Change the World… Friday Flick: Decide to Launch 25 Feb 201125 Feb 2011 In my childhood, I saw Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. In my young adulthood, I heard the Challenger explosion by radio. Now I'm raising a rocket scientist. I will…
Change the World… Not Without Encouragement 24 Feb 201125 Feb 2011 An Egyptian explained why he was helping donate food and medical supplies to protesting Libyans: because people can live without food, without medicine, but not without encouragement.1 Survivors fresh from…
Brain… What We Learn from Watson 23 Feb 201125 Feb 2011 My interest in IBM's Jeopardy-winning Watson was initially syntactical. It has taken decades to teach computers to understand and speak a human language almost as well as your average three-year-old.…
Academic Writing… Why Do I Have to Take this Class Anyway? 10 Feb 201112 Feb 2011 I haven't studied math since high school. I excelled in it. I took all four years of accelerated classes, keeping college majoring options open. Then I tested out of college…
Baby Boomers… How to Stop Time 9 Feb 20119 Feb 2011 A student who's juggling unemployment stress and family crises (while still getting his schoolwork done) asked, "Can you just tell me how to stop time?" The same day, my son…
Academic Writing… How to Get that Easy A 3 Feb 20113 Feb 2011 Show up. Show up on time, every time. Stay the whole time. Read the instructions. Listen to instructions. Try common sense. Be sober. Care for your health. Choose to learn.…
Brain… Education Knows No Boundaries 31 Jan 201130 Jan 2011 For the first five years of my formal education, Louisiana was the setting. Halfway through second grade, I was assigned to a new school, courtesy of the United States Supreme…
Academic Writing… I Am Woman; Call Me She 27 Jan 201127 Jan 2011 Since Facebook already knows whether you are male or female, and even distinguishes between your "Cousin (male)" and "Cousin (female)," a distinction the English language doesn’t make, then why can't…
Blogging… A Slice of Sky 26 Jan 201126 Jan 2011 As soon as I discovered William Herschel's music and bio on KBAQ, I wanted to adopt the man as an honorary ancestor. William Herschel (Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel) professional musician and…
Blogging… The Things We Put First 11 Jan 2011 “You always have time for the things you put first.” -- Wish I had the source. Do you know? Sometimes it’s almost midnight, you have seven tasks to finish…
Books… “The Power of Receiving” 10 Jan 201116 Mar 2011 "Doesn’t it make sense that if you want something—whether to meet the love of your life, get a great job or increase your financial stability—you need to know how to…
Brain… Favorite Resolution: Breathe 3 Jan 20113 Jan 2011 Breathe. Cheap goal, right? You breathe or you die. Try not to and your brain stem pulls out the override. Just because you're alive, doesn't mean you know how to…