The Genius in All of Us and The Talent Code

David Shenk wrote this book called The Genius in All of Us.  I recently finished reading it and liked it a lot because it picked up (sort of) where The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle left off.  It gave a more in depth look at how we create what we call genius. So, I liked that.

The Talent Code had loads of cool examples of hot spots of genius and talked some about how they grew there. Genius explains a little more how to accomplish that if you wanted to raise a genius.

The one thing both books speak to is that genius is not entirely in the genes but rather is cultivated through environment (which includes training). Genius talks more about the environment + genes = genius. And Code talks more about the training side of genius. Neither dismiss natural ability, but they both support the idea that genius doesn't just appear. It takes many components to accomplish what looks like genius.

And we aren't just talking brainiacs, we're talking writing, sports, musicians, singers, etc. It's a combination of things, like being raised in an environment that exposes one to that skill, having the support and encouragement to do the training necessary to gain the muscle memory of that skill, and having a passion that gives you the drive necessary to attain that skill almost to the exclusion of everything else.

The thing I like about these books is that we're breaking away from the idea that genius just happens so if you aren't born to be the best 'X' ever, you never will be. But that's bunk, as research is beginning to show. If I want to be the best 'X' ever, I need to practice it like crazy for years on end, practice in a way that enhances my skill, have motivation to do it, and have emotional and physical support in order to do the above.

But that's great news for any average Joe. We don't have to be average. Genius can be ours with enough time and effort. I love that it opens doors for everyone and that we're de-mystifying 'genius'.

Any other books in this area that ya'll can suggest?

Kismet

Over the weekend, I was watching Kismet (1955) with  Howard Keel and Ann Blythe. Mind you I had just watched these two in Rose Marie (made only a year earlier) where they played a romantic part (sort of) with each other. Then the next year they made Kismet and they play father and daughter - so that was a little weird. Could have been worse had I watched in the reverse order, then it would have been way weird.

It's a cute comedy of errors and I love those. Best ever I think is The Importance of being Earnest. Which I totally love! But today we're talking Kismet.

It also has some really great (and memorable) songs in it, like "Stramger in Paradise". The musical is set in a fictional Baghdad in the times of the Arabian Nights. During one of the earlier songs where they're going on about how amazing Baghdad is, it has this whole Las Vegas type jazz to it which totally cracked me up. That was the downside, which I'm still laughing about.

But, on the good side, Kismet  has some gorgeous songs in it and I think I like Howard Keel best in this movie over the rest of his. Not that I don't like him in others, I do. But I liked him, personally, best in this role. And I just was talking about Seven Brides last week which he was also in. And we recently talked about Rose Marie too. Another Howard Keel film. I think they were celebrating Howard Keel on AMC which is why I recently saw so many.

I think they also did a Doris Day celebration so loads of hers as well. Yummy.

 It was a good week for musicals on the AMC channel. And I do love me some musicals. Who's with me?

Consistency and planning ahead and no internet

I know that over the next week I will not have internet connection, so the blogs for next week are being pre-written and scheduled to post. I will not be available to put up a notice on twitter or Facebook though, so if you're interested, here's the link.

Have a great week everyone!

Besties and Good Friends (Exposing Clancy's soft underbelly...lol)

I recently had coffee (or hot chocolate cuz I don't drink coffee) with a newish friend. He's been suffering through some mental and physical health issues and I could relate having recently been depressed and going through a lot of physical stuff with my ever-deteriorating body. So there we were chatting away for a few hours and at one point he said he didn't have any friends. That struck me as so sad. When I said I was his friend anyone really only needs one good one...he teared up. It was a really profound moment for me.

I'm very fortunate in that I have a lot of friends. Long time friends (20+ years) and some from my youth that I'm still in contact with. I have a circle of five who I know would drop everything to help me in any way they could and another twenty or so that I could still pretty consistently ask for help if I needed. And these are not blood family, although I have five or six people there that I can count on as well. My besties, hardcore friends and even a lot of good friends are my chosen family and I know who I can depend on and for what. That is a huge blessing. And I do not take lightly.

I'm always saying that to have good friends, you have to be a good friend. I think I am a good friend and that is why I am so fortunate in my friendships. They know they can count on me as much as I can count on them and it's a loyalty that is sacred to me.

I was at an event yesterday that was chock full of my BDSM chosen family and it was a loving, supportive, mutually respectful group celebrating our peers and their accomplishments. It was hours of hugs and conversations and toasts and laughter and tears and just everything wonderful because we were together in celebration. I would wish this kind of love and support for everyone.

Last month I was with five of my writer friends for a weekend and that too was wonderful and supportive and fun and inspiring. So, yeah, I am a truly blessed individual when it comes to this.

So, as this very sweet and sad man was opening up to me, I felt very deeply the value of friendship and chosen family. Very deeply that he was now a part of that and I told him I was a hard friend to get rid of because I don't have to be in regular contact to maintain my friendships. That I could talk to them once a year, but when we did talk, it was as though we saw each other yesterday.

To all my friends, I love you and appreciate the role you play in my life.

Any of you who are also blessed with a friend or friends, don't forget to treasure them.

The Royals

The Royals is a new show on the E! Channel. It's about the royal family of England - King, Queen and kids - except it's a fictional family. I've been watching it since it started a month or so ago. I think the acting is good, the cast appealing and the setting gorgeous. I like it and will continue to watch

But (and it's a big BUT), every time I'm watching it, I find myself questioning if any of it is possible in real life. It's like the bastard child if 'Biography' married 'Girls/Guys Gone Wild'. Below are questions I find myself pondering while watching (if you haven't seen - Spoiler Alert).

Could the Prince (and next in line to the throne) just jet off for the weekend with only one bodyguard? Aren't royal itineraries pretty full and stringent? Could the princess really be a drugged up, drunk party-girl all the time? Would the royal children and cousins really be this self-destructive in their liberal use of drugs, alcohol and sex?

Could the queen (played by a gorgeous Elizabeth Hurley) really have a lover on the side and be fooling around with him in the palace without getting caught? Not to mention the freedom of their personal body guards to sleep with guardees (namely the queen and princess). Could the king really sneak out to go on walks through London without a body guard and no one recognizing him?

Could the king's brother really use sex and sexual intimidation to bribe/blackmail/bully men, women, servants and other nobles, etc...? He's like a modern day Marquis de Sade. And he has two daughters (who bear a vague resemblance to Prince Edwards daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie) except they are idiots (seriously... just dumb as a box of rocks) as well as drugged up like their cousins, the princess (and less so, the prince).

It's all just so tabloid, outlandish and self-loathing that it's hard to imagine the real royal family like this. Maybe I'm naive. I dunno. But I would hate to think of Prince William or Harry ever behaving this badly. But if I suspend my rational brain and just dive in  to it as a soap opera set in the palace, then it's interesting (not sure that's the right word). Maybe enjoyable in a very window-peeping, voyeuristic way. I'm interested in others' thought here.

I know it's the times, but still...

I like a lot of old movies. Silent, B&W, whatever. I just like a lot of the older films. Despite that, there are things that bug me. I get that it's a reflection of the times that either they were made or the period the film is set in. I think I had a mini rant about this a while back when I was talking about the opera, Madame Butterfly. Even knowing that, intellectually, there are things that bug me emotionally.

Like.... movies where the men make decisions for the women because the women have no say so of their own. Grrrrr.  I was just watching an old 1950 musical, Rose Marie, with Howard Keel. Ann Blythe is living in the woods and getting along fine, but because her dad asked a friend Canadian Mountie to look after her, said Mountie (Keel) just goes and snatches her up and takes her back to town to be taken care of. He doesn't care that she doesn't want to go, he's a man and there ya go. Then when she acclimates to living with the Mounties, the boss Mountie arrives and says she can't stay, but he has a woman friend who will take her in and make her into a lady instead of the tomboy she is. Again, none of the manly men care what she wants, they just dictate her life for her. Grrrrr.

Or what about the times when people were publicly hung or flogged or tortured or whatever as punishment for some crime. I don't really have problems with that so much as the fact that it's attended by everyone including the kids. Really? Kids need to see this? I'm sure there's some really great reason like it's a learning experience so they don't go into crime because this is their future if they do. But really? Little kids need to watch public torture and executions?

All I can say is, I'm glad I don't live in either of those times. So, let's celebrate the progress we've made even if there is always more to make. That's all.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

I never get tired of seeing the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Never. I own the DVD and have probably watched it a hundred times, so you'd think when I come across it on TV that I wouldn't succumb, but you'd be wrong. Here I am watching it again and happy to do so.

I love me some musicals, loads of them. But really, this may be my all time favorite (or at least tied with the 1945 version of State Fair).

Warning: Spoiler alert!

When Millie turns all the rough necks into catch-worthy gents... love it! When they're all at the barn raising and it erupts into a dance-fight between the brothers and the town men for the girls affections... love it!  When the brothers are mourning not having the girls with them and sing about being 'lonely hound dogs' and use saws and axes as part of the instrumentation for the song... love, love, love it!!! When the dads show up to rescue the girls and hear Millie's baby crying and they ask the girls whose it is so they can force that couple to marry and every single girls claims it so all of them get to marry all the brothers... love it!  The music, the cast, the dancing, the colors, just everything about this movie brings me joy.

If you like musicals and haven't seen it, you're missing out (in my humble opinion).

Allergies Blow: A Spring Rant!

So, the spring is supposed to be this great time of rebirth and newness. Beauty and sunshine after a long winter. It is all those things, BUT it also blows. Blows bad!!

Every spring all the nice things of spring are shrouded in a misery that lasts six to eight weeks called my spring allergies. Itchy eyes, itchy tongue, itchy ears and I can't breath through my nose. Eating and drinking take on a whole new challenge when I'm trying to breath and eat, breath and drink, breath period through my mouth which then is perpetually dried out as an extra fun bonus. So, Spring sucks and sucks bad. I'm burning through a box of Kleenex a day. Who knew one head could produce this much crap to blow out?!

What was a cold then became a cold and allergy and is now just my allergy. Grrrrrrr. So, even though I'm over the cold, I feel like crap and will probably continue to do so until some time toward the end of May. Joy.

And the worst part? The absolute worst part... is I'm taking a cocktail of medicine to keep it down to the thoroughly obnoxious state it is currently in now. Were it not, I'd be loads worse (hard to imagine). So yay for Spring. Not!

Rant over. We'll return with our previously scheduled program on Wednesday. :)

Still sick.... grrrrr

Still sick and now I'm not sure how much is cold/flu and how much is my annual spring allergies. Seeing the doctor today. Fingers crossed!

A final (maybe) update on DWTS

So, Monday nights DWTS show had a lot of the men taking off their shirts (thank you whoever got that to happen!). So, Robert Herjavec is a hottie! It's so official. He is just charming in every cell. And sexy. Can we say - holy-moly sexy!! The smile, the eyes, the hair, the body... oh yeah, the body (Don't judge. I am that shallow.) And of course the smarts and the charm. Very sexy indeed.

Still feeling a little sick still from my cold - so  a short post. Just so you know I'm not dead yet. :)