Brain delayed...

This morning I got up early and began working my way through two chapters of my new book, attending to chapter text, captions, and slides, making certain that each works o make the point and that the text, captions and photos are integrated into a form that my editors can comprehend. Next comes the cutting list. I'll go over my sketchup drawings of the two projects and create the list by double checking the dimensions I've put into the drawings, and then again double check from the actual boxes I've made.

It can be mind numbing work. I try to do it when my mind is fresh, and it requires breaks of physical activity to keep on track. If I force myself to work at it too long, my brain is fried.

"Work is less boring than amusing oneself. "[Baudelaire, "Mon Coeur mis a nu," 1862] And I'll add that physical work is less taxing than work of the mind alone.

This morning I have to get an order off to the Historic Arkansas Museum and put the final coat of finish on the Arkansas Governor's Award for Quality. I need these physical diversions to keep fresh for the rest of it. After a time at the computer my brain seems to no longer function properly. It's exactly how I remember it feeling to be in school. Can educators not understand that? In the design of modern education we should be focused on physical, productive and creative activity first and allow the mental activity to be stimulated by the child's growing curiosity.

By doing real stuff, we have anchors to which what we learn becomes usefully attached. Everything is just trivia until we have a use for it.

Make, fix and create...