Ola, Buffistas!

The Kickstarter Project I've been working on has gone live. I want to think everybody who helped in the early formation, in particular Raq who was very enthusiastic and gave me a lot of materials to work with.

The project itself is a very innovative mix of crafting, STEM education focused particularly on girls, gaming and fantasy adventure. Really talented people working on this project: career toymakers, educators, television writers, illustrators, the composer Evan Lurie. And as I've discussed elsewhere, they've got a revolutionary bit of proprietary technology in its computer interface through the crafting jewelry that I think is a bit of a game changer. And the jewelry itself is really quite pretty and well made.

So, please take a second to peruse the short introduction video.

[link]

Posted for Juliana: Alexandra Dorothea was born around 8:30 p.m on Wednesday Nov 18th. She weighed 9.5 pounds and was 21 inches long, and shares a birthdate with her maternal Grandmother.

As most of the funders know, my friend's Kickstarter has been pulled. I'll share Ellen's note, because she was particularly appreciative of the Buffistas interest and support.

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So, many of you may have already heard that Giapetta's Workshop was pulled from Kickstarter this afternoon. It was determined that, for many reasons, and others that we probably won't ever know, we would never reach our goal within 30 days. We have been encouraged to think of this not as a failure, but as an opportunity to rethink, simplify, and reimagine the best way to bring our extraordinary technology and other assets to everyone.

I have been a museum educator and interpretive designer for over 25 years. I strongly believe in the importance and value and beauty of the arts and education and what they contribute to each of us and to our society. I believe in Giapetta's Workshop's goals and mission and with a lot of hard work and creativity we have every intention of relaunching this product in the coming months.

Thank you to all who backed us financially, who shared our links with their friends and families and colleagues, who gave me contact names and organizations and those who just gave so much emotional support during this really intense entrepreneurial experiment. None of it will go to waste. I have learned so much from this process - about teamwork and management, about creativity and quality work, about success and challenges, about professionalism, loyalty and friendship. I am indebted to so many of you and while ending the campaign is super difficult, my heart is so full with the love and support I have received from so many of you and I know you'll be there as we work through the next steps and come back even stronger.

And finally - I just have to mention that of the nearly 100 backers, the biggest number was from the Kenyon community, with the amazing Buffistas coming in third. I can't even describe how grateful I am to those groups and to those who helped nurture us along.

With much love and gratitude... - Ellen

am in Northside Hospital in Atlanta. I suddenly became dizzy and fell several times. It turns out I had a severe electrolyte imbalance, either due to the cancer or the chemo. I'm feeling much better, and they hope to have some idea about the cause tomorrow. I'll try to keep y'all updated in Natter.

Right now, the nightmarish part of this is in the confusion grabbing my stuff and dealing with Mr Peabody, who bit the EMT,they wouldn't give me time to find my phone. I begged for a phone for 10 hours, and it turns out that I can't call long distance anyway and can't call locally after 9. They finally gave me disposition to call my mother once.

I grabbed my tablet, but I don't have a lot of passwords, including for e-mail. I hope I can figure out something tomorrow.

Ginger is in the ICU at Northside. She was transported from the rehab facility last night. She has family and friends with her.

I'm updating in Natter, but I guess I should put an update here. Ginger was moved to hospice care tonight. Doctors are saying a day or two.

Ginger has passed on. It was peaceful and rather swift at the end.

Flowers can be sent to her mother after she returns home. I don't have any more details on that yet.

I'm sorry, my friends.

Quick Note:

Our Laura had an emergency appendectomy and has been in the hospital. She's doing fine, but since it's well advertised on FB wanted to make sure everybody here knew.

I'm home! It is going to take a bit before I get caught up. Thanks to all for the warm wishes and ~ma. Some stop~the~stabbing~wound~pains~in~the~belly ~ma would still be welcome.