Nest Update

Quick announcement:

My Chickadees had eight eggs! It's the largest clutch Lynn Mosely (my professor) has seen in the Guilford bluebird boxes in a long time. Based on the time they started incubating they will hatch as early as April 9. That means if I'm lucky they'll be old enough in time for my class to band them! I might even get to see them fledge if I'm lucky!
Chickadee young, like most passerine chicks, are altricial, which means they are helpless and naked. Precocial is the opposite. Precocial young, such as goslings or chicks, are more or less able to fend for themselves with some guidance.

10 minute Tuesday

Hello all!
I'm on one of those speedy computers
In Clemons, where you only get
10 mins to do what you need to.
Logging on and typing the above/this has
take two mins 9 seconds

Have you ever taken time to do something that
you don't have to?
I've been seriously focused most of the time on huge projects
or exams Ive been having
Juggling one with the other with the other.

But, if you take a few moments, like I am in writing this sentence
...
things feel better.
Hey, I've still got over 6 minutes :D

So, when you're cramming in the work, and when you feel the most rushed
take a minute to not think
AT ALL
about the paper, project, or other thing you must do
...
and just write how you feel after two minutes of silence about how you feel,
so on. Whatever really
3 minutes 30 seconds

I am going to have to sign out etc, so I'd better get
on with it.

I am silly, so I won't explain how silly I've been to day.

You are silly I bet, so you know how silly you've been today.

We won't have to embarrass each other
with stories about pretending we cannot hear
anyone for the entire day :D

Love you all
2 min 4 sec

:D and be happy
do what you gotta do
and just be happy :)

Love you fams

1 min 20 sec :D

Cool Stuff - Dri

Ok guys, so I’ve been looking at a lot of cool crafts, and awesomely designed interiors lately. So, I’m just going to post a bunch of cool pictures I found ^^

RIP Diana Wynne Jones :(

I've been thinking about feedback.

Most people think that the longer we do something, the better we get at it. That statement in and of itself is not actually true, or at least, it's incomplete.
We really get better at things that we practice, AND receive accurate feedback on.

Examples:

I've been typing most of my life. I have not, however, been improving my typing speed.
Why not?

Because I haven’t been trying to. I haven't been practicing typing, and I haven't been getting feedback or instruction (or not that I've paid attention to, at least).



One of the reasons (of the many many reasons) we need teachers so badly is because they can provide us feedback. We are unaware of whether or not we’re doing well, until someone tells us. Once we know what's right and what's wrong, improvement starts.



What sort of feedback makes us better? Accurate, specific, Immediate.

- Accurate -
It’s pretty obvious why feedback has to be accurate in order to be effective. If I’m teaching you to drive, and I tell you to drive more to the left when you’re actually fine, there’s going to be problems.


- Specific –

I think we've all had a paper returned with a C+ (or worse) scrawled at the bottom.

You, horrified: "What did I do wrong?!"

Teacher: "Oh, it just wasn't very good"

Not overly informative.

If you knew why your paper was bad, you wouldn’t need feedback. Activities like shooting a target, scoring points on a game, those give their own feedback which is fairly specific (shoot higher and to the right, don’t let Mario fall down cliffs). In complicated activities, we need to know exactly where we messed up, and why. Getting that kind of feedback teaches us to recognize what's good and what's bad. It's like playing that one game where everyone calls out "hot" or "cold". And eventually, you can learn what makes a good paper good, and what makes a bad paper bad.

- Immediate –


Say your teacher breaks down and agrees to put more specific comments on your paper next time. Only next time, your paper is given back to you a month and a half after you wrote it. At that point, it's hard to even remember what you wrote, much less how you planned, worked out your argument, used grammar correctly, etc. Chances are you won't remember enough for the feedback to be helpful.

Also, the longer you do something a certain way, the more ingrained the habit becomes. It’s much harder and more time consuming to unlearn bad habits than to prevent them.



Ok, so, if I get feedback, and I practice constantly, I'll get better?

Yes!

Indefinitely?

Yeaaahuuhhhh....no.

While practice with corrective, immediate, accurate, specific feedback is great, there are limits to how good you can get at something.

Example: Chewing. I have been chewing foodstuffs for the past 20 years or so. I do so several times every day, for varying periods of time. I receive feedback via the sensations in my mouth and esophagus (i.e. Am I choking to death on giant chunks of steak?). Said feedback is accurate, specific, and immediate. Why don’t I become a better chewer?

Because you can only get so good at chewing. In one way, you might say that am an expert chewer. A master masticator. I have reached my chewing prime. I am a level 100 chewer and I have maxed out my EXP.



Once you learn to turn food into pulp and swallow, no amount of practice will help you do it better

(excepting rare cases of brain damage where you actually have to relearn to do stuff like chew, etc.). There are physical limits that determine the speed and efficiency of your chewing. Practice after this point doesn’t do much.



In other things, there is still improvement which is physically possible, but you run up against the law of diminishing returns.

Let's say you're out of shape, and run a 10 minute mile. Start running steadily, and you'll see your record drop to 9 minutes/mile, then 8, and 7. But to get close to a 5 minute mile, you're going to have to do a LOT more training, and for hours upon hours of training every day, you'll only see a few seconds worth of improvement on your time. To get an under 5 minute mile, you have to dedicate yourself to training. And for some people, your body type may prevent you from beating that record. If you have really short legs, you can run all you want, but you'll never beat Russian champion Svetlana Masterkova's record of 4:12.56 minutes.


Take home message: There are a few biological/genetic/physical limits of how good you can be at one activity. But you almost NEVER reach those!! With the right practice and work, you can often more than double and triple your current achievements in many fields. It just takes a lot of work.

Practice then! And don't just accept constructive criticism and feedback, search for it! Hunt it out from the people who really know what they're talking about.



This was even more scattered than my last post, and probably less interesting. Worst of all, it wasn't comprehensive. I didn't even start to talk about visual/auditory/tactile feedback or how the word feedback originated.

Still, take my musings for what they're worth, and hopefully YOUR feedback will help me improve.

Love you guys,
Joseph

Thursday

Sorry for missing my post last week on St. Patty's Day. If it makes you feel any better I remembered it when I had to wake up for a 2 am fire alarm because someone put a vegan chicken patty in for 150 minutes rather than 150 seconds.



On to the important news. I have a bluebird box! For my Ornithology class I am observing the happenings. The first day I checked it it had a new nest in it. The nest was a layer of moss and with some hair on top, indicating that it is a chickadees nest. And in talking to my Ornithology professor she is thinking that eggs are going to be laid soon. Then it is just a week or two until they hatch, and then another week or two until the chicks fledge. That means that possibly as soon as the end of April my little guys are going to be leaving the nest. And they haven't even been born yet!

Olivia also got me Pokemon SoulSilver, which is awesome. There's an electric sheep pokemon! If you haven't looked at the pokemon for the new Black and White versions you are lucky. They've got a GOTH pokemon and a COFFIN pokemon. And apparently the bad guys want to free pokemon from servitude. AND SOMEHOW THIS IS A BAD THING.
At the Natural Science Center there are three six week old maned wolf pups (which aren't actually wolves, they're the last surviving species of a South American large canine line). I haven't gotten to see them, because they always nap in the afternoon when I volunteer. Fun fact, the pups are black with white tips and the adults are red with black legs, mane and face. And tomorrow I'm going to be showing snakes to about 125 scouts for the Natural Science of Greensboro for 5 hours, which will be fun. Unfortunately that means I'll be missing the hypnotist and drag show Serendipity events. What is Serendipity you ask? It's this awesome Guilford weekend where people have fun. Some people may have a bit too much fun for their own good, but there are concerts, food, and bouncy houses. So I'm pretty excited.

Anyway, do whatever you want in the comments. You have full reign.

Tues-

Hey all.
I am sitting
in a little library seat.
For my
comp has de-id
as for the interneet

I tried. :D
Basically, my computer isn't getting very good
internet connection for the past several days
(I dunno exactly why...
I did spill a little juice on it
After which I took it apart and dried it...)

This means I'm here
At Clemons Library.

It could be worse.
I could have a computer that gets
no internet connection
or that fried and erased all my notes.

But sadly, I am short on time, as it is late, and
I should be getting home.
So this post will be shortish.

It seems sometimes like we are supposed to be

all over the place.

Lots of things to do.

But that's ok.

Because most of it's all good and fun

and what isn't...

we can hopefully still smile about :)

I know that's all probably hard to read
I figured the back and forth made a good
visual explanation,

Or however you call it.

My game: See how short of a sentence you can make while still having a subject, verb, direct object, and indirect object.
:D good luck

Silly thing about me: I have one pocket full of cardboard pieces, and the other has a short ruler, with cutouts in it so you can make a car, airplane, boat/water and seagull, and a train. :D
Silly thing about someone else: I think one of my TAs was wearing bowling shoes today... or something similar

(Sadly, this does mean you may not be able to reach me as well by internet until I find out what's up. :( srrys. I will keep coming and checking at the library, but probably only a few times a day)

Luvs you all!!!!! :D
Be happy :D
or call me :D

And we're back....

Today's post has two parts: 1. A riddle--first the rule--no using the internet to look up answers, and please post when you figure it out.

There's something special about the names of these nine states: Maine, Vermont, New York, Iowa, Florida, Texas, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. What do they have in common?

2. Below is an old history (no fiction in it) that I started writing several years ago in Culpeper. I wasn't too pleased with the result and forgot about it. Still not my favorite piece of work, but here it is anyway...

love you all,

dad

Storms

I camped out in a hurricane once. Since it was in Korea, I guess it was a typhoon, or almost a typhoon. Winds have to reach 74 miles an hour to be considered a typhoon. According to the Osan Air Force weatherman, Irving and Janis hitting one after the other topped out at a reported wind speed of 72 mph. One week of battering winds and rain--I don't think I could tell the difference in two miles an hour of speed.

My one year job as third grade teacher in Georgetown Idaho had come to an end and I was looking for employment. The Idaho National Guard sent me to Korea as part of Foal Eagle. I was excited since I loved the country, would get to speak the language again, see people, and come back home in only two weeks. The second night sleeping in the rusted tin shack we called home, it began to rain--sideways. The huts leaked everywhere. Wind whipped through and tin rattled, but it kept the worst of the storm off of us. Briefings, interrogations, and guard duty continued as if the weather was normal. Word that a second tropical storm--much worse--was going to hit us changed as Janis passed us to the south and hit China. Keep the exercise running.

During my guard duty at night rain began whipping with an intensity that stung and penetrated completely through even the rubber suit I was wearing. I leaned into the wind to stay standing and made my way forward till I was able to wrap my arms around a small tree. The only thing my M16 was good for was counterweight. I was afraid to let go of it for even an instant. I could barley see my hands. Power lines snapped and whipped in the wind. Trees fell. Guard duty seemed to last forever.

Afterward make your way back in, change clothes, eat, sleep, try to interrogate someone who looks as wet and miserable as you are--Try a soft approach: otoke towadurilsu issumnikka? …Anything I can do to help you? "Apparently not. You're as @#&$'n wet as I am."

So much for the Sergeant Santa Claus method. At least he gets to be locked up in a hut when he isn't talking to me, I think as I fight my way back out to stand guard by hugging trees next to the road. Guard against what? Anyone who is crazy enough to be out in this weather deserves to be able to do whatever he wants. You never really got dry in between shifts. It's pretty bad when you start envying prisoners.

Interrogation was an exercise in keeping paper dry enough to use--never mind yourself or the prisoner. Magic markers on plastic protective sheets turned out to be the answer to that one. Forget the paper--that was in there just to provide a wet white background to the plastic. Nothing was getting reported right away either. Phones were down; radio didn't work. There were no communications with command. We didn't know it, but Janis had turned north east after hitting China and come straight back at us.

Days later the storm cleared. Dead power lines, downed branches, tin, and trees lay scattered everywhere. A nearby diesel tank had leaked five hundred gallons of fuel. No one was injured. Radio signal picked up again. We received orders to clear out and report to a shelter since field conditions were no longer safe. We spent the rest of the week on R and R: sleeping in an auditorium full of hundreds of soldiers and free to roam the country during the day. Typical isn't it? Weather the storm in the rough, and then come in for shelter once the sun comes shining through.

I came back from Korea with a family storm left for us to deal with. I still had no job to support our five children. Jeanne had been staying at home to care for them and was often in bed sick herself. We packed and used the money from the Korea trip to rent a Ryder Truck. We were moving in with my parents in West Virginia. Fortunately my parents had a big house--not fancy, just big. I began applying for jobs and ended up as a long term substitute teacher for middle and high school students with behavioral disabilities.

The kids were delinquents. Still, you had to like them. They had storms in their lives and passed them on to everyone they came in contact with. Mike’s storms were particularly violent—and interesting. The kid was brilliant. Mike was no longer allowed to even get his own food from the cafeteria even with escort, after seeing the principal in a new suit and coating him head to toe with a tray of spaghetti. “It was worth it.” Mike says with a malicious smile.

One Monday, Mike pulled out two 30 06 shells and began banging them together with the one of the ends pointed at himself and the other at his best friend Jason. “I just wanted to see what would happen.” he said as I snatched the shells and sent him off to solitary detention.

Four days later Mike had done none of his assignments, but cussed everyone who opened the door and had picked the locks on all the cabinets in the room as well as taking apart the copier. He’d also spent time face down on the floor with a teacher laying on him after he started swinging. On Friday, Mike decided he wanted to get out. He changed to all smiles and niceness. Between 8:30 and 11:00, he completed all of his required work for the week—Algebra, History, Health, English, Social Skills. Lowest grade—an A.

Later that year, we went on a field trip to the maximum security penitentiary in Moundsville. I don’t see any real benefit in scared straight experiences, but know others do. Mike was the only kid who was assigned his own personal bodyguard while in prison.

We were all warned about the penalties for taking sharp objects, pins, knives, ear rings, fire arms, cash, chewing gum, drugs, or alcohol into the prison. You can see it coming can’t you? We put our hands on a brick wall and spread our legs for a pat down. Everyone came up clean.

Just wait…

Two minutes after entering the gates, Mike, a short skinny white kid, leans over to Jason and shows him the twenty he palmed up against the wall to get through the search. A big black man, one of the prisoners walking with our group, snatched his hand out and grabbed the folded up bill handing it straight to an officer. Mike hardly blinked.

Gary, the prisoner who had taken Mike’s bill, stepped up next to Mike, put his arm around him and said in a very quite voice, “I killed seven people with a knife.”

Mike became respectfully silent for the first time in anyone’s memory.

Gary stayed with Mike for the next two hours—never left his side. He told him that he hadn’t killed them all at once—it had been one or two at a time over a number of years and most of it had been over drugs. He said Mike reminded him a lot of himself when he was young. He had found God in prison, but would never get out. Gary didn’t want Mike to end up like him. Mike’s subdued seriousness lasted until the school bus pulled out of the prison. Then he was right back to the same old Mike.

I have no idea what happened to Mike as he grew up. I’ve often wondered. I’m glad I don’t have storms like Mike and Gary’s, but that doesn’t mean I always like the ones I have.

Another storm struck our family in October that year. My sister Roxanna was hit by a truck crossing the street in New York. Like the storm in Korea, it was unexpected, painful, and it helped to have each other to hang on to. If we’d still been in Idaho, we wouldn’t have had that comfort. Sometimes the experiences one storm are preparation to help you endure the next one better.

To Renew The Flagging Enthusiasm

Over the past little while I have been brainstorming some ways to get the blog going again, since (as Dad mentioned in an earlier post) we seem to have lost some momentum. While I would like to make it clear that I don't think this is inherently a bad thing, I thought it might be fun to liven things up a bit.

So, here's my idea: what if we played a series thing this week? Each person could come up with some kind of game or challenge that the rest of us could respond to in comments. Or maybe we could respond by our posts. I'm not exactly sure how it would work. I don't even know if you guys want to actually do it. I'm just throwing the idea out there.

Regardless of whether anyone else wants to jump on board, I would like to start with my post. The game I came up with is one that we've played many times before. The object is, at the end of the game, to have constructed an entire story. Someone starts with a sentence and each person adds to it. To complicate things (because I love complications), I have come up with a set of rules.

1. Each person can only post one sentence, until at least two other people have followed them.
2. You can't rewrite previous sentences in your own response.
3. You cannot use either of the first two letters of your middle name in your sentence (for example, i can't use E or V)
4. Your sentence has to begin with a consecutive letter of the alphabet (I start with A, the next person B, etc), unless that letter is one of two forbidden by rule number 3, in which case the writer will use the next consecutive letter

Capeesh everyone?

And of course, as the blogger of the day, I will start:

A small orphan, lightly skipping down a brick road, ran into a surprisingly stationary rabbit.

Love you guys,
Ruth

Sloan's Tuesday

Hello all!

Gather 'round little and not-so-little ones, as you dear friend prepares to reference a story to you!

Reference?, you say
... Don't you mean tell?

Sadly, no, I mean reference.
But look on the bright side: it takes me less time to write, and you less time to read :D

Which time is taken up with you explaining it to us. :P

Yes, well you were the one who interrupted this story reference with your questioning, so I see no reason to be tongue sticking. Now, once upon a time....

Sloan and Jenkins were shooting the breeze on a regular Tuesday night, as they so often do on Tuesdays.
Soon after engaging in shooting the breeze, it became apparent that there was nothing coming of it, as the breeze is so hard to shoot; besides, they were running out of ammo.
So, they decided to do the next most nonsensical thing.

And what may that be? you ask,
rolling your eyes at my
cheesy quips.

Why, snail race of course!

Ah, yes, you say,
your mind going back
to the last good snail race
you remember from childhood.

So, Jenkins and Sloan bring out their prized snails, Jerry Jr. and Teddy, respectively, and set them on the snail track (which is conveniently by the breeze-shooting range)
The race starts!
....
and ends.

Thank you for being so brief..., you say,
exasperated with me,
wanting to hear the end.

Well, you know how it ends! Besides, this was just a ref-

Wait, how am I to know the end?! you say
You're the one telling the story!

Referencing you mean.

Yes, that. How am I to
know how your referencing
ends? you quest.

By seeing what its referenced to.

Oh... then reference away.

I would be glad to.

Now, removing ourselves from format of "teller and audience" to "narrator and person-who-is-narrated-to", wherein I get all the attention, and you get none, we will continue.
I went running today.
And found in running that when I hit a particular hill, I slowed down.

Yes, that would make sen-

Dah! I said it was narrator only speaking. You're not in this.

Oops, sorry. :P

Hmph, I hope you are.
Where was I?
Yes, running.
I always used to run in fast short spurts and long-distance jogging, interspersed with walking.
Walking usually occurred at the hills :D
But as I ran with Joseph over break, and then tried on my own, I found it far more beneficial to do smooth, even jogging all the way through, big hills, slopes, cliffs, etc.
Why? I don't know for cliffs;
But I can explain for hills and slopes. So I hope that will do.
Going in fast spurts wears me down faster. Such that when I hit a huge hill, I cannot jog up.
At least not without falling over.

So, of course, when you're going down
you can go twice as fast; and
make up for your slowness
coming up, you say.

[Indignant stare]
I once thought the same, but foolishly so.
In going down, at a certain maximum velocity, we have the breaking point.
That is when your speed is so fast that your legs cannot keep up.
And when your legs cannot keep up, ... splat.

It's kind of like the Law of
Diminishing Returns, right?

No, not at all.

....

So, what has been discovered is the fact that I must go at an even pace,
such that hills only slow me down a little, and slopes only speed me up
some.
So, in going even, steady, and consistent, you are most efficient.
Equally, long-distance running takes time to build up.
You running the same distance in a day that I do in a month
will not get you up to par with me,
As much as you'd like to think it would.
Long-distance running takes time to build up.
And this phenomenon is not just true for a running.

Schoolwork, eating, sleeping, practicing drawing, and almost
every kind of act takes us time to achieve
proficiency and then excellence.
We just cannot do it all-and-none
at once.
Maybe we can, but it will be harder,
and not as much fun.

So, slow and steady wins the race.

Exactly.

:D

And here you were telling me
you didn't know the story.

...? I don't.

Well, you just told it to me.

Richard, you're crazy.

No, I'm not. The end of the story is what you said:
Sloan's Teddy wins the race.

That is so silly,
and a very bad pun.

Well, that's just how I am. :P



Silly thing about me: I had this pizza from the dining hall.
It was like spaghetti sauce and cheese.
Tasted good, but interesting

Silly thing about me:
(This is up to you)

Hope you enjoyed my silliness.

Love you all fams!
and fans, just not the same way.
:D

Just Another Cool Vlog - Dri

As always the vlog is full of randomness ^^ enjoy :D

cool yarn balls --> http://ruffledblog.com/diy-string-wedding-chandelier/

furoshiki -->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIDBwbrdwv8&feature=related

From the Life of a Mature Adult

So, break's almost officially over. Classes start tomorrow, midterms and projects ensue, and the end of the semester is not-so-slowly creeping up. I'm currently coping with this in the most mature way possible: pajama time and midnight brownies with my roommie. What else can you do, right?

Break itself was certainly a success. Though, as most of you know, I was too busy having fun to get all the work done I had typed up in my "Spring Break" desktop post-it. I did get caught up on my English work and a head start in Psych for the week. Italian midterm is Wednesday. I should be more stressed than I actually am.

One thing I re-discovered over break: I really miss reading for fun. I have always known this, but sometimes I don't fully realize how true it is. In the thick of a semester, when most of my time is taken up reading for school, I forget what it is like to experience leisure reading. I remember that it is something I love, something that I identify as my favorite pastime, but I don't always remember what it actually feels like. Over the past couple days, I reminded myself. I didn't really get into any books. Just skimmed. All the same, it will be difficult to give it up again, even if only for the next couple weeks.

I'm thinking it might be a good idea to start reading poetry while waiting for the bus or something, to keep me sane. May I suggest you all find ways to do the same. Don't get me wrong; work is important. You've got to do what you've got to do, just make sure you don't go crazy in the process.

Love you guys!
Ruth

STUFF

I am currently videoing my blog......brb
\m/

Carnivorous Parrots

Today I will discuss two birds that are carnivores that you wouldn't expect: the Kea and the Shrikes.

The Kea is a parrot. It lives in New Zealand and is about 20 inches in length, so a pretty large parrot. It is now uncommon because farmers used to kill it because it preyed on livestock, particularly sheep.
Yes, it's a PARROT that can hunt SHEEP.
It's also a neophile, meaning it loves novelty. It is apparently a nuisance to non-tourists, as it will steal items or pull rubber off of cars. They have even been known to steal passports.

Shrikes are a sparrow-like bird that eats meat. They have been known to take down prey as large as ermines. Imagine a sparrow killing a weasel AND THEN EATING IT. Then you'd have a shrike.
Because their beaks are not suited to tearing apart flesh, they instead use thorn bushes as a place to butcher, puncturing their caught prey on the thorns and tearing the meat off. Their larder, as it is called, can be quite full, especially if it's near the breeding season when the males are trying to show off to the females.

The Kea, courtesy of Wikipedia


Anyway, I hope my nerdiness didn't weird you guys out too much. If you want to hear more about carnivorous birds' habits, here is a link to the soothing iconic voice of David Attenborough, possibly the coolest guy in existence right now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShPhYUQmRN8&feature=fvsr

We Know Crazy - Dri

We decided to do a joint vlog today!! yay!! Everything did actually happen on monday, but uploading took a veerryy long time. I'm sooorrrryyyy!!! Anyhoo, enjoy our super long and crazy video ^^

Lions and Tigers and Bears (Oh my!)

So, as some of you probably know, Adrianna had an infestation of mice this past week. She called me late Monday night (or early morning more accurately), curious as to whether mice could give you rabies. I tried to placate her, telling her she was up on all her shots. She called me out on my fib, correctly claiming that she was not a dog and thus was not routinely administered a rabies shot. I'm happy to tell you that the mice are now dead, and Adrianna does not have rabies. However, even though the situation has been nicely resolved, it triggered a train of thought that is still running through my mind.

Whenever anyone used to ask me what I was afraid of, my answers were always either overly ambiguous (the future), or overly serious and personal (letting people down). I never had anything else to say. I like walking alone at night. I don't particularly relish heights, but they don't scare me, Spiders and snakes don't bother me much at all.

Now I have a more typical answer. Over winter break, I discovered a new fear. Johnny and I happened to be in a shopping mall (I realize it is probably slightly difficult to visualize me voluntarily spending much time in a mall, but if you wouldn't mind suspending your disbelief for a bit, I will make a point). We were not very familiar with this mall and spent some time going from floor to floor, looking for certain stores. This meant riding the escalator up and down several times. I remembered something: Escalators bother me. As a kid, I used to worry that my shoe lace would get caught between the steps, and I'd either get pulled under (resulting in my leg breaking or my foot being mangled) or pulled down the stairs (resulting in my head smashing against the metal and death by severe concussion). I'm not quite as afraid of them now. I don't have any violent reactions to them. I can ride one perfectly fine. Yes, I may carefully place my feet on a step, hold onto the rail, and not move until we reach the top, but it's not crippling. There's no harmful dysfunction involved. Escalators just make me a little wary.

This realization made me wonder what people I know are afraid of. A girl I used to know in school was terrified of the possibility of cutting her Achilles tendon, and consequently always wore boots or high top chucks. Sarah dislikes elevators, Zoe hates aliens, and Christine has a fear of tripping up stairs, falling, and breaking all of her teeth (that would be one fear of a composite situation, not three individual ones). I know Andrew is grossed out by gum, Adri is terrified of opossums, and Richard used to hate swimming because he couldn't see what was lurking deep in the water. But what about now? Is Richard still terrified of riding in airplanes?

I don't know why fears are always considered so negatively. Yes, they can be crippling and restricting, and that is not something to trivialize. But random, quirky fears that aren't debilitating aren't that bad. I find them kind of fascinating. I think they're part of what make people interesting and complex.

So commenting question: What are your current fears? (random, quirky, silly, or serious and personal; everything's game!)

love you guys,

Ruth

In which Doughnuts are Promised

Hello everyone,
Here are a few thoughts of mine as I’ve been working and studying the past couple days. It’s not super-organized, but I tried to make up for it with interesting examples.

Hyperbolic Discounting

Hyperbolic Discounting is an interesting and extremely common cognitive bias. Basically it has to do with how the temporal proximity of a reward or good changes its perceived value. One dollar today is worth more to you than two dollars next week, though mathematically computing inflation, the two dollars next week is the better deal.

So say we’re walking down the street, and we pass a Krispy Kreme shop. I run in, and come out with a doughnut. You want aforementioned doughnut, so I say, “Hey, tell you what, I can give you either one doughnut right now, or two donuts tomorrow.” You think about this. You come to some conclusions.
1. Donuts are good
2. Two donuts are better than one doughnut
3. But I want a doughnut now.

“Give me the doughnut now, and I will be happy!” you say seconds before biting into the delicious raspberry filled jelly doughnut.

Now.

We are once again walking down the street- no, let’s shake it up a little. We’re rollerblading down a hill, and I say “Hey, tell you what, I can give you either one doughnut in a year, or two doughnuts in a year and a day.” Now, you think me a little strange for planning doughnut -gifts a year ahead of time, but donuts are donuts. You think about this, and say “Of course I’ll take the two donuts. It’s just one day more.”

So in these two different cases, you were offered one doughnut at a specified time, or two donuts 24 hours after that specified time. It’s the same 24 hour difference, but your answer was different. What would happen if you waited the whole year, and I asked you once again: one doughnut today or two tomorrow? Your answer might actually change.
Why? Hyperbolic discounting.

We as humans process a lot of information. Our brains are incredibly complex, but we’re not all like Thufir Hawat, calculating exact utility values and possible outcomes. We guess, we use heuristics, rule of thumb, approximations. And for our brain, the two future-donuts are vague and maybe-ish, whereas that doughnut is right there in front of me. A lot could happen between now and tomorrow. I could skip the country to avoid my doughnut-debt. Krispy Kreme could catch on fire. The world might end. To your brain, one doughnut now is a doughnut I can eat. Two imaginary doughnuts tomorrow might never even happen. Therefore, a now-doughnut is worth more than two maybe-doughnuts. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

But consciously, we know that contracts will be fulfilled, two dollars tomorrow is worth more than one today, and that we can count on Joseph to keep his promise and deliver two donuts. That conscious knowledge doesn’t do anything to the little voice whispering “delicious donuts...” that makes us pick the short term gain over the long term gain.

So you might ask, “Why did I say I’d wait the year and a day in the second offer then? Wasn’t I waiting longer?” In that case, there’s no immediate benefit available, only a long wait and a slightly longer wait. It’s when the payoff is immediate that we cave in to the temptation of short-term gain. When we look at things in the long run, we often make better choices. When we look only at what we want here and now, we tend to make more shortsighted ones.

You may think my example is unrealistic (the me giving free donuts part, not the me performing manipulative psychological experiments on you). Want some real life examples? Then think about what happens whenever you get something from a vending machine. You could buy that snickers bar for 25 cents cheaper at a store, but that would mean waiting. To you in that moment, whether from hunger, lack of time, excess of quarters, whatever the case may be, you have just said “I am willing to pay 25 cents more to have this now, instead of when I go to the store.” The wait of two hours, a day, or whatever it may be has just been given a price: 25 cents.
This is why vending machines and convenience stores can sell the same quality (or even lower quality) stuff for higher prices. Convenience.
Bigger example: credit cards or loans. In order to have something I want or need now, I’m willing to pay more later.

The concept of Delay of Gratification plays into this as well. Delayed gratification is how able you are to put off immediate desires or needs, in order to get something you want. A lot of really good things are require a lot of work before the reward, compared to immediate pleasures are instantaneous. We all want to be healthy and active, and not have cancer. But the great physique, feeling of well-being, and lowered cancer risks are all distant future rewards and therefore uncertain, and they require work and sacrifice. Sleeping in another hour on Saturday morning is an immediate, certain reward.

This hyperbolic discounting is also why many people pass up the opportunity to continue schooling, even though there’s a much bigger payoff at the end of it. The 12$ an hour now is more appealing than the idea of going through years of school and work for a better paycheck in the future. When we’re at the supermarket thinking about getting ice cream, it’s a lot easier to say no and stick to our diet than it is when somebody plops a bowl in front of us and says eat up. Ice cream now has a lot more oomph than ice cream in 6 hours when I finish shopping and making dinner.

So, I just gave a very rambly and mixed up account of hyperbolic discounting, delay of gratification, and I even threw in some utility value and motivation theories in as well.

What’s the point?

The things that really matter in life are not instantaneous. Getting an education, a career, staying healthy, strengthening relationships, making a difference in others’ lives, etc. They require work, sacrifice, and good choices. If you want to reach a goal, plan ahead. Remind yourself often of why you want to reach that goal, and how you’re going to do it. Make your decisions ahead of time, so you’re not pressured by the temptation of short term gains in the moment. Don’t trade long term happiness for temporary enjoyment.


So that when you want to stop studying and leave your essay unfinished, you’ll remember what you really want is to succeed in school and learn, not goof off for a few hours and then suffer come exam time.
So that when you want to snap at a friend for messing up or letting you down, you’ll remember that what you really want is a long-lasting friendship, not a few minutes of angry venting.

When I look at all of you all, you’ve already shown so much preparation and self-control, by getting good grades, following your interests, and getting into college so you can work in the fields you love. You’ve all had incredible successes. Ruth, you’re graduating, Andrew, you’re already a writer for the Guilfordian, not to mention you're fulfilling a lifelong dream of going to Kenya! Adrianna, you have developed an amazing singing voice and are going to nursing school! Richard, you’re well on your way to being an awesome architect, and Johnny, you might not be in college quite yet, but getting Second in states takes an awful lot of delay of gratification. You’ve put hours upon hours of practice and training into wrestling, and it’s certainly paid off. Exercising self-control is how to get what you really want.

Looking at the New Testament, Christ was always trying to point his disciples towards the ultimate reward of eternal life. We’re promised an incredible blessing, and asked to do certain things to receive it. But it’s still hard, because the reward is delayed, it’s far off in the future. But it’s also certain, and worth far more than anything we sacrifice for it. Keep the long term goals of life in mind.

Matthew 6:19
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

And guys, for the record, I give you donuts all the time. I’m a veritable doughnut-gifter. ;)

Love,
Joseph

Postmodernism

She made a nest. The post was hit by baseballs on the hot summer days while She flew angrily.

Is it really Wednesday?

In answer to my question, yes I know it's Wednesday. I just have no idea what to write about. You all know about the articles Andrew's been writing for the Guilfordian, about Johnny's wrestling, Adrianna's dance, Ruth's planned trip, Richard getting ready for a mission, and Joseph applying for an internship. None of us seem to know much about Caitlin, Koda, and Megan. And honestly there isn't much to write about me.

That's about where my stream of consciousness ends. We've been reading Moroni every night, and per Adrianna's request will probably start a Skype facilitated joint study of the D and C in a month or so for anyone interested. Other than that, I look forward to seeing those of you who will be in Dobson for spring break.

Hope everyone is doing well.

--dad

Tuestory

Hello all :D

Ruthie sadly stole my idea.... before I had it... but I thought of it completely independent of her.

So, I was thinking about stories.
About people stories.
And how I didn't know people stories.

But first, some logistics:
Story- n. account, true or fictitious, about an event, person, etc. (In this case, we assume the lives of people)
Story turns out to be the only word I know of that is fully conjugatable in all forms in English. That is:

Mystory
Yourstory
History/Herstory
Ourstory
Y'allstory
Theirstory

(Of course, in English we made it History; not very fair if you ask me. But, often 3rd masculine singular is used as the root or "common" form in Hebrew and a few other languages, so maybe that's what happened. I dunno)

In any case, I found this very interesting. Like the TED video Ruth posted (which, again I say I came up with this independently and in slightly different verbage), I realized how single story I assign those around me, from different countries or not.
My view far too often - That cool guy at the dining hall who makes really good pizza only has one story to me: a cool guy who makes really good pizza that I eat.

Note: This is the wrong view.

Every now and then I get a glimpse of a story for someone, that is actually his/herstory.
Whether its a big event in their life, or maybe something I had just never noticed but was always there, in finding out about that particular part of that person, I get to know theirstory (I know it should be his/herstory, but I figured it would be ok to shorthand it. And so this explanation is making the time saved from that shorthand obsolete.)

I found out I really like to learn theirstories.

That's not to say that I like knowing everything about everyone; that's getting on the spectrum of creepy to stalkerish. But I was amazed at the fact that people's lives are so intricate, with the weaving of past experiences that work to make the person who they are know. Like palimpsest drawings.

This is where you ask what palimpsest is.
.....

Palimpsest is when your artwork visually is built on itself. The several tries, editions, and modifications are all present, and the process and adaption is shown. So, if you were drawing a duck, and you tried outline and shading with pencil, but that didn't really work, palimpsesting would be retrying the duck on the same paper in several mediums and ways without erasing the previous tries.

So, we're kind of palimpsest too.
We mark and are marked by what we do
and what happens to us.

Sometimes features appear more obvious, like a physical hurt that came from an accident. Others may have been lighter drawings from long past that now only shown in the expression we hold, like when we remember being a kid, and smile at the good, fun times we may have had.

In any case, the point is :
everyone
has
a
story.

I know lots of Ourstory as a family and Mystory, but its interesting to go back in my journal, and see the several drawings that make up the palimpsest of my life.
And I hope to get to know yourstory and palimpsest alot better. :D
Try to get to know the stories of those around you.
It's different when you can see their palimpsest rather than a single drawing of them.
(BTW: that pizza guy is actually really really cool)

Silly thing about me: I thought I put mayo on my sandwich, since the container and contents were white and sort of congealish, but whatever it was most certainly didn't taste like mayo. Now I'm curious....
Silly thing about someone else: Albert Einstein compared thinking less of other person's abilities to thinking fish are stupid because they cannot climb trees. (though I have not validated my sources)

Love you all. I'm not in class all day
despite rumors.
So lemme know if you wanna talk :D