An Eastern Cottonwood in the Loess Hills of Western Iowa - May 2017
Summer for a teacher is a time of great freedom, but also of restraint. This restraint I speak of is not externally-imposed, nor is it truly binding; what I mean is that such free time must be guided by internal precepts and careful management: it is easy to let it simply slip away. Without goals and dedicated practice, summertime can pass in an eye's blink, leaving us with nothing but expended time. And, while there is perhaps nothing inherently wrong with comfort and relaxation, I tend to think that many people see this as the end goal of life. They mistake summers spent by the pool's edge or barbecuing (this obviously extends outside of summertime, and outside of these specific activities) for a good life, but this is simply a comfortable life. Comfort has a place -- the pool and grill can greatly augment time spent with friends -- but it is not the end for which we strive. I worry for those that spend life in such a way, but then get to life's end and have little on which to reflect seriously. And this may sound presumptuous coming from someone with such a limited perspective, but this is the life I see as lived by many around me. And it is from this perspective that I also worry about myself. With all this free time, am I using it in a way that is conducive to personal growth, simultaneously enriching myself and others? Could my time spent studying X be better spent pursuing Y? I'm not sure. I certainly have structure, and engagement with loved ones and projects bigger than myself, but I cannot help but ponder the intellectually-tempting if-then.
Strangely enough, for how arcane and, to others, "pointless" this website is, it has never been a subject of doubt in my mind: it is one of the few things I do that I am completely certain is worthwhile. It is a constant work in progress, and a project-without-end. [1] Furthermore, it gives me almost-limitless freedom to work in an intellectual space of my choosing. (I assume this is what university research is like, without the bureaucratic nonsense and scramble for tenure. And teaching. And office-hours. And grant-writing. So, perhaps it's nothing like that at all.) Regardless, this subject and the writings it has spawned have put me in touch with a host of delightful, intelligent people, as well as broadened my worldview greatly. In short, there is really nothing to doubt. Sure, perhaps these writings reach only hundreds of people (and fewer on a meaningful level); and sure, there are few things more niche and specialized than this area of discussion; yet, I'm not of the belief that something's worth is always a corollary of popularity or mass-appeal, and so there is a surety that exists behind this project that doesn't exist so solidly in my other endeavors.
On a final note, I am now finished with my (somewhat lengthy) review of Breath of the Wild. It is undergoing some editing currently, but should be posted within a week or so. From there, I'm going to jump right into the game itself; there is a great deal there, but I must start sometime.
If you have any comments on anything above, or if you have experiences with Breath of the Wild you'd like to share, feel free to leave them here or in the forum. I'd love to read them.
Sincerely,
Talbot
Notes:
[1] The nitty-gritty grammatical changes, if you are interested: I've slowly been making some editorial (cosmetic, mostly) changes over the past few days: mostly concerning em dashes and ellipses. The em dash formats strangely on this website, however, manifesting itself sometimes as a long dash (as it is supposed to), and sometimes as a set of two hyphens (--); the ellipses should be headed from "..." to ". . .", which is more tasteful to me. The last cosmetic alteration has to do with citations; some of you may have noticed that my citations are a bit odd. I don't exactly follow Chicago-Turabian, and still less do I follow APA or MLA. Rather, my citations appear as [1] whether for notes or works cited. So, these are being standardized, as well. Apologies if things are rather messy at the moment, and please let me know when things inevitably slip past my eyes.
Strangely enough, for how arcane and, to others, "pointless" this website is, it has never been a subject of doubt in my mind: it is one of the few things I do that I am completely certain is worthwhile. It is a constant work in progress, and a project-without-end. [1] Furthermore, it gives me almost-limitless freedom to work in an intellectual space of my choosing. (I assume this is what university research is like, without the bureaucratic nonsense and scramble for tenure. And teaching. And office-hours. And grant-writing. So, perhaps it's nothing like that at all.) Regardless, this subject and the writings it has spawned have put me in touch with a host of delightful, intelligent people, as well as broadened my worldview greatly. In short, there is really nothing to doubt. Sure, perhaps these writings reach only hundreds of people (and fewer on a meaningful level); and sure, there are few things more niche and specialized than this area of discussion; yet, I'm not of the belief that something's worth is always a corollary of popularity or mass-appeal, and so there is a surety that exists behind this project that doesn't exist so solidly in my other endeavors.
On a final note, I am now finished with my (somewhat lengthy) review of Breath of the Wild. It is undergoing some editing currently, but should be posted within a week or so. From there, I'm going to jump right into the game itself; there is a great deal there, but I must start sometime.
If you have any comments on anything above, or if you have experiences with Breath of the Wild you'd like to share, feel free to leave them here or in the forum. I'd love to read them.
Sincerely,
Talbot
Notes:
[1] The nitty-gritty grammatical changes, if you are interested: I've slowly been making some editorial (cosmetic, mostly) changes over the past few days: mostly concerning em dashes and ellipses. The em dash formats strangely on this website, however, manifesting itself sometimes as a long dash (as it is supposed to), and sometimes as a set of two hyphens (--); the ellipses should be headed from "..." to ". . .", which is more tasteful to me. The last cosmetic alteration has to do with citations; some of you may have noticed that my citations are a bit odd. I don't exactly follow Chicago-Turabian, and still less do I follow APA or MLA. Rather, my citations appear as [1] whether for notes or works cited. So, these are being standardized, as well. Apologies if things are rather messy at the moment, and please let me know when things inevitably slip past my eyes.