Hi everyone, Ryan Marshall here from the blog Pacing the Panic Room, James posted up a link awhile back to the maternity series I had done over at my place, which led me back to this rad space, some emails were exchanged, and soon I was caught up following her along week by week absolutely loving her progression pictures. It is so awesome to see confident women not giving up their own identity or their passions because they are pregnant. Go James! Well, Camp Bleubird was kind enough to let me use some space here while they are in new baby heaven, to let everyone know about a new kids album that just came out today. The album is called “Do Fun Stuff’ and some of you might recognize the adorable artwork which was done by the mega talented Anna Bond from Rifle Paper Co. I acted as curator of this album and annoyed all of my friends in bands to please write me some original kids songs, to create the first in what will become a yearly release. My goal was to make a Kids Record for Parents. You know what I mean? I wanted a record that everyone could enjoy together, and so this is what came out.
So now the kicker. The best part of this album and the reason it was put together in the first place was that my stepson was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called Smith Magenis Syndrome last year. You’re probably wondering... What the hell is Smith Magenis Syndrome?! That is exactly what we were wondering even after my wife received the call with the diagnosis. She received a cold, short, clinical explanation and was referred to someone else to find out more. We were left to find out about SMS on our own. Little is known, the information is sparse, when we go see “specialists” we have to bring all of our own literature and sit and watch the Doctors thumb through the paperwork, and scratch their chins, and nod their heads for 5 minutes, and then try and make us feel like they know what’s going on. It feels terrible to want to do the best you can for your kids, and all we want are some answers so we can make good decisions. We are driving to new places without a map here, and so I decided I was going to try and help make a better map.
So this album is out. It is here for you to buy. For kids. For adults. For anybody that loves fun music. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this album goes to a grant fund that I set up with PRISMS. The money will be made available to graduate students who wish to make SMS their field of choice. The end goal being more research and more answers for parents and researchers. So below you can check out the album, follow the link to iTunes to purchase the album, read more about SMS and the charity, and if you want to help. If you want to spread the word you can click the “Share this Widget” button and get the code.
OR you can jump on twitter and send out the link to http://www.dofunstuff.net and be sure to use the hashtag #dofunstuff
Thanks for taking a listen and reading a little about SMS.
I hope you love the music and the monster :)
Again big huge thanks to Camp Bleubird for letting me word spread here in her wonderful space she has made online.
All the Love in the Universe ~ Ryan
