#15 - Nature is our Teacher!
Kinnu Learn?; Hello, My Books!; This Dewdrop World
Hello, my friends,
It’s back to the grindstone this week at work and beyond. We still have a couple of weeks till summer officially starts, but the anticipation is all around. In Los Angeles, the sun has been playing peek-a-boo and everyone seems to have the odd cold. Still, we’ve been at the beach, Michael and Sophie have been taking swimming lessons at the Y, and I’ve seen several jasmine bushes in full bloom and so fragrant! For instance, near the cherry tree beside the side door of our building is a marshmallow of jasmine — sweet and full. To me, summer is the scent of jasmine.
Kinnu Learn?
Learning apps are fascinating to me so between today’s issue and #14, I downloaded one called Kinnu. Kinnu provides introductory “pathways” to an assortment of topics (maybe 50-60 in all) with text and image chunks to read followed by spaced repetition fill-ins and multiple choice questions to help with memorization all packaged in a friendly, attractive interface. It’s basically Duolingo for non-languages.
I think their are merits to gamifying learning, though the game-like features in Kinnu are fairly benign. Streaks, energetic interface interactions, voting on features is pretty much it. Without the fancy interface, it’s a very short textbook, flash cards, and an algorithm to mete out content.
Speaking of content, I’ve done a few blocks/sections of the Positive Psychology and Ecology pathways and I’m still on the fence about the writing. Positive Psychology, at least, is feeling awfully repetitive and I’m hoping it moves us deeper into the topic faster. It’s possible that I feel this way because I’m not a beginner at Positive Psychology, having read multiple books and a few academic articles on it. I don’t know as much about Ecology and I’m really enjoying the course, though I feel like it could also delve deeper. Moreover, the interface would benefit from giving learners a better orientation of the topic in general; currently it feels like the terms and concepts are introduced one after another without strong connections between them. That said, the mascot is an octopus with glasses. Very likeable!
If you try Kinnu, tell me what you think! So far my streak is 6 days and I recommend it for casual learning. We’ll see if my feeling changes in the next week or two.
Hello, My Books!
Before we moved a year ago, my friend Cherry kindly offered to store a few boxes of my books until we moved (Thank you, Cherry). Well, the books returned last week and it is unexpectedly glorious to look around and see old friends back on the shelves. Collections of Lawrence Clark Powell, Sherwood Anderson, some items on the history of California printing and other Californiana, and a bunch of haiku books now greet me in the bed and living rooms. I don’t have a lot of clothes or other possessions, but I have my books, many of which have lived with me for decades. I love having them back!
This Dewdrop World
When I’m by myself, I always eschew the ugly elevator to mosey through our verdant courtyard. I often spot small things: Lizards, spiders and other bugs, interesting plants, new moss. A couple of weeks ago, the leaves were heavy with rain drops that looked so much like dew that I stopped to admire them. In haiku, dewdrops are an autumn kigo (season word) that symbolizes the beautiful, fragile, and momentary nature of things — life, in particular. It’s a fertile and well-used season word because it can be taken in so many directions. To demonstrate that, here is a selection of three dewdrop haiku from one of my newly-returned books, Issa’s Best: a translator’s selection of master haiku by Kobayashi Issa (translated by David G Lanoue):
a treasure at my gate pearls of dew happily watching the dewdrops forming... a frog unaware of life passing like dewdrops... they frolic
In the instant of each poem is a unique perspective on dew. In the first one, the narrator marvels at the rich decoration nature has gifted him — The dew’s beauty is the focus. In the second, Issa shows that even something as temporary as drewdrop has to form, and that animals too, may have a sense of wonder (and possible a little sip). The third is my favorite, it’s a poem of two distinct points-of-view, opposites, really. As we frolic, it gently prompts us to consider death. Quite unpoetically, that reminds me of “Terror Management Theory”, a concept touched on in my Positive Psychology class. Terror Management is also a solid name for a death metal band.
For more Issa poems, see #3 where we wax poetic on spring rain.
Shirt Update (and unofficial section)
Ashley saw that I was buying new shirts and ordered me one (she knows me):
Two more shirts arrived from Bronson Mfg Company this week. I really like the fit, but don’t have any photos yet. Maybe next week!