Learn Nothing Day follow-up

Learn Nothing Day was an exercise, a goof, "a happening" (in 60's terms), a game, a tool, a shared experience. There was no such thing as real failure and no one really expected any "success" (lack of learning). It was an international demonstration of the idea that when people enjoy and focus on learning, it cannot help but happen.

I will continue to collect commentary and images at sandradodd.com/learnnothingday. If any of your friends or relatives express doubt that people will learn naturally, or if they ask you if you ever take a break from unschooling, that might be a good place to send them.




Animal: Mark, at greenraven.blogspot
Mineral: Flo Gascon and Camille Lavallee at sumbthucker.blogspot
Vegetable: Anza Firetail at deviantart
Video: MD and Alex Polikowsky at YouTube

Eleven judges, finally, pinpointed the four winning images. I would've gone with fewer judges, but there kept being ties. I wanted more than one vote's difference, so I recruited more judges. Thank you entrants and judges and viewers!

For writing on lists and for blog posts and links and photos of get-togethers and of cars with windows painted, thank you! I've tried to link back to everyone. If I've missed any, please let me know. You've helped me create an electronic monument to learning.

Some of the follow-up writings are here: Review of the first Learn Nothing Day.

A Very Peaceful Friday

Holly is home. Marty is asleep in his bed and doesn't have to work today. I woke up early, feeling great. When I finally got to e-mail, over an hour later, there was a note from Keith, who's at work, asking me to call. He was fine, he was just asking about plans for tomorrow. I have none, but a friend will be here from out of town and I'll be home when he gets here. And another friend Sunday night, but that's me needing to be around, not Keith needing to be.

He's thinking of helping someone do some stuff in a nearby town tomorrow and was just checking.

How quiet and good!



1. If I could travel back in time, I'd go to visit my grandparents, because now that they're all gone I've thought of some good questions to ask them. I've very happy I did get to know them all, though, and one even met Kirby!.

2. Give me __________ or give me __________.
That's a hard one. I'll be curious to see how others completed it.
Give me honesty or give me silence.

3. I am listening to soft voices above, computer whir in front, songs in my head; I wasn't listening to anything!.

4. Somewhere, someone is thinking of PeeWee Herman.

5. I'll always be Sandra.

6. My idea of a good time includes conversation.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to going with Holly to a movie, tomorrow my plans include visiting with Ben/Dermod and Sunday, I want to learn more about my house from Joylyn, who used to visit here a lot when she was a kid and her best friend lived here!

Image Contest Entries

The page linked below contains some, probably most, and possibly all of the entries for the Image Contest announced here. I do not know what I was thinking when I said I would have them gathered and displayed by July 26th. We had a big party planned here that day, and then there was clean-up and recovery. So I'm sorry to be late with this.

PLEASE, anyone who knows anything about this, check the page and see if I've left any out, misspelled any names, under-credited any contributors, etc. A couple of them I found on my own, and so I assume there are others undiscovered out there on blogs, perhaps.

2008 Image Contest
DRAFT SET, maybe not all, maybe not all perfectly right.

Umbrellas and Eggs

This little video is from July 26, when we were getting ready for Kirby's birthday party. The voices in the background are Kirby and Marty. Those near are Holly and me. I show for a bit.


About those eggs... People have asked me how I can get all my boiled eggs peeled so well. Reject "peeled" and think "shelled." First I crack both ends (I do it inside the rounded upper corner of the sink). Then I crack the sides lightly. I put them in the cool water in the pan and after they're all cracked, I roll or kinda knead lightly each one, turning it, and soon the shell just comes loose with the whole membrane still on the shell. It makes really pretty boiled eggs. We were doing deviled eggs that day, but sometimes I do pickled eggs with beets, onion, sugar and cloves (and vinegar, y'know...) and garlic cloves—they turn pink too!

I'll put some photos from Kirby's party before long, but he's leaving in a few hours. Holly's going with him for three days. She took these photos of Kirby, Marty and Brett (who is their friend and also her boyfriend) playing Rock Band just a few minutes ago:



They're still playing, right up above me. I'm so glad to have Kirby home, and to have Kirby and Marty and Holly all in the same room at once. Kirby and I went out and about this morning for a while, and he told me he almost wants to stay, but he knows it's just that when he comes back home he gets the best of everyone, and he's a celebrity while he's here (this is his second visit back), and that it wouldn't last if he were back full time. He likes his job in Austin, but was just acknowledging that the draw of being here is strong. He won't be here long enough for anyone to forget to invite him somewhere or to be grumpy that he did or didn't do something or other.

I have loved having him here.

Plant identification questions

This blog worked really well for me when I didn't know what a flower in my yard was. That's here, and it was a storm lily or surprise lily (had other names too). Cool.

So I was reading on someone else's blog and found a mystery plant that hadn't yet been identified. I'm really curious too. Any botanists or trivialists here?

http://wilson-family-life.blogspot.com/2008/07/what-is-this-calledgrrrrr.html is where the question was, and the plants are somewhere near Lake Tahoe, so Nevada, desert-NE California plants?

I have something in my yard, that came up in an unmarked (non-detailed) packet of flower seeds I got as a bonus freebie for ordering from some seed shop online. I've never seen these. It looks like a cartoon flower. There's a pink floweriness, and then yellow blossomy things stick way up out of it. When the front flower is out of focus, there will be one or more in the background. Anyone know what those are?

art reminder, and I'll be away from the computer lots today

http://sugarboot.blogspot.com/2008/07/learn-nothing-day.html There's a good art entry there, but go look because the text that goes with it is good.


I know there are other Learn Nothing Day follow-ups out there I haven't yet collected, but we're having a big party here this afternoon and I'll be ignoring the online world for many hours running.

Thank you all very much for the huge, cool response to Learn Nothing Day. I had a whole lot of fun (and will continue to do so for several days, but today I'm off and running).

Ramona's Birthday,Friday Fill-In

This morning I took my friend Ramona King to breakfast at 6:00 a.m. It's her birthday. We go to breakfast on the 25th every year, to celebrate both our birthdays. I like that. I wish I had taken a camera. She looked so pretty and had a beautiful dress on.



1. I believe whatever doesn't kill you kinda TRIED to kill you, and that's no good.

2. If you're good at something, don't feel guilty if you don't make it your "life's work." Do it for fun!

3. Why so inflexible? Breathe!

4. Something is out there, it's trying to kill you, but you don't have to make if your life's work. Breathe!

5. If my life were a sitcom, it would be titled Two Lives to Live.
Oh wait... that's what it would be if it were a soap opera. Sitcom...
The Dodd Couple. No.
Great Dodd Almighty. NOO, no no... No. Can't.
87110? (not very exciting...)
The Sandra Dodd Show.

6. Sitting on my back porch [if you don't have one, use your imagination] I see the best back yard I've ever had, my hot tub and Keith's old green Dodge truck.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to seeing who comes to visit Kirby, and continuing with party prep, tomorrow my plans include a twelve-hour birthday party for Kirby (22) and me (55) and Keith (thirty-and-a-Kirby) and Sunday, I want to relax and recuperate!