Have you seen Flickr's new Galleries feature? In their own words:

For whatever you find interesting, fascinating, or mind-blowing on Flickr, galleries are a way to curate up to 18 public photos or videos of your fellow members into one place around a theme, an idea or just because.

Here are a few of my favorites so far:

Kid + Cat Scream
Word Art 
Puppy Pouts  
I Am Superman  
A Red Tutu 
Balloons

The "add to gallery" feature could also come in handy when you're gathering inspiration for a birthday party, a baby shower, nursery décor...or, if you just feel like drooling over some Donut Porn, there's that too.

BTW...wish you could learn how to take better photos without investing a huge amount of time or money? Check out the Digital Days weekend workshops presented by our sister site, Pop Photo. Upcoming locations include Portland, OR, Dallas, TX, and Albuquerque, NM -- check the site for details!

Plus:
Secrets of a Baby Wrangler: How to Take a Winning Kid Photo
Enter the 2009 Homemade Halloween Costume Contest (And Win a $500 Gift Card!)
31 Amazing Birthday Cake Designs

Lots of us think about it, since being a mom involves A) a lot of reading them and B) a lot of story-telling, from “Let me tell you what will happen if you put that fork in that outlet” to the more enjoyable, “Once there was a little girl named Alice …”

But if you’ve gone from “I think I could write a children’s book” to “No, I really think I could write a children’s book,” and are looking for help, the folks at Little Airplane Productions want to be there for you.

Founded by an Emmy award-winning writer for Sesame Street, they’ve created shows like Wonder Pets!, and Oobi! (a 2001 Gold Parents’ Choice Award winner), and their weekend workshop for aspiring tot-tv producers has resulted in at least one deal.

This May, they’re branching out in a new direction: Picture books. They’re hosting a 3-day workshop where aspiring authors can mingle with book agents, authors, and published pros. It’s an investment, requiring a trip to New York, a kid-free weekend, and some hefty tuition. But you’ll get face time with people like Jon Scieszka (author of The Stinky Cheese Man), Greg Foley (Thank You, Bear), and publisher Anne Schwartz, who was behind Ian Falconer’s Olivia. And Susan Boyle isn’t the only one who’s dreamed a dream, right?

 

 

Bull riding is dangerous, rough and tough. But make a few tweaks -- replace the bulls with fuzzy sheep and the riders with kids 4 and up -- and suddenly this concept of man-rides-beast is adorable. What's cuter is the name of the sport -- mutton busting. I admit it's a little strange, potentially dangerous, and I'm not sure how it aligns with my concern for animal rights, but still, I can't stop watching. What do you think?

Photo courtesy of Apple

Apple just came out with the newest version of iLife -- upgraded versions of iMovie, iVideo, and GarageBand -- and the new technology wowed me. Moms will especially love the no-brainer photo organizing – since you last did that, what, 2006?.

iPhoto lets you:
• Organize photos by person. Assign a name to someone in your photo album and it will pull up all pictures of that person because it's memorized the structure of that person's face.
• Organize photos by places. iPhoto automatically imports photo location data from any GPS-enabled cameras or iPhone, or you can use Google Maps to assign your own location, so you can organize your photos by where they were taken.
• Make beautiful, professional looking montages in just a few clicks. You’re welcome, Grandma!
• Update Facebook and Flickr automatically. They're built in, so what's imported in iLife goes straight to your profile.

With the new iMovie features, you can:
• Do basic editing. Drag and drop your video footage in chunks on the screen and map out what you want your video to look like.
• Get more advanced. Play with audio or add special effects like speed changes and animated travel maps.
• Eliminate camera shake, so if the filming was bumpy (um, when is it not?), it’s made completely smooth.

With the updated version of GarageBand you can:
• Take on-screen guitar and piano lessons that start with the basics. (No more expensive private lessons!) Musicians like Sarah McLachlan, Ben Folds and Sting can be your teacher.
• Create your own family band. Assign instruments and styles to your guitarist, bassist, drummer, and keyboard player, and then edit the tracks.

Do you have plans this weekend? Try checking out a women’s basketball game with your daughter.

It’s the last weekend of the annual Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Pink Zone games. During Pink Zone games, women’s basketball teams across the country pass out pink ribbons, don pink warm-ups, or exchange their traditional garb for pink uniforms (and sneakers!) to raise breast cancer awareness.

Some teams offer free admission to fans wearing pink. Others raffle off cool prizes—like pink autographed jerseys and pink iPods—to raise money for the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. Yow was North Carolina State University’s Hall of Fame coach who died from breast cancer in January. Last year, high school and college teams raised more than $930,000.

If you don’t know if your team is participating, check the WBCA listing. And if you’re in central Illinois, head to Assembly Hall on Sunday at 2 p.m. The University of Illinois (my alma mater) has its Pink Zone game that day! 

Last year, Illini coach Jolette Law sported a pink ensemble that included a pair of hot pink Chuck Taylor’s. I wonder what my boss would say if I came to work in those sneakers.