The Daily Roger

I sometimes hate admitting to my age, but sometimes people change their minds about things, and age is the only explanation. In my case, age has given me the ability to stand back and talk later in life about things earlier in life that I would not talk about.  When I was 13 and living in Platte Woods, Missouri, there was a tiny forest-like area behind our house. Occasionally deer might come into or near the yard, and we weren't terribly surprised by the occasional raccoon. But it was quite a treat sometimes to go out into that forest, just to think, thanks to a path accessible from the back of our yard. It wasn't the most well-trodden path but it was good enough to snake into the thick portion of the forest and towards Lake Waukomis, where the less frugal suburbanites lived. Often I went as far as where the path crossed a small stream, which was no wider than four feet or so. To cross it required walking over the stream and walking up to a higher embankment. Normally, I would ...

It may sound strange, but all of us need to be lectured to for the sake of creativity. That sounds contradictory to what we heard from creativity people. Aren't teachers who drone on and on, authoritarians who reprimand us publicly, at fault with how creativity isn't happening in the world?  Not essentially, no. Lectures are like any other tool. They can be used or abused horribly. They were at one time an amazing tool of entertainment. In the 19th century, people such as Robert Ingersoll or Edward Everett Horton would give lectures of hours in length. Cruddy lectures, ones that lack substance, can bore someone profoundly. However, problems with cruddy lectures are not the fault of the lecture per se. It depends on how the craft is done. I firmly believe based on a few experiences that lectures will help you. Let me give you three. First, I attended very long courses by Leonard Peikoff, available for rent, and all noncredit. These lectures would last for two and a half hours, i...

Name the songs these haiku (haikus?) refer to. Impress your friends with your own ability to pick out cultural references. 1. Four Liverpool lads submerge in a vessel that's canary-colored. 2. Conway Twitty's sad to chat briefly with his ex, a woman he wronged. 3. Six uniformed men advise other men who need, well, other men for... 4. A sultry vixen asks for expensive presents from a jolly elf. 5. Men ask a question regarding the canines that were liberated. 6. A Scottish toiler tills his land and feeds livestock, despite his aging. 7. Eric admits to county law enforcement chief being gunned down cold. 8. Short of one hundred airborne spheres of crimson rise then trigger a war. 9. There is a cowboy in that elevator, plus more horsing around 10. Fill in the blank for that voyager who travels one time 'round the Sun.

In late April, I'll be speaking at Korea's Toastmasters conference at one of our education sessions. I specialize in finding topics I like and making them into presentations. I thought I would should those who follow this blog one of my advance activities. Central to my view of how to be creative is to integrate concepts and information. That point is not original to me, of course, and it comes largely from Leonard Peikoff, whose influence on me I firmly believe made me more creative. The activity I have planned is to have participants at my presentation do a little integration of their own. That means taking a list of items, then finding a common principle underneath them. This idea, too, is adapted from Ayn Rand, again via Leonard Peikoff, who would have her best proteges pull principles from a hat and make a correction. This is slightly different: group some of these in a greater category. Leonard Peikoff actually had a radio show where he would have tie-in contests. He'...

With all the right people on the task, all the right technology, and popularity on your side, this will have to succeed.  C'mon, look at the line-up for the great movie. The Spirit, a comic-book property by Will Eisner, was one of the great innovative comics series of the 40s. Frank Miller, the highly respected comic book artist/writer, had movie credits to his name as a writer and co-director, was perfect to adapt this concept to the silver screen. Being a  protégé of Will Eisner, knowing him personally, having had hours-long comics conversation with Eisner, and even going to his funeral -- well, it's a no-brainer to have him in charge. It was excellent to have a studio behind you, genuine superstar actors in the cast, and a bit of technological innovation to add something better to the film. Instead, the Lionsgate 2009 film The Spirit --  written and directed by Frank Miller, acting talent such as Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson, and a ready-made fan base to go...

We lost a great man with the passing of Dr. John Ridpath, the well-known professor of  intellectual history at York University in Toronto, a fellow Objectivist, and an excellent public speaker.  In 1992, I saw John Ridpath speak at Conceptual Conferences, an Objectivist conference I went to in Williamsburg, Virginia. His speech on the history of Virginia and its impact on America's founding featured his own passion for the American Revolution. When he spoke about how this state went from the Jamestown settlement to the battle of Yorktown, he was sometimes moved to tears, as was the audience, including yours truly.  The speech carried well in the conference room, due to the microphone and speakers, to be sure, but also to his six-foot height and his deeply resonant voice. Every point seemed to hit home. The moment he ended this 100-minute speech with "Thank you," there was an immediate standing ovation from most of the room of 300 people. He was the best orator I had ever ...

Asking someone if he's been through Hell sounds a bit abstract, since Hell might be different things to different people. Asking someone if he's been through an MA program while working -- well, that could get a greater response of horror. Yes, I survived a Master's program while working a teaching job. Didn't think I would survive, at least for a while. I was holding my Master's studies together really well, until it was time to do my student teaching.  In my case, student teaching more or less did me.  Other MA-seeking students in the course handled their student teaching well. I didn't. Nothing I did felt right, and the professor observing me underscored the aspects of my teaching "needing improvement." The professor's suggestions were tinged with an anger from her about my presumption to teach in the manner humans could recommend. In many ways, it was how I framed the work. I was capable as a teacher and hard-working, and had taught before to g...