Comments for blog.limedaley.com/post/quotes-and-more

Comment #1825

2009-04-24T12:37:25Z

You could bring that other cool puzzle, too, the one that drives everyone else in the room nuts because you can't turn it off until blessed relief comes with "Powering down...." :)

Comment #1824

2009-04-24T12:19:01Z

(and we'll have to bring the cubes to the MaggieP this year... There isn't a Harry Potter book for everyone to read, so we'll have to find something...)

Comment #1823

2009-04-24T12:18:23Z

Note that Noah can't solve it from anything more mixed up than what you see on the video. I talked Jonathan through solving it all the way through, though he effectively skipped the hard parts, by having me tell him exactly what to do on those parts.

There are a couple interesting patterns (like the "centers" that Heather refers to) that can make a cube look fairly mixed up, and Jonathan can solve it, it looks particularly neat on the 5x5 cube.

Comment #1822

2009-04-24T12:05:53Z

I was not interested in the Rubik's Cube when Jon started looking up how to solve it. However, I got hooked the moment I realized that each face is not independent of the others. Each mini cube is the same no matter where you put it. The centers are always in the center, at the same orientation, there is always a red-blue-yellow corner, etc. Once you start thinking of it as a whole and not six independent faces the logic begins to emerge.

And yes, it's very nice to have someone who can solve it in under five minutes in case you get in a jam.

Last night we were playing with John Kuhns' new timer. Both Nate and Jonathan solved it from "centers" in ten seconds. I'll have to get a video of that, too. (and don't ask me to describe centers, a picture will do better.)

Comment #1821

2009-04-24T10:41:03Z

I haven't solved Rubik's Cube, either. Clearly, I need to give myself time to play with it under no pressure, as Noah's doing. It helps, I'm sure, to have a daddy around who can start it afresh for you when needed. :)

Comment #1820

2009-04-24T04:59:01Z

I've never solved a Rubik's cube in my life, so you can take a guess as to what impressed me most...

Comment #1819

2009-04-23T12:43:48Z

Ah, youthful innocence! Jonathan and Noah still know what tests really are: fun puzzles on which to try one's own strengths and sharpen one's abilities. It is the way that tests are used against us that destroys their true purpose.

Some people thrive under pressure, but for most of us, I think, it destroys creating thinking. Richard Feynman discovered that -- when he felt pressure (real or imagined) to produce ideas, he could not. Only when he released himself from the expectations of others and returned to "playing" did he discover that for which he later earned the Nobel Prize.

I've seen it in myself, too. I love puzzles! But when faced with one I find particularly difficult -- especially if it is a form or type of puzzle that is new to me -- I must often consciously and firmly tell myself that the purpose is fun, no one is grading me, no one is judging me, and it doesn't matter if someone, or everyone, else finds it easy and solves it quickly. If I let myself play with the puzzle, rather than feeling that I must solve it, I make much more progress.

Comment #1818

2009-04-23T11:59:46Z

The grid is a Sudoku puzzle that Jonathan made for Daddy to solve. But a 12x11 Sudoku is pretty tricky, so Daddy didn't get very far.

The math test was pretty fun. I had the honor of administering Will's first standardized test, and after that both Jonathan and Noah clamored for tests of their own to take. The only part Jonathan missed the first time was noticing that 1,582 was even.

Comment #1817

2009-04-23T01:56:03Z

Pictures are up!

First Jonathan beats Heather in chess, now Noah beats Grandma with Rubik's Cube.

Jonathan's math test is awesome!!! What's the grid in the lower right?

I love the look on Jonathan's face when he reads "garden."

Great Wall-E!

Comment #1816

2009-04-21T12:04:02Z

Grandma is correct, The Three Little Pigs.

I forgot to mention we also made a little plant out of Duplos and stuck it in Noah's cowboy boot.

Comment #1815

2009-04-21T02:22:09Z

The girls loved WALL-E too. They laughed and laughed hysterically for the entire first half. After seeing Jonathan's forts on Sat. I can totally envision him making a WALL-E costume!

Comment #1814

2009-04-21T01:31:45Z

The Three Little Pigs!