Caring… Friday Flick: Music with Shining Eyes 8 Jul 201110 Jul 2011 If you've never loved classical music before, give Ben Zander twenty-one minutes to change your heart. If you've loved it already, share this with someone who could use a little…
Books… If You Ask Advice from an Author 15 Jun 2011 If you ask 22 author friends for advice, they'll write you a whole book! Steve Silberman had been reporting on professionals with autism/Asperper's and became an expert on such neurodiversity,…
Books… Rhyme Time 2 Jun 20112 Jun 2011 Children's book editors conventionally whine about rhyme. It's so hard to write tight in rhythm and rhyme, they'd rather not brave it. Then they have children of their own, and…
College… College Endeavor 1 Jun 20111 Jun 2011 With the final landing of Endeavor, this shuttle chapter of space exploration will be closing soon. At the moment, I'm closing a college quarter and identifying with NASA. I have…
Academic Writing… My Favorite Kind of Payday 31 May 2011 In my introductory college skills class this quarter, a student told me about repeatedly sabotaging his final Naval promotion because at that level, he'd be required to write reports galore. Writing…
Blogging… Random Unexpected Blog of Awesomeness 21 Apr 201121 Apr 2011 Younger son's blog idea: "It's time for your random blog of the month." I didn't know I had such a thing. He explained, "Oh, you just write about Pokemon cards…
Blogging… “Show Me Difficult” 20 Apr 201122 Apr 2011 Werner Erhard often talks about things that exist only in language: "Show me Difficult. Whales do not find anything Difficult." And he also says something like, "I don't have 'too…
Change the World… In Case of Rejection 13 Apr 2011 As poet Wesley McNair braved rejections, his mentor Donald Hall comforted him with these observations: "These feelings simply do not end! Believe me I am sympathetic with your feelings, but…
Collaboration… Robo-Mottos 12 Apr 201112 Apr 2011 While witnessing my first FIRST Robotics competition this spring, I was initially impressed by the enthusiasm. It's a high school sport! Fans rock a basketball court while nerdish guys in…
Collaboration… Composing Language 11 Apr 20119 Apr 2011 Every time I see my composer son, he raves about and demonstrates some new tool in his repertoire: something about counterpoint, some chord he picked up from another composer, some…
Blogging… The Sport of Writing 9 Apr 2011 Some sports are played against the clock. Their time-centered rules vary greatly, but they include judicious use of the time available. Basketball rushes through its quarters with shot clocks to…
Books… Friday Flick: Do Schools Kill Creativity? 8 Apr 20119 Apr 2011 Sir Ken Robinson, author of Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative, and The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, spoke at TED a few years ago about…
