“Great Ancient China Projects” was selected to the Indiebound Fall ‘08 Kids’ Indie Next List, a collection of “inspired recommendations for kids from Indie Booksellers.”

Another story from The Black & White’s Richard Scordato, about the presentation Steven and I did at Bethesda Elementary, our old elementary school from way back when:

Author Lance Kramer and illustrator Steven Weinberg, creators of the children’s story book “Great Ancient China Projects You Can Build Yourself,” visited Bethesda Elementary students to speak about their careers Dec. 2.

Bethesda Elementary staff felt the visit would be an educational experience for students.

“I wanted the children to learn more about living the life of a writer and an artist and to recognize that people have different strengths,” says Karen Sanchez, Bethesda elementary reading specialist. “I also wanted our students to gain more insight into the writing process. They need to realize that working hard in elementary school is important, and that they should put forth their best effort.”

The visit focused on engaging students in reading and writing.

“The presenters shared experiences from their lives, as they articulated their paths to becoming an author and illustrator,” says Sanchez. “They also showed photographs of and shared information on China, discussed how the book evolved, and guided the children through the steps of making an abacus, which was one of the crafts in the book.”

Kramer and Weinberg initiated the visit after expressing interest in speaking to the students.

“Over the summer, Lance dropped off a copy of the book and offered to present to our students, so we met to plan the presentation,” says Sanchez. “It was a great opportunity, because Lance and Steven attended Bethesda Elementary. Even Lance’s kindergarten teacher attended the assembly.”

Students learned a lot about literature as well as China itself. “They learned things about China’s history and culture, the importance of persistence to reach a goal and about the writing and illustrating process,” says fourth grade teacher Christine McCord.

Many teachers were also impressed by the presentation and felt that the students learned a lot.

“The students definitely benefitted from the visit, and as a classroom teacher, I enjoyed listening to them talk,” says third grade teacher Christopher Zukoski. “Not only did they talk about writing and illustrating their book, but they also took the kids from the beginning of their writing in third grade to the present time. They even still had the books they had produced in third grade, which they shared with the kids.”

Parts of the presentation also focused on how even students have the potential to write novels.

“I think one of the greatest parts of the presentation was the author’s emphasis on how what they liked to do as kids carried them through school, and how they were able to continue to enjoy doing those things as adults,” says third grade teacher Jeanine Derr. “The hands-on approach to the activities was great too.”

Bethesda Elementary staff members expressed their hope for a return visit. “We would love to have them back again,” says Sanchez. “Lance and Steven were great with the children, and we enjoyed their visit and are looking forward to their next project!”

A story by Richard Scordato about our book, as published in the Oct. 27 edition of my old high school newspaper, The Black & White:

For most young children, ancient China symbolizes nothing but a blur of iconic images: the Great Wall, dragons, porcelain figures and emperors. Determined to give toddlers a proper introduction to the social and cultural importance of China, Whitman graduates Lance Kramer (‘02) and Steven Weinberg (‘02) recently published “Great Ancient China Projects You Can Build Yourself,” a storybook that teaches children about ancient China through interactive, hands-on activities. The book is one installment of a build-it-yourself series of children’s books printed by Nomad Press.

The book includes 25 different projects for children ages nine and up. Activities include creating a Chinese puppet, a compass, a paper snowflake, homemade ice cream and a Chinese string instrument. The book also provides history, trivia and interesting facts about China. Each chapter includes a vocabulary section with meanings of different Chinese characters.

Kramer graduated from Dartmouth College (‘06) and worked as a school teacher in Ethiopia as well as a freelance writer in Portland. After two years in Portland, he returned to the east coast to work as a field organizer for the Obama campaign in Virginia and a reporter for the Willamette Week paper in Washington D.C..

Weinberg, who illustrated the book, graduated with a double major in art and government from Colby College and currently resides as an artist in San Francisco. He also finds time to travel the world to expand his artistic vision. “My girlfriend and I traveled for the last two years,” he says. “We lived in Beijing for six months and then in Southeast Asia. We also went to West Africa, and I did a lot of paintings there.”

As long time friends, Kramer and Weinberg decided to collaborate their efforts for the book shortly after the publishing process began. “I was mostly finished with the book when I got Steven involved,” Kramer says. “I self-publish a free arts magazine called Cahoots, and Steven had done some work for the magazine while he was in China teaching. I loved the drawings he did for the magazine. He had an incredible knack for adapting the Asian style but also making it his own.”

Kramer approached the publishing company he had formerly worked for with the original idea for the storybook. “I worked with the publishers in college under a paid editorial internship and had done similar books on different cultures like Egypt, Greece and colonial America,” he says. “We talked about how there was no book from Asia, and with the Beijing Olympics, China seemed like a natural choice. I pitched the idea, and they liked it.”

For Weinberg and Kramer, the creative process proved to be extremely time-consuming. “[The process started] around June 2006, and the publishing company signed me in Sept. of 2006,” Kramer says. “The writing, editing, lay-out and publishing, start to finish, took 2 years. We had a clear goal; we knew we wanted to come out before the Olympics.”

Illustrating the book consumed much of the publishing time. “I heard about the book around October and November,” Weinberg adds. “Around January and February, I did the bulk of the work. This book came out kind of quickly because I hopped on just at the right time. It’s very rare for a book to get published so quickly.”

Kramer and Weinberg became friends while attending Bethesda Elementary School. “We met in second grade,” Kramer says. “We would play baseball together and hang out after school all the time. Since then, we’ve been great friends.”

Kramer worked for the Black & White during his time at Whitman. “I was the Editor-in-Chief of the Black & White, which was pretty essential in starting me off in writing. I wrote a bunch on my own, but when I started writing for the Black & White, I had an editor and a deadline, and my work was read by people other than my friends. I gained self-confidence in my writing through working on the paper, learning how to critique my friends’ writings and understanding others’ criticisms.”

Taking art classes at Whitman helped inspire Weinberg to pursue his artistic career. “I had great art teachers,” he says. “The art department was really strong and it kept me thinking that art was what I wanted to do after graduation.”

Weinberg plans to continue with his artistic endeavors. “I’m working on a graphic novel based off my own travels around the world these past few years,” he says. “It’s also about the friends we met on the way.”

Kramer attributes his personal success to his outlook on being a writer. “Don’t think that living off writing is what it means to be a writer,” he says. “The whole reason I put this book together is because I felt that this was a cool opportunity for people who don’t think of themselves as writers to prove that they can be.”

From Willamette Week’s MusicFestNW 2008 Guide:

Trio Subtonic:

[FUNKY JAZZ] In the spirit of Medeski, Martin & Wood, Trio Subtonic’s Galen Clark, Jesse Brook and Bill Athens almost always manage to inject a healthy dose of funk into their jazz experiments. The Portland trio’s style also has a diverse range — drawing from influences as diverse as Brazilian traditional rhythms and the turntablist wizardry of DJ Papercuts.

Strangers Die Every Day:

[ELEGIAC CHAMBER PUNK] This part orchestral, part prog-rock outfit from Portland combines cello, drums, bass and violin in intense, emotional and spine-tingling atmospheric compositions that sound like Hollywood’s next brilliant film score. Fixate your pupils on the band’s impressive virtuosity.

Bodies of Water:

[WESTERN POP] Hailing from the City of Angels’ Highland Park, Bodies of Water packs infectious hooks, communal harmonic chants, tinges of a spaghetti western soundtrack and the occasional trombone, glockenspiel and/or viola into a most vicacious and larger-than-life sound nestled somewhere between Polyphonic Spree and Ennio Morricone.

A short review from the ABA’s Bookselling This Week:

Great Ancient China Projects: You Can Build Yourself by Lance Kramer, Steven Weinberg (illus.) (Nomad Press, $14.95, 9781934670026 / 1934670022)
“Vocabulary, timelines, and sidebars are included in a fun, hands-on approach to educating young readers about ancient China. Cook egg noodles, make an instrument, create a kite, learn feng shui …what a fun book! Use it on weekends, holidays, and vacation to keep kids busy and having fun.” –Lori Peters, Wild About Books, Clearlake, CA

The very wonderful Whitney Hawke was kind enough to make a cool mention of my book in the latest edition of Willamette Week. If you’re in town this weekend, stop by and check out the reading!

From Willamette Week, 8/6/08:

For kids, learning about ancient China has always been a total snooze…until now! Author and WW freelancer Lance Kramer’s interactive children’s book,Great Ancient China Projects You Can Build Yourself, aims to engage kids in more than 20 hands-on projects that educate youngsters about ancient Chinese society and its influence on contemporary culture. The book includes step-by-step instructions on how to make a house with proper feng shui, create a simple Chinese hanging compass, and build many other educational projects. With the Beijing Olympics about to start, this book is a great way to learn about the history of the Olympics’ host country in a fun and visual way. Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton., 228-4651. 11 am. Free.

A short piece on “Great Ancient China Projects,” from my old newspaper, The Gresham Outlook.

“Former Outlook Writer Pens Book,” The Outlook, July 26, 2008:

Former Outlook news clerk and obituary writer Lance Kramer has published a book to introduce children (and adults) to do-it-yourself Chinese projects. The book arrives just in time for the Olympics in China.

Kramer, who was nicknamed Sir Lancelot by staff members at local funeral homes when he worked for The Outlook last year, is introducing children and others to things Chinese.

An enthusiastic traveler, Kramer wrote his book, “Great China Projects You can Build Yourself,” as a how-to book dealing with everything from Buddhism to gunpowder. It is illustrated by his childhood friend Steven Weinberg. The publisher is Nomad Press.

Kramer will read, and likely demonstrate, from the book at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 9, at Powell’s in Beaverton. Instructions range from how to make an abacus to making ice cream (which in China is more like sorbet).

Though it is intended for children, Kramer sat his adult friends down to do the projects on weekends in order to make sure everything worked. Likewise, Weinberg illustrated each project in order to depict it visually.

Kramer, who is a freelance writer in Portland, attended Dartmouth College and visited China in 2006. The same year he taught school in Ethiopia, gaining experience in working with children.

Kramer’s book is available online at www.amazon.com, www.borders.comand www.barnesandnoble.com. The price is $21.95.

– Sharon Nesbit

Here’s a smattering of all sorts of write-ups I did for Willamette Week’s “Best of Portland” issue, which hit the streets 7/23/08:

Best Place to Hear Live Music: Hawthorne Theater

[The People’s Republic] 3862 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 233-7100. Thanks to OLCC regulations, running an all-ages music venue here is about as easy as opening up a Planned Parenthood office in the Vatican. But the Hawthorne Theater is damn good at letting the young ones play together with adults in a spot where indie rock, punk, metal and a whole lot more leaves ears of all generations ringing.

Best Spine Saviors

When a ski accident left 18-year-old Barlow High School senior Kip Johnson with a paralyzing spinal cord injury, the outlook was nothing short of grim. After Johnson spent one month in the ICU and underwent months of rehabilitation, his insurance coverage ran out. Then his family found Adapt Advanced (9923 SW Arctic Drive, 352-0177), a high-end, intensive and specialized training facility in Beaverton designed for people with severe neurological injuries . “We work on the fundamentals of movement, breaking down what the body needs instinctually to move,” says Nat Willis, the group’s director of operations. “Before programs like this, if you broke your neck, you were in the chair, and that’s your life,” says Lisa Johnson, Kip’s mother. “[But] people with spinal cord injuries can actually improve their condition.”

Best cheap date

So you find a buck on the street. Here’s what should be an easy decision: Do you (A) buy a crappy coloring book at the dollar store, or (B) Venture down into the depths of the wine-tasting room at McMenamins Edgefield (2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale, 669-8610) and try their $1 flight , featuring seven (seven!) different wines, like delicious pinot noir and gris, white riesling and chardonnay? Each glass tends to be poured a little fuller than your standard taste, plus there’s free live acoustic music just about every night of the week. It’s a no-brainer date for all of the cheap romantics out there.

Best Place to People Watch: Mississippi Avenue

[Baristaville] If ever there was a stretch of asphalt that embodied the marvels (and tensions) of this city’s metamorphosis, whether you call it “diversity” or “gentrification,” it’s the curious blocks of Mississippi Avenue. Find a comfortable perch, shut up for a sec and let your eyes soak in the medley of foot traffic as white people, black people, collared shirts, shopping carts, artists, yuppies, the scraggly and clean-shaven all stumble along the same avenue.

Best Place to Hear Live Music: Jimmy Mak’s

[El Dorado] 221 NW 10th Ave., 295-6542. For a long time now, Jimmy’s has been one of the few foundations of the live jazz circuit in town—with crisp sound, almost nightly performances (often including good old Mel Brown on his drum set), sumptuous hummus plates (and a whole lotta other Mediterranean delights), and a rare chance for young jazz fans to catch a show, up till 9:30 pm.

Best Place to Hear Live Music: McMenamins Edgefield

[The Outer Limits] 2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale, 669-8610. Yeah, getting to Troutdale is a little bit of a schlep. But at least once a year, you’ve gotta squeeze in, carpool, and make the trek out to East County’s best treasure. If you can afford it, Edgefield’s pricey summer “Concerts on the Lawn” series is a kick—where high-profile acts play to thousands of happy people outdoors.

Best Place to Hear Live Music: Aladdin Theater

[Sellwoodstockland] 3116 SE 11th Ave., 234-9694.

It’s safe to say that no theater in town has changed with the times like the Aladdin. What started as a vaudeville house in the roaring ’20s, transformed to a family movie emporium midcentury and eventually a sticky-floored porn house in the ’80s, is now one of the best spots to catch bigshot out-of-towners and up-and-coming local talent in a surprisingly intimate setting.

From Willamette Week’s “Best of Portland” issue, 7/23/08:

Putting a label on the “best” coffee company in Portland is like determining who’s the most heroic superhero in the Hall of Justice. Our city is unsurpassed when it comes to socially conscious, environmentally friendly, goddamn tasty coffee roasters. So, why’d we single out Portland Roasting ? As much as the company is passionate about making great coffee, it’s been equally focused on creating small-scale humanitarian projects to improve living conditions in its farmers’ communities . Its “Farm Friendly Direct” program goes beyond buying directly from farmers—it’s getting its growers blogging, providing computers, Internet access and instructors in Costa Rica; planting shade trees in El Salvador; installing clean water pumps in Ethiopia; and building schools in Papua New Guinea. And even though Portland Roasting’s won tons of awards locally, nationally and internationally, there’s a good chance you’ve never tried its coffee. It has no retail storefront in town and sells mostly wholesale to local green-friendly outfits, like PSU, Lloyd Center Doubletree Hotel and about 350 other businesses as far away as Japan. “We’re definitely not your stereotypical small coffee company,” says managing partner Mark Stell. “Our focus is people first, coffee second. And it’s becoming this simple business model that’s really paying off.”

From Willamette Week’s “Best of Portland” issue, 7/23/08:

Mark Allyn has an unconventional relationship with 115-volt Christmas lights. In the 1960s he started lighting his clothing using strings of the yuletide decorations. He even showed up to a high-school dance with an illuminated necktie. “Basically, I’ve been fascinated with light, and tinkering with electricity, since day one,” says the 55-year-old Intel computer programmer. Allyn tirelessly refined his “home-brew lighting system” over more than 40 years,and his latest project involves transforming his bicycle and bike attire into striking, radiant neon objects. Allyn says the “artistic element and uniqueness” of the pieces, which use a combination of LEDs and fiber-optic technology, are his first priority—but increasing his visibility when riding at night is definitely a bonus. He’s posted how-to instructions on his website (allyn.com). For now, projects like his incredible lighted jacket are not for sale, mostly because the clothing isn’t all that practical: His raincoat weighs almost 30 pounds, and he’d have to sell the jacket for close to $1,000 to recoup the substantial cost in time and materials. But that doesn’t seem to bug Allyn too much. “I don’t have television, so this is my entertainment; this is my way of relaxing,” he says. “I enjoy the process of making it more than wearing it.”