Marion Gunderson Art (and the Farmer's Daughter)

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This morning this school bus got stuck at the edge of our lawn. On the other side of the bus is a county snow plow. One of the drivers is shoveling snow from the back wheel well area. (Click photo to enlarge.)

My initial thought this morning was that it probably wasn’t the wisest decision for local school districts to hold classes today. However, believing in the “walk a mile in the other person’s shoes” philosophy, I realize I’m not aware of all factors involved. I’m just glad I don’t have to make those cancel-or-not decisions, when many districts are already facing the difficult and potentially controversial task of determining how to go about rescheduling those “snow” days.

Winter weather has prompted some Iowa districts to cancel nine or more school days. (Yes, if you live in Iowa, you already know that, all too well.) And…it is only February 8th. Needless to say, this winter I’ve been so thankful I don’t still drive the Perry-to-Ankeny commute.

However, I did have a stinky commute once when I was in grade school in the ’60s. I remember when, early one winter morning, we learned that buses wouldn’t be running complete routes, but that any students who could make the trek to school should attend. I was so excited because Gunderland (our farmstead) was on a gravel road that couldn’t be reached by the school bus that day.  Wahoo!  I didn’t have to go to school.  But, oh, no.  My dad, impressing upon us the value of our education, loaded us up in the tractor-pulled manure spreader and hauled us to Cornwell’s corner (4/10 mile away) where we boarded the school bus.

(Ok, it probably wasn’t a “stinky” commute in the manure spreader. Daddy more than likely had the spreader cleaned out and it was probably odor-free. But, it makes for a good story!)

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(Most likely due to the weather, our local district dismissed classes at 11:00 this morning.)

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(This post follows Part I of the review of The Oral History Workshop by Cynthia Hart with Lisa Samson.)

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The back cover of The Oral History Workshop: Collect and Celebrate the Life Stories of Your Family and Friends * (Click photo to enlarge.)

Specific parts of the The Oral History Workshop that I think are especially interesting deal with: 1. how to handle secrets, 2. obtaining legal clearance from the interviewee before beginning the interview (done simply with a document template included in the book), 3. common interviewee anxieties and 4. third-party problems (where three people are involved and one of them becomes domineering).

Technological explanations and concerns are also addressed.

Although the book includes 180 pages, its format allows for quick access of whatever oral history-related information I desire. This includes a sprinkling of double-page spreads throughout the book listing key points related to the several pages preceding or following the spread.

Pages 56 and 57 include “The Terrific Twenty” for those wanting a shortcut for twenty great questions to ask. These are just two of the book’s seventy pages suggesting questions to ask during an interview.  These seventy pages of questions are grouped in sixty-three categories such as “First Job and Money in the Bank,” “Coincidences and Luck,” and “Turning Points.”

Of course, no matter how informative and moving an oral history how-to book is, it is of no value until you (yes, you!) muster the get-up-and-go to actually conduct and record an interview of someone you care about of any age. (It could even be a self-interview.) This book provides the tools (except for the hardware and interviewee) that you’ll need. Time is the other necessary ingredient. There will never be the “perfect” time to conduct interviews, so, if you haven’t already recorded the history of those you care about, don’t wait…only to find out you are too late.

* Published by Workman Publishing, New York, 2009.

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I brought the laptop into the family room so that I could post about my family’s Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit tradition while watching the Tournament of Roses Parade. I got sidetracked just a little bit, and I’m so glad that I did.

Just as I sat down to watch and write, the theme of the parade float being showcased was one recognizing/honoring our United States’ military. The sound track accompanying the float (as the cameras panned military personnel) was a recording of Ray Charles singing America, the Beautiful. Oh, my gosh. How humbling. And, what a reminder that I am indebted to our military, past and present, for protecting my freedoms.

Since I’m in a deep-in-thought and patriotic mode right now, I’ll let Ray be by himself in this post.  (I.e., I’ll post about R, R, R later today.)  I hope you’ll watch/listen to Ray’s rendition of America, the Beautiful in this YouTube video.

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Mona Majorowicz posted on her blog her personal 2009 Goals in Review. There she goes again, setting a good example for the rest of us.

In the ’80s, I facilitated training sessions stressing S.M.A.R.T. goal setting. Since then, when setting goals for myself I’ve had the S.M.A.R.T. strategy in the back of my mind; however, I’ve been better at telling others about the strategy than personally implementing it. Now, with reading Mona’s posting indicating her 2009 goals and her achievement related to them, and having an open-slate 2010 in front of me, I’m looking forward to setting goals for 2010. (Correction: I’m looking forward to meeting/exceeding goals, but not the effort involved in setting them.)

For any of you who are not aware of what S.M.A.R.T. (in relation to setting goals) stands for, I thought I’d research a bunch of web sites and then summarize. However, since there are so many variations and explanations of S.M.A.R.T., I’m basically acknowledging that I’m going to set goals for 2010, structuring them in such a way that I believe I can/will be accountable for them. (I.e., by setting S.M.A.R.T. goals.) Where I’m going to differ from Mona is that I’m not going to be brave enough to publish them!

The basic premise of S.M.A.R.T. goal setting, depending upon which source you look at, is goals should be:

S:  Specific

M:  Measurable

A:  Attainable/Achievable

R:  Realistic (I also like “relevant.”)

T:  Time Bound (I also like “trackable.”)

If you google “goals smart acronym” you’ll find a plethora of different perspectives on what the S.M.A.R.T. acronym letters stand for. Most sources agree on the basics, but have their own little twist.  To glean what details would resonate most with me, I looked at most of the first ten “hits” in the Google listing (at the link at the beginning of this paragraph).

To see variations of words used in the  S.M.A.R.T. acronym , click here. Then scroll down about 1/10th of the site where you will see a table with the bold heading “Smart Acronym Variations.”

In case you are interested in the background about S.M.A.R.T. goal setting, after scrolling down about 8/10ths of the way at the same link you’ll see the bold heading “History and Origins of the SMART Objectives Acronym.”

Hmmm…In the spirit of efficiency (which will be a part of my 2010 goals) I’ll abruptly end this post and tie up some unrelated loose ends.  Oh, my. “Tie up loose ends” is not specific.  Nor measurable.  I guess it is achievable…if I can figure out what the loose ends are.  Hmmm…It is realistic…if I know what the loose ends are.  Time Bound?  Yes, I guess bound by today…but, what are those loose ends?

Man…sigh…I guess I’d better go make a specific “to do” list so that I get off on a good S.M.A.R.T. foot for the day!

• Update:  I see that Mona has now posted her Art Business Goals for 2010.

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