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DSAcademy

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Everything posted by DSAcademy

  1. I finished At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails by Sarah Bakewell. It was a great read. Bakewell has a jaunty, conspiratorial writing style, that draws you into her world and initiates you into the gang. It was a wonderful place to be. I took notes, asked questions, debated with myself, and then ran out and bought Jean-Paul Sartre - Being and Nothingness, and put Martin Heidegger's Being and Time on hold at the library. Can't wait to get started.
  2. I slogged, and I mean slogged through The Origins of Political Order by Francis Fukuyama. It wasn't his fault, really. The information was interesting, his examples are numerous, his theories about the evolution of political order were engaging. But I just couldn't get into it. I love big, fat non-fiction books. I especially love big, fat non-fiction books about politics, history, the history of politics, and the politics of history. So I am just going to chalk this one up to winter blues, and hope the suns shines more brightly on, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. I took his Coursera class last year, and it was fantastic.
  3. SPQR – A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard It was a fun read. Beard has a conversational style of writing, and a witty sense of humour. I enjoyed her insights on the connections between culture and power in ancient Rome. It was interesting to learn how Roman citizenship was considered a “gift,†how open to outsiders Rome was, and how fundamentally radical the Roman idea of being a citizen of two places (Rome plus your city) was. I was also stunned to discover that spoils from war, stayed with the house of the victor, and did not go with him, if he moved. Apparently, ancient Roman real estate had few "exclusions," as it was supposed to promote the public image and reputation of Rome.
  4. I finished The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan It was an interesting read. Franopan’s interpretation of the Merchant of Venice as a metaphor for the Silk Road, was intriguing. As were his insights about how both World Wars were heavily shaped by the dueling parties desire to control the vital wheat and oil resources of the Road. Lastly, the book left me feeling like a bemused spectator of Groundhog Day: Silk Roads edition. Where a cacophony of warring, changling, super powers greedily continue to cycle through first spices and silks; then slaves and silver; and now oil and arms, seemingly blind to the adage, “All that glisters, is not goldâ€.
  5. Please tell me that I am not the only one who read this thread title, and thought it referenced eating some of the stocking stuffers, due to stress.
  6. She may knowingly or unknowingly suffer from Social Anxiety and/or an Avoidant Personality Disorder, in which case social situations and people in general, can be terrifying. No matter the cause, I think she would find it reassuring to know that you accept her on her terms and are open to whatever kind of interaction she is capable of. Subtextual warmth and acceptance can often transcend overt social gestures. And babies are great ice breakers!
  7. I have wicked dental anxiety. I take 1mg of Ativan an hour beforehand. It really helps. My doctor says I can take another one if needed, but that has never happened.
  8. So jealous...he's adorable. I voted to name him Harley. I thought it suited you story: we Harley knew where he came from, the cats were Harley disturbed by his sitting at the window, the kids could Harley wait to bring him in, he Harley makes a peep in the bathroom, we can Harley think about a day without him. I think Harley has found his fivecathome. But seriously, I think what you are doing for him is amazing. And I'm sure he does too.
  9. I just finished Moonwalking with Einstein:The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer and quite enjoyed it. Not being a visual thinker, I found the various memory techniques explored fascinating, especially the memory palace. I also read Mansfield Park. This week Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond and Persuasion will accompany me on vacation.
  10. INTJ Married to an ESFP Parent of an ESFJ and an ENFP
  11. According to the Canadian Dyslexic Center, over 50% of NASA employees are dyslexic. They are deliberately sought after because they have superb problem-solving skills and excellent 3D and spatial awareness, which I guess more than makes up for their dyslexic spelling. Dyslexia is a specific language-based disorder characterized by difficulties in single word decoding, usually reflecting insufficient phonological processing. These difficulties are often unexpected in relation to age and other cognitive and academic abilities; they are not the result of generalized developmental disability or laziness. Dyslexia is manifested by variable difficulty with different forms of language, often including, in addition to problems reading, a conspicuous problem with acquiring proficiency in writing and spelling. William Butler Yeats, winner of the Noble Prize for Poetry in 1923, was a notoriously poor speller, whose spelling mimics those examples previous. He was dyslexic and his dyslexia meant he often gave multiple and incorrect spellings of the same word within a single paragraph. The following sentence is from the letters of W.B. Yeats as excerpted from Thomas West in his book, In the Mind’s Eye: Visual Thinkers, Gifted People with Learning Difficulties, Computer Image, and the Ironies of Creativity; ‘The subtile and gorgeous originality of these vigerus Keltic letters shows such schlorship as to leave the reader fealing decideldy exausted’. So please take a moment to walk in the shoes of a dyslexic, for whom spelling can be a veritable Mount Everest, before the red pens and lines of spell checking erase the forest for the trees. Or as my son might write, "I knwo that Dislexicks can hav some crazee speling misteaks, but I think that waht we have to say is worth the treble it takes to rede it, becuasue dyslecixs arhh pretty gifted peepul two." PS - My son is now envisioning starting his own spelling snob - dyslexic speller match making educational service. He's currently working on a tag line...spelling snobs needed immediately. ;)
  12. I'm reading The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt while awaiting its Booker fate.
  13. I just finished reading The Informant, by Kurt Eichenwald. This book reads like a factual, riotous, 90's, price fixing, version of The Bonfire of the Vanities. Which means that the book was :lol:, while I fear the upcoming movie will be :glare:. This week I've started The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow. Despite my belief that perfection achieving, interventionist control freaks rule the world because the others are simply incapable of handling such matters properly, the book is highly enlightening.
  14. Math - Jacobs' Algebra and Life of Fred Algebra Science - finishing Apologia Physical Science then starting Apologia Biology History/Geog - TOG English Vocab - Wordly Wise 3000 Book 9 and Vocab From Classical Roots Book C Grammar - Winston Grammar Writing - Writing Strands 5 Literature - LLATL Gold Book - British Literature Shakespeare - 4 plays French - French In Action Logic - Thinking Toolbox Rhetoric - Classical Rhetoric with Aristotle Art - Artistic Pursuits - Senior High books 1 & 2, classes at AGO/OCAD and local art school Music - guitar lessons, composer study aligned with TOG PE - volleyball at local high school and skating with co-op Sibling Study - they are writing and illustrating a series of short stories
  15. Me- INTJ Early Career Aspirations - Wizard Later Career Aspirations - Writer or Lawyer Degrees/Education - Commerce, Education, Political Science/Public Policy Career - Professional student, Curriculum Writer Volunteer Work - Tutor for underprivileged kids Pre-Mid Life Crisis Dream - Think Tank Strategist and Policy Writer DH - ESFP Early Career Aspirations - NHL Player Later Career Aspirations - IT Degrees/Education - IT, Engineering Career - IT, Entrepreneur - Computer Consulting Volunteer Work - Hockey Coach Mid Life Crisis Dream - Have his own hockey school DD(12) - ENFP Early Career Aspirations - Mermaid Current Aspirations - Artist, Screen Writer or Marine Biologist Favourite School Subjects - history, art, french, science, literature Will Most Likely Be - Artist, mother and teacher DS (11)- ESTJ Early Career Aspirations - Sky Hawk and Sergeant Current Aspirations - Food Critic or Dictator Favourtie School Subjects - PE, history, science, literature, logic Will Most Likely Be - Entrepreneur with a wife who cooks very, very well
  16. I'm reading Descartes Bones: A Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Reason by Russell Shorto. I also have Crunchy Cons: How Birkenstock Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range farmers, hip homeschooling mamas, right-wing nature lovers, and their diverse tribe of countercultural conservatives plan to save America (or at least the Republican Party) by Rod Dreher on my nightstand because the title made me :lol:.
  17. This week I read The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart by Bill Bishop, a look at the cultural and political dynamics of lifestyle segregation. It was a fascinating read that left me wanting to add some rainbow colours to the kids' election maps...or at least some burnt orange, magenta, cyan and indigo. I am currently reading Nixonland:The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America by Rick Perlstein, which is so wickedly engaging that it's crying out for multi-coloured highlighting and margin notes. I have therefore added it to my Christmas list...a little present for me, and a big present for the library. ;)
  18. The plan was 100 pages a day for 15 days, so that I would finish it by my birthday. I figured this would work out to about 3 hours of nightly reading, curled up in front of the fireplace. However, I apparently miscalculated the density of the book, because the reality was 3-5 hours of nightly reading. So starting at 9pm and ending between midnight and 2am, I developed a new appreciation for caffeine, the invention of socks and Proust. I also learned that when I schedule something in pen, it gets done...no matter what. It seems that Tolstoy is not nearly as intimidating, as a day book with an un-checked "To Do" item. :glare:
  19. My list so far: 1. The Writing of Fiction - Edith Wharton 2. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte 3. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 4. The Hours - Micheal Cunningham 5. The Enchantress of Florence - Salman Rushdie 6. Gorgias - Plato 7. War and Peace - Tolstoy (2 weeks) 8. All The President's Men - Woodward and Bernstein Still on my nightstand: Einstein: His Life and Universe - Walter Isaacson
  20. I knew that some of us lived outside of our heads.
  21. I finished Plato's Gorgias and am 1/3rd of the way through War and Peace.
  22. I'm reading The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie and finding it quite enchanting.
  23. We call ds Ilmma - it's an acronym for something I want to put on his hockey jersey...but he won't let me!
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