I have to say that I really enjoy the discussion forums for my class. Being able to get another's perspective on something I have read is what makes it more real for me. Seeing what others have to say open up new doors of meaning that allow me to understand some of the nuances I hadn't picked up the first time I went through a piece.
During a discussion about a parallel I saw between a computer program that's currently available and a type of library that has existed in America's past, one of my classmates posed a question: "when do we require an authoritative figure to act as our teacher and when is it acceptable to learn from someone in our community who is willing to share what they own, their knowledge, with others?" She also posed a question about the distinction of an expert vs. a non-expert, which got me thinking: how can you distinguish between an expert and a non-expert, and when can that distinction be made?
Here is how I responded on the forum:
"The expert vs. non-expert question you posed got me thinking. I don't know if there really is an all-inclusive standard that we can use to make this distinction. Education can be considered a foundation that paves the way to someone becoming an 'expert' in a topic, but sometimes no formal education (meaning education in a classroom) has taken place. Experience I think is what distinguishes between expert and non-expert, but even then it's such a gray area. How much experience is needed? Wouldn't it depend on the subject or topic in question? The experience to be an 'expert' in arithmetic would be considerably less than that required to be an expert in automotive mechanics. Dictionary.com defines an expert as 'a person who has special skill or knowledge in some particular field; specialist; authority.' Even that description is rather vague. Who determines that you have become an expert? Maybe it also depends on how often other colleagues in your field seek you out for information. If other librarians are coming to you with questions about librarianship and libraries, does that make you an expert? I have to say [name omitted] that you really got me thinking about this!
Since ideas, methods, and information constantly change, it could make staying an expert a very difficult thing. Much of one's time (depending on the subject of expertise) could be taken up with researching the latest ideas, methods, and information on one's chosen subject. (This is where we would come in as librarians!)"
In response to my comments, she brought up the idea of confidence and how that relates to the role of expert, specifically how much experience/knowledge it would take to get such confidence. She also wondered if it (an expert's confidence) would be seen as the same as self-promotion or narcissism on an online site like Facebook.
My thoughts:
"In response to your comments about confidence, I would agree that it would play a part in the role of being an expert. I don't have an answer as to the level of knowledge and experience that would lead to the confidence factor. However, I think that it would have something to do with one's comfort level. If you have enough knowledge and experience to be comfortable with a particular subject area, one could reason that you will also be gaining the confidence that would lead to a role as an expert. Unfortunately, "comfort" is so subjective and it would be different for each person. Also, I think that there is a distinction between confidence and self-promotion or narcissism. Your confidence with a particular subject wouldn't necessarily preclude you from being willing to listen to or taking an interest in other points of view. A self-promoter or narcissist by definition would probably find it very hard to even consider other viewpoints on a topic, as they would want to make others believe that their point of view is the (only) correct one."
And the debate continues...
If you want to jump in with your own ideas or perspective, please don't hesitate to leave a comment. :)
Friday, September 10, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Spring (Fall) cleaning
I love being able to "redecorate" my living space, even if it's just moving a piece of furniture to face a different way. You give the living area new energy, new focus, and (sometimes) a new purpose. Cleaning out the old and bringing in the new is invigorating, and shouldn't necessarily take place only in the spring, as the well-known phrase implies. It can be done year-round with just as much of a positive impact. Such was my holiday weekend.
I had been looking at my couch these past few months and wanted to move it out of the apartment. It's a bulky piece of furniture that's too big for my small place, and we (Scooter and I) never used it. The cats got 100 times more use out of it than we did, and even they were not on it often. It needed to go. So Saturday, we borrowed my parents' car, loaded up the couch and took it down to storage. When we came back to the apartment, I was amazed; there was so much more space with it gone. The room had the potential to be a room that I liked and wanted to use regularly. And so, when Scooter was napping in the next room, I decided to start moving the other furniture around.
It wasn't easy. There are a lot of electronics in the front room that need to stay there (TV, cable, Internet modem, router, printer, DVD player, etc., etc.). That meant a lot of wires to untangle before things could even be moved. Then, bit by bit, I worked my way around the room, moving furniture a piece at a time to see how it would look. Finally I had things the way I would like, and stepped back to take it all in. What a difference! The room looks larger, and there's more room to walk around. It looks, dare I say, inviting. It even seems like it's brighter, as if the clutter were sucking the very light away. Between that and my dining table that's become my de facto office, the apartment looks...perfect. Well, perfect for me anyway. Even Scooter was amazed by the change. He loves the front room now and hasn't complained about having to watch TV out there (before he didn't want to go out there much at all).
And so, to celebrate a job well done, I once again experimented for dinner. I made something that my mom calls porpetta (Mom, if you're reading this, you'll have to let me know if the spelling is off). It's another Italian food, one that my mom would make using left over ravioli filling. It's basically a fried meat patty, but it has Italian herbs in it that make it taste oh so good. Since I didn't have everything that went into ravioli filling, I experimented a bit with what I did have, and came up with this recipe.
What you'll need:
1 lb. ground meat
1/2 c. bread crumbs
1 egg
1 small onion
5 cloves garlic
3 4-6 inch springs of rosemary
3 sprigs of oregano
2 sprigs of thyme
3 sage leaves
salt and pepper to taste
What you'll need to do:
1. In a food processor, chop the onion and garlic until the pieces are very fine. Remove them from the food processor and set aside. Remove herb leaves from the stems and place the leaves in a wooden chopping bowl (or in a food processor if you don't have one). Chop the herbs until you get very fine pieces.
2. In a large mixing bowl, put in the ground meat, bread crumbs, egg, onion and garlic pieces, and the herbs. Using your hands, mix the contents together. Add salt and pepper (if desired) and continue mixing until all ingredients are fully assimilated.
3. Use your hands to shape the meat mixture into 6-7 palm-sized patties.
4. In a large frying pan, fry the patties over medium heat until well browned on both sides and fully cooked in the middle (12-15 minutes). Don't use oil in the frying pan, as the patties will come out too greasy. Also, don't cook more than 4 patties at a time in the pan.
Again, this recipe isn't too hard. You can cut back a little on the onion, but I would keep everything else just because the flavor is so good. Serve this with zucchini or your favorite vegetable on the side. I had porpetta and zucchini with peach crisp for dessert. Enjoy!
I had been looking at my couch these past few months and wanted to move it out of the apartment. It's a bulky piece of furniture that's too big for my small place, and we (Scooter and I) never used it. The cats got 100 times more use out of it than we did, and even they were not on it often. It needed to go. So Saturday, we borrowed my parents' car, loaded up the couch and took it down to storage. When we came back to the apartment, I was amazed; there was so much more space with it gone. The room had the potential to be a room that I liked and wanted to use regularly. And so, when Scooter was napping in the next room, I decided to start moving the other furniture around.
It wasn't easy. There are a lot of electronics in the front room that need to stay there (TV, cable, Internet modem, router, printer, DVD player, etc., etc.). That meant a lot of wires to untangle before things could even be moved. Then, bit by bit, I worked my way around the room, moving furniture a piece at a time to see how it would look. Finally I had things the way I would like, and stepped back to take it all in. What a difference! The room looks larger, and there's more room to walk around. It looks, dare I say, inviting. It even seems like it's brighter, as if the clutter were sucking the very light away. Between that and my dining table that's become my de facto office, the apartment looks...perfect. Well, perfect for me anyway. Even Scooter was amazed by the change. He loves the front room now and hasn't complained about having to watch TV out there (before he didn't want to go out there much at all).
And so, to celebrate a job well done, I once again experimented for dinner. I made something that my mom calls porpetta (Mom, if you're reading this, you'll have to let me know if the spelling is off). It's another Italian food, one that my mom would make using left over ravioli filling. It's basically a fried meat patty, but it has Italian herbs in it that make it taste oh so good. Since I didn't have everything that went into ravioli filling, I experimented a bit with what I did have, and came up with this recipe.
What you'll need:
1 lb. ground meat
1/2 c. bread crumbs
1 egg
1 small onion
5 cloves garlic
3 4-6 inch springs of rosemary
3 sprigs of oregano
2 sprigs of thyme
3 sage leaves
salt and pepper to taste
What you'll need to do:
1. In a food processor, chop the onion and garlic until the pieces are very fine. Remove them from the food processor and set aside. Remove herb leaves from the stems and place the leaves in a wooden chopping bowl (or in a food processor if you don't have one). Chop the herbs until you get very fine pieces.
2. In a large mixing bowl, put in the ground meat, bread crumbs, egg, onion and garlic pieces, and the herbs. Using your hands, mix the contents together. Add salt and pepper (if desired) and continue mixing until all ingredients are fully assimilated.
3. Use your hands to shape the meat mixture into 6-7 palm-sized patties.
4. In a large frying pan, fry the patties over medium heat until well browned on both sides and fully cooked in the middle (12-15 minutes). Don't use oil in the frying pan, as the patties will come out too greasy. Also, don't cook more than 4 patties at a time in the pan.
Again, this recipe isn't too hard. You can cut back a little on the onion, but I would keep everything else just because the flavor is so good. Serve this with zucchini or your favorite vegetable on the side. I had porpetta and zucchini with peach crisp for dessert. Enjoy!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Life doesn't stop for school
Earlier this week, I was alerted by one of my siblings that my mother had had a little accident. She hurt her ankle and had to go to the emergency room to get it checked. The doctors determined that she had torn the ligaments in her left ankle and would need to be off it and using crutches for 5-7 days. She's currently doing fine, which is a relief (I don't like for loved ones to be hurt and in pain). Her ankle is still very obviously swollen, but she's been icing it to help with that and she's told me that she's able to put a little more weight on it every day. Overall, she's in good spirits but she's frustrated because of how limited she is with her ability to move around (which is completely understandable).
I was over to help her out on Tuesday, and I will be going over again today. This is the first of many examples I'm sure I will have over the next few years that there is no pause button for life while in school. Anything could happen at any time: illness, accidents, situations at work that require immediate attention. Any or all of these could take my attention away from school. My determination will be tested, and I hope that I can prove myself to be able to handle almost anything that comes along.
I've had many strong women in my family to light the way and be my role models. First and foremost is, of course, my mother. Her strength of character and caring heart are truly to be admired. She managed to be a full-time mom, run a household, and be a full-time student (I can't imagine how she did it). However, Mom if you're reading this, you can't be Super Woman! Let others take care of you for now until you get back on your feet! And for the twentieth time (and I say this most lovingly), you're not a burden. I'm more than happy to help you.
I guess the lesson to learn is that even though life doesn't stop for school, that's only to be expected. I'll just take each day as it comes. It will be even more important for me not to procrastinate those big assignments that do require planning and research to successfully execute. It all goes back to those time management and organization skills that I have been lectured on and wrote about. I think it will also require communication with my professors; if I let them know from the onset that something is going on, they may be more willing to work with me and allow for some flexibility with assignment deadlines. At least this time, my school work is not really disrupted at all; however, it's always good to be prepared for the future.
Life goes on, and I can only follow. Next week's recipe will be posted on Monday as usual.
I was over to help her out on Tuesday, and I will be going over again today. This is the first of many examples I'm sure I will have over the next few years that there is no pause button for life while in school. Anything could happen at any time: illness, accidents, situations at work that require immediate attention. Any or all of these could take my attention away from school. My determination will be tested, and I hope that I can prove myself to be able to handle almost anything that comes along.
I've had many strong women in my family to light the way and be my role models. First and foremost is, of course, my mother. Her strength of character and caring heart are truly to be admired. She managed to be a full-time mom, run a household, and be a full-time student (I can't imagine how she did it). However, Mom if you're reading this, you can't be Super Woman! Let others take care of you for now until you get back on your feet! And for the twentieth time (and I say this most lovingly), you're not a burden. I'm more than happy to help you.
I guess the lesson to learn is that even though life doesn't stop for school, that's only to be expected. I'll just take each day as it comes. It will be even more important for me not to procrastinate those big assignments that do require planning and research to successfully execute. It all goes back to those time management and organization skills that I have been lectured on and wrote about. I think it will also require communication with my professors; if I let them know from the onset that something is going on, they may be more willing to work with me and allow for some flexibility with assignment deadlines. At least this time, my school work is not really disrupted at all; however, it's always good to be prepared for the future.
Life goes on, and I can only follow. Next week's recipe will be posted on Monday as usual.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)