Random Thoughts Anew

[mahagonny]

'A person convinced against his will will be of the same opinion still' - Dale Carnegie
Or not convinced and just plain pissed off. Better to listen to old Dale.

[Economizer]

I'm thinking that the Republican Party leadership, and possibly the Democrats as well, are stalling a bit until our country gets a more favorable combination of less Covid 19 and more money. Both groups should be reluctant to "put all their eggs in one basket" prematurely.

[mamselle]

I've spent most of the day in the 17th. century.

I was just coming up for air.

Think I'll go back.

M.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I've spent most of the day in the 17th. century.

I was just coming up for air.

Think I'll go back.

M.

Is it better there? This world confuses me.

[mamselle]

I've spent most of the day in the 17th. century.

I was just coming up for air.

Think I'll go back.

M.

Is it better there? This world confuses me.

It's...different.

Not uncomplicated, but there's a bit more parallax, and it feels like a few more good intentions were in the mix.

Maybe because I like the work I'm doing there, it's also satisfying in other ways.

So....not better, still with the potential for confusion, but....different.

M.

[ab_grp]

I'm glad you have another "place" to go to, Mamselle!

Has anyone else used laptops for so long that they have forgotten desktops don't come with their own batteries, so if the power goes out... that's that? Just me? Hasn't happened yet, but it just occurred to me.  I haven't used a desktop in probably 9 or 10 years.   Maybe they do come with their own batteries now.

[mamselle]

My first (and only, ever) desktop has two 5" ports for floppy disks.

I doubt if it had batteries....it hasn't run for quite awhile now, though, so I won't be testing it, either.

;--}

My observation for the day: one of my adult students is the mom of one of my middle-school students--and I'm both amazed at the careful work she is doing musically on her own pieces, and how much she negotiates in dealing with all that's happening for her kids right now.

Both are mildly (older son, my student) to more severely (a younger, 7-year-old kid who still sees himself as a yellow pyjama-clad penguin most days) ADHD-affected kids with difficult issues to navigate day and night.

Added to that is the fact that their dad, her former spouse, is himself ADHD, refused to see about it once it was diagnosed in adulthood, and has made seriously impaired choices since.

She finally had to divorce him, things were getting so difficult (basically she had three ADHD kids to deal with and one (i.e., the father) was supposed to be helping with the other two, but was instead making things worse by denying their needs, not cooperating in school requirements, etc.).

Within six months he turned around and married a woman with two children, also seriously affected by both ADHD and depression, whose father had literally "checked out" (hasn't even tried to see them in the six months since the new wife remarried) and lives with his folks. They had the image of a big, happy, blended "Brady-bunch" family with no clues as to how to make that work, or that it might take very careful work to even make it work at all.

The older (12-y.o.) stepdaughter has been on the psych ward twice in the past year, and is there now, so my student, and his brother, and his mom (who has a demanding job--think, the current director of online ed at an R1--and needs the respite care that their dad's cooperative custody arrangements might otherwise provide  with their own two kids) are having to go stay with their grandparents at a vacation cottage not far away just so she can get help with childcare, keep her work moving forward, and have a good experience for her two kids since they won't be staying at their dad's as expected this week after all.

All that happened at midnight Sunday night.

She still kept her lesson, played very well, has a cheerful outlook on the kids, the cats, the birds in the window, and the need to pack them all up and head out in a couple hours for the week.

I'm just so impressed with how she finds resources within herself not to lay blame, to play two pieces well and with feeling, and to get everyone organized and keep her school's demanding program up and running all the time as well. Her older kid, whom I know best, has taken her for a model in many ways, being deeply aware of his own limits, speaking truth about them and taking responsibility for the work-arounds needed, etc.

In the face of so many people behaving so immaturely, I find it both encouraging, and a little daunting, to be face-to-face with such courage and good will.

I just admire them so, and there's no-one else I can tell about it.

Grateful to just have a window into their ways of living and being--and hoping to learn from it.

M.

[Cheerful]

She still kept her lesson, played very well, has a cheerful outlook on the kids, the cats, the birds in the window, and the need to pack them all up and head out in a couple hours for the week.

I'm just so impressed with how she finds resources within herself not to lay blame, to play two pieces well and with feeling, and to get everyone organized and keep her school's demanding program up and running all the time as well. Her older kid, whom I know best, has taken her for a model in many ways, being deeply aware of his own limits, speaking truth about them and taking responsibility for the work-arounds needed, etc.

In the face of so many people behaving so immaturely, I find it both encouraging, and a little daunting, to be face-to-face with such courage and good will.

What challenges this adult student/mom faces, and with such determination and courage, Mamselle.  Sounds like you are providing some much-needed distraction and joy to this family.

[downer]

I think we have a 1% issue on The Fora.

What proportion of posts are done by the 1% of most frequent posters? I'd guess 50%.

[mahagonny]

I think we have a 1% issue on The Fora.

What proportion of posts are done by the 1% of most frequent posters? I'd guess 50%.

Use your 'ignore user' option.

[mamselle]

^Unrelated.

Your ranting email a day before the meeting (which will explain most of the things you're ranting about) only means I had to take what little writing time I had today to formulate an oil-on-the-waters response that will let the meeting tomorrow move forward peaceably and productively, rather than being splintered by all the anxious impossibilities you want to raise.

No, we can't meet on-site in October. Or November. Or even December.

We're looking at February, with delays in several group events, because that's just the wisest course right now.

This just adds to the reasons your recent resignation from that important committee was received with sighs of relief all-round.

You're an amplifier, not a manager.

Everyone else has to exert extra energy stopping the churn you generate so the group can get on with its mission.

Just stop it. Your grandstanding is not helping.

/my rant-in-response over.

M. 

[alto_stratus]

'Freecycle mods, please approve my posts so I can have more space.' :D

[mamselle]

^Unrelated.

Your ranting email a day before the meeting (which will explain most of the things you're ranting about) only means I had to take what little writing time I had today to formulate an oil-on-the-waters response that will let the meeting tomorrow move forward peaceably and productively, rather than being splintered by all the anxious impossibilities you want to raise.

No, we can't meet on-site in October. Or November. Or even December.

We're looking at February, with delays in several group events, because that's just the wisest course right now.

This just adds to the reasons your recent resignation from that important committee was received with sighs of relief all-round.

You're an amplifier, not a manager.

Everyone else has to exert extra energy stopping the churn you generate so the group can get on with its mission.

Just stop it. Your grandstanding is not helping.

/my rant-in-response over.

M.

Apologies, this should perhaps have gone on the "Wish I could say..." thread.

And thanks, Cheerful, for your kind words above.

M.

[alto_stratus]

Eek! Dark clouds, rumbles, flashes.

[fast_and_bulbous]

Eek! Dark clouds, rumbles, flashes.

alto_stratus, meet cumulonimbus