This week, I posed a challenge to friends on Facebook to suggest a topic for dabbling. I would then blog about my experience with dabbling in the chosen topic as a kind of "case study" for anyone who might be curious how this whole dabbling thing works.
So, here we are. The topic is: Avian Anatomy (thanks to Karla Bird for the suggestion.) Before we plunge into the dabbling demonstration, it is important to make note of a few dabbling truths:
1. There is no one way to dabble. In fact, there are an infinite number of paths available to any given dabbler exploring any given interest. These paths may or may not return you to the topic that you set out to explore, but the desire will keep you adventuring forward in ways that continue to satisfy.
2. Unless you LOVE to write reports, I give you permission to leave the need to be able to summarize your findings in a tidy package behind.
3. For anyone who thinks that you don't have time to dabble, please note that I worked two jobs (10 hours) and filled out my daughter's FAFSA form before squeezing in these few minutes. I'm tired, my brain is just a wee bit fried, and I'm about to dive into Avian Anatomy - a topic I've always been eager to explore (as of about 10 minutes ago.)
And so it begins...
I begin the way that EVERYONE does now - by Googling "Avian Anatomy." I quickly scan the top links highlighted by Google until my eyes trip over the words "graphically intense." Adding to the magnetic quality of these words is the name of the site on which the intense graphics are housed: Feisty Feathers (found at http://feistyhome.phpwebhosting.com/anatomy.htm.) So, I click on it, and sure enough, there are graphically intense birds dancing on a highwire, along with some drawings of the insides of birds. Fair enough. But as my fried brain becomes fixated on the hypnotically dancing birds, I find myself wondering what other search engines there are, and whether they might have a different set of sites to peruse.
So, I Google "search engines" and am immediately delighted to discover a site called, "DuckDuckGo" (https://duckduckgo.com/) - which is clearly a sign! A search engine for dabblers!! Quickly scanning down the sites tagged by a search of Avian Anatomy, I am lured onto a page titled "Beauty of Birds" (http://www.beautyofbirds.com/anatomy.html) which does not disappoint as it offers me an immediate possibility of learning cool new vocabulary words with which to impress my friends. BONUS POINTS: FRENCH WORDS to impress my FRENCH FRIENDS! (See Morphologie Externe d'un Oiseau) And the thrills just continue as I scroll further down and see a whole section on Drinking Behavior (did I mention that it's been a long day?)
Here, I will collapse time a bit for you to say that my initial "research" for the evening landed on a highly academic paper in the nation's oldest college science publication, Yale Scientific Magazine, titled "Unraveling the Mysteries of Duck Mating." Truthfully, the article made me blush. Really. Wow. I'll just say, it involves "large corkscrew phalluses" and spiraling vaginal tracts... Huh. Didn't see that coming.
Stay tuned... the Case Study continues.
So, here we are. The topic is: Avian Anatomy (thanks to Karla Bird for the suggestion.) Before we plunge into the dabbling demonstration, it is important to make note of a few dabbling truths:
1. There is no one way to dabble. In fact, there are an infinite number of paths available to any given dabbler exploring any given interest. These paths may or may not return you to the topic that you set out to explore, but the desire will keep you adventuring forward in ways that continue to satisfy.
2. Unless you LOVE to write reports, I give you permission to leave the need to be able to summarize your findings in a tidy package behind.
3. For anyone who thinks that you don't have time to dabble, please note that I worked two jobs (10 hours) and filled out my daughter's FAFSA form before squeezing in these few minutes. I'm tired, my brain is just a wee bit fried, and I'm about to dive into Avian Anatomy - a topic I've always been eager to explore (as of about 10 minutes ago.)
And so it begins...
I begin the way that EVERYONE does now - by Googling "Avian Anatomy." I quickly scan the top links highlighted by Google until my eyes trip over the words "graphically intense." Adding to the magnetic quality of these words is the name of the site on which the intense graphics are housed: Feisty Feathers (found at http://feistyhome.phpwebhosting.com/anatomy.htm.) So, I click on it, and sure enough, there are graphically intense birds dancing on a highwire, along with some drawings of the insides of birds. Fair enough. But as my fried brain becomes fixated on the hypnotically dancing birds, I find myself wondering what other search engines there are, and whether they might have a different set of sites to peruse.
So, I Google "search engines" and am immediately delighted to discover a site called, "DuckDuckGo" (https://duckduckgo.com/) - which is clearly a sign! A search engine for dabblers!! Quickly scanning down the sites tagged by a search of Avian Anatomy, I am lured onto a page titled "Beauty of Birds" (http://www.beautyofbirds.com/anatomy.html) which does not disappoint as it offers me an immediate possibility of learning cool new vocabulary words with which to impress my friends. BONUS POINTS: FRENCH WORDS to impress my FRENCH FRIENDS! (See Morphologie Externe d'un Oiseau) And the thrills just continue as I scroll further down and see a whole section on Drinking Behavior (did I mention that it's been a long day?)
Here, I will collapse time a bit for you to say that my initial "research" for the evening landed on a highly academic paper in the nation's oldest college science publication, Yale Scientific Magazine, titled "Unraveling the Mysteries of Duck Mating." Truthfully, the article made me blush. Really. Wow. I'll just say, it involves "large corkscrew phalluses" and spiraling vaginal tracts... Huh. Didn't see that coming.
Stay tuned... the Case Study continues.
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