What are you reading?

We are just days away from October – hard to believe!!! October is National Book Month, so we’ve asked the team here at OttLite to tell us what they’re reading. I must say, I’m a little concerned about all the vampire stories – but I guess it’s almost Halloween, too. Here's what they have under their OttLite lamps ...

Kelley B – OttLite Videographer
I'm reading The Collected Short Stories of Arthur C. Clarke. I’m interested in science and he’s one of the most renowned science fiction writers of all time. It’s awesome.





Shilo C – OttLite Marketing
I just finished reading Harry Potter and the Dealthy Hallows. Well, I've finished reading it twice. When I got the book, I skipped to the last chapter and read it. Now that the Harry Potter books are over, I'm on to the vampires of Twilight.




Julia T – OttLite Sales Team
I'm reading The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. It's about a virus that comes over people … vampire-esque. It creeped me out. Vampires form Europe on a plane. Everyone seems dead. Like I said, creepy!




Jessica K (me) – OttLite Marketing
I'm on the fourth Twilight book ... only 100 pages left to go. I can't bring myself to finish it because I'm sad that it will be over! I also love reading about the Elizabethan era.




So, what are you reading? Please, comment below!

Homework in Kindergarten?

Guest Blogger: Shilo Coleman

My name is Shilo, and I am the Marketing Traffic Manager at OttLite. On August 24th my son Nathan started Kindergarten. He loves it! Everyday he comes home so excited to tell me about all the things he did and learned. Surprisingly Kindergarteners have homework too, so at night we sit at his desk next to his OttLite and study. Nathan knows all about OttLite. He has a black Learning Light that he decorated himself with skateboard and rock n’ roll stickers all over it.

Not only does he know that it’s a great light for reading but for color matching as well. When it’s time for bed and he wants to wear black sweatpants not blue, he will take both pairs over to his OttLite, hold them under the light and see which one is black and which one is blue.

I am so glad that Nathan is developing good learning habits so early, and we will continue to help him by having him study and read with an OttLite next to him.

What You Can See IN Your Eyes

While browsing through the web today at lunch, I found an amazing article about the eye. You've heard the eyes are the windows to the soul, but did you know they can also be the window to your health? MSN's article 14 Things Your Eyes Say About Your Health covers everything from bumpy yellowish patches on the eyelid to thinning brows.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

"The eye is a unique window into health," says ophthalmologist Andrew Iwach, spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and executive director of the Glaucoma Center of San Francisco. "It's the only place in the body where, without surgery, we can look in and see veins, arteries and a nerve [the optic nerve]."

The eyes' transparency explains why common eye diseases such as glaucoma, cataracts and macular degeneration can be detected early with regular eye exams.

"Unfortunately, people get busy and delay not only eye exams but regular physicals. That's why eye doctors sometimes discover other issues, like diabetes or high blood pressure," Iwach says.

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To learn more about Ottlite and vision, visit www.OttLiteBetterVision.com

Confessions of an Animator

By Guest Blogger: Kelley Barry

Animation is one of my passions. It has been ever since seeing the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas when I was a kid. At the time I didn’t know how the process worked, but eagerly wanted to learn! Throughout the years leading up to the present I have learned many things regarding animation and it has intrigued me even more. I ended up studying animation in college, and ultimately finding a job out of college where I am able to continue to create and learn the art of animation.

Working at OttLite Technologies gives me a large amount of artistic freedom for which I am very thankful. In college, I became interested in the process of Stop Motion Animation, which is a style of animation created using numerous photographs placed in a sequence to show movement. It is basically like shooting a film , only with a still camera instead of a video camera. It is a very difficult and time-consuming process, however the final outcome is extremely rewarding. There are many examples of this form of animation out there for the public to see including commercials (i.e. Xbox, Sony, Nikon) and films, (i.e. Coraline, The Science of Sleep, James and the Giant Peach) and even on the OttLite website! If you are interested in learning about this intereting style of animation, check it out!

Video Results Revealed!

About a month ago, we asked our OttLite Community newsletter members to help us name the star of our first stop motion animated video.

Well, the results are in! Our favorite answers for the name were "Ottonator" and "Lampalicious", but the overwhelming winner was Otto D'Lite. And what should Otto do next? Love, fight, party? Click on the video below and see for yourself!

OttLite Lamp of the Month!

This is my new favorite OttLite lamp - the Dakota. I have the floor lamp and desk lamp in my living room. My living room isn't as posh and fabulous as the one in the cool graphic below ... more a mix of comfortable contemporary and preschooler functional :-) I love it because it is elegant, but also so very functional. The swing arm and rotating head lets me move it around to highlight whatever I'm reading or working on, which is really good for my laptop because you need a different light angle for that kind of work. Also great for before bed storytime.

We have some great deals every month with our Lamp of the Month specials. Keep an eye out on our home page ... or, if you haven't already, join our community and we'll send invites right to your inbox.