Hi yet again, James!  Here's another chapter in the current series:

JB>  If my life has a soundtrack, it'd be pretty convoluted! <-|


           In some ways I guess mine would be too.  I can see in retrospect
how it all fits together, though, like a musical theme & variations....
 :-)



JB>  Shortly after graduation, I started listening to divergent
JB>  musical influences. (I'm deliberately keeping this fluffy.


           Seems appropriate, at least in the SURVIVOR echo....  :-)



JB>  It's still hard for me to listen to orchestral music though,
JB>  as once you've played 'in the pit,' there's no stereo on
JB>  earth that can replicate that.


           Understood.  Handel's WATER MUSIC, for example, sounded pleasant
but bland to me until I'd heard it from the middle of the clarinet section.
 I find the interplay of harmonies fascinating now.  It's more difficult to
hear things like that on recordings even when you know what they're
supposed to sound like. The same applies to the tone qualities of various
instruments... another aspect of music which I particularly enjoy.  I
prefer to be where the action is.  :-))



JB>  Opera is still beyond me.


           Same here.  I like Gilbert & Sullivan, though... [chuckle].



JB>  Well, how can you teach a person who would prefer to
JB>  remain ignorant?


           In many cases it's virtually impossible... you can review the
lesson a hundred times & get nowhere.  In the words of one of my former
colleagues:

        You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink;
        You can lead a kid to learning, but you cannot make him think.


           If you can recognize & make good use of a "teachable
moment" you may have to say it only once.  When they ask you a direct
question or say something like "Huh??" that may be the
opportunity you're looking for.  On rare occasions I've managed to elicit
the "Huh??" response by doing something unexpected, then seized
the moment while everybody's jaws were still hanging around their knees.
I've also had a certain amount of success with the "snappy
comeback"... another way of using the element of surprise to interrupt
a train of thought & possibly get it onto a different track.  In
general, however, people learn when they are ready & motivated to do
so.  And we may not be aware of the reason(s) for their resistance... there
may be more to a particular situation than meets the eye.

           Walking out on a person could be another way of interrupting a
train of thought.  I'm glad to hear you were able to patch things up with
your friend after walking out on him, anyway!  In my experience time out...
like the snappy comeback... is often misused.  People say they want to
teach somebody a lesson, for example, then leave them to guess what they
must have done wrong.  Thinking back to my days as a student teacher...
it's not always easy to verbalize one's goals, but it's important that both
you & your friend understand what they are. You want to inform him, not
to punish him or to score points.  And the followup is also important if
you value the friendship & would like to continue it.  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+