Skip to main content

Douglas Adams and Deadlines

I’m thinking of Douglas Adams . On one occasion he said

‘I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by’

and here in my office I hear the beginnings of a small whoosh.

I remember reading in The Salmon of Doubt.. I’m sure it was the Salmon of Doubt but I can’t check because I lent it to someone and I can’t remember who… that once his publisher was so desperate for a book who’s deadline was extremely overdue that he (the publisher) camped out at the bottom of Douglas’s stairs, not letting him out until he had delivered the manuscript, which he did page by page. I'm not at that stage yet.. I think..

Coincidently while ferreting around my hard drive valiantly looking for something that was relevant for my deadline I came across the link to a 1999 article How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Internet ( don’t know why the question marks in diamonds are there ).

It’s here that I originally found his quotation about ‘the way things worked’ which could be applied to any new technology or even old technology –

  • everything that’s already in the world when you’re born is just normal;
  • anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you can make a career out of it;
  • anything that gets invented after you’re thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it until it’s been around for about ten years when it gradually turns out to be alright really.

Apply this list to movies, rock music, word processors and mobile phones to work out how old you are. “

It was a quote I used to use to begin presentations or workshops for Early Years practitioners which was guaranteed to raise a laugh and enable a positive and friendly dialogue about technology in the foundation stage and the children’s entitlement to have a setting in which they could play with and explore the technology that they were born to. I don’t use it so very much anymore although here are days when I think it is still needed.

Read the article, it has food for thought; I was struck this time by his comment that ‘we are natural villagers’

But I cannot linger as I hear the wind beginning…..

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The snow walk

Saturday was to be the day for setting up a new blog, but the prospect of a walk in the park , snow still on the ground and sun bright, was tempting. I asked my fellow tweeters what I should do first, walk in the park or work on the blog? And the unanimous response of those around was to walk first and then set up blog and write about it. So no couch potatoes there. Sadly once we were out there it was so good that that we did not return for a long time. No new blog set up :-( Whilst out I tweeted some photos from the iphone but this was not enough, a blog post was required so here it is. Instead of the new blog I'm showing the pictures in two ways, first new to me a Photopeach spiral (Thanks Simon Widdowson and Allanah King for sharing this at about the same time) and then using Animoto . I have an education license for this so can make longer films Enjoy my walk Snow in the park on PhotoPeach . Use the slider to hear the sound and click on...
3 comments
Read more

Little Voices, Little Scholars

I like to keep in touch with what's happening in the early years. One of the ways I have of getting a global view is to follow early years blogs. I follow quite a few occasionally leaving messages of encouragement and will share them over the weeks. Here is Little Voices, little Scholars . Little Voices, Little Scholars via kwout " They have had a focus on Speaking and listening, as well as environmental issues. Take a look at the video Apii's Hippo
Post a Comment
Read more

Happy Birthday Paddington Bear

Its the big 5 0 for Paddington today " 50 Years via kwout He's having a tour of the London in a Black Cab to celebrate and there's a photo competition for those lucky enough to see him, (see the site) Think of the number of children who have laughed about and enjoyed his stories over the years, he was certainly a regular visitor to my classroom over the years, and how many of them knew where Peru was on the world map but not their own town! Off to drag my duffel coat out of the cupboard to wear while I drink cocoa and eat marmalade sandwiches virtually with, Simon Mills who has just let me know about it via Twitter, and anyone one else celebrating.
Post a Comment
Read more