Changes coming...

This part of the blog is soon to be retired.

A Hiatus

I haven't been posting frequently. You may have noticed.

i'm finding that I simply don't have much new material to write about. Wanting to be a polymath is about wanting to be an expert in multiple fields, and expertise takes practice. Practice simply takes time, and that's where I currently am in my journey. Unfortunately, there are only so many entertaining ways to phrase "I practiced x activity today," or (and this happens more than I'd like to admit) "I didn't practice y today."

And I don't like posting just for the sake of keeping the blog current. I want to provide new, interesting content on a fairly regular basis, which I don't feel I'm capable of doing anymore under the current arrangement of the site. As things currently are, I'm either posting about my incremental progress or about information I've found elsewhere online. Neither of these topics are particularly stimulating to me as a writer. Maybe they are for you as a reader - that would be awesome, but I'll be realistic :)

So, I'm starting the process of redesigning the site. I'm keeping the domain name, but I'll be changing the format, the focus - nearly everything, though the new theme will retain its polymathic "essence." I don't want to go into much detail right now. Essentially, what I aim to do is take this blog, which is essentially an online echo chamber for my thoughts, and turn it into a sort of learning/networking tool for others. Eventually.

Hopefully I'll have the new site up and running by the end of January. In the meantime, I suggest adding Puttylike - "lifestyle design for multipotentialites" - to your RSS feed reader.

See you soon!

A Curious Thing

I love Penelope Trunk's blog. She does a great job of presenting balanced content - intellectual and emotional, professional and personal.

For instance, here's a recent post of hers in which she explores how her kids learn. A good read, and includes a link to a personality/learning profile test based on the Myers-Briggs.

I guess I am an ENFJ, according to this test. Frankly, I'm skeptical about the accuracy of these profiles, not because of their source (how many "personality tests" are out there on the Internet?) but because I've taken the Myers-Briggs twice before and had two different results. First I was an ENTJ, then an ENFP, and now an ENFJ.

Adventures in Linux

I used to think I knew a fair bit about computers. Not as much as my husband-to-be, and certainly not as much as many, many people I know, but more than average. I can find files. I can install programs AND keep them updated. In fact, I can set them to automatically update, if I wanted to, which usually I don't, because I like to rule my computer like a paranoid dictator. I can even use Macs. In any case, my computer has never had a virus and I know all kinds of acronyms and abbreviations. Go me!

Then I installed Ubuntu. Why did I do this? I had read that I'd have to learn more about how computers actually functioned if I worked in a Linux environment. And a trusted* source told me that Ubuntu would probably run lighter on my tragically outdated system (you really don't want to know how bad it is) than Windows XP.

So now I have inadvertently given myself another project. My laptop used to be like an aged Labrador - slow and practically useless, but familiar and friendly. Now it's akin to an allergic walrus. It's still slow and useless, but now it's also alien, irritable, and "friendly" is not a word one uses to describe a walrus, is it? And yet, I'm quite attracted to the idea of taming this beast. So now my main projects include learning web design, practicing tae kwon do, finding a job, and making friends with Ubuntu. I'm right now re-learning how to get my wireless card operational. Literally, that is what I'm doing on a Saturday night. The disturbing thing is that I enjoy it.

The desire to learn everything is a strange kind of masochism.

*Trust no one. Google everything.

Other Polymath-Related Sites

A couple more polymath-related websites for you to explore:

http://www.projectpolymath.org/
The Polymath Foundation is hoping to start a new university, within the next ten years, focused on developing students into full-fledged polymaths.

Aspiring Polymaths - Facebook Group
In addition to the Facebook group recently started for this blog, there is a lively community over at the Aspiring Polymaths (notice the s) group.

PuttyLike
I love the "voice" in the writing of this blog, which is focused on helping ambitious people wide-ranging interests manage their many goals. Did someone write this stuff for me?

http://polymathprojects.org/
Real polymath content, here!

Got any more ideas? Post them below!

Sunday Mornings

Some people feel uplifted by going to church on Sunday. I approve of seeking out uplifting experiences, but I dislike wearing anything other than jeans, sweatshirts, and sheepskin boots on Sunday. So I sit at the kitchen table, relish my coffee, and read the Bits of Wisdom blog. Here are some fun snippets I found this morning:

Audiobooks

I love Audible.

It's not like I can't appreciate silence, but I really enjoy listening to radio shows or audio books while I'm tasked with something mindless. Example: listening to This American Life while pulling hops off the vines we grew this summer (an excellent thing to find yourself doing on a Thursday afternoon).

Audible is nice for two reasons. First, if you're a subscriber like I am, you pay a monthly fee and receive a single credit per month. Most audio books cost only a single credit. But if you don't subscribe to Audible, you have to pay the full price of the audio book in order to download it.

Frankly, it may be cheaper to simply purchase audio books from B&N or Amazon. But I prefer the Audible method because (and this is reason #2) my points accrue automatically. If I ignore my account for a couple months, all of a sudden I'll find a happy email in my inbox. Sweet! I have three credits on Audible!

So today I downloaded these three audio books:

• That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back by Thomas Friedman
• The classic How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• iWoz: How I Invented the Personal Computer and Had Fun Along the Way by Steve Wozniak - I'm really excited for this one!

Are you a listener of audio books? What are your favorites?