PicoBlog

One concept I wish everyone concerned about education were familiar with is Campbell’s law. I certainly wish that I’d known about it twenty or more years ago. Campbell’s law states that “the more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor.”

A few weeks ago I listened to a speech from Rachel Goldberg-Polin, a true hero, and mother of Hersh Polin who was kidnapped on October 7, 2023. In the course of that speech she referenced an idea that she’d heard from her rabbi. Unfortunately, I have forgotten his name. The Amidah is the central prayer in Judaism. It is recited three times each weekday, four times on Shabbat and major holidays, and five times on Yom Kippur.

In my romance writing classes, I talk about the importance of the grand gesture, meaning the moment in the book where the hero or heroine gets their head out of their butt, realizes the other person is for them, and then does something to let the other person know. It’s the stereo being held above the head in Say Anything, it’s the “you complete me” speech in Jerry Maguire. It’s a declaration that the person is all in.

Does Song Sparrow notice the colors changing overhead? What does it think about the new coolness in the morning air? I see Song Sparrows in my Iowa backyard all year around. They’re abundant here in summer, nesting and raising their families. Also, they seem at home in fall, scratching through fallen leaves for insects and bits of nuts that squirrels may drop. Later, when December brings bitter cold, Song Sparrows get scarce.

there’s a paywall that’s up until midnight. I wanted to say an extra lil thanks to my paid subscribers—please enjoy an early listen to a song I’ve only ever sung at home, and mostly to my youngest daughter, Joanna… (Wednesday is her birthday) LYRICS Joanna, oh I really love you girl you’re such a sweet song in my mind Joanna, whatever you need from me I’ll be here walking right by your side

Christine McVie acted as the bonding agent within Fleetwood Mac, tying together the band's blues beginnings with their pop period and functioning as the glue between Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks—a pair of personalities so powerful they often overshadowed her during the band’s prime. McVie was an active participant in the sturm und drang fueling Fleetwood Mac’s golden years but her transgressions generally were garden-variety rock excesses, not the operatic betrayals of Buckingham, Nicks, and Mick Fleetwood, whose emotional entanglements became the stuff of legend.

Happy Mother’s Day! Today I played Antonín Dvořák’s “Songs My Mother Taught Me” in church. With gratitude for their innumerable sacrifices, I hope every mother felt cherished and honored today. "All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother" President Abraham Lincoln said about his mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln. Celebrating Mother’s Day is always … ncG1vNJzZmibkae%2FqrHSoZyfnpmauaV60q6ZrKyRmLhvr86mZqlno6S7qL%2BMprBmpZ%2Bptaa%2BjK2Yrp%2BYqXqusQ%3D%3D

I turn 40 tomorrow (!). I’ve been actively listening to rap since I was in first or second grade. I’m not entirely sure, but I don’t think it was until middle or early high school that I really started to understand the process of turning sampled music into new songs. I know I had a vague understanding of sampling before then, but it was probably around eighth or ninth grade that I really started to get it.

I think recording our own work in our respective voices is a brave step and yet, an open comment section is the braver step towards humility in our writing. I love the sonnets and it has been far too long since I thought about this one. Shakespeare's sonnets often remind me that love is the deepest, truest knowledge we can possess that sees all things and people for how they really exist--even if the truth is unwieldy and raw.