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Brain health has been on our minds a lot lately.  Like most, we have loved ones getting along in years that are starting to become forgetful.  Like everyone, we're a bit older today than we were yesterday.  As you know, we've got big plans for the coming years and need to stay tack sharp to manage and grow our businesses.  So, we think about brain health (see what I did there?) when we plan our meals, make exercise choices, etc. 

We've been helping others keep their brain in good condition as well.  First, we promote an anti-aging for the brain dietary supplement, called EHT.  EHT is an organic compound derived from coffee seeds (but no caffeine) which promotes TAU protein health - vital for keeping neuronal network paths strong.    EHT is endorsed by the Michael J Fox foundation, NFL, NBA, NCAA, and is certified by the BSCG as a drug-free supplement.  We take it every day.  It does help our (relatively) healthy brains with memory, recall, alertness and provides a bit of energy too. It really makes a difference in: children with ADHD, elderly with mild symptoms of dementia, patients recovering from a brain injury/surgery or anyone wanting to keep their gray matter running in top form.  If you're interested, you can find out more at Denise's EHT website.

Ping Pong for Charity 2016 at the Virginia Beach Field House. ©2016 Images by Design

Besides being a good low-impact physical activity, regularly playing ping pong has shown to greatly improve cognitive functions.  We recently partnered up with a fantastic non-profit organization predicated on this phenomenon.  Ping Pong for Charity raises funds for brain health research by hosting amateur ping pong tournaments.  Proceeds go to The Alzheimer's Foundation, American Parkinson's Disease Association, People in Need, and they work to get ping pong tables into elderly care facilities and under-served schools.  It's a local effort, started by our neighbor 8 years ago.  Small but growing, Ping Pong for Charity just passed the $500,000 mark in funding for the cause.  Every little bit helps, right?

Brain Food - Grilled Atlantic Salmon on a Bed of  Aavocados, Blueberries, Onions and Spinach. ©2015 Images by Design  

So, add more seafood to your diet.  Play mind-games (no, I don't mean messing with people, I mean games that make you think) and perhaps try some meditation.  Choose exercises that promote cognitive as well as motor functions.  You only get one brain and you need it every moment of your life.  It's never too early to start being proactive about keeping your brain happy and healthy.

Magnetic core computer memory, commonly used in the early 70's.  ©2015 Images by Design

I've worked with information technologies my entire career.  Starting with using Apple ][ and Commodore PET computers back in high school in the early 80s, building and repairing the first three generations of IBM (and clone) PCs in the mid 80s, first generation Local Area Networks, campus networks, Internet connectivity (before the general public knew that term), pilot projects to bring the web to homes and businesses, email systems, connecting international companies, building switching/routing networks for DoD installations and ships, etc.

And over those years, I've seen plenty of challenges and unintended consequences along the way; college students dropping out from chat addiction, minors exposed to adult content because of poor access controls, email based harassment, folks fired for possessing pornography at work, and many others I can't talk about.  

But none of those problems are as terrible as what I see happening every day on social media.  For all of the instant and ubiquitous (thanks to smartphones) connection they bring, making the world a smaller place, they have also played a pivotal role in our current struggles with racial and political divide.  I stay out of these online statements and subsequent arguments as much as possible, because I see most of these positions as being taken with half the story in hand.  No wonder people immediately chime in with an opposing view - the universe requires balance.  

This cultural problem with adopting new communications technologies is not a new one.  Plato argued against written word.  The printing press, telephone, radio, television, etc., were all massively disruptive when introduced as well.  They changed the culture of their time and not always for the better.   I see how today's youth explore their "self" using information and isolation to aid in the natural separation from family but sometimes with unhealthy results.  You could argue that the "Occupy..." protests, the Arab Spring and many other recent political upheavals (good or bad) can be attributed to (or at least heavily influenced by) the communications we now enjoy.  Hacking, phishing, identity theft, malware, etc., are all new problems brought about by connectivity - more unintended consequences of the information age.

But, reflecting on all the disruptive information technologies over the past 3000 years instills in me a hope that like all that have come before it, we will eventually establish generally accepted etiquette for social media and sufficient Internet safeguards that will allow more good than harm to come from their use.  

What raises my eyebrow now is "Big Data" and "The Internet of Things".  We're experiencing the infancy of these systems-of-systems today.  Have you noticed minutes after an Internet Search, an ad for that thing pops up on your browser or web app?  That's just the beginning of how information technology will have a much stronger influence on our lives in the years to come.  Every moment of your day, every click, every recorded word and image is being crunched by the grid of massively distributed computers that span the globe with the goal of influencing your next decision.  It's all being done in the name of "making life easier" which translates to "sell you something."  It's powerful beyond our current understanding.  I'm not a "Sky is Falling" kind of person, but I'm watching the clouds (pun intended) carefully.   I don't wear a tinfoil hat, I don't claim the Government is building Big Brother or SkyNet, but I have walked through some of these massive and distributed new data centers, I see what the information brokers (Google, Microsoft, Amazon,...) can do now and are planning for, and see where this is all headed.  For better or worse, our culture is going to be very different in 10 years than it is today.  

• Summer camp complete - CHECK
• Home office make-over - CHECK (well, almost)
• Submissions for the next magazine - Check

Cabin #7 at MontFair ©2016 Images by Design

So for the final week in August we decided to take a short trip to the Blue Ridge.  We reserved a small cabin north of Charlottesville where we'd rented a few times before.  The first day we hiked Old Rag Mountain - an 11.5 mile loop hike/climb with 3,961 foot rise from the parking area to the peak. The trek starts along the valley floor as a mild wooded trail, becoming steeper with switchbacks and finally a set of challenging rock scrambles for the last mile before the summit. 

When I last tackled Old Rag, around 30 years ago, those rock scrambles weren't nearly the challenge they are now that I'm in my 50s.  Go figure.  But the hard work pays off in spades as the summit rewards the effort with gorgeous 360 degree sweeping vistas of the Shenandoah National Park and rolling hills of the Piedmont.  The trip down is decidedly milder (mostly fire road) but it's decidedly the longer leg of the loop and tough on the knees. 

Shenandoah National Park from Old Rag summit - 180 degree panorama stitched from 9 images.  ©2016 Images by Design

When I was about 9 or 10 years old, I read "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean George.  A Newbery Metal winning children's book about a boy who runs away from home to live up in the Catskills.  In this coming of age tale the main character, Sam, must learn wilderness survival from trapping small game to farming and staying healthy.  When my son got to be about the same age and not wanting to read any more than comic books, I recommended he give it a read and he ended up completing the trilogy.  I like to think it was the book that sparked his love for reading as it did for me.  When the two of us are out hiking, especially a long hike like this one, "My Side of the Mountain" always comes up.  I've seen my son mature much the same as Sam did in that story - save for the almost dying while foraging for food in the woods in winter to stay alive part. 

James River near Scottsville Virginia.  ©2016 Images by Design

After conquering Old Rag, enjoying a fine meal, and good night's sleep in the country air, we dragged our aching bones down to the headwaters of the James River the next morning.  Tubing was just the ticket to compliment the exertions of the previous day.  Our 4 hour soak in the refreshing clear river water was only interrupted by our picnic lunch stop along the way on a rocky beach.  Since it was a weekday, we pretty much had the river to ourselves.

For our last day in the region our plan was to visit a monastery known for their Gouda cheese.  We arrived as the sisters were in prayer and had to come back later in the day, only to find out they only take cash.  Who carries cash anymore?  We left with only an order form to buy some through the mail.  The nun who talked to us was going to give us a wheel on the honor system to mail money later saying that we had "honest faces."  We didn't take her up on her kind offer but we did manage to stop in at a few wineries while we were in the heart of the Monticello Trail.

A few hours later we were outside Richmond where my sister lives with her two kids.  My nephew has recently completed his Eagle Scout requirements so I agreed to an impromptu photo shoot of him in uniform at the site of his project for his upcoming pinning ceremony.  That night all three cousins played Twister while the "grown ups" supervised with a wine glass in hand. 

Lucky Lake ©2016 Images by Design

The final stop on our mini vacation came the next morning at Lucky Lake mineral mine.  This vein was discovered by the land owners while digging a pond behind their farm house.  They decided to set up a sluice and sell buckets of excavated soil to tourists and buses of school kids who sift the dirt to discover the semi-precious gems.  Our finds included ruby, amethyst, quartz, garnet, and a bunch of other stones whose name only the on-site gemologist remembers as he tells you the story and significance of each stone.  We drove away with our bags full of "riches" except a few we left to have cut and polished. 

I guess that pretty much puts a punctuation mark on the summer for us.  I'm looking forward to fall - my favorite season.   

...and you might be right.  

On top of all the craziness in our lives, I had signed Ryan and myself up to host a summer camp for teens at MOCA.  When I agreed, six months ago, to take a week off work and do this I had no idea that August would be as insanely busy as it's turned out to be.  But, we made a commitment and so a commitment we kept.  

The summer camp was all about Stereo Lithography.  That's the technical term for 3D printing.  We started our prep by upgrading all the Mac's in the lab (I'm not a Mac person, so there was a bit of fumbling in the dark for this part) to be able to install the 3D modeling software the kids would be using to create their art pieces.  By the end of the day on Monday, we'd managed to get enough computers upgraded so everyone could work independently.  Ryan and I brought in the 3D printer that we'd built from a kit back last December and luckily it performed flawlessly.  I had a general game plan for the week to start them off with a simple object first.  Print those first pieces by Tuesday and then tackle more complex ideas as the week went on.

These kids, all teens (12-16 or there about) each came with a different skill levels and experience working with 3D tools.   But all came chock full of creativity.  I was amazed by what these young artists were able to produce by the end of the week.  

Objects designed and created during 3D modeling Camp at Va MOCA, 2016.  ©2016 Images by Design

If this is what the generation after the "millennials" is really like, I have new hope for the future of America.  I witnessed ingenuity, teamwork, leadership, craftsmanship, humor, and most importantly, a group of kids that evolved from perfect strangers to friends by the time they headed out on Friday afternoon.