In the latest installment of of his dad jokes Mark just walked in said “I’ve just discovered how to tell the difference between girl ants and boy ants. Throw them in water and if they sink they’re a girl ant and if they float they’re a buoyant”
Neil Gaiman and books
According to Neil Gaiman, if you want to write you just need to start, and as you keep writing you will get better. I’m reading his book The View from the Cheap Seats at the moment and if anyone ever wanted some inspiration along with tips to be a writer this is the book to read. I’ve got plenty of time to read today as a travel on The Spirit of Tasmania over to Devonport and I’ve noticed as I carry this book around and sit in the reading room that reading books seems to make you immediately more interesting to people. Or maybe it’s only to people who also like to read and are looking for that next great literary gem. Either way it’s a great way to start a conversation without even mentioning the weather.
When is a puzzle not a puzzle…
Watching my two kids play this morning it really hit me how much more is going on than just playing. My son, nearly four, was doing puzzles and I was thinking about how this is developing his problem solving skills and building his ability to be able to construct bigger, more complicated things in the future. Whenever I’d played with puzzles in the past I only ever considered that I was entertaining myself while maybe challenging my brain a bit, but now as I watch my son I think about how this right now might help him grow up to be a skilled engineer one day.
My daughter, only fourteen months old, was entertaining herself with a screw that was sitting on the nesting tables and it rolled out of her reach, so I watched as she tried to squeeze her hand in the gap a few times before deciding that wasn’t going to work, then she took a toy car that was nearby and tried to send it in after the screw, except that also didn’t fit. So she finally gave up, but at the end of it all I could see how there was so much more going on in front of me than just two kids playing.
Story telling…
The thing I’ve noticed with people is there are those who love to tell stories and there are those who love hearing stories. I’m more of a listener myself but sometimes I’m inspired to share. I do get told that I’m quiet, but sometimes it’s just like that line in the Kate Miller-Heidke song:
He says ‘You are a mystery, aren’t you’ And considering he hasn’t shut up long enough for me to string two words together Yes that’s me, Miss Mystery
Sometimes I’d like to join in the conversation but I’m not given the opportunity.
I work in an office and every day there are new stories that come out and I think it’s great for our morale as we work to get through the weekday. People hear us laughing about the latest anecdote and wonder a little jealously why we’re having such a good time at work.
Stories have always been a very central part of the community and while there are so many stories online now for us to read, watch or listen to, our day would still be very boring if we couldn’t share stories with the people we interact with face to face.
imatang's Blog 