ken zirkel

Years ago I read an essay by novelist John Irving, in which he suggested that talent is overrated. That is, hard work can overcome a lack of inherent talent.
I do believe that to be the case, and it was fascinating to come across a recent essay by Malcolm Gladwell that essentially expands on this idea. [...]

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There’s nothing sweeter than Daughter reading to Son.

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It’s vacation week, but Daughter is making sure to get in her reading. Here Wife helps her out with some logic puzzles.

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A month or two before getting Complete Peanuts, I happened upon an old Calvin and Hobbes compilation at a yard sale. Now, Calvin and Hobbes is, and was, truly my all-time favorite strip. The genius of Calvin and Hobbes is not buried in an obscured past, but clearly visible during every phase of the [...]

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For my recent Cape trip, I brought along a very special book: Complete Peanuts Volume 1 (1950-1952). It was the perfect light reading for a mellow vacation, and it turned out to be a very special treat for me to share these strips with my children. As has been often observed, Peanuts is enjoyable by [...]

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Today Son reached a significant milestone: he read the entirety of “Green Eggs and Ham.” He had a bit of assistance, and it took him about a half hour. It took real persistence and attention; it’s the first time he’s read a book of this length. I’m very proud of him.

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Son’s reading is neither a trick of memorization nor a fluke. He can definitely sight-read familiar words, sound out unfamiliar words, and take good guesses at difficult words. He definitely gets intimidated by longer sentences, and his attention span is not the best, but he will take a good shot at brief sentences.

One of our [...]

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The Photo Idea Index

If I had a zillion dollars, I would buy this book for all my photo enthusiast friends: Photo Idea Index by Jim Krause. It is appropriate for beginners and advanced shooters alike. It is filled with small nuggets of ideas for everything photographic. Each page has a simple theme, and each theme [...]

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A few months back I bought a series of those Eyewitness books from DK Publishing. They were at the closeout store for $3 each, and I took home about 15 titles. These are great books for any age child … anybody, really. The very young can look at the photos and the older children can [...]

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