Tai Chi Notes #2 -- horse parting mane

I cracked and -- gasp -- spend money on something.  We went to Barnes and Noble and I had money in pocket from Christmas.

It's a DVD/book set called Anatomy of Fitness: Tai Chi.   The set has two closer to complete routines to do, but before moving on to the first of those, the books explains some of the footwork to master.

I have no problem with working on the fundamentals, but I want something to play with as well.  So I present horse parting mane, with a you tube video that gives some good tips as to what to focus on:


My morning wake up (starting today) is: work on starting position in tai chi, do some warm up stretches from there, then some work wild horse parting the mane, and then my squats and push ups for my greasing the groove.

When I return back to the school year, I will have the benefit of full length mirrors (my room used to be an acting room).  I will be able to work on move after move, experimenting with variations and getting pretty good feedback on whether I look like the exemplars.

What I'll Work on in 2015

If you've been reading this blog, it is should be pretty clear what I'll be playing with in 2015, but what will I be working on?

Looking over my bucket list (or list of stuff to do before I am 40) I have the following break-down:

Goals I'd be Disappointed to not Achieve in 2015:

Get body fat below 12%
Do 100 push-ups in one go
Do 200 squats in one go

Goals I can make progress in (and perhaps achieve with luck on my side):

Pay off the house
Coach a individual state champion
Help 100,000 people manage time better
Help 100,000 people to learn techniques to live sustainably (ie permaculture)
Have 10,000 people use software I've written
Make a mobile ap (can help me achieve the previous goal) 

The common thread to all these goals is they can be achieved without me spending money.   I'm trying to stay on a spending fast as much as possible until the house is paid off.

All the rest of the goals probably require the outlay of some money, though I can be intelligent about how much I end up spending (frugal rather than cheap).  I can work on them some other year.

Not on the bucket list is my studies of Tai Chi and Go (Wei Qi).  I guess this will be a year of Eastern disciplines.   I can see Tai Chi becoming a daily, and perhaps lifelong, practice, whereas with Go I have the the more pedestrian desires and no time frames at all.

Tai Chi Notes #1

Source: long you tube video.

• Keep head and eyes up. 
• Don't look down, it changes your balance
• Keep knee perpendicular to ankle, not leaned forward to foot line, or even further.
• Be mindful of shoulders and keep loose and downward
• Shoulders and waist move as a unit
• Knees and toes point in the same direction

Okay, that's already 5 things to be looking for.  My teaching style for others is to teach only a few things and then give feedback on them.  It is only with the fundamentals pushed down the level of automatic that more complex things can be looked at.  

So these are the first criteria of what to look at for my first moves.

Tai Chi Videos

First, a link with some super simple moves explained.

A much bigger video, with first philosophy and then good technical instruction:

Russel's Praise of Idleness

Just read for the first time Bertrand Russel's In Praise of Idleness.  I recommend it for anyone who hasn't shaken the notion that they must be productive at all times to justify their existence.

Which may seem like an odd statement from someone who has a goal to help 100,000 people to manage their time better, but is actually completely consistent.

I know a few tricks to help squeeze more out of the time you are already spending working, but that is to free up leisure time.  It is in this leisure time that reflection occurs, and priorities get reevaluated, even in miraculously short amounts of time.  When I first started experimenting with the pomodoro method, I found that during my 5 minute break period, I would often realize that I was either going about my work the wrong way or working on the wrong thing.  If you stay locked in too long you're actually a much less effective worker, let alone less effective at the work of living a good life.

Pull Up Bar Installed

My home gym is complete.  I look forward to one day being able to maintain my arm strength with the simple economy of pull-ups.  One day I will switch my greasing the groove to pull-ups and attempt a 25 pull-up challenge.  One day.

I've been lifting weights for months and have more than tripled how much I can do a bicep curl with, so how many pull ups can I do?  Zero.  At least zero "true" pull ups.

This fact doesn't bother me.  It's another thing I can begin working on. The process is what is important.  Progress is what is enjoyable.

To begin the process, I can do a set of five "jumping" chin ups (not pull ups), focusing on the negative.  Also, when I cross by the closet, where the pull up bar is placed, I hang in pull up position, trying to develop some grip and work on the shoulder muscles it will take to do pull ups in the future.

I'm at zero pull ups and counting.

The Christmas Haul

My two favorite presents of the year are a door-frame-mounted pull up bar (thus completing my home gym) and a harmonica.

I had once wanted to take up the harmonica when I was younger, but I hadn't thought much of it in years.  But the idea seems appealing.  Though I don't listen to it much, the blues do speak to me on a spiritual level and who wouldn't like to be able to play "Dixie" for their redneck relatives (and wanna be redneck relatives -- no matter how sad it is that such a person exists).

The pursuit of harmonica skills might displace my study of Go, which is quite all right.  Studying the technical skills of the game is a fine pass-time, but hasn't so far deepened my understanding of the game as a spiritual metaphor.  Which makes sense, because nature is the better sensei , of course, and the weather still has not closed off my enjoyment spending time with my truest Teacher.

Also, I got some Christmas money.  I am going to earmark that money for the garden, whether buying seeds or wood mulch for the pathways.  And I will pay the proceeds of the garden forward.

The Right Balance

I don't believe work/life balance is the key balance to look track.  I think work should be minimized as much as possible and then after that is accomplished, a focus should be given to living the best life possible.

And to live that best possible life you have to balance action and rest (either actual sleep, or even slow, unstrained meditative thinking).  Now, that action can be what we call productive work, and actually so can that kind of thinking.  But it really doesn't have to be.

Also, balancing works in rhythms and cycles, so that certain times of day are better than others. And really, again, this is about enjoyment.  This is a completely side conversation as to whether someone wants their entire life co-opted by their employer (which just seems bad to me).


Physical
Action -- chores, strength training
Rest --  qigong/tai chi, napping

Gardening
Action -- digging, pruning, moving heavy debris, mowing
Rest --  planting seeds, gentle weeding in a loose bed, strolling about on a nice day, snacking by whim

Mental
Action -- e-mails, lesson planing, writing a quick blog post, working on a skill for a goal nerd goal
Rest -- thinking in silence, writing in cursive in a notebook, reading a good book slowly and pausing to think

Games to Play with Others
Action -- Backgammon, Yahtzee, Poker
Rest -- Go with the right handicap

Solitare games
Action --, Russian Backgammon Solitaire,  Open Face Chinese Poker Solitare (though I often play it when I can't sleep, so maybe it is in between "action" and "rest").
Rest -- Working through Go Joseki

Why I Write

Purpose 1. To Share What is Important

One of my biggest motivations to write is to make some pieces to help others gain some mastery over life -- even better, mastery over skills that help them be in the service of the situations the world presents.  And I believe those skills should be freely given, as a gift.

I believe all of this is tied to spirituality, or at least wisdom.  Either these terms are in practice the same thing or most people need spirituality to move along the path of wisdom.

I have moved down a path, going from early retirement (Extreme) and Mark Boyle's Moneyless Manifesto, to Daniel Suelo, and then through Suelo, I was introduced to Peace Pilgrim.  Each step along the way, I see more clearly the need for spirit, and how money really is its antithesis.

That wording about "service of the situation" comes from the writings of Peace Pilgrim:

Q: How can I begin to really live life?A: I began to really live life when I began to look at every situation and think about how I could be of service in that situation. I learned that I should not be pushy about helping, but just willing. Often I could give a helping hand - or perhaps a loving smile or a word of cheer. I learned it is through giving that we receive the worthwhile things of life.

I can find no truer words for dealing with the day to day of life.  Peace Pilgrim also shows me why my most important writings, the best gifts I can give, must remain free:

Q: Why don't you accept money? Because I talk about spiritual truth, and spiritual truth should never be sold - those who sell it injure themselves spiritually. . . Those who attempt to buy spiritual truth are trying to get it before they are ready. In this wonderfully well-ordered universe, when they are ready, it will be given.

Maybe I do prefer the term "wisdom."  If you are seen loving wisdom enough, perhaps you can be seen as a philosopher.  

So I'll re-write that passage, changing it for my message: 

Q:Why do you think all wisdom writing should be free?  Because I talk of wisdom and the good life, and these things should never be sold -- those who sell them injure their own wisdom and ability to live the good life. . . Those who attempt to buy the wise, good life are trying to get it before they are ready.  In this wonderfully well-ordered universe, when they are ready, it will be given they will notice it was already around them.

The good life is around us, and is always available for the right price: free.  When you have it, pay it forward.

Purpose 2. To Record My Life

I also write to leave a legacy of who I was.  The process of writing my memoirs starts now, as does a more accurate job of journaling.   My memories will be preserved better for having them written, as I have seen through the example of my wife's discipline of writing a sentence a day in a journal. If I can make one treasure for a family member, then it worth many hours of time (and even a few dollars of money for paper). 

Also, by giving shape to my memories, writing is an activity that will add more life to my years, which is probably more important than our cultural obsession with adding years to life, quality be damned.

3. To Have a Craft

I believe that life is best when we can get into some kind of flow, much like the concept of Zen in the art of _____.   (And I do recommend Bradbury's Zen in the Art of Writing) 

Writing, especially on paper, is one of the very best activities I have discovered for leaving myself open and responsive to the world.  Other things I have tried to make my main hobby have left me obsessed and withdrawn.  Writing connects me to others.  

And better yet that connect is a my best self, born out of more than one draft.

Some Free Go Literature

The American Go Association has a nice page for people learning the game.  I am going to start with River Mountain Go: Volume 1 and at the same time look at problems in Improve Fast in Go as more of a stretch read, so I gather from looking at it.  

Process those both, though, and play a lot, and it looks like I should be a 20 kyu (if that label has any robust meaning).

I'm not sure I can keep ego and notions of progress out of my conception of the game of Go, and mythology around the game notwithstanding, I'm not sure many others have succeeded either.  But I like the game.  I think its beauty stems from its elegance, and I think it is a lovely martial art of the mind.

Also, my thinking on ego has turned away from the thought of its elimination to thinking about its balance with the outside world.

Sage Quote on Teaching Sagely

From chapter two of Tao Te Ching, translated Priya Hemenway:

The Sage is occupied with the unspoken, and acts without effort. Teaching without verbosity.  Producing without possessing,  Creating without regard to result.  Claiming nothing.  The Sage has nothing to lose

I would change "without effort" to without straining effort -- with a vision from martial arts of the master just standing there while a student attacks until in one lightening quick instant, there is one move and the student is flipped . . . the master still standing there, unaffected.  

Also, the "claiming nothing," and "without possessing," in this passage, also through the lens of another translation I saw emphasizes a non-material strain to being a true sage. 

That combination of voluntary simplicity and teaching without ego has been a powerful one for thousands of years.  

I only wish to live up to the tradition.

Defending 9X9 Go

I have read that 9X9 Go teaches a new comer bad habits, and should be avoided because it you will have unlearn so much.

I counter that with the following: 9X9 Go is really fun. The games don't take too long, and it easier to hold in my mind the flow of the game, thus even at my level of having 30 games in, I can now look back and usually figure out what move I make the big mistake that cost me winning at my handicap.

I see 9X9 Go more as more like playing scales on a piano.  I have deepened an understanding of "life and death" problems and other aspects of shape. I know that if I play hundreds of games my ability to read would only improve.

For now, Go is one of my favorite free hobbies.  If I still like it after the house is paid off, I might spend money on a library of good Go books.  It is from that reading that I would expect to learn the right habits and really develop the craft.

I have to convince myself over and over again that I am not trying to progress in Go at maximum speed.  With that in mind, why should I care if 9X9 is teaching me bad habits, if I it is the most fun way to play for right now? 

And so I'll play on a 9X9 board as long as it is fun.

The Daoist Elephant in the Room

For several months, a good deal of my freely chosen reading keeps back to the concept of the Dao.

If my goal was to achieve all of my goals as quickly as possible, through a series of super-amazing anyone-can-do-but-I'm-so-special-so-you-should-give-me-money-life-hacks, then Daoism would be a huge distraction.  But I call this blog "the good life: becoming a goal nerd."  Not only would I emphasize that I am seeking the good the life, but I would also point out that is says becoming a goal nerd, not that I am, and not certainly not "hear the proclamations of the the one, the only goal nerd."

I kept seeing the Dao come up in everything I was reading, from Daniel Suelo and talk of spirituality and moneylessness, the book Trying not to Try, which I  borrowed from the library because it was on display, and most recently, a remarkable book I have recently read called the Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin.

Daoism ties together several threads that have been going on in my mind since before my students were born, a phrase I have taken to use with my students -- when try -- both for the dramatic effect it causes for them, but also to remind myself of the chasm between myself and them.  I plan on doing much reflective writing on all of these threads, but they include gardening and my love for uncontrolled "margins" of a garden, the need for alone time to clear my head, breathing and meditation, the balancing of goals that seem to have contradictory aspects, a calm state of mind and peak human performance.

If you want a basic primer of Daoist thought, sure Wikipedia works, but I found a decent page dedicated to Lao Tzu's original.  And there is Fingers Pointing Towards the Moon, which is written in terse writing by a Brit who went by the pen name Wei Wu Wei (which translates to action through non-action, and is the central paradox addressed in the book Trying not to Try, and a paradox worth spending much time reflecting upon.)

As I was trying to clarify my terms, and see how much my understanding of daoism is an idiosyncratic reading, I came by this quote from from Encyclopedia Britannica online about the Dao:

Human beings, whose society and culture are marked by artifice and constraint, can hope only to attune themselves to its mysterious transformations but receive no special favour. 

A good life, including the pursuit of goals, needs to take into account this fact.

Eating as Routine

Eating gives a certain structure to a day . . . breakfast, lunch, dinner.  You get to think about it, talk about it.  When you are home, you get to look in at the fridge or pantries when you get up, giving you an excuse to get up as well.

I'm home for the holiday break and I am very starkly aware of the void this creates.

I think that the need to fill the void is one of the greatest impediments to a radical redesign of a lifestyle. We have a lot of scripts about what to do when, enough to fill up a life.  And I think it is the second greatest power of those scripts power is their ability to fill the void.  (Their greatest power comes in the comfort of conformity).  

Having to fill the void is a good problem to have, but that doesn't mean it isn't a problem.  And if you do not handle it well, you will be back to bad habits.

For today, it's playing Go on a 9X9 board.  Tomorrow, chores around the house, and, weather permitting, garden work.  After that, who knows?

Perhaps this Need not be Gibberish

I was reading a discussion of just how much play on a 9X9 Go board is appropriate for a beginner and I came across this: 

Malweth: I learned how to play solely on the 19x19 board - I believe that my first 9x9 game was after I'd broken 20k, and I'm positive that my first 13x13 game was when I was SDK (and versus a ~25k child).There are important things to learn at the 25k level, and as important as life and death is, the opening is IMHO more critical. Basic shape life and death problems take a close second. Look at it this way, the most important part of the game is the fuseki (joseki aside, of course, for the 25 kyu).The progression, as I see it, is:1) Learn the rules 2) Learn the big points and why they are big (start with the 3-4 shimari, then the kakari) 3) Simultaneously with #2, learn the basic nakade.9x9 is good for time purposes - it does teach good tactics, but should be used in conjunction with 19x19. I personally don't find much value in 13x13. I think it is better to play half a 19x19 game than to complete a 13x13 game, not even discussing that playing quickly (15-20 min absolute per side) is perfectly fine for weaker players. 

I might play around with these suggestions, but first I have to learn what "shimari," "kakari," and "nakade" in fact are.  

Vocabulary is always important in learning a new endevour.  

Joseki (Go Strategy)

While I like Go for the big-picture strategy which evokes potent metaphorical understandings of spirituality in practice, and I like to think of one day hooking up with a community of people who play the game for the right reasons, losing all the time to the Fuego is not my favorite experience.

For that reason, I am watching some strategy videos on Youtube.  (In a year and half or so, after the house is paid off, and my spending moratorium is ended, I might even buy Go books  . . . shocking, I know).

The current beginner fundamental for me is Joseki.




Update: just internalizing this concept alone helped me to move up a handicap on the 9X9 board against Fuego.

Go Progress

Through game 15 of losing 50 games as fast as I can.  I actually won a game on a 15X15 board.  I only need a nine stone handicap.  (Let it never be said I was an over-night success at Go).

I enjoyed this lecture on mid-game shapes, from the Sunday Go Lessons Channel:

Go as Meditation in Action

I have been saved the trouble of needing to write further pieces on the philosophical implications of Go by one I have read today.  (This is not to say I wont use Go to express insights into other areas; I have already begun one such piece in my notebook.  Also, if I will write about my Go studies, if nothing else so I can have them scrap-booked for me somewhere.)

Though the piece tries to make the most important implication of Go is an answer to nihilism,  But I don't see that argument as unique to Go.  It is basically that rules make parameters on the chaos of reality, giving us a framework for interaction.  Without that framework we are left in a nihilistic situation:

 When two people confront each other across a Go board, they could do virtually anything—throw the stones at each other, carve their initials in the board, etc. Why play Go? The broader question is, why do anything at all?

To answer that we need to know what kind of beings we are: impermanent and interconnected.  And the stones in Go serve the purpose of showing representing this truth:

 A stone’s real significance lies in its potentiality for interaction with other stones. It can surround territory or disrupt the ability of stones of the other color to do so, and even capture those stones . . .  the significance of any stone or group of stones is subject to the possibility of radical change. A stone or group of stones that is important at one point can become dispensable as a result of later developments . . .  The significance of the vulnerability of the stones accustoms the players to the reality of impermanence, and again this is found to be not a dreadful situation, but one that greatly enriches the experience of playing.

 We are impermanent beings who can only cobble together temporary, contextual truths (much harder to have Truths).  So why not play a game that mirrors that reality?  Throw in some aspects of harmony and interconnections, and adjust the handicaps of the game so that you are only winning 50-60% of the time, and you have an enjoyable game that becomes more of an enjoyable art.

The article is worth the read (and reread).

Basics Things to Think About in Backgammon

Here is one, and two, cheat-sheet style articles of things to think about in backgammon.  And while I'm gathering links, it might be fun to look back at some historically important matches.  Also good is a review of Chris Bray's Seminar: To Slot or Not to Slot?

I feel like studying Backgammon again.  At my current skill level, backgammon is still the most fun in terms of game-play.  Games move quickly, and each individual game takes a short amount of time.  

Go, on the other hand, is a spiritual exercise for me.  But then again, so is my work.  And so is gardening.  And even, with the right frame of mind, the chores around the house. So after a day of holding myself together to be a radiant in my good work, it is nice to have this game for its excitement.

I have taken to something quite odd, but really fun for me.  I set up a Backgammon board beside my computer, so I can play through the moves on it while playing the computer.  I had first thought of doing this with Go, when I one day get a board, but I realized the same principal could transfer.  One of the big reasons I bother my wife to play Backgammon so much with me is because it is an excuse to use real pieces.  I just love the click, click of the game.  And now I can have that as much as I want. Just in time for Winter Break.  

Procrastination Chronicles #8: Cleaning the Front of the House

On the path to greatness, there will be 100 overcomings.

I will chronicle my attempts to overcome procrastination.  My technique is to start small, really small.

==================

The path to a clean front of the house starts with a single twig.

From there and a quick break all things are possible.

If Left Red-in-the-Face-Embarrassed

. . . it is probably time to take a break.

It's amazing how naturally I go from playing a game, thinking a lot about it, taking those images in my mind's eye and projecting it into my future, imagining playing it having as a significant meaning to my life, learning about the social scene (and social status) of the game, thinking of how I will one day be great, thinking how that means I must be making rapid progress, and being deeply embarrassed  when I suffer the kind of set-back a newbie must come to accept.

I wrote that this all happened naturally, and I love nature, so I love this too . . . right?  No, this pattern may be natural, but it in unbalanced.  This is not the a path that a well-adjusted or centered person will follow for long.

It is natural for any individual, or even a group, to get unbalanced.  But the whole will push back to that part. And when the whole gently pushes back, we can tense up, and redouble our efforts . . . or we can breath, get some perspective, and (re)locate a balance.

All of this came from playing Go.  I thought I was ready to move down another handicap against Fuego.  I thought I understood the concepts to win at the next level down.  I did not.

And that should be okay.  And it is if you play the game for its own merits, instead of following the path outlined above.  I want Go to a game in which I cultivate a different growth than ego-measuring (never will your ego be less than when you are constantly seeking to validate it).  To do that, I should only play it when I am in a mood to do that kind of cultivation.

There is the advice to "lose 50 games as quickly as you can."  And I like that advice.  But, for it to be a real vehicle for harmony in my life -- a stop-gap when I can not get it from natural surroundings bursting with life -- then I need to balance the seeking of 50 games with other values.  To be balanced, I must balance the game-of-balance with clearing my head enough to have an attitude open to balance.

This Humble Student Learns to Accept Hokeyness

I accept that Go will be part of my life.  I accept that Backgammon will be part of my life.  I also, at the age of thirty, accept that I will not an elite player at either.  I will not be world renowned.

Okay, I accept that about Go more than Backgammon.  The only reason is that I first learned Backgammon as a youngster and so there all sorts of buried dreams of playing big games and rolling 6-6 to pull off a miracle upset.

I have been playing Go for only a short time, and have not yet even lost my first 50 games.  But I love the game as an exercise in harmony.

I see myself playing Go as a form of mediation, of relaxation.  I will "advance" when I advance.  I will stall when I stall.  I will neglect to play when I neglect to play.  This last point is especially important in gardening season.  Why use Go as metaphor for the harmonies of nature, when I can just experience them directly?  But rainy days, as well as those that are cold and hot will call for games.

As I want to be as humble as I can in relation to Go.  And not to be arrogant about humility, but I do have a lot of practice being humble, much more than a 10 year old gloating over beating his mother at Backgammon.

As a testament to my humility toward this game, I have watched some videos, really built for beginners.  If I had followed my normal mode of operation, I would have played a few games and starting thinking of "disruptive strategies" that will allow me to have my own style and compete with the big-boys.  Ah, youth,

I learned a lot from the following videos and will probably refer to them as I move up in beating Fuego, the free Go engine I am playing with on my computer.  All of the videos had a common feature that in the past I was have gagged on: they are all a bit hokey.  But somehow, in my more humble, open state, I found myself smiling at them, even if it would not be my style to say. All the videos are on a 9 by 9 board. I plan on getting at least 25 of games in on a 9 by 9, before switching to something a bit bigger.

The first video is a near-total novice playing a more experienced player in a game that just divides the board up:




The second video gives a little more open game from the same players:


The third video is someone beating a computer at different level of stone handicap. Helpful in facing my current Go opponent.

A Game of Harmony (another free hobby)

I have been writing harmonies, and how games can be a step to achieving them.

When I think about harmonies, I almost invariably pictures moves from the game of Go.  I probably should picture something about the give-and-take conversation with myself and nature in a garden, but that is no one moment, but a relationship, and I sense it and should write more about it one day.  Go, on the other hand, gives me a picture of harmony.  In the moves I see some truths: you cannot eradicate your opponent, only out-influence.  To attack in an impossible position can only cause damage to yourself.  Unbalanced aggression can easily be used against you.

I see all this in the game, and I'm not even any good at it.  And perhaps getting good would turn too many aspects of the game into something mechanical.  Go is a great game for the meditative practice of harmony.  I plan to have no plans with it, and instead only play as much as I enjoy.

You can play it for free thanks to GNU; I have been playing against Fuego. 

A Mantra

I am a teacher,

I teach nobility, I teach walking the Path (dao . . . ?)
I am a writer, I am a forager, I am a gardener.
I am a forager, I am a gardener.

This is a mantra to prevent me from just visualizing the movement of pieces.  This obsession would consume my life.  It would be fun, but it must stay in balance.  Game, meta-game, harmony.

I want to visualize a move in backgammon, in Othello  (you get to flip so many pieces), in Go.  I want to slap down a card and quickly move it into place.  This could use up all of my mental space.

So . . .

Visualize pulling up a radish, cutting pine, pulling chickweed, etc.  Picture a pen moving as a good wording comes out.  Those are the noble arts I pursue.

Plant a polyculture, find a way to reflect on the reflective life, to build a better version of myself.

Game, Meta-Game, Harmonies

When I decided to make the game Diplomacy a key part of my speech/communications class it occurred to me that I am completely fascinated by games.  Perhaps easily obsessed is more true.  Or, perhaps I can be generous and say that games give a home.

The rules of a game create limit on the chaos of reality.  I know this leads us right to what Taleb calls the ludic fallacy, but I don't see the path of games leading directly to such mistaken reasoning.  Or maybe it is a trade-off: a game creates an environment that can be rich enough to occupy the human mind for a lifetime in a situation safety, fun, and perhaps friendship.   The price for this the conditioning that makes it seem that all of life can also be a game.

 I have also pointed out that games are can be free: you are producing your own amusement for free (or cheap) rather than consuming entertainment (for maximum price).  Even this has a trade-off, however.  Games are so addictive that becomes hard to do other important things.

For these reasons you must move beyond the level of the game to the meta-game.  That most people do not make this step is not he fault of the game.  A game is as good of a path as any.

The write up about Diplomacy in the classroom shows an example of a game going to the next level:

In this game, Italy, France, Turkey, and Russia had a four-way unbreakable alliance. Their ultimate goal was share supply centers in a game-end tie, refusing to backstab each other for a victory and thus force me to award the piddling of extra-credit I was offering to the winner to all four of them. Essentially, they were using Diplomacy to metagame their class grades, and good for them! THIS was the kind of thing I was hoping would click for some of these kids -- and all of them said as much in their essays.

And though these moments are rare, if there is no game, then there is no meta-game.

One thing I like about turning my speech class into a game is it means, in conjunction with my debate classes, I am now playing games for the majority of the day.   And debate at Norman North is the ultimate quite the meta-game.  We are created an environment where students count on each other and invest in training the next wave of North debaters.  Having the meta-game of nurturing more and more talent then makes us better at the games, but does not eliminate the games, nor the need for them.

The next level up (and even rarer than the meta-game) is an understanding of the essential harmonies. the real pace and rhythms of life,  You see through the illusions of the day to day.  It is the dao, the spirit.  It is right effort without striving.  But even then, when you are well-adjusted and content, games are still fun.  They become as worthy of a use of your time as any.

I love to the give the gift of gifts (the meta-gift for the meta-game of debate), but I also love to give the gift of games.

And I love to play games.

But only as part of a well-balanced life.

Three Times as Much as Average . . . Or More?

I must admit this one is a odd thought, but why not share? . . .

I have in my mind the notion that I am trying to get 3 times as much done as the average person.  Why 3 times? I really can't say.  Perhaps twice as much seemed too easy.

Anyway, I think it is accurate enough, though I think a case can be made for getting 4 times as much done, or maybe 12 times, or maybe 15, 30, 60 . . . some multiple of 3. Here is the strategy:

First,  learn the productivity tricks, especially defeating procrastination, at least *bad* procrastination.  (See Paul Graham on the possibility of good procrastination).  For the tricks of the trade, I especially recommend the Getting Things Done framework to increase efficiency.  Also really good is a lecture by the late Randy Pausch. Productivity tricks can get you to doing 3 times as much.

Second,  win the money game.  I argued that winning the money game allows you to pursue goals 4 times harder.  but it takes time to win the money game, so you have to make an investment away from other areas of productivity, thus maybe we shouldn't multiply by four.  Still, though, I think you can multiple the 3 times as much from the first step and get up to 9 times as much done, or more over the course of a lifetime.

Third, work on good projects.  This idea is well-illustrated in an article by Aaron Swartz. This is the difference between efficiency and effectiveness.  You can be efficient at doing something not worthwhile, or -- much, much worse -- efficient at doing something wrong or downright evil.  I also think that good projects, at least in terms of building a lifetime list of accomplishments -- like my bucket list -- should have a certain "wow" (or, "man, that's badass") factor.  Work on cool things.

Fourth, (the step I need to focus on more in the upcoming years) work in good groups.  I'll define a "good" group: one that has lots of cooperate and gifts.  Also, at least for me, one that minimizes wasted time.  If you have to, create this good group.  Train people to be part of it. . . And don't forget to recruit to make this group.

And bonus.  Not quite making this list, but potentially very powerful, is computer programming.  I like programming, at least conceptually, because it is like a super-power.  But it can certainly fall into the trap of efficiently working on the wrong thing.  Still the Getting Things Done framework works because it allows us to externalize the thoughts we need systematized.  A computer program can be an extreme version of this.  You can be creative, because that is what you are good at, and then outsource the computation.

No to Diet Sodas

Yesterday I stayed under 1,300 calories, but it was really in Twinkie Diet Fashion . . . After eating some oatmeal I brought from home, I had someone make a food run that included a McChicken Sandwhich, some fries and a diet soda.  And my problem was with the diet soda.

Later night I woke up feeling really odd . . . sorta bloated, but sorta hungry.

Fast food is the type of food that makes us hunger, and that is one of its biggest problems.  When I eat a lot of salt, I feel dried out, so I hunger more. . .

But soda, and especially diet soda, is worse for me.  My current diet works for me because it makes hunger go away.  But this incident illustrates that soda cannot really be a part of that.

Free Hobby: Playing Diplomacy

In one of those rare brain-storms that changes everything I decided to use the board game Diplomacy in my speech class.  

The game looks like a military game, like Risk, but really, it's much more about communication.  As Wikipedia says:

Diplomacy differs from the majority of war games in several ways:

• Players do not take turns sequentially; instead all players secretly write down their moves after a negotiation period, then all moves are revealed and put into effect simultaneously.

• Social interaction and interpersonal skills make up an essential part of the game's play.

• The rules that simulate combat are strategic, abstract, and simple—not tactical, realistic, or complex—as this is a diplomatic simulation game, not a military one.

• Combat resolution contains no random elements — no dice are rolled, no cards are drawn.

• Each military unit has the same strength.

All of this forces kids to communicate.  I'm also pretty sure it will give a rich enough environment that students can do additional writing and speaking assignments on their, you know, experiences, even though they are in-game experiences.  The idea just clicked into my head . . . and it felt good.

I've been so pleased with myself that I've been thinking about the game a lot, and decided it'd be fun to play myself a bit.

So this is another possible free hobby: playing Diplomacy online.  The website I am using is webDiplomacy.net.

I can say this much: the game is better in person.  And that's neat because I'm using the greatest advantage a school offers: bringing young people together.  This is also, of course, a school's greatest weakness. But that is a good principal of permaculture: turn weaknesses into strengths.

Turn:
"Oh man, my speech class has so many kids."

Into
"Oh boy, oh wow, my class has so many kids . . .this game is going to be something so much greater than I was ever able to play."

And it is really that kind of longing to have what I am creating for the kids that is making want to this, just to capture a little bit of it.

And that makes me feel really good as a teacher.

Nested Time Box Games

My default time management system is the pomodoro method.  This is because my normal blend of work is quite a bit of mental tasks to do with some routine physical things.

But like all good procrastinators, at some point routine tasks of all sorts pile up.  At this point I turn to the idea of a nested time-box, something I found on the All Japanese All-the-Time (AJATT) blog (which is now just a big advertisement . . . oh well, I still felt obligated to cite where I got the idea).

I made one additional tweak to the nested time box, and that is to make it a formal game.  The rules are simple: 1.) write down my tasks, 2.) estimate how long those tasks should take 3.) set my longer timer (30 minutes, 45 minutes, an hour) and 4.) use another timer to see if I can make my time goals for the tasks.  I have a video on the process:






I only bust out this routine when I am buried by a lot of little things, but when I do, I get amazing results, and have good fun while doing it.

Learn about other systems with a timer.