Wednesday, July 21

One of these things is not like the other

Netflix often makes recommendations based on movies and/or tv shows I
watched. Under "Action and Adventure" its first suggestion is "Dr.
Horrible's Sing Along Blog."

Tuesday, July 20

A brief commentary on a conversation with Matt Dunne

A few days ago, I posted the following in a comment thread over on Green Mountain Daily:

I like Dunne, but I wish he'd run for Lt. Gov instead. I think he's got some good ideas, but his responses at the forum I live blogged made me feel like he might not be quite ready for the top slot. There was a lot of commentary about how he's a great candidate because of things his parents did, which I think of as very weak answers.

When I say I "like" Dunne, I mean I like him a lot. I've had conversations with the man and I think he's a really great guy.

He dropped me a note and asked if I'd be willing to talk for a few. We connected this afternoon and a good conversation. Fair note: I did not tell him I would be blogging about this (nor at the time did I expect to be) but we also never addressed the conversation as "off the record" in any sense and I do not expect that he will be offended or upset by anything I have to say in this post.

So we had a really good conversation, one in which I pointed out a few things that I thought of as fairly serious problems about his messaging. One was the issue I mentioned above, referencing his parents. I don't think that's necessarily settled, but I can see where he was coming from on it.

The other thing I brought up was that Matt made multiple references to his experience as administrator of AmeriCorps Vista during the forum I live blogged. I can see why he'd want to bring up administrative experience but I didn't get the sense that he understood much about child care or early childhood education. He said during our conversation that he did a lot to support early childhood education through AC Vista, and I asked him if he could articulate any specific examples of that.

Now-- to be clear: I am a teacher. Asking people to articulate examples is a huge part of what I do. It's kind of a crucial element. I am never convinced that someone understands a concept until I hear specifics.

So that's why I asked.

I got an answer I didn't expect.

Matt rattled off a series of examples of ways in which his organization supported early childhood education. He cited specific research about the various ways we can support parents and children in need. He spoke with an intense amount of detail about these issues and genuinely knows exactly what he's talking about.

I'm not saying I was wrong above. In that forum, at that time, he did not articulate this depth of understanding, but that forum was just a few weeks ago. This is not the sort of information and understanding that you glean by drilling yourself on it over a few short weeks. I found myself *extremely* impressed with the conversation we had. I did, of course, have to mention that I never got the sense that he understood early childhood education to the extent that he clearly does during that forum and I wish he had been more articulate about it at the time. Even with a three-minute timer, if he'd just rattled off a few of those statistics during the forum, he would have swayed a *lot* of people in attendance, so I consider that to have been a missed opportunity.

But, that said, I'm writing this to give Matt props for listening to what I had to say and being willing to have a fairly uncomfortable conversation with someone who had kind of slammed him in a public forum. I'm still undecided, but now instead of being undecided between Shumlin and Racine, I'm undecided between Shumlin, Dunne and Racine. Part of me thinks I shouldn't really be thanking Matt for this, but really, I know I should.

So... to Matt, more like what I heard from you today. You've got a more complicated mind than I gave you credit for. To Peter and Doug, you may have your work cut out for you at the other early childhood forums. If Matt brings his A game to those forums, you might be in some trouble.

To Deb, please just show up.

Friday, July 9

Julie Waters e-notes: Fri, July 9, 2010

I made the mistake of wearing red while sitting on the porch.  A ruby-throated hummingbird showed up about three feet away from me before realizing I wasn't food, but when it came back, it was a bit wary for a bit, hiding in the bushes before figuring out that bee balm made a much better food than I did.Hey all-- just a few quick notes:



See specific dates-- I'll be performing in August at Waypoint Center in Bellows Falls and in September at Pleasant Valley Brewing, and next week I'll be hosting the Kindred Folk monthly song circle at Twilight Tea Lounge.




I also have been playing with some very new sounds and uploaded a couple experiments:



http://www.juliewaters.com/mp3/Grand_Central.mp3



http://juliewaters.com/mp3/Orpheus.mp3



I'd love to hear what you think of them.



Other than that, busier than I'd expect this Summer-- not so much in gigs but lots of web work and photography, but always looking for more-- if you know anyone who needs help with web design, feel free to drop me a note. I've learned how to do specialty design for mobile devices which load different versions of the page if you're browsing from an iPod, Blackberry, Android, etc.



Finally, a deep thought: I think the people behind this global warming hoax have carried the joke just a little too far this week.



Very funny. Now can we please have our mild Summers back?
Hope everyone is well!



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More info: http://juliewaters.com/



Julie's photography: http://juliesmagiclightshow.com/



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Upcoming events for Julie Waters



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Sunday, July 11th 2nd Sundays Song Circle at RAMP Gallery; Bellows Falls, VT



Tuesday, July 13th Kindred Folk Song Circle at Twilight Tea Lounge; Brattleboro, VT



Friday, August 6th Julie Performing Live at Bellows Falls Farmer's Market at Waypoint Center; Bellows Falls, VT



Sunday, August 8th 2nd Sundays Song Circle at RAMP Gallery; Bellows Falls, VT



Friday, September 17th Julie Waters Live in Performance at Pleasant Valley Brewing Pub; Saxton's River, VT