The Very Next Day

Even though my life was full yesterday, I did not accomplish all that I set out to do.  I did get my laptop on eBay.  I did start rewiring the kiln.  If I don't "medicate" with herb for a while, I'm sure I'll get it all done.  Except for killing the three remaining cherry trees, dismembering them and throwing the cut up pieces in a bin.  I can't do that yet.  I don't feel fully recovered from the biopsy.

Today is yet full to procrastinate.  I've been doing well in that respect.  No rationale needed.  Some might find that disconcerting but I don't and won't bother to try and explain why. It is.

I ended up having my own party last night.  I can't believe that I actually drank the tequila I found in my daughter's car before she left for Italy.  I had to mix it with lemonade, courtesy of Paul Newman.  Two glasses of wine and numerous bowls of medication. Music loud.  I resisted the urge to play drums but did get out the electric and play along with AC/DC.  They play half a step high on the tuning scale.  I didn't make to the bed and blankets part of the fiasco until about 3AM.  Woke up to the alarm at 7:30AM, took morning meds and went back to sleep.

Just saw a couple walking down the street.  The younger male was walking two German Shorthair puppies.  They were stretched tight on their leash.  The young mom was pushing a well insulated baby buggy and texting.  My thought was, "Hey, you're missing the walk!"

I'm thinking fondly of Romantic Interest today.  It would be nice to see her.

I read an abstract by Mary Helen Immordino-Yang and Antonio Damasio entitled, " We Feel, Therefore We Learn. The Relevance of Affective and Social Neuroscience to Education."  The main point is that all learning has an emotional component that plays heavily in the art of education.  Very good.  It is what I, and my colleagues at Westside Alternative High School, have known for years: that creating a positive affective bond with students is mandatory before they will be receptive to learning.  The article compares persons with frontal lobe brain damage to the rest of us and shows that emotion plays into reasonable decision making and reception to new ideas.  "Without adequate access to emotional, social, and moral feedback, in effect the important elements of culture, learning cannot inform real-world functioning as effectively."  I think most teachers are aware of this.  Now, it has been studied, researched, and written about.  Here's the paper:
http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~immordin/papers/Immordino-Yang+Damasio_2007_RelevanceofNeurotoEdu.pdf

Another link to a related issue.  Kind of a Power Pointy thingy:
https://connect.johnshopkins.edu/p82806048/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode=normal


Let's start a band.