Bulldog!

Fire Service Program "Bulldog" Award

October 2010

Ben received the first Bulldog Award of the year, which was voted on by classmates and awarded to recognize positive individual behavior within the Fire Service program. The Fire Service Chief told us he felt they made a really good decision awarding it to Ben.

Awarding Criteria:

Safety minded

Shows leadership qualities

Gives the most effort

Always is willing to help others

Always shows respect for other students, instructors, and others

Exhibits self discipline

Exhibits positive behavior

Good attendance

Work book is up-to-date

Neatness and appearance

Always ready to perform

Opportunities and Invitations

Last week, we went to Motion Boardshop in Seattle, and Ben brought his newly built longboard to show the shop owners and builders there what he had built.  They seemed impressed.  He had been to the shop a few times before, asking them questions and seeking input about materials and board-building methods, so it was fun for him to show them his finished board.   At the same time during our visit, a traveling sales rep for Rayne Longboards (Vancouver, BC) was there offering freebies and promoting their longboards.  The rep saw Ben's board, also seemed impressed by his work and design, and asked him several questions about the board and his building experience.   He asked Ben if building longboards was something he might like to do in the future.  Ben smiled and replied, "I'm doing it now."  :)

The rep appeared delightfully surprised by this forthright answer and suggested Ben come visit their factory store in BC in order to talk and hang out with their main board builder.  He said there are only a handful of good board builders and designers, so they're always looking for interested people.  Ben exchanged contact info with the rep who said he'd email soon. Ben wrote a nice follow-up note today to confirm his interest in visiting the shop.  We'll likely go there for a weekend to give him a chance to visit, observe, and meet people there.  Ben's quite exhilarated by this opportunity!

Longboards!

Ben and Josh have been building longboards together for about a
month now.  Here they are with their new collection of prototypes.

Ben and his boards

Ben's second board, plus new shoes for easier riding

Ben's third board with new grip tape designs

Re-Building a Bike

Here are a couple pretty photos of the finished bike Ben just rebuilt from an old bike someone gave him a while back. 

In order to make it look so nice, he took the old bike, stripped it down, sanded it, primed it, painted it orange (in a homemade cardboard spray booth in the back yard), got some new parts and a little help from a local bike mechanic, and then assembled it!  I think the new color choices are quite appropriate for a kid born on Halloween.

In case you're curious to see the transformation, here's the old bike frame, and some pictures of the process.

Old bike frame

Back yard spray booth

Primed bike fork

Primed frame

Painted frame

Cool orange pedals

Matching chain

Ben's Custom Built Guitars

A few photos of Ben's beautiful handmade bass guitars

2010  Third bass guitar
Ben finished building this guitar just before camp.
It's an alder body with a maple neck and ebony fretboard.

2009  Second bass guitar
Playing music at camp with friends

2009  Second bass guitar
Bubinga and alder body with a rosewood fretboard

2009  Second bass guitar, side view

2009  Second bass guitar
Back view of the electronics and
neck-through design using a laminate construction 
of maple, walnut, and cherry

2009  Second bass guitar, back view
Look at the straight precision of this beautiful neck-through design. 

2008 First bass guitar
Mahogany body with a bolt-on maple neck
and a Macassar ebony fretboard

 

Not Back To School Camp 2010

This is Ben's fourth year enjoying Grace Llewellyn's Not Back To School Camp for unschooling teens at Camp Myrtlewood in Oregon.  He loves it.  Every year is filled with a variety of wonderful experiences along with deepening friendships and personal growth. 

Singing and laughing together

The view from the big camp tree they all like to climb!

A small group of campers accompanied by their advisor, Evan

Blackberry picking!

Looking good so far...

Ben and Aytch

Ben is playing the custom bass he built, accompanied by Josh on piano.

A portable amp comes in quite handy at camp.

Josh and Ben worked on writing a couple camp songs together.

Music, music, music

Ben got to help set up a treasure chest for a scavenger hunt.

Getting a rope ready for hoisting it up

Yes, a hanging treasure chest!

Playing ultimate Frisbee

Ben and Evan get a huge balloon ready for a field game.

Ready to go...

A small group meeting under the shelter of a parachute

Ben assists another camper on the slack line.

Ben loves balancing on the slack line.

Happy

Ben's Backpacking Trip With Blake & Josh

Desolation Wilderness
Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, California

Josh and Ben

Ben and the waterfall

Blake and Ben

Blake jumps across the six foot divide, following Ben's initial lead.

Josh follows suit.

Ben and Blake relax in the sun.

Ben creates a soft spot for sleeping.

Nearby bark from a tree like this makes good padding underneath a sleeping bag.

Wildflower

 Another lovely local

Ben finds a nice place to rest.