Shorter posts and deeper thoughts?

My "blogging" during the past few months has been happening on Twitter. So many of the ideas I get are random, short, and fast, that Twitter seemed like a good place to jot them. However, I'm well aware of the strikes against Twitter - the minutia, the narcissism, the tendency to rant,... So I'm trying to figure out how to use these different platforms, because for me, the key is having the ability to express myself with words.

Considerations:

Put "idea germs" on Twitter, then develop them later on this blog

To counter the feeling that I have nothing to say that is worthwhile on Twitter, use it to challenge myself to think more introspectively, so I have something to say (in only 140 well-chosen letters and spaces). In some ways, it reminds me of Haiku. Being forced to express an idea within a strict structure results in more creative ways with words.

With both forums, there is the chance to share, connect, build community, but I don't want to be tied to my electronics that much. How to limit the time so I still read my books, get outside, relate with my friends and family in the "normal" way.

If A Status Message is Posted in the Forest....?

When our snow day was announced today (No classes at all, from morning through evening classes), I decided to update my status on Facebook so students who check it before they check email would know we didn't have class tonight. I've been updating my status a couple times a week, usually with the objective of letting students know whether I'm on campus or not. So, I was pretty surprised when I impulsively checked my privacy settings and saw that all those status updates I have so carefully composed during the last couple months were going out to..... Sally. Just Sally.

So, just in case you missed them, here are a few of the better ones...falling loudly in the forest.

Cathy says Classes are canceled at Emerson today, so no presentations tonight in MK610.

Rose George » The Big Necessity

The Big Necessity is the most provocative and enlightening book I've read in a long time. The world's water problems are easier (and cleaner) to talk about than the world's sanitation problems, but water problems result from lack of sanitation. 40% of the world has NO sanitary facilities (not even a hole in the ground). Some amazing cultural insights came out of this book, including that "Modern society's paradigm of waterborne waste treatment,...take clean drinking water, throw filth into it, then spend millions to clean it again." Worth the read!

Jan 25

Cathy wishes a Happy Chinese New Year to all her students from China and Taiwan. 4:07pm -

Jan 20, 2009

Cathy is sick unfortunately, on this great day. Hoping to be back in the game on Friday. 6:05pm

Cathy has learned so much from her students this fall. 12:20pm

Cathy says listening to "All A Capella" on WERS makes the day sparkly and harmonious.

Cathy bought skyr.is yogurt today because she felt sorry for Iceland.

Woooooooohooooooooooooo!

I just added 1 GB of RAM to my Dell from hell.
That's a 400% increase, for you math majors.
Now it's a Swell Dell.

Pesce and Quiet

I had forgotten how nice it was to have the house all to myself. The ability to think clearly and focus on tasks for hours of uninterrupted time is not something I will ever take for granted! However, solitude gets old as the day gets dark. I just made a beautiful Cioppino - with mussels, shrimp, and flounder - and I will be eating it all by myself! It's hard to forecast the social and academic lives of fifteen-year-olds who also like mussels and shrimp. (Working on a history project tonight at friend's house - friend's mother served tacos - oops, sorry Mom.)

That's okay - I will ciao on my Cioppino with my friend, a book. Considering my meal, Room With a View would be a good choice, but instead, it's Passage to India.

Stop Global Whining

As seen on a bumpersticker on the back of a big SUV parked in Lexington, where I was riding my bike last weekend. As one of the NPR guys said recently about SUV's, "those FUV's - uh, SUV's, oh well with the price of gas, I guess they're ALL FUV's."

Speaking of things that muck things up, my PC is a pig. I'm ready to dump it and switch to Apple. No wonder Microsoft is launching a line of t-shirts. Microsoft Softwear. Get it?

Time for the money to come pouring in....

See what I finally figured out! It's only taken me a couple months to break the code. I hope the content of the served ads improves from online dating and flat bellies to something a little more high-brow.

The Connection Between Creativity and Play

As I was preparing my lecture on new product development, innovation, and creativity, I checked out IDEO's website to see examples of the company's latest work. Anyone who is interested in creatively solving problems using principles of design and organization, combined with the social sciences should check out IDEO for future career possibilities - or inspiration.

From the website, I linked to Ted.com, which I've now added to my Delicious bookmarks . I've watched half of this talk by Tim Brown, one of the IDEO guys, talking about the connection between creativity and play. Check out the wooden huts in which Pixar's creatives work!