Shall we get this over with? I mean of course, you just can’t get enough of The Dropkick Murphys when it’s “…that time of year.”
* * *
Department Of Words Matter, Which Is Why We Use Them When We Argue
“We live in an age of overstatement and overpraise. Something isn’t merely good, it’s awesome. A movie or a TV show isn’t just enjoyable, it’s epic. Any performer over the age of thirty who manages to do good work isn’t just a solid professional, he or she is an icon.”
( Fresh Air Rock Critic Ken Tucker)
Moiself has been seeing the following cartoon shared several times (on Facebook), and it makes me want to tear someone’s hair out. [1] Let me edit it, I plead into the void, please oh please oh please:
The thing is, I like the cartoon and its sentiment that not all creatures have the same abilities, nor needs, nor environments; thus, to judge, say, a fish for its tree-climbing ability (fish live underwater and therefore cannot – and do not need to – climb trees) or critique squirrels (partly arboreal mammals which have no reason to swim) for its pathetic backstroke is unfair, even nonsensical.
Oh, but critique this, you cynic!
Stop. Do not be distracted by such foolishness.
Yep, I get the intention of the drawing, although I think the blanket criticism of Our Education System ® is unfair, as are most blanket statements (you know, like expecting all animals to climb trees).
But I’m wondering if the same person who drew the cartoon also wrote the caption? If so, I’d like to judge them on their underwater tree-climbing ability, because the hyperbolic sentence, “Everyone is a genius” is a real butt-froster.
If everybody has a certain trait or is a certain thing, that no longer makes the trait/thing exceptional. It negates the definition of genius (used here and in that comic, as a noun):
Definitions of genius
1 (noun) unusual mental ability
2 (noun) exceptional creative ability
3 (noun) so,meone who has exceptional intellectual ability and originality
4 (noun) someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field….
( vocabulary.com )
Why was that sentence even included in the comic – what does the patently false/grossly mistaken declaration “Everybody is a genius” have to do with unequal consideration of different talents and abilities?
You can be very talented and intelligent and a hard worker, the top 10% of your high school class, and still not be a genius (don’t worry, there will be plenty of other hackneyed adjectives applied to you, most likely by your family, such as AMAZING!) It’s not all or nothing.
Your four-year-old nephew pounding out “Chopsticks” on his toy piano may be indicative of his interest in music, [2] but that doesn’t make him a genius. For a humbling comparison of true genius/exceptional ability, you may want to investigate the life of Mozart, one of the greatest (and most enduringly popular and influential) of classical composers, who began writing musical pieces when he was between the ages of 4-5 and who composed more than 600 works before his early death (age 35). Better yet, just listen to his overture to the opera, “The Marriage of Figaro.”
* * *
Department Of Would Someone Please Solve This Problem
(And Do So Before I Get Too Much Older)?
“It’s time to get serious about a major redesign of life. Thirty years were added to average life expectancy in the 20th century, and rather than imagine the scores of ways we could use these years to improve quality of life, we tacked them all on at the end. Only old age got longer….
‘….as longevity surged, culture didn’t keep up.
‘…. (we are) living in cultures designed for lives half as long as the ones we have.
Retirements that span four decades are unattainable for most individuals and governments; education that ends in the early 20s is ill-suited for longer working lives; and social norms that dictate intergenerational responsibilities between parents and young children fail to address families that include four or five living generations.”
(excerpts from “We Need a Major Redesign of Life,” Laura L. Carstensen, professor of psychology,
Director of the Stanford Center on Longevity,
The Washington Post 11-29-19 )
Thank you in advance. And whatever your solution is, make sure it includes dancing.
* * *
Department of Epicurean Excursion [3]
Featuring this week’s cookbook, author and recipe:
Nutrition Champs, by Jill Nussinow
Recipe: Smoky Sweet Black Eyed Peas
My rating:
☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼
Recipe Rating Refresher [4]
* * *
Department Of The Partridge Of The Week
It’s that time of the year again. As has become a tradition much maligned anticipated in our neighborhood, moiself will be hosting a different Partridge, every week, in my front yard. [5] Can you guess this week’s guest Partridge?
* * *
May you be old experienced (or cool) enough to always be able
to identify this week’s Partridge;
May you know the definitions of genius, awesome, amazing, and other superlatives,
and apply them judiciously and accordingly;
May you remember that the solution to all problems should including dancing;
…and may the hijinks ensue.
Thanks for stopping by. Au Vendredi!
* * *
[1] Not mine – what good would that do?
[2] Or, he may just enjoy annoying the adults in his life.
[3] A recurring feature of this blog, since week 2 of April 2019, wherein moiself decided that moiself would go through my cookbooks alphabetically and, one day a week, cook (at least) one recipe from one book.
* Two Thumbs up: Liked it.
* Two Hamster Thumbs Up : Loved it.
* Thumbs Down – Not even Kevin, a character from The Office who would eat anything, would like this.
* Twiddling Thumbs: I was, in due course, bored by this recipe.
* Thumbscrew: It was torture to make this recipe.
* All Thumbs: Good recipe, but I somehow mucked it up.
* Thumby McThumb Face: This recipe was fun to make.
* Thumbing my nose: Yeah, I made this recipe, but I did not respect it.
[5] In our pear tree.
