June 14th, 2018

Anyone besides me recall this shape from your school days?  It's just a conical shape, like perhaps an upside down ice cream cone or maybe a witches hat without a brim.

  A million or so years ago when dinosaur's walked the earth and I was in primary school, it was called a dunce cap.  In one of the many school's I attended, in one particular classroom (I cannot speak to any of the other's as I was only with this one teacher there)  if a student did something especially dumb, they were made to wear the dunce cap.  Education by humiliation was the thought, I assume.  By the way it doesn't work.

I had other teachers who simply mimed putting on an "invisible" conical cap, but they referred to it as a "thinking cap".  As in, "Ok student, I'm going to pass out the tests now, so everyone needs to put on their thinking caps".  This method of teaching also didn't really work. A person either knew the material or they didn't.  An invisible paper conical cap was immaterial

The reason this came to mind was yesterday.   When I was working at the museum, I was ON it. I knew the answers to every question asked, I came up with ideas,  I was firing on all burners, I didn't stumble over any words, or trip over my feet!  My supervisor there observed something I did and smiled hugely, "I cannot believe you remember that!" she said, impressed with me.  Heck, I was impressed with me!  I guess I was really wearing my thinking cap.

And then I woke up in the wee darkness of the night and sat bolt upright in bed. Dang it!  I forgot to take out the garbage.  So I heaved myself out of my nice comfy bed and into whichever pair of sandals I could find in the dark and dragged the garbage can to the curb.  I'd like to point out that we have now lived in this house for two entire years and every single Sunday and Wednesday night I take out the garbage.  Wouldn't you think I would remember?  A dunce cap moment.

So in one day I got wear both the dunce cap and the thinking cap! How is it that a person can be both very smart and very stupid at the same time?  I do it ALLLL the time.  

I have in my lifetime given out some very good advice from now and again.  And yet, I accidentally whack my knee on the dishwasher door while emptying it all of the time.   I can be quite creative and clever in my baking but if something goes awry with my computer, I may as well be lost as sea.  I can carry on a good conversation with almost anyone about almost anything but at the same time, recently, could not think of the word, "Fossil".  I consider myself fairly well read, reasonably intelligent and decently education and yet when it comes to the game of Scrabble, I suck.  There is no other way to describe it, except perhaps to say that I stink on ice.

So I suppose it's a normal thing someone to wear both a dunce cap and a thinking cap every moment of every day. If nothing else, it's a Sam-thing.

Well there was that time when we had unexpected company for dinner and I managed to whip up a very good meal for four people with what had been intended for two and nobody was the wiser.  That day I wore my Sorcerer's Cap!

Wishing you a Sorcerer's Cap kind of day!