Pristine Puzzles
09/05/11 06:05
What do you do with a lad who doesn't seem to want to do anything to help himself? Maybe I should have noticed long ago that he never asked the usual questions that most children ask when they reach the age where they are most inquisitive. Why is the sky blue, daddy? Where do fish come from, pops? Why is milk white? Why do dogs have four legs and no arms? You get the idea. So when the time comes to play sports, take tests, and do all the things that young men his age do it should be no surprise that not only does he not ask questions but he doesn't seem motivated or intellectually engaged or even challenged to do better. I think he thinks that everything is just a matter of time and his time will come. He doesn't seem to understand the concept of hard work and the benefits of same.
He does play and he does compete but, in all honesty, he really just shows up and does what he can. You would think that he might consider the fact that were he to study harder, practice more often, take a run or a bike ride from time to time, that it would help him better prepare for whatever it is that he wants to do. What will he do when the day comes when he really wants something out of life but is otherwise not motivated or willing to do what it takes to get it. God only knows. And then there is the emotional detachment. Loosely translated, he seems immune to the emotional highs and lows of life. I guess if you prepare for vanilla that is precisely what you get. Vanilla. Maybe John Hogan was right. In a day when all kids get trophies despite the level of their involvement or participation it is no wonder that you end up with a generation of children who have never learned to lose. If you don't lose from time to time you never know what it truly means to win. Maybe little Johnny should have lost a game or two. Welcome to the school of hard knocks, laddie. Now go do your homework.
I'm not a big reader but I think that is about to change. I've had my iPad for a maybe a year now and I am just getting on board with the whole e-book thing. It just makes the whole experience that much easier. I take the iPad with me wherever I go and whenever I think I might have some downtime to get a chapter or two in. Just as I'm loving every minute of video entertainment from documentaries to TV shows that I can squeeze on to my device, along comes the e-book parade and I'm loving that too. Not sure why I spend any time reading autobiographies by the likes of of Steven Tyler, which happens to be the first book that I've really cracked and spent any time with, except to say that it reminds me of a time in my earlier years when I lived in and around Boston. Tyler's book is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to what is available. My, how things have changed since I was a child.
I'm delighted the Nan is enjoying her puzzles. We're talking jigsaw here, folks. She picks them up at the local swap shop from time to time and frets endlessly that there may be a piece or two missing. She is very picky as are most puzzle enthusiasts in the selection of her puzzle. It can't be too hard and it can't be too easy. It can't be too cheap since the pieces in cheap puzzles don't fit together as well as the pieces in more expensive puzzles. There can't be too may pieces. 500 is a good number. One thousand is almost too many and just takes too long to put together. She did a puzzle recently and discovered to her dismay that all the pieces were the same size. Who knew. And the puzzle has to to a particular size so as to fit on the table in the front room where Nancy always does her puzzles. Did I mention the it helps if the colors in the puzzle are neither too diffuse nor too sharp in contrast? This is not anything that I can select for her either. I can't stop by the store out on route 4 in Northwood and pick something up. I wouldn't know where to start. She doesn't ask for my participation and I don't volunteer. I too like the challenge of a good puzzle but would not think of working on a puzzle already in progress. I finished one once when she complained that it was just too hard and felt guilty for days for having deprived her of a satisfying and well deserved finish. I guess I just couldn't bear the whining anymore. When the puzzle is finally done, we take a picture for posterity's sake.
I think Evan has left the milk out overnight for the last time. He forgot that he had left it out and used it for his cereal the next morning. He didn't even realize it until I mentioned it. I wish I hadn't. Mentioned it that is. Or, maybe it is a good thing since he will surely think twice before doing it again. The baby Jesus works in mysterious ways. Yes he does.
He does play and he does compete but, in all honesty, he really just shows up and does what he can. You would think that he might consider the fact that were he to study harder, practice more often, take a run or a bike ride from time to time, that it would help him better prepare for whatever it is that he wants to do. What will he do when the day comes when he really wants something out of life but is otherwise not motivated or willing to do what it takes to get it. God only knows. And then there is the emotional detachment. Loosely translated, he seems immune to the emotional highs and lows of life. I guess if you prepare for vanilla that is precisely what you get. Vanilla. Maybe John Hogan was right. In a day when all kids get trophies despite the level of their involvement or participation it is no wonder that you end up with a generation of children who have never learned to lose. If you don't lose from time to time you never know what it truly means to win. Maybe little Johnny should have lost a game or two. Welcome to the school of hard knocks, laddie. Now go do your homework.
I'm not a big reader but I think that is about to change. I've had my iPad for a maybe a year now and I am just getting on board with the whole e-book thing. It just makes the whole experience that much easier. I take the iPad with me wherever I go and whenever I think I might have some downtime to get a chapter or two in. Just as I'm loving every minute of video entertainment from documentaries to TV shows that I can squeeze on to my device, along comes the e-book parade and I'm loving that too. Not sure why I spend any time reading autobiographies by the likes of of Steven Tyler, which happens to be the first book that I've really cracked and spent any time with, except to say that it reminds me of a time in my earlier years when I lived in and around Boston. Tyler's book is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to what is available. My, how things have changed since I was a child.
I'm delighted the Nan is enjoying her puzzles. We're talking jigsaw here, folks. She picks them up at the local swap shop from time to time and frets endlessly that there may be a piece or two missing. She is very picky as are most puzzle enthusiasts in the selection of her puzzle. It can't be too hard and it can't be too easy. It can't be too cheap since the pieces in cheap puzzles don't fit together as well as the pieces in more expensive puzzles. There can't be too may pieces. 500 is a good number. One thousand is almost too many and just takes too long to put together. She did a puzzle recently and discovered to her dismay that all the pieces were the same size. Who knew. And the puzzle has to to a particular size so as to fit on the table in the front room where Nancy always does her puzzles. Did I mention the it helps if the colors in the puzzle are neither too diffuse nor too sharp in contrast? This is not anything that I can select for her either. I can't stop by the store out on route 4 in Northwood and pick something up. I wouldn't know where to start. She doesn't ask for my participation and I don't volunteer. I too like the challenge of a good puzzle but would not think of working on a puzzle already in progress. I finished one once when she complained that it was just too hard and felt guilty for days for having deprived her of a satisfying and well deserved finish. I guess I just couldn't bear the whining anymore. When the puzzle is finally done, we take a picture for posterity's sake.
I think Evan has left the milk out overnight for the last time. He forgot that he had left it out and used it for his cereal the next morning. He didn't even realize it until I mentioned it. I wish I hadn't. Mentioned it that is. Or, maybe it is a good thing since he will surely think twice before doing it again. The baby Jesus works in mysterious ways. Yes he does.