Final Project Finished and A New Family Addition

Completed and uploaded my final project for IDT 516 last night, actually early this morning. I've learned a lot within this course not to mention in creating a rubric. I'll be anxious to see Dr. West's comments on the rubric I've developed as I'm not a teacher, facilitator, or instructor. Perhaps that's better as I'm coming at it with an empty teacup. That's a reference is to a Zen proverb about learning in which a teacup is an analogy for a learner's mind. If a learner approaches a learning experience with a full teacup, more tea cannot be added. In order to learn, a learner has to empty his teacup (or his mind) so there is space for new learning. Hopefully, I keep an empty teacup for all my learning experiences.

On another note, we've a new addition to our family. Kath has always wanted a Scottie and so her Christmas present came early. Altho' he'll never replace Dakota, Kath's got her Scottie and she's tickled pink! Jacques is a 10 week old Scottie pup with a wonderful personality. Terriers tend to be independent and self-assured, playful, intelligent, possessing a rugged nature, endless determination, loyal to one or two in a family, and bark only when necessary so they make a good watch dog. The Scottish Terriers' origins are obscure but it is known that they were bred to hunt vermin, voles, badgers, mice, and foxes in the cairns and Highlands of Scotland. Terrier comes from the French word Terre which means earth. The Scottie's paws are broad making them ideal for digging the critters they hunt out of their lairs and dens. The Scottish breed of Terriers were categorized into 5 groups in the mid late 1800s. Those categories consist of the West Highland or Westies, Cairn, Skye, Dandie Dinmont, and the Scottie sometimes called the Aberdeen. The Scottie is most commonly known to be jet black in color but actually, they come in brindle, dark gray, and wheaten (a light wheat color). Jacques is black and brindle. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Terrier)

The wheaten are pretty pricey when buying from a breeder. Some of the wheatens we saw listed on the internet started at $800. Way too rich for my blood! All of our dogs have been mixed bloods until Jacques. Shot the pictures this morning as well as the video. Used a Canon Powershot A70 which is about 4 years old so the quality is not the best. But I thought it'd be fun to shoot it and post it on YouTube and embed it here on my blog so fam, friends, and fellow students can view it and enjoy Jacques in action. The YouTube process is very easy to do...as easy as settin' up a blog!



Spent a good portion of the afternoon playing Christmas carols and fiddle tunes with another fiddler at Dot's Pots a pottery shop in Moline on 16th Street. Dot makes some wonderful pottery as well as some zany stuff that is just laugh out loud funny! Besides her moose mugs, big toothy smiling cross-eyed people mugs, and her cross eyed critters like the elephant taking a shower in a lion clawfoot bathtub, every year at Christmas time she does Roadkill Christmas specials. This is usually a special Christmas related character such as Santa, reindeer, etc. that she runs over before firing them in her kiln. She runs over these creations with a small Tonka truck so the characters have tire tread marks on them...roadkill! Dot and Dan are fun folks to be around and know! We share a lot of laughs, tunes, beer, and great food at their sales which take place at Christmas time (1st weekend in December) and the Saturday following the 4th of July. Musicians have also begun gathering in their basement on the third Thursday of the month for an open music session. Open meaning it's open to whatever type of music the musicians want to play. Today was special, however. Pat Oliver and I played Christmas Carols on fiddle and had a great time playin' them bending and twisting the melodies with improvised backup and twin fiddling parts. What a special time it was. Definitely some moments that would have been wonderful to have captured on tape or cd. Speaking of Christmas, this is my Christmas wish to all you folks Kath and I know and love! May your holidays be grand, and '08 great!!!