"In his new article, The New Yorker's Malcolm Gladwell uses a well-known theory to contrast early school shooters back in the 1900s with shooters today." - NPRThe world keeps spinning... I just haven't caught up.
Two long weeks into October my body ached for the sun. Winter is coming.
I wrote a lengthy piece on Sunday tooling many ideas into one. It seems a rare occurrence these days to sit and ponder. I am limited by my lazy tongue and shifting themes of interest. Sternly, I must remind myself that listening is the more important skill.
Listening requires an ability to visualize and imagine (make the movies in my head). Constructing the here and now in my own mind is how I perceive these stories.
Distracted by a tangent, my memory of Carol Burnett on Colbert and Kevin as... Jimmy. The voice of JAMES Stewart reminds me of a classic story. His sound.. country store simple... easy to take in.
In the midst of my memories, I get lost in the many tangents.
Instead of writing, I find a new story to read:
Thresholds of Violence: How school shootings catch on by Malcolm Gladwell.
His voice patiently delivers heavy spoon-fed content. You could almost quietly imagine him speaking the words in a classic story kind of way. Sublimely, he lays down a track. A Minnesota woman looking out her window while washing dishes sees a boy cutting across her lawn.
I try to imagine washing dishes with the dishwasher in the background.
Halfway through the article, I want to phone-a-friend. I link her in on the conversation #schoolshootings #riot-thresholds #groupthink #columbine. The article hits an intellectual threshold for a rioting conversation in my head. In reality, it would seem I cannot muster a quorum.
My tapping and clapping impatient child breaks my attention with a demand. I will have to find another afternoon to continue pondering about the raging themes of culture.
For now, a child demands attention and I find this is often the most important skill,
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