the problem, but I can't figure it out. And I don't often get this stumped. I mean, especially when I understand the math--I can solve the numbers in a flash--but for some reason the moment I add in the units the whole thing falls apart.

And I'm still stumped.

But I know the moment someone shows me where I've got it wrong everything will be clear. At the moment, however, I have killed math. Math is dead.


Speaking of fun numbers and death, today, for a moment, it was 04:05:06 07/08/09... which, I'm pretty sure, will not happen again for another hundred years in 2109. At which point, I will likely be dead.


Dave

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

^*Proof: Solve for ⅛/½
We can multiply both the top and the bottom by 1 and the answer will remain the same: ⅛/½ * 1/1 = ⅛/½. But any number over itself is still just 1.

So, we can have 2/2 = 1

Multiply both the top and the bottom by that
⅛/½ * 2/2 -> (⅛ * 2)/(½ *2) -> (⅛ * 2)/1 and that is just:
⅛ * 2

Fried

I had an idea this morning about something I could write about that wasn't the MathTacular shoot.

But I have since forgotten what it was.

Perhaps this is due, in part, to the fact that I am fried.


Fried

It is also due to the fact that I did not scribble myself a note of what it was that I needed to remember. And that is always a problem because I don't remember things too well in my old age <smile>.

Actually, it probably has less to do with my deteriorating mind and more to do with all the stuff that's rattling around in it. These jumbled thoughts tend to cause me to become completely confused. Like, this morning, when I wrote a note about the "Primate" email... that was actually a "Private" email.

And just now I read something that had to do with feedback not Facebook.

...I think it's time for me to go home...

If you're fried today, may you get the rest you need tonight so tomorrow is incredibly productive and full of joy.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

P.S. Thankfully, I was alert enough to catch the misused "costed" on set today, which immediately caused me to think of similar words, like caustic and accosted...

Foam and Furtherance

Sometimes to move forward you must go back.

Almost sounds like a fortune cookie.

Every once in a while we have to re-watch a clip we just shot to try to sort out what we want to change. Much of what we do is ad-lib based off what we've agreed is the best way to teach something. We discuss, and then Justin stands up and says it. And then we have to cut and try again, tweaking his words here and there. Unfortunately, sometimes we'll forget what it is we wanted to change and so we rewind the tape and watch it again.


Amber Taking Notes on a Scene We Just Shot

On the technical side of things, I have to remember to record some "post roll" before rewinding. I do this by placing my hand over the lens and recording about 10 seconds. If I don't do that, we can have a break in "time code"--the numbers that keep track of how far into the tape we've recorded and are used by the computer when capturing--or we accidentally record over something we've already shot.

Guess how many times I did that before I learned my lesson?

Yeah.

In other news, we did a fun little thing on camera that ended up with overflowing foam. It turned out beautifully. You can tell because we were all laughing once I stopped the camera.


Foam

So even if you feel like you're taking a few steps back today, may you press on to even greater heights! ...especially if there's a controlled mess along the way. <smile>

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

Impending Wave

This morning I had the very distinct feeling that, even though nothing was pressing at the moment--in fact, I was literally between projects and so had "nothing" to do--there was a giant wave building behind me. ...almost as if I would be over my head and drowning when it broke.


Impending Wave of Doom

The good news is that the wave never crashed.

Which is nice because it's going to be a three day weekend, and I'm glad I don't have to think about what I didn't get to today. Instead, a few hours later I turned around on set and saw this:


Toga

Good stuff.

Have a great Fourth, and I'll see you all on Monday.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

Exploding Lights

We got onto set and were ready to get going, so I flipped on the lights.

There was a slight "pop" and the light was dead.

So I went to work replacing the bulb.


Changing the Bulb

[NB: If you didn't watch the short clip there, the rest of this post won't make much sense...]

It turns out that it wasn't the bulb. I think it may have been the light's fuse, but I haven't had a chance to try changing that yet. Instead, I just got out another light and we kept going.


Setting Up Another Light taken by Justin (his foot is in frame)

Now, why is it that bulbs can explode if you handle them with your greasy fingers? I wasn't totally sure, and I'm still not. But after reading over this post, I think I have an answer that makes sense (please, someone correct me if I'm wrong here):

The grease heats up at a different rate than the rest of the bulb, thereby creating a difference in how much the glass expands compared to that which is around it. This causes tension which can break the bulb since the glass is brittle. And, because the bulbs are manufactured with a vacuum, the sudden intake of air makes the popping noise.

Look at that: Science at work on the set of a math DVD. I love how learning more lets us see how things are intertwined and connected.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father