ruminations

Ten lists of Ten Things for 10/10/10

Wow, it has been three years since I did this (waaay back on 07/07/07) and thanks to @mjmerrill reminding me in Twitter, I have been spending some time building up a new entry to celebrate my favorite kinds of days. So, Happy 10/10/10 everybody. What are your ten lists of ten things? 1. Ten Favorite Movie/TV Characters Yoda Obi-Wan Kenobi R2D2 Willow Rosenberg Beakman Igor (prounounced “eye-gore” from Young Frankenstein) Dr. Sydney Friedman (from MASH) Willy Wonka Coach (from Cheers) Jean-Luc Picard 2. Cars I have Owned or Been a Primary Driver 19?? Surplus US Mail Jeep 1969 Plymouth Satellite… Read More »Ten lists of Ten Things for 10/10/10

How do you think?

When I have too much to do and I don’t know where to start, I tend to sit and stare for a while. I have been doing that a lot this week πŸ™‚ I have found myself staring at the bookshelf in my office and I noticed something: many of the books are focused on visual thinking or presentation. Books like Visual Explanations and Envisioning Information by Edward Tufte are among the ones I look at most often. I guess that is not a surprise but I am seeing a rise in the tweetosphere and edusphere about visual thinking and… Read More »How do you think?

What’s in your collection? Is it changing?

At a recent unconference I attended, the “keynote” speaker, closed his remarks by listing some things that can help you live, in his opinion, an “authentic” life. He said these actions help you create a Point of View that is yours and yours alone. These were: Create memories (his suggestion was to participate in a Project 365 kind of activity and post it publicly) = Done! Have a blog = Um…Done! Make things (real things not digital) = Hmmm. I make messes. Does that count? Have a collection. He said something like collect something that is unsung because that elevates… Read More »What’s in your collection? Is it changing?

Thinking about the new meaning of online “privacy”

It’s a snow day, which means I “get” to play on the computer more than work since it is a Monday and all. I have had the new interface for Facebook for a little while now. I like it. Cleaner, easier to use and things make sense up at the top rather than the bottom of the page. But, the changes have got me thinking about other changes in Facebook from December as well as other social sights as well as with my own thinking about privacy. Facebook basically appeared to do a 180 degree turn in their thinking. What… Read More »Thinking about the new meaning of online “privacy”

Year End/ Decade End Listings and such…

I am a big fan (sucker?) for the end of the year summaries that abound at this time of year. And, I love lists. So, here is a list of lists…. Presenting my faves for the end of 2009 and the end of the first decade of the 2000s (naughties? noughties? oughts? aughts? What did we call them?) DJ Earworm – United States of Pop 2009 NPR All Songs Considered Best Music of 2009I always find new music via NPR’s All Songs Considered Lifehacker’s Most Popular Hive Five Topics of 2009Crowdsourcing has grown in popularity, easy and usefulness. And why… Read More »Year End/ Decade End Listings and such…

The “go to” guy: From the other side

This blog has a tagline about exploring “both sides” of the brain and I do try to explore and nurture both the techy and the feely of life. Of course, I am always interested when they intersect. Part of the official parts of my job is to be technical support for the faculty and staff at my school. In all of my previous jobs, I have always been the unofficial technical support mostly because I was one of the first to use it and one of the first who understood it enough to explain it to others. Beyond my work… Read More »The “go to” guy: From the other side

Blog Action Day: How we connect and unite in action against Climate Change

Today is BAD ’09! Blog Action Day. If you are on Twitter, the hashtag is #BAD09 This is the third year that T-F has participated and I am happy to do so, as always. This year’s topic is Climate Change and it is something that has been on my mind a good deal in the past few years. I have some close friends who have made very radical changes in their lifestyle over the past two years as they work to become as sustainable as possible in the expectation of the changes they expect in the world after Peak Oil.… Read More »Blog Action Day: How we connect and unite in action against Climate Change

Making it look easy

I have a ukulele now. And I take piano lessons. Add in the drum set in the basement and the guitar in the closet and there are a lot of musical opportunities in the house these days. Right now, the uke is the winner…it sits out by my desk and I pick it up about every day. Can’t say I practice any of the rest of the instruments that much. Of course, I am only playing the one song I know right now (I’m Yours by Jason Mraz) but the more I play it, the easier it gets. Practice makes… Read More »Making it look easy

How we pay tribute others

I guess I am at that age where many of the famous people who were influential on my growing-up are starting to die. I noticed that several of my recent posts have been about recent deaths. Yesterday, we lost Mary Travers (the Mary of Peter, Paul and Mary). While Michael Jackson certainly was a huge part of my adolescence, the trio of PPM were also very much in the mix as I listened to a lot of their music when I was young and then continued the love affair with many hours sitting around a campfire singing their songs with… Read More »How we pay tribute others