A happy new year

I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Xmas and a Happy new year! Be merry and happy. Thank you to all the people who visit my blog...And I'll make a early new year resolution: to keep up regular blogging!

Hand made stuff

I came across these two blogs recently and would like to recommend them.

The first one because of the exceptional quality of the work created by a man who works exclusively with hand tools. No electric gizmos involved, except perhaps electric lighting... If you like hand made things, do yourself a favour and go over there!

This man is Peter Follansbee and you can find his blog here.

A box made by Peter out of riven Oak.

The second blog I want to highlight belongs to Doug Stowe and in his words "is dedicated to sharing the concept that our hands are essential to learning- that we engage the world and its wonders, sensing and creating primarily through the agency of our hands. We abandon our children to education in boredom and intellectual escapism by failing to engage their hands in learning and making".

You can find the blog here:   Wisdom of the Hands

Our local school officials are pleased that standardized test scores are on the rise. According to an article in our local Carroll County Newspaper, "Carroll County schools were among several listed for improved test scores on the Benchmark and End-of-Course (EOC) exams given this year." Unfortunately, there is no direct correlation between what the tests measure and the qualities of hand, mind and heart required for student long term success. Others on the horizon are looking at what they've termed "non-cognitive," behavioral or emotional predictors of success. According to Paul R. Sackett, professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota, the greatest predictors of student success are "conscientiousness (e.g. work ethic, dependability and perseverance) agreeableness (teamwork, emotional stability) and various kinds of extroversion and openness to new experience." Those are qualities that don't show up on standardized tests.

I have become suspicious of the use of terms like "non-cognitive". The implication is that there are elements of human behavior that do not require thought. For instance, the waiter serving you tonight's dinner might be assumed mindless by those who've fallen on the less comprehending side of the academic divide. And yet he deserves only to be considered mindless if he has forgotten nearly everything in delivering what you've ordered.

You can read the rest of this post on his blog.

The religion of stuff...

From time to time, I come across a  interesting article which really resonate with my own views and this is one of them.  Posted on  The Tiny Life  by Ryan Mitchell and well worth a read. In fact, The Tiny Life blog is full packed of thought provoking articles on Living Small without ruining our little planet. This is an American blog, but it applies anywhere I believe.


It occurred to me the other day that consumerism has reached a level of socially ingrained fanaticism. This isn’t by accident, marketers have gotten us here on purpose.  For many of us or those we know, we simply lust after ______ consumer good.  It pervades our country, politics, social interactions, and economics.

Here is the definition of consumerism:
A social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts.
The entire premise of consumerism is that we must consume, but more importantly we must do so at a constantly growing rate.  This seems to be at odds in a finite world, but many people don’t concern themselves with it.  I wanted to break down this word a bit more, because the ending –ism struck me as interesting, it was something I never considered before really, what does –ism really mean?
Looking up the definition of the ending –ism I found these four possible meanings:

• a political belief or religion based on a particular principle or the ideas
• the action or process of doing something
• illness caused by too much of something
• the practice of treating people unfairly because of something

If you think about political issues or stances on religion you will quick notice they are really contentious issues.  They often define a line which many fight over.  You find that many people choose friends, business partners, and other large decisions on the parameters of their political and religious stances. One of the largest lines is to consume or not.  Think about it, essentially there is a hard line drawn that many don’t cross, but those who do are subject to great social pressure!  Essentially society discriminates against those who don’t consume.  Don’t buy lots of clothes, you don’t get a job or a date.  Don’t feel the need to buy things when what you have is working just fine or even, you don’t want a huge house; you are seen as cheap, lazy, poor, etc.
I had to simply laugh when I looked at the third bullet point, an illness cause by too much of something, the irony of that when considering consumerism is astounding.  What if we really could get people to treat this behavior like a disease?
It certainly is interesting the implication of this word, how it has such a tight hold on us and defends itself through strong social pressures.