Learning

When I started writing this post, the biggest news would have been that my youngest daughter, Adelynn turned a year old.  Considering how long we were incubating her inside my wife, I can't believe she's been out in the world as long as she has.  Once she screamed when she was hungry; now she screams when I won't let her chew on the remote.

Sometimes, I can look at my young daughter like she's a delicate, tiny person.  Other times, I watch her chewing the varnish off of the end table or shaking things until they get tugged free, and I think I've signed on for permanent custody of a puppy or monkey.  She smells better than a puppy or monkey can.  The real plus is that unlike those animals, Adelynn usually lets me put a diaper on her.

My long-term memory developed unusually early, so I have a lot of memories from when I was 2-years-old.  I can remember all too well the frustration of having important and complex things to talk about, but not having the words to complete my thoughts.  Apparently the noises I was making were indecipherable because the most common response to my long questions was "Oh really?" and then I'd get fed something.  I recorded a video of Adelynn becoming frustrated with all of the icing on her fingers.  When I played it back for her, unlike other times when she's been amused, she looked genuinely confused by what was happening.  I'm sure I would have thought the same thing, "What's with all of that gibberish coming out of my mouth?"

So the thing I have to remember with her is that communication is desired and can be frustrating.  And the other thing I have to keep in mind is that the world is full of so many interesting things to look at ... and why Daddy flips out about me tasting all of his blank envelopes isn't obvious at all.

Preview this book.

Preview this book.

I've been trying to actually read lately.  A lot of my friends and family know that I've got a rather large personal library.  I think I finally found a book that will help me pull together the information I've been gathering all of this time.  It's a book called "State of Confusion."  While it might look like a political book, it's more of a psychology book.  I'm finally starting to understand what it is that makes Fox News "the only source of truth" for a lot of people.  Mostly, it's made me quiet ... and given me a headache.  So far, it's amazing.

Given my frustration with most things political, I've been dealing with a lot of migraines and general discontent with my job.  I know that's not good for my overall health, so I started reading "The Simple Secrets of Happiness".  This book is actually "The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People" and "The 100 Simple Secrets of Healthy People" combined.  I'm always sceptical of advice books; however, this one has citation for peer reviewed studies.  So even though each of the 200 segments is short, each has the backing of good research.  It's helping me with my outlook and my overall well-being.

These past few weeks have been about learning.  Even after 35 years, I'm still trying to figure out the world around me and the world within me.  Not all of my best sources are peer reviewed, some of them are covered in icing.