or search for 'martin cadwell -caldwell' Take note of the position of the minus sign to eliminate caldwell returns or search for 'martin cadwell blog' in your browser.
I am not on YouTube or social media
[ 6 minute read ]
Look in the toy box
Or as Talking Heads said, 'Stop Making Sense'
Two mediums (fortune-tellers) meet in the street; one says to the other. 'You are alright. How am I?'
I saw a film a long time ago. It had Will Smith in it and he was studying under poor conditions for a law degree. I think it was called, 'The Pursuit of Happyness'. I think that is how happiness was spelt. I could easily Google it; I have unlimited data download (limit), three laptops and four screens so I have no limit to finding out if I am right beyond what is available for me to view online. It doesn't matter if I am wrong. It would only matter if I am Will Smith in the film.
When there is a task I don't particularly want to engage in I tell myself I am tired and, because I command myself, there is no other opinion to encourage me to reassess my values and position. I know that I have a goal and I know there are constraints to achieving that goal. I am confident that I can overcome the constraints, except for one; my confidence that I can overcome constraints and difficulties. I think my confidence constrains me. I think I should be nervous or at least a little concerned. Yet, I know I have contingency plans and, strangely, I can set the microwave to go for any number of minutes in the kitchen and without looking at a clock, stop doing whatever I am doing in the living room and enter the kitchen when there are two seconds to go before the microwave pings and stops. I know what the time is in the kitchen when I am not there or know how many minutes have passed. It happens often enough that I notice it, but mostly I ignore it.
'You are alright.......' I don't deceive myself as much as steal from myself.
'How am I?' I never asked.
While it seems I am brushing over procrastination and showing instead denial, I think the two are the same; I am lazy.
Let's go to Thesaurus Corner to see what I could have said.
'Martin, what could I have said?'
'Well, you could have said, negligent or unwilling, sluggish or dutiless.'
'Ouch! I somehow feel wounded.'
'The internet gives us; not willing to work or be energetic; slow-moving (sluggish) and conducive to inactivity or indolence (a lazy Summer day)'
'Thank you.'
My home is not lazy yet. I deliberately don't use a washing machine even though I own one, and I cook from scratch. I do have a kettle though; I don't rub water vigorously between my hands to heat it for tea.
I said I would look at causality this year. How can my 2026 work for me?
On January 20th 1961, John F Kennedy made his inaugural address which included this: 'Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country!'
Do I have a false sense of illusion? Do I really 'see' things as they are? Tick Tock?
If I rummage around enough in the toy-box of my head, I find... forgotten gew-gaws and gimcracks; the J.F.K address and the Will Smith film. What do these have in common. It would seem nothing. Civil rights? Strife? On the cusp of attainment or success? And why do I keep returning to being lazy?
This is just playing with toys and making stories from disparate items, isn't it? Well, I don't really think so. When we sleep, we dream. While I don't pretend to understand how we process information to be confident enough to write a paper, I have in the past stated that we are all psychotic and febrile at certain times of our lives; when we sleep. It is good for us. Playing with the toys in our heads lets us sort things out.
Causality. I am not going to look up what that means. To be honest I don't like the idea that we live linear lives. Oh, we might have a single life from birth through adolescence, maturity, and old age, but I don't want to believe that it is so linear that one thing necessarily leads to another. 'Sliding Doors' with Gwyneth Paltrow, a rom-com from 1998, with Jeanne Tripplehorn in it. We'll come to her momentarily.
Sliding Doors is in one of my favourite film genres of 'What if?' with multiple futures and pasts. Time travel falls into this category. The sliding doors are represented by the doors of a subway train closing before Gwyneth Paltrow can board, or not closing, and so a series of events occur as a consequence, as two distinct story lines. Serendipity or carelessness?
Jeanne Tripplehorn was in 'Basic Instinct'; 'The Firm' and 'Waterworld'. I can't find anything useful there that can be part of my impromptu story. Aha! she started her acting career on stage, including in Anton Chekhov's 'Three Sisters' on Broadway.
While looking at mise en pièces in studying film-making and plays (French, 'Tearing to pieces') a while ago, I came across Anton Chekhov. According to Brittanica: 'AntonChekhov, Russian playwright and master of the modern short story. He described the Russian life of his time using a deceptively simple technique devoid of obtrusive literary devices, and he is regarded as the outstanding representative of the late 19th-century Russian realist school.'
From my brief studies back then, I discovered the phrase, 'Chekhov's Gun'. According to Search Assist: Chekhov's gun is a storytelling principle that states every element introduced in a story must be necessary to the plot, meaning if something is mentioned, it should have significance later on. This concept helps avoid unnecessary details and ensures that the narrative remains focused and engaging.
While I have so far not understood why conclusions are not a waste of words in an essay with a word limit, I can see the practical use of them when there is no word limit.
'You are alright, how am I?'; 'The pursuit of Happyness'; over-confidence and nervousness; prescience and microwave-cooking; negligent or unwilling, sluggish or dutiless; JFKs inaugural address; the toy-box of my head; rights and strife before success; psychosis and being febrile; linear lives and 'Sliding Doors' (what if?); and Chekhov's Gun.
It is a lot to chew on isn't it?
First a cursory check on myself and I find that I am not nervous enough (not challenged enough?). If I didn't look at myself from outside of myself (being in two places at once) I would definitely be negligent and dutiless; it would be a dereliction of duty. I am the 'country' I should be looking to do something for, as well as being the recipient of my own resources. Even if I find myself in positions and places in which I do not feel comfortable, I must be on duty in order that I can achieve my goals and consider alternative opportunities. We have to sometimes just shake out the toy box of our heads to see what is there, and when we put everything back it is neater, and we are richer from the experience. And finally Chekov's Gun: Cut the crap and keep only the relevant. Those are the toys I will play with today.
Look in the toy box
All my posts: https://learn1.open.ac.uk/mod/oublog/view.php?u=zw219551
or search for 'martin cadwell -caldwell' Take note of the position of the minus sign to eliminate caldwell returns or search for 'martin cadwell blog' in your browser.
I am not on YouTube or social media
[ 6 minute read ]
Look in the toy box
Or as Talking Heads said, 'Stop Making Sense'
Two mediums (fortune-tellers) meet in the street; one says to the other. 'You are alright. How am I?'
I saw a film a long time ago. It had Will Smith in it and he was studying under poor conditions for a law degree. I think it was called, 'The Pursuit of Happyness'. I think that is how happiness was spelt. I could easily Google it; I have unlimited data download (limit), three laptops and four screens so I have no limit to finding out if I am right beyond what is available for me to view online. It doesn't matter if I am wrong. It would only matter if I am Will Smith in the film.
When there is a task I don't particularly want to engage in I tell myself I am tired and, because I command myself, there is no other opinion to encourage me to reassess my values and position. I know that I have a goal and I know there are constraints to achieving that goal. I am confident that I can overcome the constraints, except for one; my confidence that I can overcome constraints and difficulties. I think my confidence constrains me. I think I should be nervous or at least a little concerned. Yet, I know I have contingency plans and, strangely, I can set the microwave to go for any number of minutes in the kitchen and without looking at a clock, stop doing whatever I am doing in the living room and enter the kitchen when there are two seconds to go before the microwave pings and stops. I know what the time is in the kitchen when I am not there or know how many minutes have passed. It happens often enough that I notice it, but mostly I ignore it.
'You are alright.......' I don't deceive myself as much as steal from myself.
'How am I?' I never asked.
While it seems I am brushing over procrastination and showing instead denial, I think the two are the same; I am lazy.
Let's go to Thesaurus Corner to see what I could have said.
'Martin, what could I have said?'
'Well, you could have said, negligent or unwilling, sluggish or dutiless.'
'Ouch! I somehow feel wounded.'
'The internet gives us; not willing to work or be energetic; slow-moving (sluggish) and conducive to inactivity or indolence (a lazy Summer day)'
'Thank you.'
My home is not lazy yet. I deliberately don't use a washing machine even though I own one, and I cook from scratch. I do have a kettle though; I don't rub water vigorously between my hands to heat it for tea.
I said I would look at causality this year. How can my 2026 work for me?
On January 20th 1961, John F Kennedy made his inaugural address which included this: 'Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country!'
Do I have a false sense of illusion? Do I really 'see' things as they are? Tick Tock?
If I rummage around enough in the toy-box of my head, I find... forgotten gew-gaws and gimcracks; the J.F.K address and the Will Smith film. What do these have in common. It would seem nothing. Civil rights? Strife? On the cusp of attainment or success? And why do I keep returning to being lazy?
This is just playing with toys and making stories from disparate items, isn't it? Well, I don't really think so. When we sleep, we dream. While I don't pretend to understand how we process information to be confident enough to write a paper, I have in the past stated that we are all psychotic and febrile at certain times of our lives; when we sleep. It is good for us. Playing with the toys in our heads lets us sort things out.
Causality. I am not going to look up what that means. To be honest I don't like the idea that we live linear lives. Oh, we might have a single life from birth through adolescence, maturity, and old age, but I don't want to believe that it is so linear that one thing necessarily leads to another. 'Sliding Doors' with Gwyneth Paltrow, a rom-com from 1998, with Jeanne Tripplehorn in it. We'll come to her momentarily.
Sliding Doors is in one of my favourite film genres of 'What if?' with multiple futures and pasts. Time travel falls into this category. The sliding doors are represented by the doors of a subway train closing before Gwyneth Paltrow can board, or not closing, and so a series of events occur as a consequence, as two distinct story lines. Serendipity or carelessness?
Jeanne Tripplehorn was in 'Basic Instinct'; 'The Firm' and 'Waterworld'. I can't find anything useful there that can be part of my impromptu story. Aha! she started her acting career on stage, including in Anton Chekhov's 'Three Sisters' on Broadway.
While looking at mise en pièces in studying film-making and plays (French, 'Tearing to pieces') a while ago, I came across Anton Chekhov. According to Brittanica: 'Anton Chekhov, Russian playwright and master of the modern short story. He described the Russian life of his time using a deceptively simple technique devoid of obtrusive literary devices, and he is regarded as the outstanding representative of the late 19th-century Russian realist school.'
https://www.britannica.com › biography › Anton-Chekhov
From my brief studies back then, I discovered the phrase, 'Chekhov's Gun'. According to Search Assist: Chekhov's gun is a storytelling principle that states every element introduced in a story must be necessary to the plot, meaning if something is mentioned, it should have significance later on. This concept helps avoid unnecessary details and ensures that the narrative remains focused and engaging.
While I have so far not understood why conclusions are not a waste of words in an essay with a word limit, I can see the practical use of them when there is no word limit.
'You are alright, how am I?'; 'The pursuit of Happyness'; over-confidence and nervousness; prescience and microwave-cooking; negligent or unwilling, sluggish or dutiless; JFKs inaugural address; the toy-box of my head; rights and strife before success; psychosis and being febrile; linear lives and 'Sliding Doors' (what if?); and Chekhov's Gun.
It is a lot to chew on isn't it?
First a cursory check on myself and I find that I am not nervous enough (not challenged enough?). If I didn't look at myself from outside of myself (being in two places at once) I would definitely be negligent and dutiless; it would be a dereliction of duty. I am the 'country' I should be looking to do something for, as well as being the recipient of my own resources. Even if I find myself in positions and places in which I do not feel comfortable, I must be on duty in order that I can achieve my goals and consider alternative opportunities. We have to sometimes just shake out the toy box of our heads to see what is there, and when we put everything back it is neater, and we are richer from the experience. And finally Chekov's Gun: Cut the crap and keep only the relevant. Those are the toys I will play with today.
But we had to look in the toy-box first.