#93 - A Few Holiday Traditions
I wouldn't leave you at a time like this!
Hello, my friends,
It’s been roughly three weeks since the last issue of HMF and some of you have probably been asking yourselves what that bum is up to that’s more important than providing readers with a weekly dose of whatever concoction this is. Unfortunately, I don’t have a dramatic answer for you. Mostly, work has been so mentally and physically taxing that I haven’t had any desire to get on the computer afterward. One of the weeks, I think I went to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) class on Thursday evening and was too tired to write a newsletter afterward. And that’s pretty much it. Likely, I could have mustered the willpower to force myself into the chair to arrange jagged thoughts into orderly sentences (and vice versa), but after 92 straight weeks of steady expression I was okay with saying nothing for a little while.
The three-week hiatus wasn’t deliberately planned, it just happened. Life’s happenings have a way of arranging priorities. I did read some books during these weeks. I finished Kokoro by Natsume Soseki (neat, but with an inscrutable gist), The Enoch Pratt Free Library: A Social History by Philip Arthur Kalisch (Scarecrow Press, 1969, a surprisingly readable narrative of a well-known public library’s past), Men in Style: The Golden Age of Fashion from Esquire by Woody Hochswender & Kim Johnson Gross (mostly photos, and witty insider captions, of styles long-gone), and Tomorrow Will Be Better by Betty Smith (a tender novel of an unassuming girl’s coming-of-age in 1920’s Brooklyn).
I’ve also been keeping up with physical activities: Once-weekly BJJ class is going well enough, I ran my second 5K on Thanksgiving Day (if you scroll down at this link, you can see photos and a little video of me finishing — I’m the guy in black in bib 653). Next up is a 10K, probably in February. I’ve already starting plotting my way up to that distance; last week, I (barely) managed to jog 4.5 miles, or 2/3 of the way and I gotta tell you, it wasn’t easy. But I’m sure that after a few more goes I’ll be comfortable at 4.5 miles and will be able to bump up to the full 6.2 miles. A colleague at work who has run many races recommended the Old Agoura 10K on April 5th and it sounds delightful. A beautiful route and pancakes afterwards, he said. What else does a person need in life?
Either/Or
A few weeks ago, the family and I were having a mid-afternoon meal at Cowboy Cookin’ restaurant in Wickenberg, AZ — friendly staff, excellent baked beans, and decent burgers — and playing the “or” game with the kids. “Blue or red?” “Cars or trains?” “Forest or beach?” and other fairly inconsequential questions like that. Then I got bored and upped the ante with “Money or power?” With absolutely no pause, Michael, age 5, answered “money” and Sophie, age 3, answered “Power”.
Kids these days!
Holidays Upon Us!
Not everyone is a fan of the winter holiday season, but I am. We’re at the stage in our family life where the kids are young and we’re making traditions together. Here are some of the things I’m looking forward to:
Going to the YMCA tree lot to pick out a Christmas tree.
Watching holiday movies: Home Alone, The Santa Clause, Polar Express, The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Nutcracker, Love Actually (hey, don’t throw things at me!), and others.
Sweater weather. There’s no reason to layer-up in Los Angeles most of the year, but I do like to get dressed! I’ve even worn a tie to work a couple of times this week because it gives me a stylish way to button up my shirt all the way without looking severe.
Hot cocoa, egg nog (non-dairy for me), mulled wine, are just a few solid holiday drinks.
Our little town’s annual parade happened this past weekend. I’m a fan of parades and marching bands. I’m not sure I could be a full-time curmudgeon, even if I tried.
Time off from work to spend with family. Michael has his first proper winter vacation of his school life so maybe we’ll go on a year-end camping trip together.
Learning Theory
In the last issue of HMF (#92), I wrote about creating courses for busy people that would take 30-minute a day for a month or two to complete. While taking a walk a week or two ago, I wondered to myself what were the foundations of course or curriculum design and came to the conclusion that all learning has four interlocking stages over and over again. The stages are:
Introduction: A student’s first glance at material where key terms, important concepts, people, techniques, and movements are identified and where a general idea of the subject matter is gained.
Recall: With enough study and repetition of material, a student is able to repeat units of material learned in the introduction.
Understanding: The student knows the major and minor units and can actively discuss relationships between them.
Application: The student can not only discuss the material itself, but apply it to the world and other subject areas.
Each course is the process of going through this cycle X number of times.
A Little Extra
I only included one illustration above, but there is something charming about illustration from the 30s and 40s so here is a little addendum for you:
"Money!" "Power!" That's hilarious!