Steve's Blog

NYS 2022 US History Regents Exam Cancellation

Posted on 25 May 2022 by Steve Markham

Today the school district announced that the US History Regents Exam (“Regents” courses in New York are required for a Regents diploma, something like graduating cum laude) will be cancelled this year. The email included a link to a State DoE letter explaning why, and the short answer is, because of the recent shooting in Buffalo. I found myself forming/discovering an opinion, which I have tried to be mindful of lately. Perhaps this is a case study in holding opinions well.

Tagged with: geek

Good Luck Lake

Posted on 21 May 2022 by Steve Markham

Perhaps a Spring trip to Good Luck Lake with the Valleywooders is becoming an annual tradition. The trip came together in an unusual way. At the Fathers & Sons campout last weekend, Lars mentioned that he had some new gear to break in. So I emailed the usuals to see who was up for a trip the very next weekend, hoping for one more weekend before the black flies start biting. We didn’t get a big response, and I one point I emailed Lars saying “it looks like it will be you and me.” Then Josh replied that he and Will were in, and then Caleb and Jed, and then Annie reminded Josh that he promised her she could come on the next one to make up for not taking her to F&S, and if Annie was coming then Adele wanted to come, and if Adele was coming then Lewis wanted to come, and that got Camille interested, and if there were going to be 6 friends coming, Kenton didn’t want to miss out. Kyle had an ESYO thing and Amelia had TKD or else we’d have had even more.

Tagged with: family outdoors

Awareness, Acceptance, and Alignment

Posted on 19 May 2022 by Steve Markham

An interesting study from last Fall made the rounds on reddit (via PsychologyToday) yesterday. The gist of it is that “self-connection” is important to good mental health, and is composed “self-awareness” plus “self-acceptance” plus “self-alignment” in roughly equal parts. I think it’s a useful way of thinking about the world in general, not just yourself and your own mental health.

Tagged with: geek

Links and Books, April 2022

Posted on 30 Apr 2022 by Steve Markham

Wow, it’s May already. When did that happen?

Tagged with: geek