Things I'm Learning About Currently

April 21, 2008

Benjamin Franklin: reading his autobiography
Poetic form. Reading the Norton Anthology on this, learning about villanelles, sestinas, etc. Trying to understand why I like Walt Whitman so much. Re-reading Leaves of Grass. Trying to grow a sense of rhythm from nothing.
Latin. I’d like to be able to stumble through sections of The Aeneid later this year. We’ll see.
Math. I spend about 45 minutes to an hour a day on this. I’d tell you what kind of math but you’d laugh. I’ll talk more about it when I’ve actually achieved something.
The American Revolution in general. Kind of a high-school-like subject, admittedly, but I didn’t really go to high school so what are you going to do? Simon Schama’s Rough Crossings (discussion of African-American situations in the Revolution) is on my short short list. I like Schama a lot (highly recommend his BBC series on the History of Britain) and I believe the book won the Pulitzer. Too lazy to verify that fact.
Kind of flirting with reading Lewis & Clark’s diaries of the Voyage of Discovery. Need a better map of Missouri (and other states through which they traveled) to follow along. Anyone know of, say, a historical atlas or reference that outlines their journey, map-wise?

No. Really. I do this for fun, not affectation. But I’ve been putting off mentioning it because it sounds so…over-zealous? Contrived?

What new knowledge are you guys pursuing these days?

6 Comments

Alan I. says:

You have a great sense of using your free time. I wish I would have been more disclipined with my spare minutes when we didn’t have a young family. Today, I spend a good amount of time reprioritizing and rebalancing to find selfish time.
Matt G says:

Primarily, I’m trying to find new ways to get a class of 25 angry, pubescent teenagers do something they don’t want to do for a benefit that will only become apparent to them 10 years form now.

I’m also working on appearing cheery and enthusiastic all the time regardless of how much I hate a particular topic, or how little sleep I’ve had.

Other than that my acquisition of knowledge nowadays extends as far as slouching on my couch in front of Discovery Channel watching “How do they do it”, “How it’s made” and Mythbusters.

…please don’t judge me.
Lyza Gardner says:

Ah, Matt, don’t be so pessimistic about what you’re doing. Believe me, if I actually had cable or television of any sort (and we’re in Pencil negotiations to sign up for it soon), I’d be all over the couch watching the non-fiction TV. I have a strange and passionate love for documentaries. Sometimes, when fodder is available, I disappear into the basement TV room to watch a few hours of what I call “history porn.” I have a sad obsession with “Mystery Diagnosis” on Discovery Health. YES, I KNOW! Some people read horror novels. I watch scary medical shit on TV.

Also, you’re a teacher, which I consider to be pretty much the noblest profession there is. I have fantasies about being a teacher. But I’m such a hard person to be around, awkward and freaky, that I couldn’t do it.
tODD says:

I honestly don’t know what I do with most of my free time. I read RSS feeds, check in to Twitter every now and then, play the odd game of Scrabulous, and — this is probably one of the bigger time sucks — engage in healthy debate online with people who share many religious beliefs with me, but very few political ones. And I still don’t feel like I get as much done as you do.

I’m reading Michael Pollan’s latest book (which isn’t so different from Omnivore’s Dilemma, really — sort of a repackaging of the same concepts with a different emphasis. I like Pollan because the book reads like a sort of congratulatory note: “Dear Todd, you’re right to have made the choices you do regarding food; all those other people are soooo stupid! Love, Michael”

Julia and I are also taking a higher-level class in Lutheran theology at our church. Studying the concepts of “law and gospel”.
Matt says:

Quid verbum est?! I learned Latin – and unless you know Greek or other such declined language, then I would highly recommend a class. You’ll learn it much faster and more efficiently. There still isn’t any book better than Wheelocks Latin textbook. With Latin, there is absolutely no shortcut to the lots and lots of memorization and practice using declensions and verb tenses you’ll need. Hence the importance of a teacher to make sure you’re learning it right.
Lyza Gardner says:

Hi, Matt! I took Latin in high school originally, so I have a bit of background. I do in fact have a recent copy of Wheelock’s. I understand declension and conjugation type stuff as well from my four college years of Russian (a VERY complicated language)…anyway, I’m going to give it a whack on my own and see how it goes!