I constantly witness these 2 pups engage in a never ending face-biting contest. I tried to document it with my iphone and they immediately become suspicious. Dooley’s ears jump to full attention and then the momma bear aka Izzy comes directly to the source to investigate. I think it is really funny how they react.
Enjoy.
Here is a pretty funny video from my Sonoma trip of the dogs trying to get a ball which was in the pool. Gus (the black lab) had already been in the pool a million times but for some reason when the ball is 2 ft away versus 10 ft away, he will not jump in to get it. The German shepherd is a princess and will not get in the water for anything, except maybe to bite Gus’ neck on his way back from retrieval.
Sonoma pups want ball in pool
Enjoy!
One of the most important lessons that I have “learned” is the invaluable asset of knowing how to learn. This may seem like a simplistic if not empirical skill that everyone surely possesses by simply finishing any flavor of structured education, but I would actually argue that this seemingly simple skill is often overlooked and undervalued. In my opinion, anyone willing to take note of how they absorb information best will be much more successful at mastering a subject/skill.
Learning most commonly occurs through visual, auditory, interactive means and the majority of people are better at one or another when trying to retain information. The first discovery should be to figure out through which channel you are best at retaining information: eyes, ears, or hands. I am very much a visual learner. I think visually and do math visually and consequently learn better through visual means. I also learn a great deal by doing something. So, before you hone your learning skills, identify your strengths.
Secondly, I believe that knowledge is power, power is valuable, and anything valuable doesn’t come without sacrifice and hard work. The basis of this whole entry is to reveal the following story about how I was forced to learn how to learn by a few students in my high school.
When I was a freshman in high school (attending Donelson Christian Academy), I was unfortunately in a serious car accident which left me with 3 days in intensive care, a severe concussion, lots of stitches from broken glass, and a broken ankle. The injuries prevented me from participating in sports that Fall. In place of the after school practices, I decided to enroll in an elective course dealing with the Internet (this was 1996 so we were pretty hip!). As you might expect, the guys in this class were those audio/visual, computer geek-types that everyone steered clear of. They even had pocket protectors (no joke!). I was a bit hesitant at first but soon realized they were really nice people with very valuable information. So, as I began to watch them program CGI perl apps, buy domain names, and install Linux from floppy disks, I wanted in. As I soon discovered, I enjoyed technology as much as them.
In order to get involved, I began asking questions and asking for guidance. This approach however was not looked upon kindly by the guys who had put in the hard work and time to learn these skills themselves. They wanted me to earn it the same as they had so they started handing me books to read (mostly technical manuals or programming specs). I dug in. They wanted me to learn how to teach myself by reading and researching. This turned out to be one of the most valuable lessons of my life. Instead of relying on someone telling me the answers to my possibly ignorant questions, my first stop was to consult the documentation. With the proliferation of Internet resources and the power of the Google search, there is no excuse for anyone trying to find information when they want it. The information is endless. Being willing to explore and knowing how to learn are all you need to participate.
Get involved!
Welcome to the newly formed saine.blog. My aim for this weblog is to recount the many important lessons I have been lucky enough to learn while striving to better my efforts to be a successful web application developer and Internet entrepreneur.
Some of the topics that I have pinpointed as my first posts are below:
