hmatt's blog

Learning is my top strength, and since it is such a part of me I wonder why people WOULDN’T want to learn stuff.

I want to learn the best practices, learn the best way of doing things, and the best ways I can improve myself.

In this last week of 2010, I’ve decided that the past ways I learned weren’t as productive as possible. The cheapest way to learn is by reading a book. However, this is only isolated learning. Rarely do people share the enthusiasm I do when telling people what I’ve discovered- unless they were there to uncover it for themselves.

What I’m getting at here is that it is time for me to start taking classes. Yes, I COULD learn things by myself, but then I become a hermit. I try to re-convey the lesson to others- which is fun too, but I don’t get to experience the questions that others have that maybe I didn’t think up. Sometimes too I get so beligerent in my way of thinking that I don’t realize I’ve been pushing around falsely interpreted information. *shudders* If you know me, you’ve probably seen me be completely confident in made up facts. Most of the time I’m right, but it is rare that people call me out. This is because most people hate to do research themselves. My Dad was one of those, ‘I don’t know, look it up’ types- especially when it came to spelling of words.

I however, could research all the time if I wanted to- but I’m a bigger fan of experience and application of knowledge. That is where the real handiness of lessons are learned.

At church yesterday Hank suggested we make 2011 the ‘year of’ something.

For me, 2011 is the year of Focus. Or rather, the year TO focus.

I’ve tried accomplishing so many things myself that I get burnt out or have a trove of half-done projects that are still on my to do list.

I’ve thinned out my 700+ to do list to around 500 now. I still have some trimming to do. There’s no WAY I’d be able to get all those things done in the coming year. Some things I have to postpone indefinitely, some I can assign to a specific month.

I’ve been trying something new thought that I’m quite proud of- that is doing some thinning and re-arranging of the to do list, then doing on every so often. That way, after a day of thinking I have something to show for it instead of a plethra of text files of my thoughts.

[Note: ‘plethora’ is that fancy word meaning “An excess of” whereas ‘plethra’ means “A long measure of 100 Greek, or 101 English, feet; or a square measure of 10,000 Greek feet”. Sometimes I’ll use the later as an inside joke to myself. Then I feel like I’m being a clever exaggerator referring to stacking up a lot of something to equal that of 100 Greek feet. As you could guess, no one ever gets this.]

So anyway, I was looking at some video footage that I need to edit and found that constant problem of the video light flickering on my T2i when I zoom. I searched around and lo and behold– all I needed to do was disconnect the lens sensor. That’s it!

Amazing. Learning stuff is so awesome.

This morning my roommates and I went to IHOP for Christmas breakfast. When I was ordering my eggs we had a discussion on all the ways eggs could be made. I can only cook omelettes, scrambled or hole-in-the middle with bread.

Since I’m crafting my 2011 to do list, I thought it would be fun to learn how to cook various types of eggs. However, since there are at least over a 100 ways I’ll start with just 10.

1. Poached
2. Tuna Deviled Eggs
3. Sunny-side up
4. Fried Egg
5. Shirred Eggs with parsley p. 38 of The 1910 Hotel St. Francis Cookbook
6. Eggs Brésilienne p. 42
7. Shirred Eggs with Bananas p. 149
8. Eggs, Fedora p. 155
9. Eggs Suzette p. 221 (it has potatoes too)
10. Eggs, Conté p. 302

That book by the way is amazing. There is a meal-plan for a complete year! I can eat like it’s 1910!

I put “buy a teapot” on my to do list, but I’m super picky.

Target and everybody else sells them, but they are all super tacky IMHO. When I buy one, it will be one of three things:

1) Classic Teapot. Okay, think of a teapot. That’s the one I want to get. The one you see in cartoons, or on robot heads.

2) Retro-futurisic. 1930s designs? Yes. Robot inspired? Yes.
http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/wagner-ware-magnalite-1930s-art-deco-tea-kettle-4133
http://www.flickr.com/photos/citywalker/2286947946/in/photostream/
http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinox-TEA040-Liter-Teapot-Infuser/dp/B0014ABT3W/ref=sr_1_370?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1293130233&sr=1-370
or the steam-punk http://www.amazon.com/Alessi-9091-FM-Sapper-Kettle/dp/B001KPPXYM/ref=sr_1_178?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1293129428&sr=1-178

3) Super Cheap. Like $10. Something for now until I can get an awesome one.

I’d also prefer it to whistle, which unfortunately some cool looking ones don’t really do.
http://www.amazon.com/Old-Mountain-10129-Pre-Seasoned-2-Quart/dp/B001AT5CF8/ref=sr_1_30?ie=UTF8&qid=1293128999&sr=8-30

I was thinking thrift store, but tea stains always look so terrible. Plus I couldn’t stand having a coffee stained version. Yuck.

Also on my ‘to buy’ list is a tea set. Not that I’m going to have tea with Randy the Reindeer and Buttons the Bunny- I want it for tea and crumpets with friends. When the weather allows, also playing croquet.

I just read an article in Newsweek written by Michelle Rhee. If you’ve seen Waiting for Superman, you might remember this one-time D.C. school reformer.

She made some good points about how there’s no union for the kids, only for the teachers (pay and job security).

I’ve been trying to figure out a way to help. The school issue is so big, and I know I can’t solve it all myself, but I can’t just sit back.

I wonder if there is a way to teach kids to teach themselves. I mean, kids by nature want to learn, but often all those other things in the classroom get in the way.

Reading Rainbow was cancelled because PBS wanted to focus on other academic aspects. Whereas RR focused on why you should read. I remember watching episodes in our elementary library and wanting to check out the book.

I want to be able to affect kids lives that way. The Internet has so many wonderful things about it, but often I see these kids playing silly games or watching YouTube videos that don’t inspire them to do anything productive.

I’m busy creating a gameplan for my kids show meeting next Friday. There are so many issues to tackle, and I can’t do it alone. I hope that I am able to inspire others to help improve the education of kids today.

Ready. 2011 will be a great year.

I just woke up from a nap dream and it goes like this:

I was with a bunch of friends at some sort of hotel or vacation like space. We snuck over to a different area and there wasn’t anyone using this space so we looked around. What we found was magical! The rooms were like giant hamster rooms where people could be alone or congregate with ease. One could mistake their pristine new looks for that of a 60s space-age living quarters. In one sense they were like a college dorm, a place for people to study. In another sense there were rooms for watching movies on the ceiling.

I remember thinking that I wish I was a designer so I could make these rooms a reality.

When I woke up I realized that I, in effect, *had* created the rooms. Then I looked at the darkness of my room and thought- how can I make this, my space, a fun and enjoyable one. I’m not much of an interior designer, but I can still identify what I like and what would be fun.

This past week was a new experience at a wonderful home. A home like the one David, Michelle and I stumbled upon. I want a fun living space like that. I want to live with my friends and have an awesome time.

What is stopping me? Well, I don’t have the ideal place yet.. but apparently it is a very LA thing to do (to look at houses). I can explore and have a blast redesigning things..

I’ve been busy redesigning my life.
*
I have these pants that I really like, because they are all stylish and way comfortable. They have been washed so many times though, that the pockets are fraying. Michelle told me that I could probably take the pants to a seamstress and have them recreate them for me. Shock!

I guess that is all it takes to get things done, just take the designs to the people who can carry them out. There is a car part factory I saw on television once. They specialize in creating parts that aren’t made anymore. They even have this machine that they can enter in any computerized part and it will carve it out of metal! How awesome is that!

I’m such a fan of old-time retro-futuristic designs, but unfortunately no one makes anything like that anymore. I don’t know why. I think the 60s space age idea was pretty cool. It *can* be done, it just takes perseverance; perseverance and a way of connecting the dots and resources to get things to the right people.

Above all, it takes money. People who are good at that likely charge a lot, but you know what? I can find people who are good at these things and learn from them. Resourcefulness can be learned, and the rewards are 100-fold.

Now to brainstorm…

I realized today that very few people want to hear funny stories about things that babies do. I mean, people will listen out of respect, but most people don’t really get it.

I should look into joining some sort of nanny support group. Then we can all share funny stories about the kids we work with, and help each other with nanny type of issues. Like today, I’ve been quite cautious with the child I work with, but I know it is important to let kids explore with acceptable risks. That fine line can be tricky to discuss with the parents. Especially in a case like mine. I’ve noticed that I risk offending a parent because of my training in early childhood education. Some people are intimidated by that. I remember my mom asking me questions and my grandmother trying to get ideas from me. Now, THAT is weird since I was raised by them! It is difficult because I feel I have to downplay my knowledge to ease situations, and balance that with offering suggestions etc. It’s not like I have all those motor-skill charts memorized in my head! It’s very difficult to explain..

Ugh, here I am.. trying to go into vagueness and detail at the same time. Generalities and specifics. This is why I need a support group. = /

Anyway, I’m very excited about my job and the family I work for is absolutely wonderful! The little boy I watch is a hoot and he’s quickly warming up to me.

Sometime next week I plan to take him to a YMCA class so he can interact with other children and new surroundings. I’m VERY excited to see how that all plays out. It is all such an adventure!

Tomorrow I’m going in the evening to see his night schedule. Pretty soon everything will be ingrained, but right now I’m trying my best to soak in all the information about him as I can.