Archive for June, 2009
Do you just ‘think’ for a living, or do you perform ‘real’ work?
I put the quote marks around “think” and “real” in the title of this blog post for a reason: I wanted to reflect the “real work” nature of a guest I saw interviewed recently on “The Colbert Report.” The guest was Matthew Crawford, and the topic was Crawford’s book, “Shop Class as Soulcraft.” In the book, and the interview, discussion centered around the dichotomy Crawford sees in our culture between knowledge or “thinking” work and manual labor. I strongly recommend you click the link and watch the video.Read more on Do you just ‘think’ for a living, or do you perform ‘real’ work?…
Hard to exercise in summer’s heat — how about you?
I find it hard to get out and exercise in the summer’s heat. I find winter’s chill (as long as the ice doesn’t trip me up) preferable to that nasty 95-100 degree stuff we’ve had here in the Ozarks for the last two or three weeks. Almost makes me get out and buy one of those ellipticals, treadmills, or exercise bicycles I’ve thought about in the past, though I don’t think there’s much room for such in our old house right now.Read more on Hard to exercise in summer’s heat — how about you?…
Teens and drug use — how accurate are survey results, really?
I have two adult children, both wonderful people who, really, were pretty painless to rear — even during their teen years. At a time when I followed such news as surveys about teen drug use, teen drinking, teen crime, and all the rest, my son explained the obvious to me: You can’t really trust teen survey results because teens 1) love to put things over on adults, and, 2) know how to tell adults in authority just what they want to hear. (Hmm … sounds oddly like politicians, doesn’t it?)Read more on Teens and drug use — how accurate are survey results, really?…