I’ve been playing Heroica and Talisman with the kids lately, and combining that fun experience with prior desires to create a simple paper-based game, I’ve come up with a new idea that I think both I and the kids will like.
The game I’m thinking of consists of a single book that provides all of the background materials necessary to play in short sessions while waiting for dinner to come at a restaurant, using only a pencil and a blank placemat.
Recently, one of the parents of Riley’s schoolmates called to arrange a playdate between her son and Riley. I don’t remember having so many playmates as a kid, and I certainly don’t remember how my parents arranged them. Even though I appreciate the opportunity to socialize Riley among his classmates outside of school, this whole process seems kind of strange to me.
It’s not so strange that our contact information is available. The home and school association produces a White Pages-like book of student names and addresses, organized by grade. You can opt in/out each year, but most parent include their addresses for purposes of convenience, like setting up playmates. I assume it also helps for homework help, since some of Abby’s classmates have called asking for clarification on something they were doing in class.
I was struck again several times just this weekend by this idea that I’ve been having regarding levels of knowledge and learning. And when things come in batches like this, it makes sense to pay attention and think about them.
The basic example of the situation is this: When you first learn about a subject, you are by definition a novice. Depending on the topic area, there may be many books on the subject geared toward your knowledge level. As you become more adept though, the number of books on the topic that are worthwhile to you dwindle.
Yes, this is not the original quote. I can’t stand the original quote. People have been trotting it out lately whenever they talk about genius, and I saw this image again today, and just had to mess with it.
I think the lesson from the original quote may have been that if you judge people by your own capabilities, of which they are not capable, then you’re likely to make them feel inferior. Well, Eleanor Roosevelt must have been smarter than Einstein, because no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. Instead, if you judge people by your own capabilities, of which they are not capable, they may think you’re an idiot.
I have good reasons, bad reasons, and reasons that make little sense, but they all indicate the same thing: GoDaddy doesn’t deserve your money
The reason I like to trot out the most is the T&A. GoDaddy has an intentionally humorous intent with their advertising and marketing. Do you remember the superbowl ads? The ads where the busty girl in the GoDaddy shirt nearly loses her top in front of some kind of committee? Yes, those. I don’t know how a women like Danica Patrick - the first woman to win an Indy car race, a potential role-model for girls in a male-dominated world - can put her name on something that is so obviously objectifying of women and having no earthly reason to be.