Archive | October, 2012

What I learned at summer camp. Really.

30 Oct

This past summer I was a first-year facilitator at our Rotary Disctrict 5580 Camp RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award). At that camp, we were trained in a facilitator role of letting the youth run the camp. What that meant is that, on many levels, the direction of discussion and the planning and accomplishment of activities and tasks was put upon the youth, accomplished high school juniors and seniors. As I expressed it at one point, they are the ball rolling toward the pins, maybe hitting a strike, maybe hitting one pin; we are simply the bumpers that pop up to stop the ball from ending up in the next lane over. Continue reading →

No Fair! The Rich are Taxed Enough?

26 Oct

I’ll actually be simply writing about fairness, of sorts. The rich tax stuff was simply meant to be provocative; earlier today I finished listening to the Intelligence Squared debate on the topic of The Rich are Taxed Enough. That actually fits into the fairness topic in many ways, but I won’t be addressing it. (smile!)

I’m heading to a Taekwondo tournament tomorrow hosted by a school in a sister association. Black belts of all ranks are involved in judging forms and breaking routines, and refereeing sparring matches. Particularly in judging forms, emptying one’s mind and simply judging what is actually presented, is very important if one is to judge fairly. Continue reading →

Fun Friday 1

19 Oct

Since I’ve been sadly remiss in putting out regular posts (mostly because I’m too concerned about being solid and good), I decided to do a bit more of a quick and dirty, lighter reflection on Fridays. I’ll pull this one from a Facebook post I put up last night when I got home from teaching Taekwondo classes. Of course, I offer some comment/elaboration on my brief Facebook statements.

1. A good night of Taekwondo classes is great! Elaboration: Classes were lighter than usual due to the state’s MEA days/weekend (Minnesota Education Association). Teachers get training days, schools close, and everyone takes off work and disappears somewhere. It’s like Greece. (wink)   Continue reading →

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