Time Article

Anyone else intrigued by the cover story in Time the week of 10/28?  I was, so I bought a copy.  I learned something.  Did you know that Shirley Maclaine and Warren Beatty are siblings?                                               

I didn't. 

The article is really quite fascinating to anyone who suscribes more to "nurture" than to "nature" in regards to social development.  I wouldn't want to hurt Time sales by paraphrasing the article here, but I would like to mention one point the article made that struck a chord with me; that elder siblings "(enjoy) on average a three-point IQ advantage over the next eldest-probably a result of the intellectual boost that comes from mentoring younger siblings and helping them in day-to-day tasks."  I have always believed that you better comprehend things when you have to explain or teach them to someone else.  It is the difference between comprehending a process and doing it by rote or mechanically.  When I was going to school whenever I couldn't really get a grasp on something I would pretend that I needed to teach it to a class of my peers the next day.  That would help.

Real fun article.  There are some examples from the animal and plant world of parental prefference geared towards elder offspring.  Fun facts, fun facts, pick up the issue. 

  Some week huh?

All the smoke in the air made it possible for me to take this picture of a setting sun without the use of filters.  Unfortuneately, I didn't have a tripod so there is a little bit of tracing above the sun caused by my pushing the shutter button. 

I hope anyone whose life was affected by the winds and fires will soon be able to put things in order.  Maria, Milo and myself had to go stay with my parents because the power was out for two daysat our place.  But, most wicked of all, I had to cancel any outdoor activities on my day off because the smoke could damage my eyes and lungs.  That hurt!  It brings to mind how much we take for granted the fact that 95% of the time our lives are pretty much okay.

  Take care!

October already!?

Wow, it is October!  The scary thing is we don't know how Curious George got up there. 

Sometimes at night I hear little feet scrambling in the living room and I think I know why now.

I haven't been able to play with "sono in transito" lately and I feel bad.  Even right now I feel the same as when I come home tired and obligate myself to play with Milo; who waits for me at the top of the stairs cause the dead air which escapes the space between the steps forbids him from coming down.  He has no problem going up the stairs though.  Back to my point, I feel like I am forcing it.  I enjoy writting, contemplating the most precise use of diction and syntax to convey meaning is an activity I have been drawn to since I was a child.  Not unlike the artist trying to capture his world and mind through paint on canvass, I feel a pleasureable release of energy when an idea has been most-effectively communicated.  Yet it is hard for me to make time for it.  I am not blaming my busy schedule cause if you really want to do something you do it whether it is five minutes you can squeeze in in-between obligations or in the middle of the night when you have sacrificed an hour of sleep towards this activity which you realize enriches your soul.  You just do it. 

And so, as the clock continues forward and warns me that I only have 30 minutes to walk Milo before getting ready for work, I wonder if the sacrifice has been worth it.  Was what I said meaningful or pertinent?  You tell me.  I will see it as a mental warm up, a way of re-affirming processes of the mind much like you would movements of the body.