Edublogs are faaar beyond my limit of comprehension!
I have NO idea what I am doing on this “blog”! The number of options above this text box, which I assume can be utilized for modifications, exceeds my personal comfort zone of text, bold, centering, etc. Why does one need so many options? ::Sigh:: I will never know. My hope here is that when I press “save” I will actually have visual proof that I wrote all of this clamoring going on inside my own cranium! So… I wrote an entire blog, then my crappy (using nice words here) inet connection goes bunk on me and when I hit “save” the page comes up “can not find server.” So, I screamed, mostly obscenities about how much I loathe I.T. and support ANYONE’s venture to write on paper. I mean, if it is on paper you NEVER have to worry about losing it…you can make 1,000 photocopies just to assure yourself. But, w/computers that crash, as mine has twice, and inet that ALWAYS seems to fail you, like the one in our house, I need to find some alternative to save my sanity. I swear I am followed by an ominous cloud that taunts me every time I attempt to do something w/the inet, especially in our house, it destructs. I am so ecstatic that Comcast gets to gorge on my money each month and find delight in the fact that I cannot receive the service I render my earnings to. And, seriously, for all these darn buttons this ridiculous blog has, is there no way to copy this darn thing so I can feel more secure about it being pasted in Word?!!! Ok, I need a moment or possibly 7….. My point(s), however, is more related to our actual course than my personal inability (and reluctance) to conform to the rapid demands of I.T. Grrr. Ok, ::phew:: so I’m back and partially settled enough to attempt to recall my previous writings. I had a reflection to share from my visit to Starbucks today. I am not a consumer of Starbucks, for numerous reasons I will not articulate here, but today a co-worker of mine invited me out. I figured as long as I wasn’t the consumer, I wouldn’t be as opposed; plus all 1,800 of my students returned to campus today and any moment of calm seemed to be #1 on my personal sanity priority list! Now, I am sharing this because Starbucks has these “The Way I See It” slapped onto each cup, an inspiring, provocative, and intentional ploy to retain those ”devoted” consumers. The ironic purpose to this is below (and on the side of my cup): “Improvisers don’t look at change as an obstacle; we look at it as fuel. We know that the next great idea lies just on the other side of the change. We are constantly asking ourselves, ‘What can I do to incite change?’” -John Sweeney, author, speaker, trainer Ironic? I thought so, considering this week’s class and readings explore improvisation. As someone who doesn’t exist well in a state of the unknown, I am most intrigued because I exist as far as possible from improv, or spontaneity. Hence, I possess a neurotic glee for control, perfection, and planners (!), which can be fiercely challenged by Ms. Cook (Isherwood 2005) as she claims, “the place that seems most dangerous is exactly where safety lies” (2). Improv (game) is not the first suggestion I would make as entertainment at a dinner party! However, there has to be a time or a place where we step aside from being so high strung, I mean what do I really need to be so stressed over ::thinks in head ‘I can attach a list’:: and allow ourselves to be fueled by the moment(s). I have reflected on this quote and the Sweeney statement in an attempt to allow its words to create meaning on me or to me, rather than finding myself analyzing it. Familiarity is my personal solace and self-exposure is not in my daily agenda, although I am not opposed to figuring out how to navigate a less rigid self! It seems to me that I need a lesson in baring my “emotional clothes.”Now, let us see if I can save and post!
