Getting Better All the Time 3.18

tonight & the last weekend

Whilst feeding the childrens their solid food...they took a break, so that Mr. Grunty could pound on the high-chair tray and Miss Squeaky could clap her hands.

Mr. G has gotten back into the grunting habit recently

Miss S likes to crawl to the bathroom, pull herself up on the tub, and pound on the side of the tub.

This past Saturday, my dad visited and he & I went to the local university open house. We learned some stuff. It was fun. Then we came over to visit the childrens. Miss S was hesitant, she hasn't seen him since X-mas. She crawled up to about 2 feet away from him, then crawled away. Then crawled to 1'9" and then crawled away....until she was close enough to touch his knee, and then crawl away. When I was changing her diaper, my dad and my son must been telling some kind of jokes because Mr. G was laughing lots & loudly.

Sunday, to give MyBetterHalf a chance for a nap*, I took the childrens for a walk in their new stroller. It was drizzling, but as we say her, "liquid sunshine". Miss S shocked me by falling asleep and taking a long nap on the trip. Mr. G was wide awake for it. At a local park, we took a rest under a shelter, and I would pull the stroller close, and get my face close to Mr. G's face. He found that hilarious.

*nope,she didn't nap...she did chores.

is it "Highlander 7"??

alright, it was a bad idea, back when the
NBA did it ...but now Time Magazine?

Although it is a slightly better motto than TNT's "win or go home". Seriously, if are the higher seed, and you sweep a team, it's game 4, you won, and you get to go home. Or you lose, and then have to finish out a series on the road?

puffs

the childrens like to eat their puffs

all I have to do is rattle the canister, and Miss Squeaky will quickly come crawling, crying (without tears) because she wants the puffs. And when she's in her high-chair, she'll pick one up, and gnaw on it with her two front teeth.

Mr. Grunty will pick them up. But so far, won't put them in his mouth. He knows they're food, because if a parental picks one up, and holds it front of him, he lean forward and snap it right up with his lips. After he's picked them off of his tray, he'll open a hand, see it's still there, and laugh jollily.

On a different note...
It is so wonderful when they make each other laugh.

puffs are cereal like, puffed wheat, sorta star shaped, by Gerber

"Large breasts and narrow waists..."

I just wanted to see if I could get your attention. But, seriously, let's talk science. From the esteemed Proceeding of the Royal Society, back in 2004.

G Jasienska, A Ziomkiewicz, PT Ellison, SF Lipson & I Thune

And kids say science isn't interesting. I think an article like this would be great to give to high school kids to read. Because, I think it would help teach them to think critically about the difference between an attention getting headline, and what the researchers can really claim to have found out.

Don't believe the hype.

Figure one shows that women with narrow waist, and larger breast have more estradiol, a good indicator of fertility. What I find funny, is that there are four classes of women for this statistical analysis. I think a better way to look at the data, would be to graph the three variables in three axis. I suggest "breast size", "waist-to-hip ratio", and estradiol levels. Plot it out, then see if there are some correlations.

" 'Large' and 'small' breasts were defined based no breast to underbreast ratio above average or below average respectively." I am always suspect when a researcher has to decide which category to put the subject into. Especially when it can be easily measured. For example height. If they were drawing a conclusion and only had "tall" and "short"...we might not believe them.

What wasn't used in the statistical analysis: age, body mass index, percentage of body fat.

It ends with "in Western society, the cultural icon of Barbie as a symbol of female beauty seems to have some biological grounding." Oh, so evolution worked in such a way that that the modern Western ideal of sexy would be realized. I don't buy it. I think that would be like saying evolution worked so that we could use forks.

So, is the Barbie body shape popular because of biology, or because of advertising. I think if the Barbie shape showed up in all cultures , then maybe it is a genetic predisposition. But right now, I'm gonna have to blame advertising.

I guess the real lesson of the study is, just remember, you're not looking at porn, you're doing important evolutionary analysis & research.

in case you were curious...
the article title:
Large breasts and narrow waists indicate high reproductive potential in women

the average breast to underbreast ratio is 1.163

the average waist to hip ratio is .726

the subjects were 119 Polish women, 24 yrs - 37 years
average age 29.9 years, s.d. 3.54 years

to get the progesterone & oestradiol readings, the subjects gave daily saliva samples during a menstrual cycle

food prices

"...Rising Food Prices"
And once again a case of Chicken-Little. Sure, food prices are up a bit.
The news article does say in the slide side bar that the USA spends about 7% of budget on food, which is nothing from historical standpoint. In the 1930s we spent ~22%. Today, France spends about 13%. (Take that socialism!)

Also, in comparing the average spending of families twenty years ago, how much has the sale of "organic" food gone up. Free-range chicken wasn't an option at the local Safeway when I was a kid. So, people have more expensive options to put in their carts.

There has been droughts in Russia & Australia, more demand for meat in India & China, increased biofuel demands, all these send up prices. But I don't think we as a nation need to worry about the rising cost of food.

Yes, please continue to donate to food banks. They sometimes get forgotten when free-range-ultra-organic-uniodized-rock-salt gets over $3 an ounce.

Now for real problems. Because, we in America, don't have real problems with food. There are hungry people in the world. I think it is a logistics issue and an infrastructure issue. What can we do, to make sure people don't starve?

by the way...last week, some dry barley was practically free and chicken drumsticks were on sale.

So, I prepped the barley like a dry bean, seasoned w/ salt & pepper & the drippings from the roasted chicken.

easy...it was like 8 lunches for the price of less than $10, and low labor. Yes, you can eat cheaply in Seattle.

how do you lose? & NBA playoffs

I think how one responds to a loss tells more than how many trophies one has.

For instance, I've seen teams that should've been good for many years, wither and die with infighting after stunning losses. I'm thinking about how the Lakers destroyed the will of Portland & Sacramento in conference finals. I'm thinking about how Dallas was on top of the world, but ever since they got beat by Miami a couple of years ago in the championship. Hasn't been the same for them.

The Spurs are resilient, they can only get to the finals every other year, but those defeats don't slow them down the next year. The Jazz back in their heyday fought strong, even though they lost to Jordon's Bulls, they kept coming back for punishment.

so awhile ago
I made some predictions.

I was right about the East, top teams going into the playoffs are
Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, Orlando
I watched Detroit lose to Philly, sad, sad, it's as if Detroit doesn't really care.

In the wild West...hmm...some upstarts have knocked my favorites down to lower seeds. I don't think the Hornets are going anywhere. But, then again, they are playing Dallas, and, well...maybe Dirk is soft and can't finish, maybe Kidd is too old.

Phoenix-vs-San Antonio, double overtime what a first game for the first round. I believe this series will go to seven games. If think if you had to win by two games, this series would never end. To bad one of them will be done in a little more than a week.

Rockets - Jazz...I pick the Jazz. I have always respected Jerry Sloan, even when his team was beating the Sonics out of the playoffs. I do find it funny that the Rockets seem to be doing alright w/o Yao Ming. I kinda feel sorry for him, especially since I fear that he will be "encouraged" to play for China in the Olympics, and might sustain a career ending injury.

Ya know, I was a bit worried yesterday, it was almost as if I couldn't summon the reason to hate the Lakers. Well, I still don't hate them...seriously, why spend the energy hating a team that hasn't won recently. But, when I remembered George Karl was coaching the Nuggets, well, that gave me some incentive to root for Denver.

As for who will be in the finals...
...everybody loves Boston...it's like they are destined...like when Kobe, Shaq, KarlMalone & Gary Payton were all going to ...oh yeah, they got beat by Detroit.

Cleveland got lucky last year.
Detroit seems to have lost that killer instinct.
Orlando. No one is expecting it. And Dwight Howard is gonna be huge.

Spurs won last year, so they won't this year.
Lakers look tough.
Phoenix...would be nice for Steve Nash, and they have the big Diesel.

So...for the finals...
I pick Orlando - vs - Phoenix.
Phoenix wins in six games.

wheels keep spinning round

..."Wheels" is a good song by Cake.

Today, we took the childrens shopping to the grocery with us. And we had one of those little carts with a car in front. Each had their own steering wheel. They were so very cute driving through the store.

Later, we took our new three wheel, side by side, jogging stroller for a test drive. Miss Squeaky was all about the excitement and was gripping the safety bar tight. (Yay! Soon MyBetterHalf will have some one to go on roller-coaster rides with.) Mr Grunty was laid back, real cool, enjoying the ride, lean back, with one arm propped up on the side. (I think he had his mind on his money and his money on his mind.)

Naturally, whilst I was assembling the stroller it was warm and sunny. And 20 minutes later, on our ride, it was cloudy & windy & cold.

Happy Birthday, Oliver!

Four years old...my first little fur-baby is all grown up.

He is still a spazz, sometimes. We don't play with him nearly enough.
He has been very good with the childrens, and if Miss Squeaky is trying to pull a handful of hair, or whiskers, he'll just walk away.

He sleeps on our bed, at the foot, on MyBetterHalf's side - it's safer their. I suspect, someday, he'll leave us to sleep with one or both of the childrens.

I think it is very cute, when the parents check on the childrens before we go to bed, he come running, because he wants to check on them too. And most of the time he leaves their room without any coaxing.

Well, with the spring, more moths will be inside, which means he'll have more opportunity to hunt and play. Unless of course it keeps snowing!

I love you Oliver. I am so glad you picked us. Seriously, how could you not been taken right away, you were so cute in your cage. Very nice looking. And purr-meister, and doing back flips. You must have hissed at the other customers, because you knew God sent you to us.

of baths and butts

Miss Squeaky has a more refined way of taking a bath. None of the super-splashing that her brother does. No, Miss S first looks at the bubbles, tries to pinch them, then carefully picks some up, observes them closely, and then tastes them.

Mr. Grunty this morning, was propping himself up with his arms, holding his chest and head up high, which he's been doing for awhile. But then, was also practicing sticking his butt in the air at the same time! Yay, soon crawling, I hope.

Oh man...I am not ready for two crawlers.

gun control

Wow...in my opinion,
Wal-mart made a positive step. And, supported by billionaire (is he still "Republican")
NYC mayor Bloomberg, (maybe even with his own funds?)

I don't believe that any of the 10 points interfere with the second Amendment. (Well, it might make it more difficult for a criminal to purchase at Wal-mart.)

And, my response to the NRA...it is a set of policies developed by private companies, encouraged by bi-partisan city mayors. The federal gov'mint has nothing to do with this.

Seriously, what is the problem with registering your guns?
You have to register to vote. You have to register to have a parade. What I would like the NRA to propose...how do we keep guns out of the hands of criminals, and mentally unstable. I admire their devotion to fire arm safety training. I think it would be great if everyone went to an NRA fire arm safety course before they bought a gun.

...wow...some of these measures seem common sense to me...

Computerized Crime Gun Trace Log and Alert System.

Videotaping the Point of Sale for All Firearms Transactions.

Deterring Fake IDs.

Inventory Checking.

Securing Firearms.

No Sales Without Background Check Results.

childrens first sunburn

There, now that I have your attention.

Hardly any sunburn what-so-ever. We did put sun screen on them, and kept them mostly shaded, and they were so very cute in their hats. There was only a bit of pink on their cheeks today.

Today, Miss Squeaky and I went to the liquor store. Lucky for me, children can go in, as long as they are accompanied by an adult. Unlucky for me, the liquor store was closed.

Then, we went to the book sale. I really had no intention on going there. But MyBetterHalf kept asking if I was gonna go. So, tempted me into it.

Miss S had a long day, and thus was falling asleep during her dinner. It is so very cute, when they are sitting there, eyelids very droopy, head bobbing forward as they start to doze off. It doesn't happen often, because we try to keep a step ahead of their needs.

Today, we lowered Mr. Grunty's mattress in his crib. He was very excited to be standing in his remodeled crib, and making faces at his sister. While I was at the store, MyBetterHalf used their cribs as playpens for them while she was sorting through the clothes in their closet. There are advantages of playpens.

And, we have learned, that there are advantages of changing activities every 20 or 30 minutes, because the childrens...get fussy if they have to do the same thing like, forever.

...books I got...

MyBetterHalf picked up for me Friday @ booksale
Randomness Deborah J. Bennett
Mathematical Magic Show Martin Gardner (he's so cool!)
Mathematical Scandals Theoni Pappas, she wrote my math calendar

I got today (no...I didn't get anything for anyone, I'm selfish)
What is Calculus About? WW Sawyer
Selected Stories Anton Chekhov
The First Circle Aleksander Solzhenitsyn
There Won't Be War edited by H.Harrison & B. McAllister
Free Will edited by Gary Watson (Oxford readings in philosophy)
Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice M.J.Plotkin - saw this guy give a talk back with the room mate I ditched Moonbeam for. Maybe that's it... B.J. and I were gonna be famous biologists, and living together would facilitate that dream.
Discourse of Reason J.C.Sherwood
Geometry for the practical man Thompson
Linear Geometry Rafael Artzy
Differential Equations Lyman M. Kells

...and my three big finds (that were only 50 cents each! what a bargain!!)
Shadow Warriors Tom Clancy
Into the Storm Tom Clancy
Principles of Neural Science Kandel, Schwartz, Jessell (3rd ed), sure, the fourth edition came out eight years ago...but still, for fiddy-cent, I couldn't pass it up.

So, there it is, books that I want to read, that I found in a scrap heap. I think I'm a biblio-pack-rat.

Happy Birthday, Moonbeam!

happy b-day for my best previous room-mate, who was always way kinder to me than I was to her.*

(And, if anyone, in let's say Alaska, happened to read this and felt slighted, I would respond with, "Hey! You left me, after only 6 months, alone with two sorority girls & and an insane cat with bowel 'issues' .")

She subsidized my food, because we like split the groceries 50-50, even though she was a petite female, and I was usually training for something and running 30 miles a week and biking 50 miles a week. We watched lots of X-files & Red Dwarf, and went to dark smokey clubs looking for cool live music.

She got me to eat broccoli. And I liked it.
She got me to quit smoking. And be less homophobic.

...uh...I introduced her to Concrete Blonde, (I think), I'm sure that's good for something.

*And after a couple years of living with a perfect roommate, for some reason, I decided to go live with someone else. (And I was even a worser room mate for him....hehe...seriously, I was pounding nails in the wall at 3AM once. Hey, he said he was pulling an "all-nighter" so I thought that meant he wouldn't mind the normal sounds of the day.)

Well, to make a long story a bit longer, I ditched him, and somehow convinced MoonBeam to rent an apartment with me again. This time she had a computer, which I was constantly using. We watched lots of Buffy. And she would run and hide when I wanted to watch NBA on her TV sitting on her furniture.

Happy Birthday to my wonderful friend.

AND...Happy 10 months to the childrens!
Today at the park, we found that Miss Squeaky does not like walking in the grass. And Mr Grunty does like picking daisies. Miss S tasted a daisy (and so did Moonbeam.) Miss S had lots of fun drooling on, and pulling the ears of the German Sheppard Kaylee.

Kaylee was a lot more behaved than I was expecting. Because I heard that Kaylee doesn't like other dogs AT ALL. But Kaylee was cool, just hanging out, getting hit by a 10 month old, not bothering the other dogs in the huge vast of an off leash area.

(Also, I recently heard a story from Bitterkat's childhood, about a mean German Sheppard that killed a kitten with one bite. And that has made me a bit prejudiced against the G-sheppard.)

And also, we peaked around the corner and saw Mr. G up on his hands and knees. But he quickly went back to his belly when he saw us. Silly boy!

Also at the park I got a sun burn. MyBetterHalf got hit by a boomerang. And we weren't really prepared to have the childrens outside in such nice weather. They might have gotten a bit too much sun.

I think the quote of the day was from me, "Hey Moonbeam is walking too fast and I can't keep up."

she left me

MyBetterHalf left me. To go to the book sale, of course. I sure hope she finds a cool math book for me.

Yay! Miss Squeaky, picking up a banana puff and putting it in her mouth and eating it. Mr Grunty was fed his.

Yay! Mr. G, drinking from a glass. Miss S tried to chew on the glass and the water ran down her chin.

...hey...this is entry #401!
Which is a prime number.
And also the sum of seven consecutive primes
(43 + 47 + 53 + 59 + 61 + 67 + 71),

And the sum of nine consecutive primes
(29 + 31 + 37 + 41 + 43 + 47 + 53 + 59 + 61)

And also the hull number of the Titantic.

...but only 326 comments so far, so, common Sports Fans, comment up!!

fun & games

The childrens tonight were having a fun game. MyBetterHalf was holding Miss Squeaky, I was holding Mr. Grunty. We would dip down and lean in towards each other while singing "awwwww". The childrens were laughing lots, especially when they were zooming up close to each other.

(Imagine if you will that each child is a mass-less point in space, then the route of the point would be a "U" shape.)

The other morning I was playing "toss-n-chase" with Oliver kitty. The childrens were entertained with him sprinting by at top speed.

MyBetterHalf has been figuring out how to play songs on the childrens' xylophone. I think we enjoy that toy more than they do. They will just chew on the mallet (which is shaped a lot like their tooth brushes.

this story is awesome, about senior citizens who rock,

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23996880?GT1=43001

I hope to get there someday

visit from ah-Key...

...and she brought over her beautiful almost two month old son, J. And her husband, too. J was mostly sleeping and sucking on his pacifier.

Miss Squeaky & Mr. Grunty were a bit subdued. Pro'lly because there were guests.

Mr. G tried to steal J's blanket.
Miss S tried to use the distraction as a chance to sneak over to the DVDs and eat season 5 of "Friends".

Recently, it seems the childrens start fussing around 8 am.
Is it because they know I'm running late, and they are like their mommy and don't want to be late so they yell at me?
Is it because they know we're about to go to daycare, and they don't wanna.
Or are they bored of their toys, and want to move onto something else?

So...I hear that the trend today, is for parents to use other words besides "no" in order to direct their children. Well...we need to start finding some words to divert and direct, because for Miss S, it's not just DVD cases that are tasty, her mommy's shoes are, and she really is curious about the trash.

baby stories

Tonight, after her evening bottle, Miss Squeaky & I took a tour of the living room. She was happy to have her papa crawl along beside her. She really likes to run her hands along the heating vent cover, it's like a xylophone. (And, as an added bonus, Oliver kitty always comes to 'vestigate the racket.)

Mr. Grunty LOVES the bath time. He alternates between vigorously kicking and excitedly splashing his hands. I have to keep the water trickling into the tub so that he doesn't empty it.

only you can protect copyrights

Hey Sportsfans, I like free stuff just as much as the next person. But, when I follow the lead of the amazing Allyson, please honor my copyrights.

If, I give you a CD of tunes I've written & recorded, and by freakish chance, someone you know wants a copy, either buy them one, or have them contact me.

Today, it is very easy to steal one of America's most valuable assets, intellectual property. Seriously, what can we in the USA export of value?...movies, music, software. And what if someone buys a copy, and with a bit of simple computer know-how, burns copies for a billion of their closest friends? Then the labor of those who created the project was stolen. It's like not paying for your meal at a restaurant.

"But Metallica is filthy rich". Yes. They got that way by putting out a product that people wanted to pay them for. AND, if the record companies quit making money off of the cool band that you like, then they will quit signing cool bands.

Right now, it seems that the music industry is fighting with this, and trying to figure out what to do. Some, like RadioHead are putting out their music for free, and hoping for donations. That's their prerogative.

So I'm going to advise all of us live by the rule of "if it is valuable enough to have a copy, then it is valuable enough pay for it". There are examples when I've broken this rule. I will try to be better. And I hope the rest of the world will too.

the project

Oh yeah...I was supposed to say more about the "project with someone from the Brain Institute"...

Here's the thing. I was sleepy.

On Thursday, I was up late because the "project" was working on some songs for our good friend Blub to perform at her FAWM record release party. The keyboardist/harmony singer works at the Brain Institute.

Saturday night was the gig in the Tiki Lodge. And for starters I have to say, "thank the good Lord for women." Seriously, if not for them, we men would be living in a very dirty cave. I think the only reason a man ever does something is to either impress a woman, or because the she uses one of her many feminine wiles to encourage him to take said course of action.

I've been dreaming of having a gig in the Tiki Lodge garage since, like, before it was built. But, never said anything to Pablo about it. (Also, there was no real point, because we never had that many fans.)

We set up in the corner. There were x-mas lights. There was a small platform built for the singer(s). I'm pretty sure AlecksBCix helped with lighting design (and he filmed the gig).

I was lucky enough to be include as part of her backup. I got to play punk guitar on "Afraid to go back home". I pounded on my Djbay on "Stay the night" and faked my way through "Backseat driver" on a cracked splash cymbal used as a make-shift high hat.

I had lots and lots of fun.

"Afraid I won't say 'no'" is my new fav song by her.

And, she sold out of her first pressing of the album!!

Which leads me to something that is very near and dear to me...

...which I'll write about...later*.

Yesterday, we went and played with a couple of kids that are bigger, and a bit older than my childrens. And we parentals would trade off on playing GuitarHero. Funny thing, I caught myself trying to do vibrato with my left hand, and I still don't get the hold down toggle switch w/ right hand to sustain note. I think I'm going to passively avoid the game, no sense learning something that would mess up my guitar skillz. And, whilst playing it, I always think, "man, I really want to be playing this song for real...or learn how to."

*hopefully tomorrow...but, ya know, stuff happens

Get Good!

Hey Sports Fans! I'm a little sad that last night I didn't have time to write this. I feel I've let my (four) fans down. But seven days in a row was a good run, right? Personally, I've been having fun writing "I'll finish the story tomorrow..."

But enuff of the wallow. If ya lose one, if the streak ends, if you get hit hard...brush it off, and keep on keepin' on.

How does one get good? Is it talent? Is it work? Ah, the old nature vs nurture debate all over again.

Let's start with a depressed Englishman, the great mathematician, GH Hardy. Hardy says that "most people can do nothing well." Really? I suspect that if we are offended by that, especially in America where we like to believe that we all can achieve our dreams, it is because we haven't truly thought out what Hardy is saying. Hardy is in the genetic destiny / nature camp. We wouldn't be offended if he said, "most people are not tall."

On the nurture side, SciAm states "the preponderance of psychological evidence indicates that experts are made, not born". It takes a lot of time in the gym to get to the NBA, or practice-practice-practice is how you get to Carnegie Hall. King suggests a strenuous program of ~5 hrs a day of reading and writing to become a good writer. Professional UK footballers put in 10,000 hours before they go pro (Nature). As Chuck D says, "practice in the heat, in the rain, and in pain." Laszlo Polgar trained his three daughters to be world class chess players. There is always stories of an athlete whose work ethics makes up for their alleged talent deficiencies (currently Tyler Hansbrough is carrying that torch. Go Tar Heels!). And we all know of athletes that don't live up to their potential due to their laziness. "Motivation appears to be a more important factor than innate ability in the development of expertise" (SciAm).

This work needs to be "effortful study", always attempting something just out of reach. This is the value of a good teacher or coach, to help guide you in what to work on. Maybe I should take guitar lessons, because often I revert back to practicing the stuff I already know, and not working on the tough stuff. A teacher could make my learning more efficient.

It seems that the experts are also always trying to learn. Hendrix allegedly learned something from every guitarist he ever saw, I hear Randy Rhodes would look up local guitar teachers whilst on tour. King says, "Every book you pick up has its own lesson."

Regarding the hard work required, Hardy writes: "If a man has any genuine talent he should be ready to make almost any sacrifice in order to cultivate it to the full." King adds, "if God gives you something can do, why in God's name wouldn't you do it?"

As for calling it work, likely, it is more like play. You will have fun doing it, and want to do, and use every opportunity you can to "work" at your craft more. It "will not seem strenuous if you really enjoy" it (King). I guess it comes down to a couple of sports ads, "Is it in you?" and "Just do it."

Let's end with a famous Englishman, the great pop-music singer/songwriter, George Micheal, "Do, you, enjoy what you do? If not, then stop, don't stay there and rot."

I may never be good, at anything, especially with my polymath penchant, but if I enjoy learning, if I enjoy pushing myself, then the victory is mine.

As for what I was doing last night, that I was too tired to write. Let's just say that I was "working on a project" with someone from the Brain Institute.

...and I'll finish that story Sunday.

sources used:

GH Hardy "A Mathematician's Apology"
Stephen King "On Writing"
Nature "Train the brain for successful soccer" 9 Jun 2006
Scientific American "The Expert Mind" Aug 2006
Wham! "Wham rap"
Public Enemy "Air Hoodlum"
nba.com
usatoday.com
about a decade's worth of guitar magazines

...yeah...I've been thinking about writing this since the last World Cup.

...yeah...I've been waiting about two decades to use the word "polymath", so please forgive me if I have implied an exaggeration of my talents.

...and yeah...I wish this was better written. I best go study "Elements of Style" by Struck & White (hat tip to Ms Faye, my 11th grade English teacher, and Stephen King). How do I become a better writer? Read & write A LOT. Do the equivalent of NaNoWriMo every day of the year.

my opinion: I think greatness is a combination of innate talent, hard work, and luck. My boss says personal politics / networking is also important, I guess that's marketing / selling yourself (hear that Kafka?). Luck? Yeah, luck. Every successful athlete is lucky that they didn't take a career ending fall. And I think that's what they mean when they "thank God" after a big win. Every successful American business person is lucky they weren't born in Cuba. And I doubt much greatness occurred under Pol Pot. Innate? Yeah, genetic predisposition. Think about it, Shaq would be a horrible horse-jockey, Ichiro not so good at sumo wrestling.

tangent: Can talent go unrecognized? I doubt it. There is a "unrecognized genius" myth, pro'lly perpetrated by untalented professors. I think if you are good, if you pay your dues, and if people care about your talent, then you can earn a living at it. The only example I can think of is Kafka, but I don't think he tried to get published. Some have said, "Mozart...he was buried in a pauper's grave." Alright, just because you are broke, doesn't mean you didn't have cash. Also, the King of Austria was decreed common graves for everyone. Finally, Mozart's was known through out Europe during his lifetime. But then again, professional talent scouts for the NBA often draft players that don't really work out as well as hoped, (Sam Bowie, Darko Milicic) and others don't get drafted (Bruce Bowen, Ben Wallace).

yet another tangent: How long does it take to develop talent in other species? This is a amazing ability of humans, we can do very complex tricks (such as flying a fighter jet) that our ancestors had no reason to be selected for. It's almost as if evolution gave us a brain much more powerful than was needed. Do other animals nurture talent, or do they just learn the skills to survive, and use those as long as they can? Is there wisdom, or a perpetual learning curve in the animal kingdom? Can a slightly slower lion use experience ("wisdom") to catch the deer better than the young fast lion?

Hardy also states that the number of multi-talented people "is negligible". He forgets: Benjamin Franklin, world class political thinker, politician and scientist. Also not so bad at the charming of ladies, and writing for the masses, and wasn't his "day job" running a printing press. Also, Thomas Jefferson, many talents. Leipniz, Poincaire,....alright, those folks are very exceptional. And I suspect that if you took all humans ever, and compared the ratio, then "negligible" would be a valid answer. How about modern polymaths? Maybe Prince as musician/songwriter/performer...but those are related.

Crap...the childrens will expect breakfast in six hours if they stick to their schedule. I started this entry about four hours ago. Best be gettin' my beauty sleep.

(I'll start this entry tomorrow.)

Genetics & Apologetics

I really should know better. Review the book right after you read it. I was doing pretty good with the book / paycheck challenge. I read three books back January. I am still stuck on one I started in February. But I wanted to have this perfectly awesome book review, tying together three different books into one nice little essay.

Well, in wanting to write the perfect review, I didn't write a review. Best rectify that. (I wish I was a better writer.)

The Language of God by Francis Collins
Basically says, one can be a world class scientist, and a Christian. There are endnotes for sources sited, which I appreciate. The basic theology is a credited hat tip to CS Lewis. The science is from a world-class geneticist. I don't personally believe that you can prove or disprove the super-natural (God) by use of the natural. At the end there are some discussion questions for one's book club. I wonder, what type of book naturally come with book club ideas. I kinda wanna be in a book club. A nice X-mas gift that I was going to give to my brother, but lost, so I had to buy another copy, then found and quickly read.

Confessions of a Part Time Sorceress by Shelly Mazzanoble
Basically says, girls can have fun playing D&D with the geeky boys. Tells Mazzanoble's story of becoming a fan of D&D. I wonder why more people don't play it. Is it too hard? Is it too time consuming? Is it that it's much easier to plug into a fantasy video game and beat the monsters with a few key joystick moves? Maybe someday, this book will inspire Miss Squeaky (or Mr. Grunty) to play a sorceress in a D&D campaign. (Or hopefully, my childrens will already be playing D&D with their papa.) I like how she mentions that certain phrases from D&D are a great addition to daily vernacular, such as "saving throw" and "+1 pan of baking". I wish I had handed out her commandments for Player Characters before I started being a DM. And I do agree, that the reward for a DM, is having the players talking about a game episode a week later. (I got that a couple of times.) A nice Armistice Day gift from Alecks B. Cix, that I quickly read.

Next by Michael Crichton
A thriller, with industrial espionage, legal drama, ethics,...Crichton is a lot better writer than Baldacci. The frustrating thing for me, was wondering, what is true, what is almost possible, what is impossible? (OK...I know that one chimp experiment was impossible.) Is it true 20% of our genes are "owned" by someone else? There are reference works sited at the end, so I have the means of learning more. I like how he brought up cutting edge genetics, legal and ethical issues in an entertaining way. Also, at the end, there is a list of opinions Crichton has about biotech that he discusses, such as "Stop patenting genes" and "Rescind the Bayh-Dole Act", hmmm...I better go get an PhD, MBA & JD so I can have an educated opinion on that. Hey, that's not a bad idea! A nice X-mas gift that I quickly read from my childrens.

I'll give them all a B .

So how does one become a good writer?

(I'll finish the story tomorrow.)

Spoiled milk

...back in the day, when I used to try and stay in some semblance of shape, I would go jogging w/ SnarkyKat from time to time. And sometimes, when you are training for a half-marathon, you get time to talk, especially as a distraction to the running.

One thing we talked about was jobs. We came to the conclusion that every job, just like a carton of milk, has an expiration date. And one should avoid the expired. In the orchestra community, they say "it's better to leave two years too early, than two weeks too late". Meaning you'll do more damage by sticking around when you shouldn't, than by leaving early. I think in Vegas they say, "always leave 'em wanting more", and I think George Costanza said something like "end on a high note".

Well, back at the ranch (as I like to call my place of employment...I justifies me singing "Git Along Lil Doggies" and "Big Balls in Cowtown") I think I was gittin' close to the expiration date. Nothing was particularly wrong. It's easy enuff, and I am most appreciating their flexibility regarding me & the childrens.

Through a clever combination of brown-nosing, undermining the competition, and a few other "chance" events & situations, I have finagled myself a few more responsibilities, and a bit more of a salary. I'm not exactly sure if I got a new carton, or if I just added fresh milk to the mix. But, as an opportunity to learn and grow, this is something I should have done a long time ago.

And speaking of things I should have done a long time ago...

(I'll finish the story tomorrow.)