Yesterday, Angela and I went ice skating. Being poor and from the South, I never learned to ice skate as a kid, and this was something like the third time I've been. Needless to say, I looked like a very large, uncoordinated oaf sliding on marbles. After we had been skating for about an hour, she … [Read more...] about 7 Things We Fight That Make Life Harder
Blog
Thank You Commenters and Readers
Some bloggers spend a long time writing into the void when they first get their site up and going. They forget that people aren't searching for them; rather, they're searching for content. And it's hard to get your content read at the beginning because, realistically, other bloggers who are more … [Read more...] about Thank You Commenters and Readers
Lifehack, The Power of Rituals, and Flourishing
Scott over at Lifehack recently wrote about the rituals and how they help maximize time. There are two rituals that I think are especially important: waking up and working. The Wake Up Ritual Few things make as much of an impact on the day as when and how you wake up. Fighting with the alarm … [Read more...] about Lifehack, The Power of Rituals, and Flourishing
Three Reasons Why I Like Pandora
I was stumbling recently and came across Pandora, a website that streams free music and analyzes, groups, and sorts the music based upon the song's attributes. I absolutely love it. Here's why: Find new music by focusing on artists you know and love. Most of us have a few staple artists … [Read more...] about Three Reasons Why I Like Pandora
10 Tips to Help You Fail at Monetizing Your Blog
[Abstract: This post provides tips to help you fail at monetizing your blog. It could also be seen as a list of things for you not to do if you want to succeed at blogging, but I have very little experience with that, so I'm sticking to what I know.) I really wish I had the experience to tell you … [Read more...] about 10 Tips to Help You Fail at Monetizing Your Blog
Picking the Song You Want to Learn to Play
[Abstract: This post continues the "Learning to Play a Song Series." It discusses three different things to consider when picking your first song to play.] So, you've picked what instrument you want to play. You may not realize it but you've made a major step towards learning to play your first … [Read more...] about Picking the Song You Want to Learn to Play
A Somewhat New Look at APPD
[Abstract: This brief post discusses some of the changes to this blog.] After several hours of tinkering with CSS code and trying to figure out where my titles went, I have completed an update to the look of APPD. I have also reinstalled some new plugins. New Look Changed the font to be bigger … [Read more...] about A Somewhat New Look at APPD
The Three Different Types of Digital Residents
(Abstract: This post discusses the three different types of digital residents and how the way we orient ourselves to the digital world has a dramatic impact on how we interact with each other and how we live our lives.) I was at a military ball last weekend and MG Robert Bailey was the guest … [Read more...] about The Three Different Types of Digital Residents
On the Uncertainty of Life
The other night a student asked me, "don't you ever get tired of dealing with stuff that doesn't have answers?" This question deserves some consideration. The first thing you might think is that just because we don't know the answer doesn't mean that there's not an answer. Another way to say it … [Read more...] about On the Uncertainty of Life
Buying and Choosing an Instrument
In his latest post on Ground Hog Day Resolutions, Dave wrote: "Personally, there are some personal creative goals I'd like to pursue: Play an instrument / Play one song well Compose a song with an interesting arrangement" I recently had an experience with this arena and would like to share … [Read more...] about Buying and Choosing an Instrument
Why I Quit Blogging
I've fallen off of blogging for a long (long) time for primary reason that I spent way too much time in front of the computer and not enough time doing things that I enjoy much more. Reasons I stopped blogging: Too much time in front of computer Not enough time to write about what I wanted to … [Read more...] about Why I Quit Blogging
Falling Off of the Horse and GTD
One of the things I like most about the GTD-methodology is how easy it is to get back on the GTD horse once you've fallen off. One of the things I like least about the GTD-methodology is how easy it is to fall off of the horse. Given the discussions that have occurred on the blogosphere about … [Read more...] about Falling Off of the Horse and GTD
Negotiating Your Starting Salary: The Importance of That Extra Few Grand
One thing that many academics hitting the job market overlook is the importance of negotiating the initial offer made by the interested institutions. (Historically, women and people of color are much less likely to negotiate for that few extra grand.) What I want to stress is how important this … [Read more...] about Negotiating Your Starting Salary: The Importance of That Extra Few Grand
Lifehack: The Importance of a Central Project List
Chris over at Lifehack has a brief article on his morning routine. I've found a similar technique to be especially helpful for the day. I try to get up two hours (yep, two hours) before I absolutely have to be anywhere. Half of the time is spent on either exercise or stretching, and the other … [Read more...] about Lifehack: The Importance of a Central Project List
Lifehack: Advice for Students: 10 Steps Toward Better Writing
Dustin over at Lifehack wrote a nice post for students on how to improve their writing. Last night I was going through the first round of this with my students as well. The point I found most insightful was the following: Start in the middle. One of the biggest problems facing writers of all … [Read more...] about Lifehack: Advice for Students: 10 Steps Toward Better Writing
R.A.F.T: Managing Email Rather Than Letting Email Manage You
A note from Charlie: This post was published before I developed the S.T.A.R method, which is a much more effective way to handle the volume of email we get nowadays. 2007 was a much simpler era of email management. Email has become the primary method of communication for most people in nearly all … [Read more...] about R.A.F.T: Managing Email Rather Than Letting Email Manage You
The Value of Not Accepting Late Work
I had an amazing thing happen this semester: every student turned in every assignment on time. I don't think that happened due to the caliber of students or the time I was teaching the course, for those things didn't make that big of a change in other dimensions of the course. The reason why it … [Read more...] about The Value of Not Accepting Late Work
Morning Person Tester: Are You Working At the Wrong Time?
Glen has recently posted an article on LifeDev that resounds quite true. My original peak-time was in the morning from about 7:30 to 11:30, but I stopped getting up earlier and have actually managed to collapse onto the time of 8:30 to 12:30. Sometimes I catch another sprint from 1:30 to 5pm, but … [Read more...] about Morning Person Tester: Are You Working At the Wrong Time?