A Sliver of Brain Matter

So, for the first time in...I don't know how long, we're entertaining! Yup, people are actually coming over to our place to enjoy our company (and a healthy dose of Monty Python's "Holy Grail"). Two of our guests are vegan, so I'm going to attempt to make an egg-free batter for veggies tempura. I wish I could think of a vegan type sauce to go with that. We're also going to make some baked parmesan-chicken fingers with marinara sauce. Judy suggested that, and I don't know how to make it , but it sounds yummy! It can't be that tough if it's just chicken, parm cheese, and some batter for the coating. In other news... Jason named me as the assistant director of Texas Independent. Judy is business manager, and Cherie is the travel coordinator/something else I can't remember. I know we're going to be doing a lot of work, but hopefully we get it as close to correct as possible so that we get TXI off the ground and running!! We just hav...

A few days ago I posted a blog about the "waning of IQ". It's pretty interesting to me, as a former teacher, to see a discussion about IQ and how it's not actual intelligence that's waning, but the tests that supposedly measure intelligence. I'm not a big believer in tests as measurements of ability. We're tested daily to show our knowledge about topics taught in schools-- math, reading, social interaction, geography (reading a map), culture, and so on--some of us know things, some of us don't. Does that mean people are lacking in intelligence? Probably not. I won't go into detail about the supposed socio-economic bias exhibited by many so-called "Intelligence Tests"... Anyway, I've always done fairly well on tests- especially multiple choice tests and essays--so I'm not against them for the reason others might be (that they don't do well, or are stressed out by them). I just feel that tests specifically used to measure...

The Waning of I.Q. DAVID BROOKS Published: September 14, 2007 in the New York Times A nice phenomenon of the past few years is the diminishing influence of I.Q. Skip to next paragraph David Brooks. The Way We Live Now For a time, I.Q. was the most reliable method we had to capture mental aptitude. People had the impression that we are born with these information-processing engines in our heads and that smart people have more horsepower than dumb people. And in fact, there’s something to that. There is such a thing as general intelligence; people who are good at one mental skill tend to be good at others. This intelligence is partly hereditary. A meta-analysis by Bernie Devlin of the University of Pittsburgh found that genes account for about 48 percent of the differences in I.Q. scores. There’s even evidence that people with bigger brains tend to have higher intelligence. But there has always been something opaque about I.Q....

So, this was the first weekend w/out drum corps in ...months. I did a whole lot of nothing! It was nice and relaxing, but I need something to do, so I registered for a class on grant writing. Saturday was the first class, and it was just a basic overview of what a grant is and what not to focus on when writing a grant. I learned a lot. I need to take the whole class (either part II of the class or a full semester). Taking the class also made me think about going back to school for an MBA-- non-profit organization management. It could be interesting, and a side of business that i've thought of before. Anyway. What else? Watched the last 4 episodes of ROME. Man, that was a good show. I'm sorry to see it gone :( Now I'm worried about Scrubs-- will it be back? !!?? I hope so! On Friday I was asked to cut my hours down to 37.5 Still full time (so I still get benefits), but less time to get things done. Not a big deal for me right now since our next project is still bein...

So, the drum corps season is over, and now marching band season is underway. I like the kids at the school I'm teaching. They are novice/regional A level, but have potential to be at the top of the class if I ever get time to work with them on movement and weapon basics. They can spin flags pretty well, and some of them are already working on performing the show. We've been doing a lot of learning of drill lately. The 3rd # is taking a while because it's 24 sets. So far the kids have learned 12 of those sets, so we're 1/2-way there!!! Unfortunately (in my opinion) they spent time teaching a throw-away show that will only be performed four times. I guess they used it to help learn marching basics, but it took time away from learning the competition show. The parents seemed to enjoy it though, and that's always a good thing because it gets their support. I'm thoroughly and utterly confused by UIL rules. UIL is the "governing body" of TX extra-...