It's All in the Point of View

Bow and I  are getting ready for Christmas. As we put up our tree, many of the ornaments, which are just pictures of Sword and Bow in their younger days, make us reminisce about the past.

Then we  look at old photo albums and old books, like my own When Sword Met Bow.

You cannot go back in time, but our memories are fairly vivid, and we can see old scenes replay in our mind's eye, even with our eyes closed.

But back in the present, there are also wonderful things taking place. From the perspective of research, publication, or just plain living, good things are happening, and we have much to be grateful for. Sometimes I try to share our happy little moments with others on social media, but every person has a different point of view, and each one sees something different.

We have different audiences on Facebook and on YouTube. On Facebook, the video of Bow jingling the bells is really taking off. Everyone on Facebook agrees that Bow is cute. And, of course, that's true. No denying it. But there are other aspects to Bow's personality, and the focus of YouTube viewers is a little different.




On YouTube, it's the grooming videos that everyone wants to see. My top performing video at the moment is the one below.

Sometimes viewers will ask me questions that reveal their own bias. "Why do you  have so many grooming videos?" One person asked. "Is Bow your pet chimpanzee?"

I do not have "so many grooming videos." Out of 1903 videos, only a handful are of Bow grooming someone. But just at the moment, those are the ones that are trending. They are not even my top ten videos of all time.

Besides the Leslie Fish music videos, which have always done well, there is the Diorama of an Amazon rain forest that Sword made when she was in grade school. I always suspected that it got so many views, because there were so many other children and parents scrambling to assemble one of those, since it was assigned to them in school.

But besides class assignments, which are often mandated by the government, and besides Leslie Fish songs, which are very rebellious and cool --and I enjoy them, too, or I would not have them here -- the vast majority of the public has ignored the vast majority of my content.

There are the very serious playlists of videos explaining Project Bow and its scientific findings.




There are the songs from my musical with composer Daniel Carter, The Debt Collector.




And there is a playlist of the trailers for my books.



Not one of the videos in these playlists is anywhere near the top ten for my channel. This is not a reflection on me. It is an indication of what YouTube viewers like to watch.

The vast majority of my videos include nature scenes, like the one below of a Monarch butterfly. Hardly anyone watches them, though.

I was so excited to get this close to a Monarch butterfly this year! I was really proud of this video, but most viewers did not notice it at all. That is perfectly fine, though, because each of us has different interests, and one of the great things about YouTube is that we can watch whatever we like. As a libertarian, I am all for that.

But it's amusing when a viewer complains about there being too many grooming videos on my channel. If all you see on my channel are grooming videos, then that is because that is all you are looking for. It reflects on you, not on me! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and so are the videos that rank high with each viewer.

Bow looks through When Sword Met Bow

Today, Bow and I were reminiscing about the good old days.  So we leafed through When Sword Met Bow. 

It is one of the books that would make fine gift for someone on your Christmas list.

Books by Aya Katz

There's something in there for everyone. But if all you see are books on a particular topic, then that might be because that is the topic that appeals to you. We each create our own universe from our  point of view.

Our Tree -- How many of my interests can you spot in this picture?

Meanwhile, enjoy the holidays, and if you find one of my books appealing, give it a read!

Bow's Year in Review

Everyone else has a "year in review" film, so I decided to make one for Bow as well. In this video we see the highlights of Bow's day to day life from 2016.

I have also compiled my own "year in reviews" video, showing all the reviews that I have gotten on my books in 2016. If you want to do well, you must get many more reviews than you have books to your credit. 

My new year's resolution is to spend less time writing and publishing and more time creating publicity for those works that have already been written and published. If Bow is going to live on residual income after my passing, we need to start making sure that the works are well known.

What can you do to help? Besides buying books, review the ones you have bought and vote up the positive reviews that are already posted. It does not cost anything to log into Amazon and vote up a review, but it could make a world of difference to a reviewer's ranking and ultimately to the ranking of our books on Amazon.

Have a great new year, and Bow and I will see you in 2017!

Remembering Project Bow from A Decade Ago

In the early years of Project Bow, we used to put out an annual DVD in which we chronicled our methods, successes, challenges and hopes for the future. The 2005 Project Bow DVD was the first of these.

The 2005 Project Bow DVD

In those days, I would work with Bow tirelessly all day long, then edit the video in the evenings. As this was our first DVD, then opening sequences were both instructive and lyrical, prospective and retrospective.

If you want detailed information of our earlier methodology, including things that did not work for us, such as the EasyTalk device, and how we eventually settled on printed menus, then the next section can be illuminating. on the other hand, if you are easily bored, you might want to skip this part, as it lacks dramatic tension.

The next part introduces the program that was instituted when Bow turned three, including the menus instead of templates, the Floortime sessions and the internship program.

Part Four continues with Floortime methodology.

As the Fall internship comes to a close, there is some manifest success, as when Bow spontaneously uses his words to invite a stranger to play, but also some dramatic conflict, as Bow attempts to display rather than simply say "No" to an offer of play.

The interns sum up their accomplishments, and then it is time for Sword to engage Bow in play using the Hebrew lexigrams. The very final part of the 2005 DVD features the music of Bettine Clemen, and has me summing up the real problem: that Bow is such a great non-verbal communicator that he sometimes does not see the point of using his words.

The closing credits of the 2005 DVD are my favorite part, as we watch Sword and Bow playing together, both outside and indoors. Do you recognize some of the scenery from my walks? This is the same place we are living in now, but so much has changed. It is not just that Sword and Bow have grown up, but also that new trees have sprouted up in the field behind us, and now we have a much better environment for the local wildlife.

Bow holding up the 2005 Project Bow DVD today

As Bow and I look back on ten years of the Project, there is a sense of great accomplishment. Bow had his breakthrough in 2007 and can spell. He is no longer limited to lexigrams. But there is also still much to accomplish, including some way to safely get Bow back outside to roam in the fine natural setting that we have right outside our doors.

For the deer, the borders of our land are marked by the fact that they are not hunted here. But how can we mark the borders for Bow, so that he, too, understands that it is not safe for him to leave the perimeter? By the same token, how do we keep strangers out?

Sometimes I stand on my land, and I look into the adjoining field, and I worry that during hunting season someone could just walk across. I've never seen anyone do that, but it worries me.

It's so beautiful out there in my overgrown pasture. Let's hope we can find a way to make that work for Bow.