Thursday, October 25th, 2007
I just wanted to let you know that I am now on CD 7, out of 8. These, of course, are the CDs that Laura got me for my birthday…the “Learn Spanish Behind the Wheel” ones.
I would probably guess that I am at the second year level. Now, I (me) am not at that level, but the CDs are. I am planning on finishing these up and then listening to them again. They are proving to be really good. I think I want to listen to as much as I can, and then start reading a Spanish textbook that Laura has on a shelf.
After that, I plan on becoming an interpreter.
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Monday, September 24th, 2007
What was the American Civil War all about? I think if you ask a lot of people, they would tell you it was about slavery. I guess it was, but it was about a lot of other things too.
The whole reason I am thinking about this is because I saw a bit of the movie, “Cold Mountain” yesterday. It is always so depressing watching things like this. In many cases, you can’t help but to take the Southern side of things. I feel like this especially when I think of “Gone with the Wind.”
Anyway, I think that you, yes you, should read about the Civil War and tell me more about it.
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Thursday, September 20th, 2007
I opened my birthday present early.
My mother emailed me a few days (or weeks) ago and told me that I should be receiving a box from Amazon. She told me not to open it, and I didn’t…until last night. I was so proud of myself too. I even called her up just to tell her that I didn’t open it.
The box was just looking at me. It was kind of like that box of donuts looking at Mickey from all the way up there on the counter. What am I…a robot? I have feelings. Of course I am going to open the box!!! I felt like this venue would be the best way to break the news to my mother. I am a horrible person.
Anyway, for some time now, I have been aware that I have not been using my frontal lobe. It is kind of like mush. This has been hindering my thought process and decision making. The lack of activity, I suspect, is due to my lack of reading and continued education. I am nowhere near the level I used to be. I even have trouble writing these days.
Good thing I opened my birthday present early. It was just in the nick of time. In the box, I found two very interesting books. The first one is a thick paperback entitled, “1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die.” I started reading this last night. It felt very good up there in my frontal lobe. I am not sure if it was from reading the book or the thirty push ups I did. Yeah, that’s right.
What’s interesting about this book is that the author, Patricia Schultz, grew up in Beacon, NY. She even mentions Walnut Street. I thought that was pretty cool, since I eat lunch in Beacon quite a bit.
I read the first few sections…right now, we are in Connecticut, somewhere near the Connecticut River. It seems like a very interesting book and it feels very good to sit on the couch and read.
The second book is entitled, “The World Without Us,” written by Alan Weisman. I haven’t read anything in this book yet, but I am sure it will be good. If my mother ordered it from Amazon, she surely read the reviews. That’s just the way she rolls.
Anyway, since I opened my present early, it might be a good idea to get me something else that I can open on my actual birthday. Ok, just think about it.
And finally, THANK YOU!!! The gift was very thoughtful. Also, don’t feel too bad, I opened Stephanie’s gift early too.
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Monday, September 10th, 2007
I was talking to my mother last night, when I asked her if she liked my idea on how to learn Spanish. I’m not sure anyone has really liked my idea. They will see the light one day.
Anyway, I was telling her about Rosetta Stone’s method of learning…the way they use words and pictures. Then she said, “Oh, isn’t the Rosetta Stone interesting?” She started talking about this stone with ancient languages written on it. I had no idea what the heck she was talking about. She explained that yes, there was a real Rosetta Stone. I thought this was pretty clever, the way the company used this as their name. Clever indeed.
Here is a sentence or two from Wikipedia…
The Rosetta Stone is a Ptolemaic era stele written with the same text in two Egyptian language scripts (hieroglyphic and demotic) and in classical Greek.
You can read all about it here.
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Thursday, September 6th, 2007
I had this epiphany last night. I think it came from a commercial for Rosetta Stone that I heard on the radio.
Rosetta Stone teaches different languages by using pictures of things along with exposing the student to different words. They link the two together for an interesting combination.
Well, the idea that I had was for the student to read a book, such as a novel. The first page would be totally in English, just to get the person going. Then, the second page would have a Spanish word thrown in there, but in a way that’s obvious to its meaning. The third page would have a Spanish word and something like “Yo” instead of “I.” This would go on and on and by the last pages of the book, the student would be reading complete Spanish.
Well, what do you think? I think this is a stellar idea.
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Monday, August 13th, 2007
I am getting a little sick and tired of traveling through little towns that are desperate for income. You see the strangest people walking the sidewalks along with a whole row of stores on main street that are ready to close down. It’s almost like no one in the area has a good idea. Who the heck knows.
So, with that in mind, I have been on a little hunt. Where are Laura and I going to spend the next chunk of life? I think we have narrowed it down to either Woodstock, NY or Red Hook, NY. Both of those town are beautiful. We have been to Woodstock quite a bit lately and found it very relaxing. It is off the beaten path a bit though. I have been thinking of something a little closer to the middle…you know, near Massachusetts, Kingston and the Catskills. Two towns close to the middle are Red Hook and Rhinebeck, NY.
Here is what I like about these two towns -
1. Nice proximity to the Berkshires, Kingston, the Catskills and Albany
2. Close to the Hudson River
3.Close to Bard College
4. Nice history of both towns
5. Nice culture
6. Clean people
So, after thinking all these things, we decided to jump in the car yesterday to go for a ride. We drove up Rt.209 and crossed the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge. Our first order of business was to visit this campground that my family camped at when we were kids. It is called Interlake RV Park. After traveling through the woods for a while and getting kind of lost, I asked for directions, twice. We passed the coolest place. It is called Omega Institute. Check it out. It was nice to see something buried way back in the woods that was thriving. The parking lot was full. We kept on driving and finally found the campground. I talked to the lady in the office and she let us look around. The reason I remember this campground is because when we went on a boat ride in their lake, a snake slithered out from under the seat. We had just gotten out of the boat, so we were lucky.
I have to say, this campground was thriving too. It was a pretty nice place, very well kept and clean. The only thing that bugged me is that the individual camp sites were kind of close together. Also, there seemed to be a lot of permanent RVs. Otherwise, it was nice.
After that, we headed down Rt.19 and some other roads into Rhinebeck. I visited Rhinebeck a while ago, but really didn’t get a good look at it. We came in from the West, so I got a better look at it this time. I had no idea how nice it really is. I didn’t get any really nice pictures, but I did get a few.
The picture above is the sign of the Beekman Arms Inn. This was a really nice place. Who knows…maybe one day we will stay there. Ok, put this town on the “move to” list.
We drove North on Rt.9G out of town towards Red Hook. We drove through Red Hook and found that very nice as well. That went on the “move to” list too. It is a small town and a little more quiet, so I like it. It is also closer to the bridge and Bard College. That is good. Since it is less crowded, I think there might be more potential for that town. I can mold it into what I want.
The last thing I wanted to see was Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson. I was telling Laura that I find it amazing that I have lived in this area for such a long time and have never seen this school. I have heard that it is nice and I wanted to see for myself. Soooo, yeah, Bard College is really nice. There were little tours going on for the new students. Either that or students looking at colleges. I guess this is the time of year they do this stuff. The people looked very nice, even a little hippy-ish. I like that too. We drove through campus to see the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. They have all sorts of shows there, which I will be bringing Laura to in a few months.
The end of the day was coming and we had some shopping to do on the other side of the river, so we headed out. During our drive back across the bridge, I handed the camera to Laura to see if she could get any good shots of the Catskill Mountians. That is a real perk…that view. Some of them were blurry because we were moving, but one came out the best. There was also the coolest little airport right off the highway on the Kingston side of the bridge. It’s called the Kingston-Ulster Airport and is for small aircraft.
We did our shopping and headed home to look on realtor.com. I will keep you informed. It may take a few years.
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Tuesday, July 17th, 2007
Hmmmm…what am I going to do next? As you may have noticed, I need to have a steady flow of personal projects to keep me happy and motivated in life. I am very high maintenance.
I remember back in Henry H. Wells Middle School in Brewster, NY, I started learning my first foreign language…French. I took French for three years in middle school and then Spanish for one year in Brewster High School. I never thought the French language stuck with me very much, but to my surprise, I kept inserting French words in to my Spanish. Oh well, I guess I am tri-lingual. Yeah, right. I virtually know nothing in either language, but at least I know enough English to be harshly critical of other people’s grammar. Thanks mom.
Later on, I took one more year of Spanish during my 3 1/2 year stay at Westchester Community College. I am not sure I retained any of that either.
I always wondered why, on the first day of class, the teacher has to walk in blurting out ten minutes of trash in another language. How does that help anyone? All it ever did for me was to completely turn me off and make me think that I would never learn what they were going to try to teach. Also, why do they find people who’s native language is the language you are trying to learn? I have the hardest time trying to learn the language, but also trying to decipher the person’s accent just puts me over the edge. How about a nice clear instructor who speaks perfect English with a nice English introduction. Then, slowly move into the language you will be learning. That would put me at ease.
I remember I was taking an accounting class at Westchester Community College. I had to drop it (or maybe I failed it) because I couldn’t understand a word through the thick accent of the Indian instructor. He was probably a genious, but that didn’t do me any good.
This has nothing to do with anything, but I just feel like telling you this, as long as I am on a roll. For the longest time, I would fail any math class I would take. I had sucky instructor after sucky instructor. I started to think it was me. Well, I guess I always thought it was me. Well, the strange thing is…the first class (College Algebra) I took with Dr. Rick Dilsizian, I got an A. Yes, an A. Can you believe it? We covered the same amount of material as in all the other classes, but this guy did a bunch of extra things that made learning a lot easier. I couldn’t believe it one day when he handed back a bunch of exams and I was the only one in the entire class who scored 100%. This is coming from a guy who failed every other math class he ever took. So thanks Rick.
I guess my point is this…the instructor and type of instruction matters. Probably more than how smart and capable the instructor is. They gotta get the stuff across to the student.
I have done some research on how to learn to speak Spanish. I wasn’t too impressed with what I found. Laura has a Spanish book sitting on a shelf at home. I might as well just chuck that thing through a window. I learned more in five days in Punta Cana than I did in all my classes. That doesn’t say much for the classes.
I saw a commercial on TV the other day for Rosetta Stone Language Learning. They seem to have a nice tactic on how to get the information absorbed into the student’s head. I took a look at the online demo and was impressed. They mix listening, repeating and visuals. It worked for me. I think I might order the first CD…Spanish (Latin America) Level 1. The only problem is that I have no one to talk to…to keep it in my head. Laura is taking another Spanish class in school next semester, so maybe we will make an effort to be bi-lingual.
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Tuesday, September 12th, 2006
As I have mentioned a few posts ago, it’s getting chilly in the air around here in the mornings. It feels REALLY good, especially after the summer we have had. There is a lot that comes with the return of chilly mornings…the changing color of the leaves, sweaters and college.
Every so often, I check out my alma mater, Binghamton University and their School of Management. I see they have built a new field house, a clock tower and some new dorms. I am not sure if I would recognize the place if I visited.
I had a very good experience in Binghamton. I transferred in as a sophomore and stayed for two years and then returned a year after graduation for the MBA program. When I went back, the business school had a new Dean and a new direction. I thought it was on the right heading, because things seemed to fit similarly with the reading I have done on MBA programs. The Dean had a tough, disciplined approach. We certainly did learn a lot during that year…some of which I apply every day.
I will always remember the very first day we met each other. It was during an orientation. No classes had started yet. We (the students) were asked to complete a short case study with a few questions to answer. We were so cocky…you know, in the new MBA program and all. We walked with a certain swagger. The Dean was up on stage and began going over the case study and asked a few questions. We were doing alright until the very end, when he asked, “Well, what course would you suggest for this company?” We all had so many useless answers based on nothing but opinion. Really, there was only one correct answer, and it was based on the figures given in the case study. No one came remotely close to being correct. We all learned an important lesson that day…don’t just make stuff up because of certain perceptions. If there are truths in what you are dealing with, rely and base your decisions on them. He knew we would overlook this and I am sure that is why he made us go through it.
Every so often I miss going to college. If you think about it, (and anyone who has graduated will tell you this) life is pretty easy during those years. Basically, you get up, go to classes, come home, study and chill with friends. I always wonder why so many people never leave their hometowns to enjoy this. I know I am over simplifying the experience, because when I was in college, I thought things were much more difficult than what I just described. One thing is true, life is adventurous during those times, with new people, new classes every 15 weeks and new challenges at every turn.
Perhaps I will take another walk through SUNY New Paltz.
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