According to Gladwell, mastery of a trade requires a minimum effort of ten thousand hours. A rule. Applying that calculation to education, the (contractual) five hours a day for ten school years brings one to the threshold.
posted in education | Comments Off on Mastery achieved | 264 words
Back in 2011, I mentioned the closure of a local magazine shop [blog.spudman.ca/?p=4415] with sadness. I like magazines. They satisfy the hunter/gatherer/collector instinct. They teach new crafts, for a fistful of loonies. They hold up other stuff, if you stack them properly. However…
posted in education | Comments Off on Not again… | 265 words
There is a growing risk of alien invasion. Forget the tabloids sold at the supermarket checkout. Ignore the (endless) parade of programs on the higher cable channels. This is real, and this is now. Well, not quite now, but in a few months. When it warms up.
posted in education | Comments Off on Under invasion | 255 words
After six weeks of directed listening, I have to assume that I am no longer capable of hearing the chorus of “ten billion butterfly sneezes” that so marked my youth. That was a Moody Blues reference, for the attentive among you. Seriously; after completion of an online course aimed at people involved in sound production, I have ro accept (with grace as charm, as always), the reality of my getting on in years. The high frequencies no longer register. The low frequencies no longer register. I am out of phase, unable to chorus, doomed to flanging.
posted in education, health | Comments Off on Unable to discern that sound | 260 words
Another distracting afternoon. Eye pain, mostly, but there’s little I can do about that. Taking an aspirin and going to bed isn’t the panacea it once was (although the going to be part still helps).
posted in education, sports | Comments Off on Trying to be more accurate in analysis | 258 words
Oh, to have a magic wand! To zap all around me and fix the tales of woe. To grant a sense of common courtesy to so many (the guy who never stops or signals, in our neighbourhood, comes to mind). To convince the young and restless that it’s better to ‘live long and prosper”, without ever dressing in a uniform (not even one copied from an old TV series).
posted in education, politics | Comments Off on Exposure to laicity | 265 words
It was a bargain. The colour (a hopeless tan) didn’t even enter into the pre-purchase analysis. It was on sale! 66% off. And in my rushed state of mind, I didn’t even consider taking two. Tonight, I returned to the site of my oversight, and there were none remaining. Except, of course, at full price and I wasn’t willing to compromise. We’ll just have to share the only “day holster for DSLR” in the house.
posted in education | Comments Off on Guess the frequency | 256 words
I’m not crying, really. That constant drip from one eye may look like tears, but it’s not quite the same thing.
posted in education, health | Comments Off on Tears on the side | 278 words
I don’t understand. English is one of the languages that gets used (and abused) around the planet. And, thanks to movies, radio, TV and the other cousins, there is ample opportunity to sample various regional accents. So, based on a limited sampling, what happened in the urban wilds of Scotland?
posted in education | Comments Off on Lost in the accent | 259 words
Tonight marks the start of another online course, for me. My involvement with MOOC is coming up on a “one year and counting” date, and I’ve tended to stay in my comfort zone. This course, the eighth, is different for me. I’m finally looking over the fence into the neighbour’s yard. Entrepreneurship.
posted in education, humour | Comments Off on Learning to fail | 263 words
