A Collection of Daily Wisdom by Dennis Sylvester Hurd since September 2003.

Big things can be easily accomplished over time by just keeping at it.

This is becoming more obvious to me with my eJournal and images. With this entry I am completing my 123rd week of blogging. As I archive by week, that means this must be the 861st entry. A single page of the 123 might not contain answers to secrets of the universe, but drivel does add up. Hell, by now, there might be a few words here which are useful or even interesting!

Completing 123 pages is quite a personal accomplishment. It puts me well beyond the gestation period of an elephant which, incidentally, can be around 650 to 700 days. This blog was started before present-day elephant babies were glints in their elephant fathers' eyes.

I took the thumbnail photo in Sri Lanka in 2004. Click the cute pair to open on Flickr.

Labels: blogging

I begin teaching again on Monday, so I have been looking through directories on my PC for student handouts. Amazingly, I now find documents that I have used at BCIT for over eight years! Where does the time go? I'll take some blog space, by highlighting and pasting something under the photo below.



BRAINSTORMING PRACTICE
At your table you will be brainstorming today. Brainstorming is a process where the individuals in the group contribute ideas to a specific goal. The responses are quick and wide-ranging. There are neither ‘right’ nor ‘wrong’ ideas when brainstorming. The idea is to create as large a list as possible with a variety of contributions.

In a box in your notebook, as a group write down words related to your airport visit the first time you arrived in Vancouver. Write down feelings, things, colours, and actions. Do you try to organise your words at first. Be quick and try to create a very big list.

After your group has created its list, try to organize the words into three separate categories. Circle one category, draw a triangle around the next set, and place a rectangular box around the final group. Some words won’t fit anywhere but that’s okay.

Do you see how this practice would help to make writing about your initial arrival at YVR very easy? A major part of our course is learning pre-writing strategies. These can help you write in an organized, easy-to-follow manner.

Labels: BCIT, students

I am not sure why I have a large box with wires, cords, and adapters. I never seem to need the female-to-female RCA adapters that are there. In fact, I can never use any of the contents in the box! Do you need a spare 9-to-21 pin, serial port adapter?

Yet I always require some wire, cord, or adapter which I don't have. With each new purchase, my collection continues to grow. Places like Radio Shack charge an arm and a leg for a penny-ante part. Of course, I'm glad they actually have the rare bit which I need.

My most recent example occurred with the purchase of my new camera. Rather than taking fairly standard camera memory, it uses xD cards. They are ultra small and cute but my laptop doesn't accept them. I hate the lengthy cord that came with my Olympus SP-350, so I went in search of, yet another, adapter.

I ended up buying a little, key chain USB device. It's not quite as easy as a slide-in adapter, but I could use the device to carry around a half-gig of work files. All computers seem to have a spare USB port; unfortunately, not all sport easy access from the front panel. So, I did manage to shift all my USB devices and ended up with a spare 4-port USB connector that will go directly into my box ...

Labels: digital camera, flash memory

It has station wagons, lots of hair, and music that was the backdrop of the beginning of my college years. Also, John Trivolta was sooo young and thin.



Saturday Night Fever (1977) also contains adolescent angst, teen-age pregnancy, and fractured relationships. I do so love shiny discs that can store such a quantity of data in mpeg format.

Labels: movies

Today's picture is a follow-up to yesterday's entry about the Patullo.

I am developing a greater and greater appreciation for old things. You might put this down as an effect caused by my own increasing age. Yet that's a fallacy as there were far fewer years, between the past and me, when I was a baby.

Say what?



I scrounged up this picture of Patullo Bridge construction. It was taken in 1936. That's a full seventy years ago. It's not old by the standards of things I've previously blogged about; however, it does cause me to pause. I don't think I've done much that will be around in seventy years. For example, will this tiny bit of digital detritus still be viewable seven decades into the future?

Labels: cars, Fraser River, New Westminster

I've always felt that everybody is an expert in something. Unfortunately, the something could be as trivial as the shortest route to the deli section at Safeway or the type of dog food that Rover likes best. Still, the idea that anyone could contribute to human knowledge is intriguing, if only a bit naive.

Wikipedia really is an idea that can warm an educator's heart. You have probably run into the formidable site when looking for a tidbit. As they accept information from humanity, there's sure to be someone who has contributed that bit for which you were searching.

I've even found that it only took a few minutes in order to offer one of my photos to the cause. With a bit of coaxing, I might make additional time. Rather than the personal musings at my eJournal and images, I am able to contribute to something larger. (Click the thumbnail here to see the photo I copied to Wikipedia.)

You're smart. You know lots of specialized information. Figure out Wikipedia and contribute something too.

Labels: blogging

It'd be easiest to just put up a picture with fireworks and add HAPPY NEW YEAR! Even though today is really just another day, we seem to harbor a lot of fear, hubris, and anticipation about this one.

Of course, it is a good time to create a list of goals for upcoming twelve months. I really have no bad habits that I wish to quit. Additionally, I'm very satisfied with things as they are. Still, I should be able to compile a list with a few things which would be useful or interesting.

At least I will have something to analyze here a year from today. I'll see how many I can successfully accomplish.

Here are a few possibilities in no particular order:

Travel to Bella Coola, BC.

Begin new work-related projects at BCIT.

Sign up for an adult education course.

Explore Costa Rica.

Keep up on my blogging and Flickring.

Begin using Windows Vista.

Watch a widescreen TV at home.

Play local travel guide for my father.

Continue to let our savings accounts grow.

View all unwatched movies from AFI's 100 list.

Paint some of the apartment.

Take more outdoor, scenic hikes.

Donate some time to charitable causes.

Labels: lists