I'm a Hopi

The Hopi Indians have a myth that they came from the star constellation the Pleides. The Hopi ancestors have recorded their Star People by drawing them on rock cliffs on their reservation. Star people came from the Pleides to show them how to live and to protect them in a time of great catastrophe.

That sounds outrageous on the surface to a modern, average person. Who knows about the truth of that myth. But, in literature a myth is a story generated by a people to aid in telling their origins or stories to answer the great questions of why certain aspects of the world are the way they are, such as "Where did evil come from?" and "Why do we have two kinds of humans, male and female?" Such stories are presumed to be rooted in truth even if most of the story is metaphorical in nature.

Star People are a great concept. We all need such a story in our lives... people who teach us things about living we might otherwise miss on our way through life. We could name the star people that have helped us stretch our horizons and enjoy life in a way that we otherwise would have missed had those unique people not intersected with our lives. That helps us in living beyond ourselves. And we are eternally grateful.

Sparkle in your life

Snowflakes are in abundance at this season of the year. They appear on Christmas trees, in windows, as glitter, on backs of card decks, and dangling from ceilings. Kids love to make them in school and hang them or tape them on doors and walls. They are fun to see everywhere you turn.

Actual snowflakes stick to your clothes, coats, tobaggans, and scarves. They catch everyone's attention as they glisten in the light. They melt into shiny pearls of water on your articles of clothing to let you know you're a star.

Love those snowflakes for their fun, cheerful, shining effect! And if snowflakes were people, you would love them and notice them for reflecting light into your life through all those little things they do just like those little shiny pearls of water glistening on all your articles of clothing. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Spotting great value

On the Science channel there is a show called the Meteorite Men. The premise of the show is that a pair of men go to sites where meteorites have fallen and gather them to sell. Big chunks of meteorite material bring in from $500 to $1500 per chunk. The whole show is about how the men select the sites and then go gather the meteorites. The commentator on the show tallies how much the men make at a site as they gather the meteorites. The pair are fairly rich by now.

But I like the principle of what the men are doing... culling meteorite material from regular or even beautiful rocks. The meteorites are different, so it is nearly always easy to spot them. However, the two men still use a Geiger counter to locate the rocks since many of the meteorites are buried.

I do know what it is like to see common material everywhere and then spot great value amidst the regular. Once you spot essence of great value, there's no way the regular holds your attention anymore no matter what kind of material the regular is made of. What is celestial is simply more valuable because it is rare, uncommon... something of splendor!

Missing Macy's

This week I think Imust have seen no less than 50 commercials for Macy's. I haven't lived in an area where a Macy's exists, but I know it is a really good department store. And a year and a half ago I was shown the merits of Macy's.

The first two weeks of December last year I was in New England. Just 10 blocks away from where I was staying was a beautiful, three-story Macy's. It was beautiful with all the Christmas trimmings and glittering displays. So, of course I visited the store. I ended up buying the gift I was proudest of last year from Macy's.

This year is different. I'm not in New England 10 blocks away from Macy's. I don't live in an area close to a Macy's. So as I watch these 50 commercials for Macy's it takes my mind back to the beautiful, three-story store with sublime Christmas trimmings and glittering displays and the gift I was proudest of buying last year.

I'm through buying my gifts for this year. With every commercial for Macy's I see, I wish I could have shopped there. I miss buying from Macy's and choosing the gift I would be proudest of this year.

No saying

Last night I went to get a couple of gifts for Chrsitmas. I was thinking that the crowds would be horrendous this close to Christmas. That's why I couldn't believe it when I went in to make the purchases and not many people were in the store. This was a mall store where one would expect to see many shoppers this time of year. But, no the crowds were not there, and I was in and out in 25 minutes. My kind of shopping.

Sometimes I am surprised like that in life. Things you think will be long and arduous turn out simple. Other things that I think will be simple turn out to be long and arduous. In a world where you have to learn to anticipate what will happen in order to survive and live decently, it's noteworthy whenever you guess wrong or anticipate something different from what turns out. You try to minimize the missed anticipations as you go through life because sometimes it costs you. But as the saying goes, "Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from poor judgment."

It's the decision based on good judgment that has an ending different from what is desired that I am still working out in my mind. I don't think there is a saying for that.

Long overdue

I cleaned out a room today. I have six trash bags full of throw-away items to show for it. Evidently the cleaning was long overdue. But now the room is ready to place new items in it. The new items fit me better. The items from the past served a purpose for a while. But, that "while" is gone and the items have had no purpose for some time. The opportunity to replace what had fallen into disuse with things of relevance represents fresh steps on the path.

Believing, then adjusting

In the background tonight I am hearing the wind chimes on the back porch. I didn't think the wind was blowing, so I checked the chimes to make sure my ears were not making anything up. No, the chimes were moving in the wind. So, I peeked out the front door to verify that trees were blowing in the wind. The tops of the trees were moving slightly. So, I checked the Weatherbug app on my phone. Yes, the wind is blowing 13 knots.

That sounds like much ado about nothing. Why all the double and triple checking? I have to be sure, of course, because I didn't think the wind was blowing. It wasn't the last time I had been outside.

We all filter our information and make adjustments as we go based on the information we gather. Especially if it contradicted the last condition we knew to be true. But, adjustments have to be made. I came in the house about 2 1/2 hours ago in calm air. Now I still hear the wind chimes' beautiful ringing due to the wind. I have to admit the wind is blowing now.

Making those types of adjustments on more important matters goes through the same process. One of those important matters is my happiness. Some of the things I gave much time to and received satisfaction from have changed. Maybe at first I didn't believe it, but now I certainly do. I have verified that too. Definitely what makes me happy now has changed from what it was earlier in my life.

The chimes in the background sound really beautiful tonight and would be even if I had not done all the checking on them. Ditto for the adjustment on the root of my happiness these days.

Stock phrases gloss meaning - but who cares

Most people would say that languages have equivalent meanings with stock phrases. Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad are two examples. Stock phrases are a type of idiom that people have just said for ages and not really stopped to think about their sense. They are not interchangeable with other ways of saying the same phrase either. For example, no one would say Happy Christmas or Glad Christmas even though happy and glad are synonyms of merry. And no one would change merry even though the term is archaic and not used in modern English. In Spanish, no one would say that Buen Navidad is a good substitute for Feliz Navidad, and no one would switch out Navidad for another word even though the term is archaic in modern Spanish.

Stock phrases are in all languages for the most routine or the most recurring events. They help us keep our psychological energy focused on other nuances in a sentence for the way things are being said with the other words. And, although stock phrases have the same function in any language, they are not very good at expressing equivalences. In the example above, the focus in English is on having a good day following a mass (or ceremony with a message) of Christ. The Spanish equivalent is not on the kind of day surrounding a ceremony about Christ so much as it is centered on the happy accident of a special birth in the world.

Whatever. People don't pay much attention to differences. And in this case, the date of the occasion is the same. Generally speaking, both phrases refer to the time of year when people are happy and festive for the same good cause. So, I'll just be merry and feliz and not worry about the semantics.

Joyeux Noel everybody! Regardless of what the focus of that is. (LOL)

Godiva's lasting gift

The story of Lady Godiva is an interesting one. She was quite the wealthy benefactor historically. She gave land and gifts to help the cause of religion in the fading years of Anglo-Saxon England, c. 11th century. Her husband also was a great benefactor for the cause of religion.

But that historical glimpse is different from the popular story that circulates about the good Lady. Her Anglo-Saxon name was Lady Godgyfu, which means God-gift (God=God, Gyfu=gift). The legend says that Godiva's husband was an oppressive lord of the people subservient to him, making them pay both money and crops in taxes to him. The people appealed to the good-hearted Godiva to give them relief. She approached her husband and made the deal with him that if she could ride the length of the road through the town naked without being seen by its denizens that he would lift the heavy taxation. She made a procalamation for everyone to stay indoors during a certain time, the time needed to ride through the town and not be seen. She rode through the center of town hidden only by her long golden hair. It worked. No one saw her naked. Taxes were lifted. The people thanked her for being a gift from God for them.

It is not a quantum leap to see how a box of chocolates named Godiva is considered the zenith of gifts if it is chocolate you are giving. You can let someone know what a gift that person is in your life.



4 u Godgyfu...

Monumental shakeout

I often contemplate the slogan I see so often these days by a number of school districts. They say they are educating for the 21st century. But the words of the slogan are just words that blow in the wind. They are merely rhetoric given to a public that would like to hear it since they are paying tax dollars to fund the so called 21st century education.

But if people were to go into the classrooms, what would they see? They would not see their tax dollars at work. They would see their tax dollars misrepresented. They would see 5-8% of the students absent on any given day. They would see a steady stream of students (2-5%) in the office any given hour of the day for disciplinary matters such as sleeping in class, being combative to teachers, or simply trying to miss a particular class. They would see the tremendous unpreparedness of the students for class to the tune of 25-50% any given hour of the day. They would see students sittting in their cars in the parking lot (about 2%) while class is going on. They would see 5th grade students telling their teachers to go to hell. They would hear 4th graders telling off their vice prinicpal and shouting, "?*# off." They would see from 1-4 computers for student use sitting on the walls of the classroom. In reality the computers would be used less than 10% of the class time. They would see junior high teachers trying to be friends and pals to the students to get them to behave. They would go into a class with a substitute and see continuous talking by students because it would be considered an off-day for them. No work would be accomplished that day. They would see 3rd grade teachers who don't know how to teach the math required for instructing 8-year-olds. They would smell bathrooms that stink and graffiti on mirrors and stall doors if the stall doors are still in place. Many toilet stall doors are missing because students smoke marijuana behind them when they're closed or use them as weapons if a fight breaks out there. Certainly there would be no toilet paper or paper towels for hands.

My idea of a 21st century education is vastly different.

I see pockets of it once in a while, but seldom. I know what it would take - an encounter with a 6-mile wide meteor that would wipe out the dinosaurs in the education system. We need a KT boundary to look back on through which only 5% of life made it through. Then, we could believe the slogan if a school were to use it.

It's about to happen. By 2017, those who have tried to keep books and reading and writing alive will have been buried for the most part. A new breed of teacher will have replaced the dinosaurs - ones who know that the visual is a quantum amount more powerful than the written word - that the holograph is more experiential than the artificial words loquaciously presented by the dinosaurs. A new kind of school will be leading the way out of the darkness for the 3/4 of the 21st century that is left. It will not be run by public tax dollars. It will be backed by a global economy that requires production from kids instead of the small amount of work produced by the lazy, entitlement kids of the dinosaur schools.

I am ready for a 21st century school, and I am applauding those who have the vision already. I see reform trying to start. I know public school leaders who are doing their share of trying to oversee 21st century schools. They will live past the KT boundary experience. They will lead in the world after dinosaurs have died out. I support them 100%. The generation they lead will truly end up prepared for a globally run world.

Hang on for the ride. True 21st century schools are right around the corner.

Fascination with destiny

I was watching a television special earlier this week about the 10 most fascinating people of 2010. I think the title of the show was a misnomer. It should have been called The Ten People Destiny Smiled on the Most in 2010. For example, there is really not that much known about Kate Middleton to be fascinated by. She was determined to become the next queen of England, so Destiny smiled on her. And as special an actress as Sandra Bullock may be, how she handled her husband's infidelity is not so much fascinating as it is how Destiny thrust her in the lime light at a time when one aspect of her life faltered and she was determined to make it better. A lot of people respected her actions in getting past such a public smear.

The number one most fascinating person was General Petraeus, the new general in Afghanistan who replaced General McChrsytal, the general who allowed an interview in Rolling Stone magazine. Destiny smiled on Petraeus or you would never have heard from him again. He had been blackballed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and demoted in position from someone with power and limelight in Iraq to a behind-the-scenes, never-to-be-heard-of-again, menial position in the Pentagon. Then McChrystal made his gaffe, and bingo - Petraeus is suddenly liked for his beliefs by Obama and promoted back into the limelight. Fascinating - I don't think so. Destiny merely created an opening for a man with his particular beliefs and background because his overall personal story was rather routine. Many people go to college, distinguish themselves in the work force, and move up the ladder, whether military or corporate.

Petraeus became "fascinating" because of his ability to hang on to some philosophical beliefs that weren't always popular until the time came that favored his ideas. So, with that definition of "fascinating," I offer the words of a great mathematician and British philosopher, who influenced both mathematics and philosophy at the turn of the 20th century by mentoring Bertrand Russell and William Quine.

"But you can catch yourself entertaining habitually certain ideas and setting others aside; and that, I think, is where our personal destinies are largely decided." Alfred North Whitehead

'Tis the season

This is a festive season. People seem to smile more. There is a lot of well-wishing. Energy in stores and places of work appear to be at higher levels. Almost everywhere a spirit of goodwill is in the air.

And it is the season of wishing. Retailers make sure that you see nothing but glitz in their windows and doors, luring you in, inviting you to indulge in fulfilling your wishes. Children are encouraged to write letters to Santa asking him to bring them what they want. Trees in living rooms blink the message to passers-by that presents are under them for the residents at these houses.

So, I'll join in.

Dear Santa,
I have this wish...

Knowing why the smile

Once upon a time is a phrase in English that signals that the story about to be told will be about one character who will come into conflict with someone, but by story's end will have worked everything out and ride happily into the sunset.

If life were only that predictable and that simplistic. But, it's not. It twists and turns, goes up and down, and doesn't always create a sunset to ride happily into. But people nontheless live it valiantly. Elizabeth Edwards was one of those people. Good for her. She is a sterling example of life being what you make it.

All of us start our lives in our hometowns once upon a time. As our stories continue, our paths encounter many a conflicting moment. The trick is to always make lemonade from lemons. I, fortunately, know the master magician of that trick. That fact alone puts a smile on my lips every single morning, noon, and night.

Sirius(ly)

The night sky is replete with stars, planets, and galaxies. Charting them requires a person to understand distances in light years. Everything is far-flung in space. There are hundreds of galaxies, even more stars, and even more planets. Myriads upon myriads of frozen planets, scalding planets, moons for many of the planets, frozen or bare meteors, stars whose light has not reached the earth yet, and galaxies of shapes far different from the Milky Way.

That's a macrocosm of the little sphere we as humans travel in. Everything for us is more miniscule. Charting our movements is easy comparatively, in miles not light years. We meet a great number of people in our lifetime but far fewer than the neighborhood of galaxies and celestial bodies in space. And because humans are unique, we in our micorcosm experience the myriad of personalities and appearances exhibited in the people around us, those that are frozen and scalding and bare.

Out of all those heavenly spheres one shines more brightly than any of the others. That has to do with proximity to the earth, the phase in the life cycle of the star, the type of galaxy playing home to the star, and a number of other factors. From the Earth, Sirius is the brightest star in the sky... 8.6 light years away. And from each of our own little hubs of people, we also have a Sirius shining brightly in our skies. A number of factors play into that, personality compatibility from the galaxy of personalities around us being one of them, but always one heavenly, brilliant body appears.

Splendor in the sky

Imagine a really cold environment. The high mountains are snow-covered. The water in the alpine lake feels like ice. The chunks of leftover glacier litter the lakeside. The ground is frozen.

BUT between the peaks shines a brilliant sun. Sparkling rays of warmth splash across the entirely frozen alpine surroundings. It is so impossible to see the ice when the golden spray of rays in the sky is so beautiful, so warming, so filled with splendor.

My every morning could be ice except for the golden spray in my sky that is so beautiful, so warming, so amazing!

Meaning in frames

In literature there is a technique called a framed story. An author creates a setting and a cast of characters to start a story, but then selects one of the characters to tell the tale that the rest of the story is about. At the end of that tale, the setting switches back to the one from the beginning of the story with the original cast of characters. Switching back to the original frame allows the author to then place a purpose or moral to the story in this original setting at the very end. It's a story within a story... thus, a framed story.

In life we have so many experiences for the mind to mull that it seeks to associate experiences so that it can store them in networks rather than discard them. Many times the mind will assign an experience to a broader one, placing one experience inside of another experience... a framed memory.

This summer I had a very serene Sunday on an island off the coast of Maine. I loved it because I was alone and could focus only on what I wanted to. Now the experience is framed inside a wider experience. And, the thoughts I had are further framed inside that experience. The beauty of framed memories is that they are not buried. They are meaningfully framed. They are not forgotten. They are contained within a vivid frame as if they happened yesterday. So, when I think of my time spent in the Northeast, I single out the frame of that serene Sunday spent on Peaks Island. And when that frame comes up, I single out the thoughts I had while staring out at the beautiful sister islands surrounding Peaks, dotting the Atlantic Ocean... thoughts of the one who stirs my heart... still...

Sandwiched between unknowns

In South America lie a good number of enigmas. On the top of one of the highest ranges in the Andes is a flat-topped mountain in the Nasca region. There, long, runway-like lines are drawn in the rock. Perfectly straight lines. And a few perfectly round lines. And they form the shape of monkeys, birds, and human figures. Which take shape from an aerial view only. Now how did that happen ages ago?

In the plains around northern Chile stand some precision cut blocks that are 6 feet high. Where did the blocks come from? And how were they cut to such precision dimensions and with such sheer, flat faces? How is it that they interlock as well? 6 X 6 feet interlocking blocks... from a really long time ago... that form a town.

Those kinds of findings are unexplainable.

There are dozens of enigmas in South America and dozens more around the world. It makes you know we don't know the whole story of humans and life on earth. Plus, it makes you skeptical about modern explanations of life in the past. There's just not enough evidence for you to know what happened. You're left to wonder.

Enigmas from the past... Blinded from seeing the future... I should be content in the moment... Which I can be if I am not void of hope.

Let the thunder rumble

Volcanoes shake the earth, spew out molten rock in lava form, fill the air with glass-like particles that keep planes from flying into the jet stream path, cover the countryside with pyroplastic flow, and rumble with thunder to let scared countrymen know that the world around them is about to change.

Most of the volcanoes on the earth are in one spot. They form a horseshoe around the Pacific Ocean. The spot is known as the Ring of Fire. It is comprised of both volcanoes above and below the ocean. Those on the ocean floor end up forming islands like the Hawaiian chain. So, even though volcanoes are gripping in their appearance and behavior, they also give life that goes on after they finish erupting.

I love that Ring of Fire... active, erupting volcanoes... beautiful, fascinating to watch... and soooo caliente! They are a gripping adventure to follow. They change your world. They shake your world completely with awesome power. They give life for eons past their rumble of thunder (love that part). Long live the Ring of Fire.

Touched... profoundly

One of the best movies I have watched in recent times is the movie The Blind Side starring Sandra Bullock. Bullock's character was strong, compassionate, vivacious, loyal, independent, and determined. Her character was such a good mix and portrayed so well in a number of different circumstatnces that it was emotionally touching. I was moved by watching this movie more than by any other movie in recent times.

During a lifetime we all experience dozens of moving events. But, there are a few events that stand above others, like The Blind Side when compared to other movies. We cull them for our minds to further review and reflect on. Reflecting on these event makes them better because they have been allowed to enter the sacred psyche where we mull events and people, interpret them, and allow them to become a part of who we are. Those kinds of events and the people in them touch us, then become us.

But even among those elevated touching experiences, there come those once-in-a-lifetime periods that profoundly affect our behavior. We internalize them. They stay with us. They define who we are. And these times involve special people, who cause the event to have lasting significance, because events don't happen outside of those who cause them.

I have been through dozens of memorable, moving events. I have even experienced a few elevated, touching events - the kind that stand out. And I can also say that I have seen that pinnacle, once-in-a-lifetime period. I have been profoundly touched... in fabric and psyche... and I am forever grateful.

Seeing the surface

I had a friend from early college days contact me about 6 months ago. We had not spoken or seen each other from those days until he contacted me just last May. I am not sure why exactly that he made contact, but he seemed to want to share his life that was filled with disappointment. He wanted to compare situations at one point, probably around last August, I guess to give himself a frame of reference for situations with education, religion, accomplishments, children, and career moves.

The comparisons he saw made him think that my life had been one of relative success. I think it was a matter of the grass being greener on the other side. He had a number of successes. But, he only looked on the surface. He didn't ask about what may lie behind the scenes except in the area of religion. I know what lies behind the scenes, and I know how to make the facade in front look polished and shiny.

I could act perfectly satisfied with all that has transpired, but that would not be reality. Reality is that I have satisfaction for some facets of my life and a void to fill in other areas. The satisfying parts add to my happiness quotient. But, the void is all about working hard to fill it with accomplishments that are still attainable and about maintaining hope for a dream I have to be realized. I really think my friend's life is not too different from that no matter what he wants to make of the comparisons.

Thanksgiving Tribute

The day after Thanksgiving, the headline in the local newspaper showed a large picture of some volunteers feeding a number of indigent people a Thanksgiving meal at a downtown location. I am always impressed with this, and I know that the same program exists in towns all over the US. I think of the ones that need the meal and some of their dire situations, and I think of the ones who give up part of their Thanksgiving day to serve the ones who need the meal. For those in need, I am grateful that they see a few moments of kindness in an otherwise bleak life.

My tribute is to a young man about to turn 8 years old who wants to go for a second year to serve those in need. He has such an indomitable, kind, and generous spirit. What a champion!

Love that teddy bear

On the arm of one of the easy chairs in my house sits a teddy bear. It's a small one, about 15 inches in length. It sits there daily as a reminder that a beautiful daughter once ran through this house, bringing charm, laughter, and hope for tomorrow. The bear is old, probably a decade or so. But, it does its job; it reminds me of my beautiful daughter.

Inside my mind there are bears that sit where I can see them. They are pictures that represent events and people that bring about charm, laughter, and hope for tomorrow. Unlike the bear, though, the pictures are ageless. They bring vibrance and happiness to everyday life. They allow me a glimpse of raw beauty daily. And I am eternally grateful for them, not just at this season of Thanksgiving.

At rest with knowing

Home is where the heart is. ET (The Extraterrestrial) is a classic movie of this principle. The little, endearing creature from another star world visits Earth, makes the best of his time here by befriending the children of an Earth family, but never forgets his home, where his heart is. In the end his heart leads him back home.

Home is definitely where the heart is. I'm like ET. I know where my heart is.

Message of the puppets

I love experiments like this one. Seven-month-old infants were placed in front of a couple of puppets. Then a screen was placed in front of the puppets. The infants could see a hand reach behind the screen. It either took a puppet or added a puppet. Then the screen was removed. If the infant saw the correct number of puppets the baby looked away fairly quickly. However, if the incorrect number of puppets appeared behind the screen, the baby's gaze lasted longer viewing the puppets. This experiment proved two ideas. First, the executive attention system is already in place; second, a baby has a number sense at seven months.

An experiment of this nature means little out of context to its purpose. But, if you knew the experimenters were tying this to the development of how and when the brain shows self-regulation versus risk-taking, which begins with attention given to something, then a person can appreciate what the brain shows in adults about self-regulation and risk-taking. And, if you knew that it can be taken also that babies can count at seven months, then it can show that the sense of count and the sense that develops sound correlation in language appear independently from each other. That has ramifications for language learning and math learning.

I admire researchers who are so innovative. Unfortunately, such experiments appear in places that people don't normally look. But, experiments like this inform our knowledge base so that we don't have to rely on notions about our executive attention system or about how math might be developed outside of learning how language is developed. People in marketing and advertising should be aware of the executive attention system. They might want to know how that is developed along the way to adulthood and even how adults at different ages exhibit tendencies of complete development or not. Educators should want to know about number sense versus language acquisition. It would affect how early childhood education is viewed or approached by those who run daycare centers and publishers who make books and learning manipulatives.

As it is, this experiment and those like it remain buried in the annals of research. So... unfounded notions will continue and the fact that babies can count at seven months will go unnoticed. The status quo is strong, which is why the term is used - "status is that" (that meaning what has gone before). Too bad. Society could be much farther down the road.

The one of gold

The Spanish had a term for a city of great wealth. Explorers from Spain, in their wanderings around South America had heard of a city that was so wealthy that all commerce in South America went through it. It became known to the Spanish as the city of gold, or just the one of gold, not because it had a golden tint at sunset nor because it was paved with golden streets, but because it traded in coins and accumumlated wealth. The Spanish equated wealth with gold.

Explorers asked many a person where this city was, this one of gold. Interpretations exist about why the Spanish never could find this city, ranging from the explorers' defitiniton of wealth differing from the natives' of South America definition to explorers not having enough supplies and men to go down the Amazon river and find it. I favor the one that says the natives didn't want the Spanish entourage in their midst, so they sent them on a wild goose chase. All the natives knew there was no city of gold. I have to admire the ability of the natives to throw off the Spanish and at the naivety of the Spanish explorers and company.

The North American natives also used the same ploy with the Spanish explorers in Mexico and the Southwestern US. They told the explorers of the one of gold. At least one conquistador took a route through southern California just to find the city or the gold, he didn't care which.

It's the famous story of El Dorado, the one of gold. I think in life people can sometimes get caught up in the pursuit of legendary gold. And, sometimes they let that search keep them from their goals. But not all golden pursuits are vain pursuits for money. Some pursuits are noble and worthy and not misguided at all. I would like to be rich in knowledge, for example, and richer still in legacy. But, for sure I want to be wealthy, wealthy... gaudily wealthy... in the pursuit of Dorado when it pertains to matters of the heart, happiness, and hope.

Learning from chimps

I love it when something is proven in animal tests. I rarely think about checking the literature of animal experimentation, but when I read about it sometimes when working with language, it usually proves a good point. I learned about critical learning windows, for example, when a researcher brought up what cats do during only a certain period of their upbringing.

So, yesterday when I was reading about the brain and its hemispheric differences and functions, up popped an animal experiment. It was very appropro because it showed that even chimpanzees who have no language can still use symbolic reasoning in establishing relational categories. That was important because I was trying to prove that symbolic reasoning is not tied to language necessarily. It's always a good moment when you happen onto something you have been hypothesizing, and it's ironic to me that the lesson comes from a chimp experiment.

It's a good reminder that sometimes pleasant surprises come along when you least expect them. Love it when that happens.

What's it worth?

Occasionally I watch Austin City Limits to catch the flavor of alternative music. I usually enjoy listening to the artists that play there. Brandi Carlile is one of the artists that plays there from time to time, and tonight she played several very meaningful tunes. She talked of playing with Elton John and of putting her life-changing events into lyrics. It made for good listening. At the end, she looked into the camera and spoke of the last several years being worth 100 years because of all the people that made her career possible.



Worth 100 years... that would be something extremely precious because it is saying that something is worth more time than a lifetime. That's one of those superlative comparisons, one that a person can say about the one event or the one person that it is life's apex experience. I guess eveyone has that apex event or individual.




I do... yes, it is worth more than a lifetime... worth 100 years... X 100 more years... ad infinitum.

The last is better than the first

I have a filing cabinet in my study that has fallen into disuse. Oh, I still get bills and statements of all kinds, but they are electronically generated and stored. I used to have a system. I would keep a year's worth of bills, and then, every January, I would make all new folders, move the last year's to a file below the active bills drawer, move those bills to a box, and then store the oldest bills and statements in the garage. I can hear you laughing already.

This last year, by contrast, I paid all bills online through my bank's bill pay. The bank keeps the records of all bills and loans paid. I just have to enter a user name and password... no files. Even when I order something like K-cups for my hot chocolate, tea, and apple cider, I log in, order from a shopping cart, pay the bill online, and the record is kept on the company's server. I can call it up at any time if I ever get curious or need to print a record of it for some reason.

Computing in the cloud is beautiful, and that makes my filing cabinet defunct. I started with a lot of filing cabinets in life because keeping them was expected and was the most efficient way at the time. But a few years have passed, things have changed, they're now defunct. I have ended with the beauty of computing in the cloud, and how beautiful it truly is!

Fortunately... there are amazing people

Mommy Dearest was a classic movie in showing how mothers really don't care at all for their children, and in fact, emotionally abuse them. It is a response I relegate to the movies, however. I heard about it as an adult, and saw only rarely the effects of it in a young person or two that I ran across. So, when I see such indifference and cold-heartedness in my own back yard, I find it especially abhorrent. It's one of the saddest things to have to see. I can't even imagine the thinking process that prompts a mother to be so indifferent to a daughter. What dysfunction it creates, and that's an understatement!

Fortunately, I look around me and know that all is not lost. I see an amazing mother who cherishes her children and carefully molds them into confident, outstanding young people. She shares her life joyously with her children, and they will grow up knowing a true mother's love. I see a judge who reversed a Child Protective Services order to take twins from parents who love them. He saw their love, their deliberate actions of nurture and saw through the lies of an evil doctor who would distort the truth of caring actions.

I can sleep tonight, smiling for the parents who have been reunited with their twins and for the most amazing mother who knows how to give her all in raising strong children.

No cuts

Shows on TV nowadays leave out a lot of real life so that people don't have to see the humdrum of reality. They skip from one scene to the next allowing people to assume the action that happened in between. In NCIS LA tonight, for example, the two main detectives go to the director and tell her that she needs to send them to Afghanistan. In the very next scene, the two detectives are wearing middle eastern garb and are in Afghanistan - no preparation to go there, no flight to get there, no car ride from the airport to the house where the next scene is, and no unpacking and changing clothes in their hotel before going to the house of the next scene.

I would like for this to happen in real life sometimes. I would be nice to skip the mundane scenes in my life and just go from one substantive scene to the next. On trips, I would get to cut out the 5 1/2 hour drives to either Dallas or Austin. Every morning I would get to skip the routines to get ready for work. I would get to cut right to the parts that had meaning in my day.

But reality is not TV. I do have to go through every second of every day, good or bad. But, it makes a better person out of me because I get to learn from my failures in the bad moments and experience great happiness in the good moments. I get to watch others in how they operate their business and learn from them. I get to watch others have their worlds take turns in unexpected directions and see them make lemonade from lemons. And that gives me comfort, vicarious experience, and satisfaction. I would not be the person I am today if I got to skip the scenes in my life. I would end up with less happiness; I would make assumptions about the missing action that would not match what really happened; and I would have less understanding of the connectedness of life.

As it is I experience every second of every day and have great, great hope of how I want the future to be.

The world at your beck and call

A lot of life happens according to your view of it. My father was one who knew the power of positive thinking and used to tell the story of a man who traveled to a town in search of somewhere to settle. He was met at the gates of the city by a wise man who lived there. The traveler told the wise man that he was looking to settle and wanted to know if this was a good town. The wise man asked the traveler what his experience had been in the last town he lived. The man replied that it was a town of many disgruntled people and that nothing went right there. The wise man advised the man that he would find the same in his town, so he might want to look elsewhere. A second traveler arrived the next day and asked the wise man if this was a good town. The wise man asked the second traveler what his experience had been in the last town he lived. The traveler answered that he found the town to be friendly and active, and that he hated to leave it. The wise man welcomed the traveler and told him that he would find the same kind of people and activities in this town.

Yes, the positive view makes for a higher quality of life. And I know someone who lives that way every day. I am inspired by such a life, and my own view is better, clearer, more productive, and efficient as a result. In this season of thanks... thank you for such inspiration. You have the world at your beck and call every day you wake up.

A gift from Japan

Yesterday was an interesting day. The Ministry of Education in Japan commisioned 4 University professors (from 3 different universities in Japan) to visit some United States' online schools so that the Ministry could write new national standards specifically for online schooling. They would keep the current standards for their brick and mortar schools, but write new ones for online schools which they hope to establish in the near future. So, the delegation of four profs selected and came to visit three schools - two in California, publicly funded schools, and one in Texas, a private corporate school, Orion Online Learning. The delegation spent 4 1/2 hours getting acquainted with the Orion protocols for modules and operations in general, taking notes and asking questions. At the end of the visit, and in true Japanese fashion, the four professors gave an appreciation gift to Orion from Japan.

Working with that delegation was very interesting. It would be a nice opportunity to help in writing standards or curriculum for another country. The delegation's visit might lead to some cooperative work with Japan, but even if it doesn't, it helped in expanding my professional horizons.

The last 365

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler.
Long I stood and looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
But as for that, the passing there had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black...

(The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost)
______________________________

A year ago I struck a new path. I did have a choice to stay or go. But, going meant that I would be able to better my position financially. Normally, that is the only consideration I look at in making a decision.



In fact, it was financially better after a year than it would have been had I stayed. And, in fact, it led to opportunity that could not have happened if I had stayed. It continues to produce in the opportunity category. But there was another category. Money is not even in the same arena as this category, and opportunity can not lead to any destination worth it if it means missing the place this other category would lead to. A person can measure the amount of money (s)he makes or determine the value of the opportunities that may come along. But, this other category cannot be measured except in terms of what the heart can produce. 2010 in that regard has been one of great hope.

Still the same

This is election night. Decisons made in the election of 2008 are being turned on their heads. The Tea Party has really made an impact and is upsetting the power structure. Even Republicans are taking notice that the Tea Party element is going to dictate some of their future actions. The Democrats didn't know how much of a dent the Republicans were going to make, and even thought that they might hold onto the House of Representatives. But, it has not turned out that way, not even close.

But over the last two years in my life, there is nothing upsetting at all, no major impacts... no Tea Party push, no takeover from the opposite party. Friends of mine are still friends of mine. Progress is being made in my professional life.

And the one who adds the spring to my step, still adds spring to my step daily and gives me hope.

Affecting the outcome

Watching the world series was a contrast in talent level this year. It was portrayed best by the game's centerpiece, the amazing pitcher of this last game. San Francisco's starting pitcher threw for 8 innings and looked just as fresh then as when he started the game even though it was 101 pitches later. He helped the Giants win and inspired those around him to rise to the occasion also. The Giants won the game not because of luck but because of what they brought of themselves. And the outcome to the series was affected.

My life has always benefited from a talented supporting cast around it. But, of late it has benefited from an amazing pitcher in its center. And, 101 pitches later I am still inspired by this person to rise to the top of the occasions life places before me, to be better than I am. Truly I am fortunate!