[csail-related] GSB Tonight: Lessons from the Other Side

[jamoozy at gmail.com (Andrew Sabisch)]

I was a dance major in college.  My first 2 years at UCI [1] were spent
primarily in ballet class [2].  That's where I met my wife.  Well, times
change.  I'm here now [3], but my wife is still a dancer.  She's a resident
artist at a studio in the area, and she teaches young children to dance.

Children.  Small children.  I'm talking less than 5 years old.  Well here
we are, she and I, in fields as opposite as they come [4].  As is common,
she gave me an insight into teaching children I never would have come up
with on my own.  They're stoned.  A group of them, even more so.  They're
these stoned mini-people that forget everything you tell them [5], forcing
you to constantly correct them.  Let me tell you what happened yesterday.
[6]

It is a typical lesson.  The students are at the barre, my wife (we'll call
her "Ashley") just gave them the usual "These are the Rules" monologue.
 Hands to ourselves -- only touch the carpet and yourself [7].  Listen.
 Remember to raise your hand if you have a question.  Participate! --
remember that we try everything.  They seem to understand -- they always
*seem* to -- and the class begins.

Suddenly one wanders off, as if in their own world.  "Remember what we said
about wandering away?" Ashley asks, patience and serenity painting her face.

They pause and respond, "Ohhh.  Oh yeah." and stand at the barre again,
ready for more port de bras.

"The anomaly child" [8] will suddenly start to flux into their quantum
state, by all accounts tweaking out.  "Can you show me what we're doing
right now?" my wife asks, ready for anything.

"Oh, right!  Right!" they'll respond, genuinely enthusiastic about joining
the class again.

"It's like they're mini, stoned people" she tells me when she's back at
home, a cup of tea in her hand.  We're cuddling on the couch, unwinding.
 "Children at that age are just mini-stoned-people.  You tell them
something, and they forget.  I think they honestly just forget by getting
distracted.  It's *so* easy to distract them."

It might be nice to be young again.

Let's talk about the most effective birth control methods at this week's:

*Girl Scout Benefit*
*5:30 pm -- 32-G9 Lounge*

For those coming from elsewhere: Building 32 is here:
http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg?selection=32
Once you are in 32, just take the G-elevator
to the 9th floor and you will be looking at us.
http://projects.csail.mit.edu/gsb

[1] That's right!  I went to UCI, not Berkeley.  Who knows why I run around
with the Cal hoodie?
[2] Oh, man ... I can still remember how proud I was when I finally
advanced to Ballet III ... but that's a-whole-nother story.
[3] Writing all the brilliant wisdom of my brain in an easy-digestible
fashion for you.
[4] Theory and Systems?
[5] If it's not convenient to remember, that is.
[6] Well ... let me tell you my completely made up version that I imagined
after hearing about my wife's day.
[7] That reads weird, but I don't know how to correct that sentence off the
top of my head, and I don't want to spend the time editing this email that
my adviser suspects I do ... so ...
[8] This is a reference to Louis C.K.'s bit about supervising the
playground.