Rest in Peace, Paul Newman

Paul Newman passed away from cancer on Friday at age 83. He was at home - his farmhouse - with loved ones. The way to go...

We'll miss you, Cool Hand Luke!

This one's for you...

So much I could say I don't even know where to start. Guess that's what happens when I don't write for awhile and yet my mind keeps up at its usual pace.

Where does time go? Can't believe it is almost October! I love this time of year, though - Warm, sunny days, but cooler nights with a bit of an edge - that smell of the cold yet to come. Granted, I can find things I love & don't-love-so-much about any season.

I think I may be ready to narrow in on a research agenda - have had some good conversations with some good friends who are also grad students. Though I was thinking the other day about something I am SO interested in for my own purposes, and yet I've never considered it as a possible area to focus my research. It's about females and AD/HD - particularly young women and AD/HD. Women who were never "diagnosed" as children, but symptoms become more apparent when these young women begin going through major transitions - such as the transition into college life... What's more, there is research looking at the frontal lobe and eating pathologies. AD/HD is though to impact the frontal lobe... Women and the expression of AD/HD...

I don't know, though - I still view this as more a personal interest than something to really dive in to at this point for school purposes. Granted, I used it as a topic for a class last year, and am using it as another topic this semester, so who knows?

but for now, I will leave that as a side interest. The major challenge at the moment is to figure out how to go about assessing whether knowledge gleaned via equine-guided learning transfers into "real world" situations...

In other news, riding is wonderful, as usual. I've considered (and probably even mentioned that I've considered) moving back in to town every now and then so I can be closer to school. But then I come home and it is quiet (save for the coyotes) and the starts are so ridiculously bright. And I get up in the morning to the relatively quiet fresh air (boy-oh-boy, the donkey is a great alarm clock), and get some physical activity to kick off the day, and get some riding to kick off the day - and did I mention the acres and acres of land to go ride on? I just don't know I could give it up for city-life. Not that Greeley is anything like the city of Denver or even Fort Collins, but still - the point is that I definitely cannot walk around the house naked ;)

I have also been in a ridiculously good mood as of late - tired, workin' hard, and still dealing with some tension headache stuff - but in wonderful mood, nonetheless. The way we interact as humans is fascinating - there are so many dimensions, so many factors. It can be good, bad and even ugly - but right now, mostly good. Great, even.

Except when I start thinking about politics.

last thought for the evening:
"Ignorance may be bliss, but partial ignorance is frustrating."
Thanks for a good night ~N and Kiki! ;)

Teachers and students and horses, oh my!

I don't get to graduate - don't even get to come close to graduating - until I can make up my mind about what to focus in on for "my" research. But just when I think I've made up my mind, I stumble across something or have this flash and *poof* I've changed my mind, again.

The "biggies" come down to teacher education (particularly preservice teachers) - bridging the gap between their understandings of teaching and learning that they bring with them as students and what/how we expect them to develop as teachers, and then there's this separate notion of caring that has risen from a research project an SES prof. is letting me work on him with. 150 preservice PE teachers (to date) writing about a favorite teacher - and a vast majority describe their favorite teacher as "caring," though this idea of caring is defined in many different ways. So what IS caring? How do these entering preservice teachers understand "caring" in the classroom? Why is it important? How do these students envision themselves caring for their future students? Does their understanding of caring in teaching change as they progress through the program? More importantly, is the construct of caring something we should - something we even can - address more directly in teacher preparation programs?
And that's not even touching on the music teacher stuff....

And then, of course, there is the equine-guided learning. Does it "work"? Can and does it transfer to "real life" (i.e. are the concepts learned while working with the horse generalizable for individuals into other domains of their lives)? And a bunch more questions here...

See, the teacher education path is a good one - has been around and will continue to be around, and is something I am very passionate about - and there is still a very nice niche to be carved as far as the concept of caring. However, I am also passionate about equine-assisted and equine-guided-learning. It is more of an "up-and-coming" field - very young, very little empirical research - which is both good and bad.

At least I've got it down to two main areas.... that some progress, right?

More Internet Streaming

While mentioning Pandora (the way cool online radio), I forgot to throw in a plug for Hulu - my little brother pointed me that direction so I could add a little culture to my life (you know, so when he asks, "Did you see the episode of (blank)?" I can maybe say YES instead of "Ummm - no."). Anyways, at Hulu you can watch popular clips of TV shows and movies, but there is also a selection of full episodes and feature-length films.
Ya' know - just more stuff to fill your time - or more stuff to do your homework to ;)

Internet Radio

Lots to say, but not much time, so for now I'll stick to sharing Pandora Radio with you. Pandora is awesome - you can enter the name of an artist you like, and it plays songs by that artist as well as similar artists. If you don't like a song/artist, you can give it a thumbs down, or if you really like one, you can give it a thumbs up, and the radio adjusts the play list accordingly.
So you can create your own stations like that, or you can just select a "station" based on genre.
You do have to register to create your own stations, but registration is your basic email, zip code and password.

So there may be something horrible I don't know about it, but the other GA loves it and told me about it, and so that's what I've been listening to at work - no putting up with radio commercials!

So check it out, enjoy, and more later :)

Here's to Friday!

Snippets of wisdom from an email Juilie sent me:

The Value of a Drink
'Sometimes when I reflect back on all the wine I drink I feel shame. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the vineyards and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this wine, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, 'It is better that I drink this wine and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver.' ~ Jack Handy
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may leave you wondering what the hell happened to your bra and panties.
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'I feel sorry for people who don't drink.
When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. ' ~Frank Sinatra
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may create the illusion that you are tougher, smarter, faster and better looking than most people.
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'When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.' ~ Henny Youngman
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may lead you to think people are laughing WITH you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not.' ~ Stephen Wright
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to think you can sing.
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'When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to heaven. So, let's all get drunk and go to heaven!' ~ Brian O'Rourke
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause pregnancy.
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'Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.' ~ Benjamin Franklin
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol is a major factor in dancing like a retard.
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'Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.' ~ Dave Barry
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.
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To some it's a six-pack, to me it's a Support Group. Salvation in a can!~ Dave Howell WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting.
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And saving the best for last, as explained by Cliff Clavin, of Cheers. One afternoon at Cheers, Cliff Clavin was explaining the Buffalo Theory to his buddy Norm. Here's how it went:
'Well ya see, Norm, it's like this... A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and mo re efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers.'
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you are whispering when you are not.

Cheers to Friday, everyone!