The View from a Drawbridge

Tag: learning

  • My Flying Messenger

    At work I often sit with the window open. I enjoy the fresh air, and it also makes it easier to hear the boats if they use their horns to signal that they want me to open the drawbridge. Just outside the window is a large metal box that used to house some past machinery.…

  • Fascinating

    It always surprises me when other people aren’t equally engrossed by the things that I find interesting. I have no idea why that is. You’d think I’d have learned by now. But how can you not enjoy a really good book or a well done PBS documentary? How can you not loose entire afternoons when…

  • Academia

    Recently I had the pleasure of walking through the gorgeous campus of the University of Washington here in Seattle. (Go Huskies!) It gave me butterflies. Not only did the stately brick buildings make me feel like I’d stepped into Hogwarts, but also I got that old familiar feeling. Call it academic fever if you like.…

  • Lessons I Should Have Learned Way Before Age 50

    This has been a year of great change and great learning for me. I’m starting completely over at 50, and that creates a unique set of challenges. It also allows for a unique set of insights. Here are a few things that I’m finally starting to figure out this year that I wish I had…

  • The Zen of the Pottery Wheel

    I took a pottery class this semester at the local community college, and I loved it. It went by way too fast. I did pick up some pottery skills, but I’m using the word “skill” in its very broadest sense here. At best, I can be considered part of the primitive school. But the most…

  • Some of Us Don’t

    After taking a semester of one-on-one guitar lessons many years ago, my instructor decided to be brutally honest with me. He said, “Barb, some of us have it, and some of us don’t. And you don’t.” When I tell that story, a lot of people are outraged at that teacher, but actually I appreciated his…

  • Passive Aggressive Stupidity

    If you ask me, one of the most annoying habits on the planet is acting stupid when you aren’t. I see people do this all the time. Is it because you don’t want responsibility heaped upon you, or are you trying to manipulate someone into doing the heavy thinking for you? I particularly want to…

  • The Fine Art of Begging

    Recently I racked up $9,000.00 in debt by moving 3100 miles across country to start my life over after a series of setbacks that, frankly, are becoming too boring to even discuss. Everybody has problems, right? But a friend suggested I do a crowdfunding campaign through the Indiegogo website to help me get my head…

  • “Pre-Baffled”

    God, I love National Public Radio. I was listening to a guy get interviewed on the way to work this morning. He was talking about a book he had written about understanding the monetary system. I wish I had gotten his name or his book’s name, but I was driving. Anyway, he was saying that…

  • New, but Not.

    I find myself having to strike a strange balance at this new job. I have 13 years of experience opening drawbridges, so as they say, this ain’t my first rodeo. But on the other hand there are subtle differences in policies and procedures at this new place, so there’s definitely plenty to learn. Of course…