Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Day 23

It's not that easy to photograph objects under glass, so I included several shots. I enjoyed making this little poppet world.



It started with the mushroom, found behind the greenhouse several weeks ago after the first autumn rains. It dried completely, then I soaked it in the sort of stuff used to seal wood to make it strong.



It begged for a poppet reading under it.



But tonight isn't for talking about poppets. We know they're here. And they agree that we might be best served by continuing to talk about education. Thank you for your comments. I'll answer each of them, but likely, it will be tomorrow morning as this has been a long day of yaks and interruptions, the end result of which is that I'm convinced that, at this point in the history of my life at least, that I am an excellent parent.





Here is another excerpt from Thinking About Quality:

" Education is different. Since you can never know everything, education must continue. And it is better, according to Deming, if that education has little or nothing to do with your job. That's the point where traditional American managers balk. Major corporations consider it reasonable to pay for a course in advanced accounting for a new accountant, but even some of the best companies seem reluctant to pay for a course in philosophy or art appreciation or Japanese flower arranging.

Worker education in unrelated areas may have a better payoff in the long run than skills training, but it is, we admit, impossible to measure or prove. The theory is that he or she will bring that new thinking skill to the job. Thinking of the old job in a new way could create a new solution. For instance, Japanese flower arranging requires the eye of a designer searching for maximum artistic benefit with minimum materials, which is one way to describe creating a better product for less money. Even if there's no breakthrough, the worker will be smarter, and that is an asset. What will provide commercial success in the twenty first century is a workforce of highly educated, highly motivated people.











I welcome and very much appreciate your comments and thoughts on this.


Now, I've just finished the third steamy bathroom for a croupy, congested child who is now asleep with a vaporizer. He and I left the brave Dwarves and Hobbit in the cells of the prison of the King of the Wood Faeries. (At least they now know that Thorin is alive and well.)


Aubrey and I are about to complete the last three episodes of Lost. And I, your artist, am feeling quite satisfied to have jumped through the many hoops thrown in front of her on this day.


I thank you for checking in, as always.













5 comments:

Diandra said...

Oh. My. Goodness. I know I say this every time, but I *love* it. Sorry for repeating myself. It's miraculous.

PoesyGirl said...

So beautiful! I get tons of lovely mushrooms in my yard all spring and summer, they attract the turtles which love to devour them. I'd love to dry some and seal them the way you have, as long as a little turtle does'nt miss his meal.

Lindsey said...

your new piece is incredible, I love all the detail. And the choice of odd shaped box. :D

Drinne said...

That reminds me of the darker mushroom that Poppet was under reading to Cthulu in Massachusetts

where cthulu was unseen here
http://tinyurl.com/4e3ejnj

but seen halfway down the blog here
http://tinyurl.com/45gy8eg

My Poppets always seem to be running towards mushrooms, cooking with mushrooms, wearing them as hats. . . .

This seems like where it was ultimately going to have to end up really, although admittedly with less Cthulu.

It is adorable.

As for the education - this passage seems closer to the way I think about it, but I'm part of Business World so I also know the limitations of it, and the nature of the workers who would avail themselves of the opportunity and the nature of those who would abuse it. In a capitalist society with an extreme bent towards individualism and darwinian social politics the only way I could see that working is if it became a competitive reward or a mark of favor granted after a business need performance was met or exceeded - otherwise it would be devalued or easily abused as a cost inflater or time waster. Also colleges tend to price their classes for that kind of development higher once it's valued by corporations even at the community level because colleges need money - thus it once again becomes available only for haves and outlier have nots.

the WV is coproxym - the spasm that reality goes through when something in real life reminds someone of Cop Rock.

Kelly said...

I love what you did with the mushroom!

As far as the education goes, I believe that continued education unrelated to work is beneficial. I'm thinking of it in a different way, I'm afraid, but I would rather know as much about as many things as possible. If I'm already working in the field, it is safe to say I know a fair amount, why not explore something else? For logical purposes, my masters will be in Special Education, but I doubt my doctorate work will involve education at all. (I have big plans :))