Anythink blog
Borrowing blue: 4 new picture books
Jul 10 2018
Blue colors the pages of four new picture books in compelling and beautiful ways. In these stories and illustrations, blue is the color of sky and moon, day and night. Notably, it is not really a color associated with sadness here, but rather, one used to express something joyful. Borrowing blue...
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Spend your summer under the stars
Jul 2 2018
The summer is my favorite time to stargaze. The winter may offer crisp, clear nights and stunning constellations like Orion and the Pleiades, but in the summer the Milky Way arcs overhead, meteor showers stripe the sky and the balmy temperatures mean all you need is a light jacket to step outside...
Creating double exposure photos with PicsArt
Jun 28 2018
For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a double – or even multiple – exposure is made when a photographer superimposes one negative over another to create a single image. If you’ve ever seen an antique photograph of a transparent, ghostly blur hovering beside someone, then you’re already...
Summer reads: Elmore Leonard
May 31 2018
As the seasons change, so do my reading habits. Dickens is...
Poetry Picks: 'Wild Geese' by Mary Oliver
May 3 2018
The Canadian geese are calling, and I am listening. Their sounds from above recall me to the here and now, to the ground below my feet. The poetry of wild geese in flight has long called out to me, in this way: it reminds me of the present moment and restores me to it. The singular poem, “Wild...
Poetry Picks: 'All' by Bei Dao
Apr 24 2018
Back before my time at Anythink, I was a real nerd. After spending a single hour trying my best not to over-celebrate the fact that I was touching books Benjamin Franklin had set the type for, I realized I needed a job handling this kind of material. And I wanted it right then. And after walking...
Poetry Picks: 'The Wren from Carolina' by Mary Oliver
Apr 20 2018
Like much of Mary Oliver’s work, The Wren from Carolina (text below) speaks to that voice inside all of us that cries out on occasion in soft gratefulness: for the first signs of spring, or the unspoken kind gesture, or perhaps for the comfort of a great book on one’s lap. This poem always makes...
Poetry picks: ‘Daddy’ by Sylvia Plath
Apr 18 2018
I don’t recall the first time I read Sylvia Plath‘s poetry, but I do know that I was likely in my late teens/early 20s and already an enthusiast of the form. I was even a dabbler myself, though the moody and...
Appreciating John Muir
Apr 16 2018
For anyone who likes to see the forest from the trees, stories about John Muir are likely to be a source of interest and inspiration. A bold and attentive naturalist, Muir traveled in and wrote about many of America’s wild places during the second half of the 19th century and the start of the 20th...
5 tips to improve your mobile photography skills
Apr 13 2018
It’s no secret that the digital age has transformed all of us into shutterbugs, which has created an explosion of amateur photojournalists and news anchors across social media. This is a wonderful, beautiful thing, no matter how the naysayers may grumble about the finer points of the subject. The...
Poetry picks: 'Totally' by Tony Hoagland
Apr 10 2018
Throughout April Anythinkers are sharing their favorite poems in honor of National Poetry Month. To start things off, I will discuss one of my all-time favorites: “Totally” by Tony Hoagland.
I first encountered Tony Hoagland’s work in...
Mobile learning: Lynda.com on-the-go with your Anythink card
Apr 9 2018
By now, you may know about one of Anythink's most amazing resources: Lynda.com, a leading online learning platform that helps anyone learn business, software, technology and creative skills to achieve personal and professional goals. Lynda....
'Score': Listening to movies
Apr 2 2018
Try to imagine the shower scene in Psycho without shrieking violins. Or Jaws without the accelerating two-note theme that signals the arrival of the shark. Or Star Wars without blazing brass playing over the main title crawl.
Music and film, according to the recent documentary...
5 tips to keep reading harder
Mar 29 2018
We’re nearly three months into the 2018 Read Harder Challenge, and I am further behind in crossing titles off of my list than I care to admit. After a not so great showing last year, I am committed to completing...
How to get the most out of Anythink’s Open Studio hours
Mar 27 2018
“The Studio at Anythink creates experience centered around production and puts interest-driven, informal learning into action."
When it comes to interest-driven and informal learning, there is no list of rules for every person to follow. Everyone experiences life in different and beautiful ways,...
Sound design for film: Two essential tips for recording
Mar 27 2018
Sound design is an important part of any successful film or score, and some will even argue it’s the most vital component of any multimedia project. It’s why the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has whole Oscar categories for Sound Editing and Sound Mixing – if no one bothered to edit...
Paying for a music streaming subscription? Hoopla is free!
Mar 1 2018
There's a chance you might be paying $10 a month – $120 a year – for a music subscription service. But did you know you can also stream for free with your library card and hoopla digital? With this service, you can search through practically any album you...
Inadvertent travel books: 5 novels
Feb 28 2018
Scotland was the beginning for me. I chose to read Susanna Kearsley’s The Winter Sea, a novel set in Scotland, seeking time...
An intro to Adobe Premiere Pro: 5 tools for beginners
Feb 28 2018
Adobe’s Premiere Pro CC is an absurdly fun software to play with when you’re looking to develop stylish, professional-grade home films. Whether it’s being done for commercial purposes to advertise your brand or business, for an academic or...
Fairy tales are for everyone
Feb 27 2018
After he won his twentieth Grand Slam Singles title at the Australian Open last month, Roger Federer stepped up to the microphone onstage while choking back tears and said, “The fairytale continues.”
Fairy tales aren’t just a genre of storytelling. In our lexicon, the two words have become one,...