The Room that is my Own

One of the assignments for the Aboriginal World Views and Education course I am taking on Coursera was to write about a meaningful place. I am posting what I wrote for the class below (after subitting it to the course's forum).

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The room that is my own is my most meaningful place. It is a place where favorite things collected over many years are enjoyed: Georgia O’Keeffe posters on the walls, a vase of 30 year old peacock feathers from my grandmother, some macramé wall hangings from my sister, windchimes from my mother-in-law, a dream catcher from my daughter, small keepsakes in the pockets of the window sheers (mismatched earrings, a cloisonné belt buckle, a tarnished metal rose from my mother, dried maple leaves, bookmarks). The large window reveals an edge of rooftop with a gutter where birds like doves and house finches come to get water and nesting material. Further way, there are maple and tulip poplars that are the edge of the forest. In the summer it is a wall of fluttering green. The winter a flock of blue jays visits almost every day. Sometimes I see deer. Last summer there was a doe with two fawns that visited regularly.

My computer is in this room - the window to the broader world. One of the two screens is usually running a slide show of collected images that I particularly like. I have a Swopper chair in front of the computer and bounce while I am thinking or reading. On a table to one side I have materials for doodling.

The meaning comes from the richness of perspective the room provides….my history through the items collected there…the outdoors through the window…the access to information out in the world via the internet…the creation of new things first through thought and then writing (journaling or this blog) or doodling. The integration of sedentary pursuits with some level of activity (the Swopper chair) over the past few years has been a positive experience from both a mental and physical perspective. It has been evolving for the past 20 years….fitting to what is happening in my life at the time. This place is one where I am alone but not too alone since it is ‘the room that is my own’ in my family home.

Learning Threads

Have you ever noticed how learning something new leads to learning tangential things - totally unanticipated at the beginning? It has been happening to me quite a lot lately.

One day this past week I listened to the introduction for the Aboriginal Worldviews course on Coursera and became intrigued by the indigenous worldview that values integration of knowledge more than specialization. I happened to be enjoying Reading the Landscape of Europe by May Theilgaard Watts on the same day and was intrigued by the way she combines geology, botany, zoology, history….and sees it all by careful observation of the landscape. I’d just finished the chapter on France and was so intrigued by the section on roses that I looked on the Internet Archive for the artists she had mentioned from the 1700s ….and found their works plus others. I remembered that my father planted hybrid tea roses along the driveway of our new house in the 60s (one for each member of the family) and wrote an email to him asking if he remembered their names. What a thread: indigenous world view to landscape reading to roses to family history!

It is so much easier to follow a tangential thought now than it was 20 or 30 years ago. A trip to the library or bookstore might have yielded some information  back then but it took so much effort that many threads were simply dropped. And I can remember making the effort and being disappointed by the lack of information the library had on its shelves.

How is this ease of finding exactly the information desired - in seconds - impacting the way we learn? We have an enormous wealth of resources. Are we enlightened by them or overwhelmed? It is natural to be both. I willingly accept the risk of being overwhelmed as the price for finding what I want to know shortly after deciding I want it.

Today - I am celebrating the adventure of following threads for as long and as deep as I want.

What if….our clothes adjusted to always keep us at the most comfortable temperature?

Our clothing has evolved from skins to natural fiber fabrics to synthetic fabrics. We add layers and weight to be warmer; jettison layers and heavy fabrics when we want to be cooler. The changing external environment and our own internal heat (from increased activity or ‘hot flashes’) means that we may need to make changes to our clothing during the day or wake up during the night to throw off blankets. The basics of clothing have not really changed very much.

What if our clothing detected changes that indicated we were hot or cold and changed subtly to warm us up or release heat, perhaps even overtly cooling us? We might learn more detailed information about ourselves - as a population and as individuals - once we started experimenting with the new clothing. Maybe some of us prefer to be warmer than others…perhaps everyone instances of higher metabolism producing more heat but we have simply ignored the extra bit of warmth in the past because it was not significant enough to change clothes.

If we had the clothing to keep us at the temperature we preferred, would we stop heating and cooling our dwellings? That might imply that ‘clothing’ would cover us completely. Would it filter the air we breathed and the food we ate?

Would style of clothing be important enough that the technology would need to include the ability to shift into different ‘looks’? Would color be structural and thus be programmable? Would we choose to shimmer like butterfly wings or peacock feathers if we had that choice?

Free Online Courses - Coursera

I had mentioned Coursera in several other blog posts (here and here). There was a news story about it this past week - More Elite Universities Offer Free Online Courses - that prompts me to write about them again.

The tangential learning has, on two occasions, been more significant for me that the main topic of the course. I was prompted to learn more about Genetically Modified Organisms by the Obesity Economics course (the topic came up in the forums….and off I went). The Critical Thinking course actually prompted tangential learning by asking students to pick one of 4 topics to practice their critical thinking skills. I picked Population and enjoyed the references provided plus the forum posts the students produced. It increased the critical thinking I do about items in the news.

The quality of the courses is inconsistent. Some of the videos are patched together from live lectures while some appear to be made with a web cam on the speaker’s PC. Almost all the videos switch between the speaker and charts with varying amounts of expertise. Sometimes the charts are created by the speaker as the lecture proceeds (like a white board) and other times they are formal charts. Sometimes the charts are available for download and sometimes not. Most of the courses have multiple choice questions embedded in the lectures although often it is just one question at the end of the lecture….and sometimes the embedded quiz is missing altogether.

The Modern World course is providing a good framework for things I learned long ago in school and via reading since then. Somehow the history courses when I was in school in the ‘60s and ‘70s rushed through the World Wars and what happened afterwards….up to the present. The energy that daround the early history of the US - from colonization to just past the Civil War petered out too soon. And the courses were only looking at the US perspective. World history classes also seemed more enthusiastic about Greek and Roman times than the 1900s. The increased discussion of ‘why?’ is also quite a welcome upgrade. Even in college in the 1970s - I don’t recall the history courses trying to help the student understand the perspective of people at the time to increase the understanding of why decisions or events were happened.

The forums are interesting but overwhelming for the larger classes. Several of the courses I am taking have over 10,000 students from around the world! If the course requires posting as part of the course - then there are a huge number of posts. Some are enlightening….some interesting….but wading through the ones that are not is time consuming/impossible/frustrating.

It is true that because they are “free” and not for credit - people that sign up may not complete the course requirements. Are they collecting data on why people do not complete the course? It is not obvious that they are. I’ve dropped one completely because I signed up for too many courses at one time and have gone into ‘sponge’ mode on another (i.e. just reading the forums rather than posting) because I am just too overwhelmed to dive into posting. Still - I am getting what I want from the second course even without completing all the requirements.

The bottom line of the whole experiment for me is that Coursera offerings are a worthwhile addition to the bevy of activities I use to continue to learn new things.

Bravo to Coursera and the universities that are contributing content!

3 Free eBooks - February 2013

The Internet has a growing number of online books…and many of them are free. This is my monthly post highlighting 3 that I have enjoyed most this past month.

Bulliard, Pierre. Flora Parisiensis Volume 2. Paris, P.F. Didot. 1776. Available here. This is a botanical text that was produced in France while the American Revolution was happening. Multiple volumes are available at the Internet Archive and all contain many color plates like the one to the left of a tulip. This must have been a very expensive book when it was produced!

Ernst, James A. Drawing the Line, Fine and Commercial Art. New York, Reinhold Publishing Corporation. 1962.  Available here. Skipping ahead almost 200 years from the first book, this book does not contain color. It is a book that encourages action…it's a great way to build up your motivation to make some drawings. Any book that causes me to do something is one that goes on my favorites list!

The last item for this month is not a specific eBook. It is a reminder that many public libraries offer eBooks via their web presence that can be checked out for 2 or 3 weeks. Check to see what yours offers. Many libraries use the Overdrive service to drive their selections;  search the Overdrive list of participating libraries to see if your library is on the list. I’ve read over 100 books on my Kindle from my local library. Right now I am working my way through the mysteries written by Nevada Barr!

Matriarch Inflection Points

Today’s post is about inflection points of life. I got the idea of inflection points from a book by Andrew Grove - Only the Paranoid Survive  - that I read years ago. Or course, his book was about strategic inflection points for business and ways to anticipate those inflection points. He defined a strategic inflection point as ‘a time in the life of a business when its fundamentals are about to change.’ The inflection point is much easier to see looking backward. The idea stuck in my mind.  I like the notion of recognizing that some changes in life are more than a milestone - they are an inflection point because your life is forever changed afterwards.

Thinking about inflection points of my life - there are some that are pretty common life changing points: marriage and having child (many years later). Others I forced because of a decision I made - switching to an entirely different area of study for graduate school, moving half-way across the country from my family to pursue my career, and deciding to leave my primary career in my late 50s rather than waiting until my mid-60s. Those inflection points are ones I see looking back. They are slightly skewed toward the earlier decades of my life: 2 happened in my 20s, 2 in my 30s, and 1 in my 50s. It’s interesting that I don’t see inflection points inside my career; the 40 years was a gradual path that included increased technical savvy and responsibility that didn’t have any sharp turns of an inflection point.

Now I am anticipating inflection points over the next 30 years. What might they be: the first arrival of the next generation (either grandchild or grandniece/nephew), moving to be close to family and living in a smaller space, not driving? Of course - there could be ones that involve injury, disease, and other loss. Those things are worth some contingency planning….but not too much focus.

 I’m too busy enjoying the present and anticipating the inflection points that I choose for my life.

Matriarch - Changes in the Last 100 Years

There are many more matriarch women alive and healthy today than there were 100 years ago. How are we different from those matriarchs of 1913? 

• Many more of us have worked outside the home and farm for most of our adult lives….careers that were separate from family life although we were challenged to ‘balance’ work and life. In 1913, the dominate roles that women played were home based.
• When our children were young we often paid for child care or carefully planned our work for when they were in school rather than always being close to home. We may be more likely to provide day care for our grandchild than we did for our children. That may be something we have in common with the women in 1913 that survived until their matriarch years - that desire for a deep involvement with our grandchildren.
• Now we have our own money and property. In 1913, there were legal barriers to both. Women were dependent on their male relatives for just about everything. We have our own credit history and retirement plans now with both the responsibility and independence that comes with them.
• Women could not vote in 1913 in the US. Now the cohort of women matriarchs is vocal in many issues of the day. As women come to the phase of their lives where the frenzy children at home and career stress wanes, current issues get increased focus. Matriarchs vote at polling places and with purchases/contributions.
• Matriarchs are mobile now. Technology and legal/financial changes have made it easier for us to stay in touch with our family even if they are not living nearby. However, many of us would prefer living near our family just as the matriarchs of 1913 preferred.
• We spend less time with food than the matriarchs in 1913 did. We purchase most of our food rather than grow it. Technology development has given us refrigerators and microwaves. And we are much less formal at meal times. There is a common goal with the women in 1913 though: we want to eat good, well prepared food that helps us stay healthy.
• Another area where a lot has changed since 1913 is in reproductive health. One of the reasons there are so many more matriarchs today is the improvements in pre-natal and child birth care….and the advent of birth control. Women no longer have children until they die. We do have new worries for our sons and daughters about hormone mimicking pollutants impacts reproduction - which may guide us to look harder at how the way we live impacts the planet. 

A lot has changed for matriarchs in the past 100 years but a lot has stayed the same as well. We are women that have lived long enough to have a personal, well-developed philosophy of life. I apply mine by noticing something worth celebrating every day.

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 2, 2013

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Masterful Textured Oil Paintings of Ships at Sea - from Polish Artist Justyna Kopania

Health and Environment: A Closer Look at Plastics - trying to balance risks and rewards

The Whirlpool Galaxy

Morning Glory Muffins - nutrition rich - to start the day

Population Density in the US from 1790-2000 - from Stanford University’s Spatial History Project.

Simon Beck Snow Art - this post is almost a year old…but I only found it recently

Test for Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals Gets Global Seal of Approval - both the international Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development and the US Government ….good that they are agreed on how to test for the chemicals

Silhouettes and Moonrise in Real Time - video of a moon rise from a New Zealand mountain top

Archaic Native Americans Built Massive Louisiana Mound in Less Than 90 Days - At Poverty Point…the largest mound was built between rains; the hunter gatherers must have been a lot more organized - and in larger numbers - that previously thought

Romantic Textured Paintings of Couples Walking Together - just in time for Valentine’s Day

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 26, 2013

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

How Much Unsubsidized Solar Power is Possible? - interactive map showing increase incost competitiveness of solar power in the US

World's Largest Natural Sound Library Now Available On-line ... And It's Free - the Macaulay Library archive…a 12 year project to digitize the entire collection has been completeed!

Woodpecker inspires cardboard bike helmet - it absorbs 3 times as much force as polystyrene helmets and is 15% lighter

Hello Robots, Goodbye Fry Cooks - what about the impact of the robotics revolution on human employment/

Vouching again Creationism - a rant about the relationship between school vouchers and the teaching of creationism...how religious teaching is becoming publically funded

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #34 - The last one surprised me….the Indian Robin does not have a red breast like our North American robins

Exploring The Parks: Grand Canyon National Park, A Winter Wonderland - Some year I’ll get to the Grand Canyon in the winter

To Surf a Hundred Million Stars - intro to a zoomable photo of the Milky Way center….spend some time zooming the image (and the others available from the GigaGalaxy Zoom project also linked from this article).

Interior Department Nominates Poverty Point National Monument For World Heritage Site Designation - specifics about Poverty Point but also general information about the World Heritage Site designation

Museum Collections (National Park Service) - the site has been revamped. Take a browse through the collection highlights (click on one that looks interesting and a whole series of items from that same location will appear0. Or use the pull down to select your favorite park!

The rise and fall of artificial gravity - Why has no one built a space station with artificial gravity?

Opinion: The Successes of Women in STEM - there are still roadblocks. Karen Purcell articulates some of them.

3 Free eBooks - January 2013

The Internet has a growing number of online books….and many of them are free. This is the monthly post highlighting 3 that I have enjoyed most this past month.

Shin-bijutsukai (2 volumes from early 1900s). Kyoto: Yamada Geikido. Available here. Art from Japan of the early 1900s. The red leaves at the left is a portion of one of my favorite images from the books.

White, John and Michael Dennin. Science Appreciation: Introduction to Science Literacy. ComPADRE. 2010 Available here. This is the text for Coursera’s Science from Superheroes to Global Warming offering. Even if you already consider yourself ‘science literate’ it is worth perusing for an update on how the issue of illiteracy in this particular topic area is being approached in our colleges.

Leonard, Anna B. and Adelaide Alsop Robineau. Keramic Studio periodical (volumes 2, 10, 13, 16 and 20 from 1900 to 1919). Syracuse, NY: Keramic Studio Publishing Co. Available here. Keramic Studio was pioneering periodical for ceramic artists and potters in the early 1900s. It was full of wonderful images that were emerging in that heady time when so much was changing just before World War I and immediately thereafter. The variety of work depicted - from drawings to finished works - is quite broad. Some of my favorites are the images of peacock feathers in volume 10 show in the clips to the right.

The previous eBook posts can be found here.

The Sun Coming Down from the Trees

Years ago - on an annual fall foliage camping trip - we got up at dawn because it was too cold to stay in the tents any longer. As we built the fire to cook breakfast - someone noticed the sunlight in the tops of the trees. It looked so warm compared to where we were at the forest floor - still in deep shade. And the description of what was happening became “the sun coming down from the trees.” We all watched as the light made its way down the trees and anticipating the day warming up.

I caught the same time of morning behind my house this week. The tree tops were glowing with the reflected light of dawn - much more colorful that the washed out light later in the morning that reached all the way to the forest floor.

On that cold morning almost 40 years ago - we bundled up, had a hot breakfast and took a hike. We still have some of the prints of sumac seed pods from that morning!

The Joy of Free Courses

Years after college, I am still in the mood to start classes in September and January. The rhythm of the school year is evidently one that will last all my life.

It is easier now than ever before to study at your own pace and without traveling to a university. Courses are offered using all kinds media - videos, forums, simulations, readings. And many are free. In some cases, formal credit for the course is offered upon completion.

Coursera is my favorite for free online courses with 212 courses that are freely available. I have enrolled in 3 courses that will start up this month; it’s such a thrill to have a richness of topics from which to choose. I found it challenging to choose just three! I’m signed up for:

The Modern World: Global History since 1760

Science from Superheroes to Global Warming

Critical Thinking in Global Challenges

I’ve already selected another that will start in February (Aboriginal Worldviews and Education) and one in April (Nutrition, Health, and Lifestyles: Issues and Insights).

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 12, 2013

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Mexican Hot Chocolate - yum. My variation of this uses hot tea to replace half the milk and stevia instead of the agave. I make it by the (large) cup…and haven’t quite got up the courage to add the cayenne.

Beautiful and Dramatic Thunderhead Clouds - my favorite is the Jason Clark one with the orange of sunset…lightning…and barbed wire in the foreground

12 tips to clean up, de-clutter and revamp your home - from Marlo Thomas. I’m going to try the grapefruit and salt idea for cleaning my bathtub and shower

Interlocking Origami Stars and Prisms by Byriah Loper

Moving through waters of human attention - Apollo Robbins…pickpocket and illusionist

Modern Parenting May Hinder Brain Development - new is not always better

Top Four Reasons Why Diets Fail - Inadequate sleep is one of the 4!

A Very, Very, Very Delicate Balance - rocks balanced by Michael Grab (watch the video)

Slices of Life, circa 1872 - some of the work referred to in the article that was published by Christian Wilhelm Braune in the 1870s is available on the Internet Archive here

Medallion Snowflakes - you don’t have to be a child to enjoy this little project

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 5, 2013

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Frosty Morning Walk - photographs from the Prairie Ecologist

Your Amazing, Aging Brain - from Lynne Spreen

2012: The year’s science and tech news in one graphic - from the BBC. How many of these did you spot during the year?

Rita Levi-Montalcini has left the building - the Nobel-Prize winning neurologist died recently at 103

Stunning Satellite Photos of Earth From Outer Space - my favorite is the one of Painted Desert, Arizona

12 Awe-Inspiring Photos of Lightning - the very first one (of the Eiffel Tower) was the one that caught my attention…but all of them are spectacular

Should Jerry Brown Just Ignore His Cancer? - too much medicine?

Tomorrow’s world: A guide to the next 150 years - from the BBC

Gorgeous Otherworldly Photos of Colorful Forests

Antarctica’s Adorable Emperor Penguins - my favorite is the one with the larger chick with a wing/flipper around the small chick next to it

Can You Spot These Camouflaged Animals? - maximize the window before you start to look. Some of these are really tough.