Recently Read: Moby Dick by Herman Melville

What I learned:

1. It is not a straight forward story about guys in a ship trying to get the white whale. There is a hiatus from this plot for hundreds of pages as the author eloquently/voluminously describes every facet of whales and the whaling industry.

2. Reading, In the Heart of the Sea: the Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick helped prepare me for reading Moby Dick and kept me engaged with the novel.

3. I learned that one of my favorite movie quotes is originally from Moby Dick. (a little embarrassed that I did not know this before).
"From hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee." - Moby Dick (and of course, Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan)

4. Greatest Single Sentence --that's right this is ONE sentence. http://goamick.googlepages.com/alongsentence

5. Very much enjoyed the retelling of the book of Jonah from a mariner's view in the early part of the book when the character Ishmael goes to a church service on the Island of Nantucket.

A Favorite Technology Item From 2007

Always trying to keep up with and explore new technology related items (a daunting task that I do not claim to be that good at). One new item that I immensely enjoy is Google Blog Reader. In 2007 I actually started to want to read blogs on a regular basis, but it was becoming more cumbersome as my list of blogs to try and visit grew. It was difficult to stay organized about when to visit which blogs. Many post sporadically and others post with great frequency. I found myself visiting the blog over and over to find no new posts (total waste of time), or lagging in my visits and returning to find way too many to even want to peruse through them all. A blog reader keeps it all organized, I visit the reader and it tells which of my favorite blogs have new posts and allows me to review all the info right there, I can even star postings that I want to keep handy.
A blog reader has been my one of my top favorite tech items for 2007.
Google Blog Reader.
A video that makes it clear.

Energize!

I attended the AACIS (American Association of Collegiate Independent Study) conference in Ogden, Utah Nov 1-3,2007.

I presented on how to include audio in an online course (Can You Hear Your Instructor Now?). I also attended a great session on Copyright and Fair Use and another on Labs for Science Courses Online.
The keynote speaker for this year was Dr. C. Daniel Litchford Jr. I am a sucker for motivational speaking done well and Dr. Dan was one of the best.
The same info I have heard over and over but yet was presented in a fun, inspiring way.
The essence: To be Enthusiastic and Exel one must take time to ENERGIZE! This can be accomplished by visiting the Self Awarness Chamber (bathroom), and smilling into a mirror for 15 sec after saying "Energize!) This method wards off the negative "e" words (enervate, excuse, and expire)

It's a Blog

Why Learning and Burning Online?
The online Urban Dictionary defines Learning and Burning as:
"Learning course material for long enough to pass the exam, and then forgetting it all."
This seems to be what is happening to me in life. I want to remember period.
I learn so much everyday in my work, out on the web, from my kids... but am challenged to remember it all.
I am hopeful that this is a place that I will be able to keep a record of things I want to recall, like a real journal should...
Or
Because I wanted to call it Learning Online but that was not cool enough.