Preview - JIMM 47 Outtakes

I'm still doing some post-production and editing on this week's episode, in which my wife Jennie and I are talking about different things at a local mall.

I've decided to give you a little preview by sharing these outtakes. The file is about 4 minutes long, and should hopefully help you get your fix or maybe increase your interest in the entire episode, which will come out in the next day or so.

The Four-Hour Nap

Whew. Keisha and I just woke up about 25 minutes ago. We fell asleep on the floor in our living room. I think we were asleep for about 4 hours. Dang.

We're hungry.

bye.

One of my Favorite Books of the Bible

Mood: waking up
Listening to: Daily Audio Bible for May 6
Reading: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4)
Eating: nothing yet
Watching: green leaves on trees, birds flying outside, blue skies

After hearing today's episode of the Daily Audio Bible, I realize that I like the book of Ruth so much. It's a quick read and has so many good lessons.

Focus is cash in the economics of attention | 43 Folders

Hmm...

Decisions made in cluttered environments can yield an increase in high-confidence errors.

File this in the ADHD section of this blog.

Focus is cash in the economics of attention | 43 Folders

Rolling Stone 'has brain haemorrhage' | the Daily Mail

Apparently the incident with Keith Richards is worse than they initially thought:

Rolling Stone 'has brain haemorrhage' | the Daily Mail

Tips for Effective Non-fiction Book Reading

I remember, some time ago, reading on how to get the best out of reading a book; more specifically, a non-fiction book. So, I'm writing these words here to share how I read:

COPYRIGHT YEAR

The first thing I do is look at the copyright year. Information and technology are changing so rapidly that it behooves me to get a frame of reference based on when the book was written.

For example, I recently checked out a book called Time Management for Dummies, and I found out it was written in 1995. That makes sense when I see one of the sections called Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Be On Compuserve. Back in 1995, eleven years ago, CompuServe was it.

So some of the ideas presented in this book might be out of date, but some principles and practicals are probably still useful. That's why it helps to know when a book was published so that you can get a proper frame of reference when reading what the author is offering.

COVER TO COVER - SORT OF

I also read the front and back cover information to get a preview of the best things the book has to offer. Then I look at the inside front and back covers.

CONTENT YOURSELF WITH THE CONTENTS

Reading the Table of Contents is also essential, because it give you an overview of the book. I look at the main topics first, then the next level of topics, and so forth. It helps me get the flow, and is another way to be able to read what the book is about.

WALK THROUGH THE INDEX

Another good way to see what the book is about is to browse through the index, if there is one. I think that most non-fiction books DO have an index.

But it's useful to see which topics have the most pages associated with them. A topic with a large number of pages signifies that the topic is more emphasized than a topic with only one or two pages, for example.

GLOSSING OVER THE GLOSSARY

If there is a glossary of terms, then it's a good idea to read through this list. These are some potentially unfamiliar terms that are going to be used throughout the volume.

CHAPTER READING

I approach reading chapters by reading the summary first, then going back and looking at diagrams, tables, and charts. After doing that, I scan through the chapter, reading the headings, similar to what I did with the Table of Contents earlier. Then I'll read any bulleted lists.

Once I've finished with all of this, I'll finally get down to skimming through the text. I figure that, by this time, I will have repeated the information so many times that it will help me to remember.

I guess that's all I have to say about that.

A Rolling Stone rolls off in Fiji

Apparently Rolling Stone Keith Richards has been airlifted to a New Zealand hospital after a fall from a palm tree at a Fiji resort:

No word on whether he gathered any moss*.

USATODAY.com - Hotel Hotsheet: Archives

* Get it? It's supposed to be a joke.

Provisional Voting

Mood: great
Listening to: Perry's Podcast #3
Eating: cereal with milk, black coffee, and water
Weather: NOW - Cloudy, 57 F, HIGH - 70 F with thunderstorm possible, LOW - 50 F

I was feeling a bit ashamed that I wasn't going to be able to vote today for the school levy I mentioned yesterday. Then this morning, as I'm taking Jake for a walk, Jennie had stopped by Keisha's bus stop on her way home from work. I wound up getting back home before she did, and I got everything ready to head to the car. The only problem was that Jennie hadn't gotten home yet.

So I called her on her cell phone, and I found out that she was inside our rental office, voting. She told me that they'd let us vote with a provisional ballot, since we didn't get registered at our current address in time for this primary.

So I did wind up voting. I don't care about the partisan crap; I just voted on the issues. It was really easy because, for us, there was just the one school district levy issue. It took more time to do the paperwork for the provisional ballot than to cast my vote.

And I learned that our precinct is the rental office in our apartment complex. I wonder if that's common for apartment complexes. Anyone have any thoughts to share? Anyone?

To the Library for some Bookish Stuff

Mood: alert, but with tired eyes
Listening to: cars driving on wet pavement outside the window
Reading: see below
Eating: spaghetti with sauce, mushrooms, and chicken steak, and steamed broccoli, with some Miller Lite to wash it down

I went to the library on my way home from work. Going to a different branch than I normally go to from time to time is nice. Different surroundings and different selections.

I'd called the branch when I was still in the Dayton area to see if they had a DVD of Mr. Holland's Opus, one of our family's all-time favorite movies.

I dropped off

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3),
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2-Disc Full Screen Edition) (Harry Potter 3), and
some other children's book Keisha had checked out

I then browsed the non-fiction section for a book on personal finance for dummies, idiot's guide to personal finance, or K.I.S.S. guide to personal finance, but didn't find anything like that.

Instead I wound up checking out

Mr. Holland's Opus,
Cats for Dummies,
Time Management for Dummies, Second Edition,
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Magic Tricks, and
KISS: Behind the Mask - Official Authorized Biography

The movie, as I mentioned earlier, was one I had the librarian pull for me. The books I found while browsing the shelves. Here's why I picked each book:

Cats for Dummies - we know our cat Zoe talks to us and communicates to us with meows and purrs and other actions, but we're not exactly sure if we understand what she's saying

Time Management for Dummies - in the past I've gotten really into this kind of thing, but I got it this time more for browsing, not sure if I'd make the time to really read it. Who knows?

Idiot's Guide to Magic Tricks - one of my recurring hobbies, maybe I'll find something simple to do to thrill Keisha or one of her friends

KISS: Behind the Mask - when I was 7-9 years old, I was a KISS fanatic. I remember tracing the album cover of "Rock And Roll Over" on some notebook paper. My friends and I would pretend we were members of the band whenever we'd play together and listen to the music together. I remember Jamie was Gene Simmons, Rob was Ace, Gary was Paul, and I was Peter Criss. We were so good. I think David, who actually DID play the drums, doubled for me as Peter Criss sometimes.

At one time I owned a lot of their albums, including a blood-red Dressed to Kill LP. I wound up destroying them all once I had become convinced by other adults that KISS stood for Knights In Satan's Service. I regret having done that now, but I'm over it. I'm thinking of buying some tracks from iTunes. But for now, I have the book.

Vote for our Community Tomorrow

Tomorrow, May 2, 2006, is primary day in Ohio. Our local school district has a very important levy on the ballot: Issue 5. Over the past several months, the district has reached out to the community through various activities. Some of the activities we've witnessed at Weigel Elementary School are as follows:

Donuts with Dad
Free Squeeze Play Dance Concert
Moment with Mom

Then, yesterday, we attended the Colerain High School Activities Festival at the high school. This was a time for middle and elementary kids to see the kinds of extra-curricular activities that are currently available at the high school.

Keisha spent most of the time in with the "Show Cards," the dance troupe, learning some moves. I spent time listening to the jazz band play "Birdland" and "Shake, Rattle, and Roll". Later on, we heard the marching band play in the hallways.*

Many of these activities, as I understand, will have to be eliminated if the levy fails tomorrow. Bussing will be severely limited, too.

We've gotten phone messages from Anthony Munoz, a former Cincinnati Bengal who has remained active in the Cincinnati area, and from Hall of Fame Cincinnati Reds baseball announcer Marty Brennaman, urging us to vote for the levy.



* For me it was like being back in high school, playing on Friday mornings in the fall before our football games, when we'd play as fellow students arrived. We'd jam so hard in the lobby of the school.