bugsii

This week’s challenge, completing an entire NY Times crossword, would have been impossible without help from the internet.  Before this week, I’ve started many crosswords and finished zero.  Now I remember why.  I get to a certain point, I get stuck, and I need just a few more letters to move me along.  I usually ask whoever is in the room and if they can’t help, I quit.  This week, I stayed with it.  The first few days I was determined not to use the internet.  Day one, I got stuck.  When I went back the second day, with fresh eyes, I actually got a fewthat I thought I didn’t know the first day.  That was cool.  But, by the third day, I was scouring the internet for help.  I figured that if it was fair to ask people in the room, then asking the internet was almost the same, it just happened to be a lot smarter.  I learned a few things through that process though.

1) You cannot find every answer on the internet.  I mean, sure, you can find a clue like “Prince Valiant’s wife” easily enough (ALETA), but crossword puzzle writers are tricky and the put other clues in that aren’t so straightforward.  Clues like, “the racer’s edge” (STP), “exactly what’s expected” (PARFORTHECOURSE), and “preside over the tea ceremony” (POUR).  Just try googling any of those phrases and you will not come up with the answer.  But, once I got a few of the ones I could google, I at least had enough letters to help me with the more slippery clues.  So, I didn’t have to look up a lot of clues.  I’d say 10-15?  (sheepish smile)

2) There are people that are crossword fanatics!  There were whole blogs dedicated to people figuring out the NY Times crosswords and then posting every answer with commentary on each one.  I avoided these sites once I found them (I swear!), but it was kind of funny.  I also hear that there are competitions and people can do these things fast and without the internet!  I am in awe.

So, I worked on the puzzle with the internet for days three and four and I was able to finish it on Thursday.  Answers I knew right away… “high protein food often found in vegetarian cuisine” (TOFU!), “Wrigley Field and Camden Yards” (BALLPARK), and “cheese-covered chip” (NACHO!).  Haha.  There’s still one I completely do not understand… “Lollapalooza” (ONER??).  Does anyone know what that means?  I made sure I got Tuesday’s paper because it had the answers from Monday.  When I finished the puzzle, I checked my answers and, even with the internet’s help, I had two letters wrong!  The Lollapalooza one got me (I had OVER) and another clue “went in haste” was HIED and I had HIAD (which I didn’t think was a word, but it worked in the space).  I also had the darndest time with “syllables in a gay refrain” (TRALA).  What?  That was mean.  Ah well.  I was going to give myself a 98% for only missing two letters, but then with all the cheating, I thought I better give myself a B-.

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I had fun challenging myself to finish a tough (to me) crossword, but it was also a nice break from work.  It was addictive and it relaxed me a bit.  It was sort of like a mental workout without any consequences.  I liked it.  I think I might try a few more.  Does anyone have links to good online ones?

Let the celebrating of Ben’s birthday begin!  Ben’s my little brother.  He’ll be 24 in a few days, which really only makes me think, “1986 was 24 years ago?”  Dang.  Anyway, last night Mom, Guido and the Rossetti’s came down to the ‘bus to kick off the celebrations.  Next weekend is the real party (you know, Gameworks, UFC, and the Superbowl, every female graduate student’s dream), but for now, we ate some pizza and chatted. Happy almost-Birthday, Ben!  But don’t think I’m getting you two gifts.

Ben and Rachael

I have no idea if schoolwork is one or two words.  I guess I just decided it’s one, but I really have no idea and it’s been bugging me lately.  Anyway, that’s what I did all day.  The end.

This morning, I woke up and worked on some things for school.  I checked out a new software program that I may start teaching my Digital Tools class.  Then, I finished my fellowship application and two different applications to get funding for two different conferences.  I’m not sure why I tell you, dear readers, about these things because even though it might be good news in the end, I’d rather not discuss the bad news.  Regardless, I’m pretty excited about all three and I really hope they work out.

After a quick run around the neighborhood, I headed to my weekly Ed Tech group.  This week, my professor presented his research on genetic literacy.  It was interesting stuff and also helpful to see the way he presented his work.  I realized that I need to start at the beginning with my own presentations.  I tend to think I will need to defend myself against criticisms rather than that people really just show up to hear about research of interest to them.  I have three conference presentations coming up in February and it was good to see his style.  Afterward, we had some good discussion about the behavioral factors that can effect the way genes are actuated.  As we were discussing though, I took a pause.  I looked around the big oval room where we meet.  I looked at my professor, my fellow students.  I looked out of the window onto the campus of a Research I institution, an institution from which I will in just 18 months (fingers crossed) receive a Doctor of Philosophy degree.  This pause was unexpected.  Lately I’ve been feeling like I’m being thrown through time.  There’s so much to do and I’m always playing catch up.  There are so many ideas I need to read more about, that I can’t possibly reach an end point.  This is exciting and stressful, challenging and tiring; so, it felt nice, that moment when I took it all in.  It’s shocking to me sometimes, that this is my life.  I feel really lucky.

After the meeting I went to B&N to do some more schoolwork.  I got sidetracked by a new idea I have for a paper.  I’m excited about it, but more on that later.  I picked up my honey from the airport tonight, and it’s time to relax!

It was a long day.  I worked.  I came home to do homework.  I went to class (a very lovely class) and then I came back home to do more homework while the State of the Union buzzed in the background.

Funny thing about my homework today… we’re reading a book about “creating citizens” in a liberal democracy and, oh my land, this guy (old, white guy) basically says that in education, we should allow some critical thinking, but not too much.  If people get too critical, they might get cynical about the government and want to change it.  Um, sorry whitey, but people are already cynical and we have every right to be!  So, I think it might be a good idea that we think critically to do better instead of dumbing us down so we don’t question anything.

Insane.

I thought I might write about the troubles I had this morning while teaching my Digital Tools class, you know, about how suddenly the lab had new computers and no software I needed, but… I don’t want to be a downer.  I also thought about writing about the film we watched in my first class, Kansas vs. Darwin, but I fear it’s a bit too divisive an issue, and I’m still sorting out my new ideas about “science.”

So, that leaves me with my last class, Educational Philosophy, where I am feeling more and more like a freak every week.  This is especially true when I bring up things like the possibility that we might not be as autonomous as we thought or we might consider disallowing the state from regulating education (read: I hate you state-testing!).  We were discussing “A Theory of Justice” by John Rawls, who tried to determine what a just society would look like, given ideal conditions.  Then someone asked who John Rawls was writing for and my professor said that this book was a sort of “thought experiment.”  It’s helpful to imagine possibilities, even in the face of less than ideal conditions.  So, I thought I might my blog might be a “thought experiment” tonight and I wanted to think about the ideal school, since I’ve been trying to imagine this for awhile.  Here goes:

The Ideal School

1) The ideal school would be a small community of students and teachers (maybe 30 total).  No principals need apply.
2) The students would live near enough to the school so that they could walk/ride their bike and go home for emergencies.
3) The school would be located in a diverse community.
4) The students would not meet at the school every day.  At least once a week, students would be out in the “field” interning at places that interest them, observing different types of “work” and volunteering in their community (this would be facilitated with parent involvement).
5) Each student would have their own macbook pro (okay, I guess it could be any laptop, but I said IDEAL. )  One room in the school would be dedicated to lots of technology (cameras, video cameras, projectors, iPhones, etc.) for creative sorts of production.
6) Students would be encouraged to find networks online to explore, engage in dialogue, and experience authentic “other” voices.
7) Teachers would organize courses of interest to the students, some full of basic content (especially for the younger students) and some full of critical ideas and thought experiments (heyo!).  These courses wouldn’t necessarily meet everyday, and would begin and end when the group decided (rather than on a quarter system for example).
8 ) The school day is from 9-4.  The only set part of the schedule is lunch and any courses that are going on at the time, the rest is choice time.
9) Daily writing time is encouraged as well as different sorts of puzzles, challenges, experimentation, and teachers take part in these too.
10) There would be no standardized testing.  Students would be “evaluated” as part of a collaboration between student, teacher, parents and internship mentors, where the student has been documenting their thinking and learning on a blog or other type of e-portfolio.
11) The school would look like an old Victorian house (my dream, remember).  It’s set in a neighborhood in walking distance to both a small downtown with shops, restaurants and other businesses as well as within walking distance to a park.
12) Students are encouraged to play outside or take walks each day.
13) Students and teachers make lunch together in the communal (all vegetarian, of course) kitchen.  Students learn about healthy eating habits, as well as the larger environmental effects of what they consume.  And, we recycle and compost!
14) Each teacher is engaged in a book club with a group of students at any given time.  One room in the school is stocked with bookshelves full of books, couches and comfy chairs.
15) Students are encouraged to express themselves in all ways, but especially through art (including the decoration of the school itself).  One room in the school is dedicated to arts and crafts.
16) The students and teachers both help to keep the school clean, as well as maintaining the yard and the giant vegetable garden in the back. 
17) Relaxing on the front porch swings is also encouraged, especially since this school will definitely be some place warm!
18) Each year, the school takes a camping trip (somewhere in the US) and an international trip.

Yay!  I feel so relaxed thinking about this environment.  I wonder if they do PhDs?  Sign me up!

Thoughts?  What ifs?  Lay ‘em on me!

So, here were my giving-up-television hypotheses:

1) I will get more schoolwork done.
2) I will get more sleep.
3) I will find other interesting things to do with my time.

Here are the findings:

1) I didn’t get any more schoolwork done, but something else happened.  I spent more time doing each assignment, and I allowed myself to investigate different topics further by googling things I didn’t understand and following a trail of links.  This resulted in my 22nd century skills post, which was not a requirement, but which lays some groundwork for our research project in class.  I just did that for fun.  How crazy is that?  I did this for a few other things too.  I investigated the free school movement in order to get some background knowledge for a paper in my Educational Philosophy class.  I learned more about critical commons and their sample videos with critical commentary (they had some Twilight commentary, which was interesting).  I spread out my work more because, well, what else did I have to do?

2) I definitely went to bed earlier, but I didn’t get more sleep.  I would go up to my room around 8:30 and leisurely get ready for bed, since I didn’t get caught up watching any shows.  But then, I would get in bed with my laptop and… see above.  I would start searching and reading and all that and then, before I knew it, it was 11:30 or 12 and I was not asleep.  One night, I went to bed at 10:30, but that was the only night.  A teacher friend of mine said said it best… “trading one screen for another.”  That sounds about right.

3) Here’s the thing about finding interesting things to do… when I start to do something besides schoolwork, I just feel guilty.  So, I did crochet a bit one night, but that didn’t last long until I was back to reading.  I did, however, do some things I don’t usually do.  For example, I ate at the dining room table for every meal.  It was so much easier to eat and look at the computer or read my book there, than on the couch where I usually eat.  I even lit candles for myself one night (ooh lala)!  I also cooked more.  I cleaned more (on a school night even!).  I listened to more podcasts.  I danced around a few times.  I called my mom just for kicks.  Snacking was much less satisfying, with no TV to stare at (since you can’t really browse the internet with dirty fingers, and you can’t snack without fingers).  I went to the bookstore one night for a change of scenery.  I posted more articles to facebook, since I would find so many in my random link reading.  I used colored pencils to sketch an outline for a paper.  I looked through a baby name book (for way too long for someone that is NOT pregnant).  I found a radio station on iTunes called “piano music to quiet your world” and oh, did it (I listened to that when I was reading).  I got antsy and sick of doing school work, but I don’t know if it’s good that TV is the only thing that let’s me slip into a more forgetful state.  Still, I feel the need to veg like nobody’s business.

Overall, the week was very eye-opening.  I was surprised at how much I longed to sit and veg out.  I missed movies most, I think.  I was really itching to watch Benjamin Button for some reason.  Dan was gone this week, and I missed him more than I usually do.  I think this was because I was so much more aware of time and my surroundings.  I felt more aware of each moment as it ticked by.  Time felt slower.  This was good in a way because I felt like I had time to cook and clean.  This was also not great because I got bored.  It did make me feel more connected to the whole day though.  I didn’t do that thing where I already think it’s the next day (I always do that).  I also felt more aware of my whole house since there wasn’t this multimedia focal point to look at.  I virtually abandoned the living room (where I spend most of my time usually) and found myself in the dining room or my bedroom most evenings.  And, the best part for Dan (when he did get home), was that I didn’t bug him to turn a on a show, while he piddlefarted with the computer that’s hooked to the TV or wanted to play video games.  He sure liked that.  I don’t think I’ll ever give up TV entirely (definitely not movies), but maybe I’ll save my shows for the weekend or something like that.  The week felt slower and I got into my schoolwork with more depth, both good things for me at this point.  Although, I’m really interested to see who went home on The Biggest Loser…

Sigh.

I got up and ran this morning.  Then, I got a haircut.  It had been almost four months and I thought my hairdresser might be disgusted with me, but she seemed pleasant enough.  I don’t know why I always put off getting my hair cut.  I think it might be because I think it takes too long, or maybe it’s because I think it’s kind of expensive, or maybe I just don’t care that much.  Either way, my hair felt so much nicer after having the grizzly ends chopped.  Ahh.

Afterward, I went grocery shopping and then Dan’s family dropped by to pick up our old TV.  Dan got a new one and his sister bought the (still perfectly good, ahem) “old” one.  I guess I lost that battle.  I spent the evening watching Dan calibrate the TV (well, I guess I was technically reading for class, but I looked up every now and then).  He’s the only person I know that has this calibration device that suctions to the TV and checks the levels of red, blue, and geek, I mean green.  To me, the process was tedious and incredibly dull.  Dan, on the other hand, worked intently for a few hours.  Do I need to tell you again that I have the best geek ever?

P.S. The week you give up watching TV is not the best week to get a new one. 

Dan got home tonight!  After a day spent reading, cooking, eating, reading, cooking eating, I was so glad to get out of the house and pick up my hubby!  As soon as he got in the car, I talked nonstop, and then even when we got home I chattered away until I ran out of things to say (which took awhile).  See, without TV, I’ve been reading a lot more and bored a lot more and thinking a lot more, so I’ve stored up more to talk about and since that store hasn’t been released since Monday, well, you can imagine.  I feel like I’ve been on the computer for days.  In fact, today, just to take a break, I decided to outline my paper on PAPER.  Whoa.  Check it out.  I feel like I’m getting back to my non-digital roots.

Now if I could just turn that in...