----- Original Message -----
From: "Colin Lewis"
During the last year I have spent a lot of my time trying to get people to
understand that you need to let the plant you are dealing with "speak" to
you. You need to allow things like gut reaction, emotion, visual pleasure
etc. influence design decisions. You need to look at the state of the
vegetation to know when it is time to hibernate a plant. You need to
forget
about "left branch, right branch. back branch" when dealing with collected
trees that don't have them.
-------------

I appreciate your efforts on that front, Colin. Hats off to your students.

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
zone 8, Texas

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Basics, tools, methods. They all work. Some people just take offense to
rules I guess. I would have paid $1000 for someone to clobber me in the head
with a baseball bat so I could have paid more attention to the 'rules' back
when I first started.

--I crucified my hate and
held the world within my hands--
Neal Ross-Marysville CA


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----- Original Message -----
From: "Colin Lewis"
That's true almost everywhere, Andy. The point I was trying to make is
that
here an inordinate umber of people WANT things formularised. They want to
know the axact date to put trees away for winter or bring them out in
spring; they want to knoe the precise proportions for soil to first branch
to apex; they want to know how to pronounce bonsai...
--------------

I'd venture that this is because we Americans feel the illogical need to
understand what we're being taught - from an intellectual point of view. We
have to feel good about what we're digesting and "know" that it's worthwhile
(forget the fact that, since we lack the fundamental understanding in the
first place, that all of this is impossible). If we don't understand the
process, we fear and dislike it. If the teacher demands that we forget all
of that junk and just absorb the instruction and put it into practice
without question, we think that we're being duped or that we're being
"disrespected."

None of this has anything to do with learning, of course. But we like to
delude ourselves that it does. See, "we" know what's right and the teacher
does not. It's quite simple. ;-)

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
zone 8, Texas

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----- Original Message -----
From: "Neal Ross"
Basics, tools, methods. They all work. Some people just take offense to
rules I guess. I would have paid $1000 for someone to clobber me in the
head
with a baseball bat so I could have paid more attention to the 'rules'
back
when I first started.
Neal Ross-
------------

An admirable regret.

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
zone 8, Texas

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++++Sponsored, in part, by Jerry Meislik++++
************************************************** ******************************
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Think maybe this is due in part to the fact that our educational system here
in the U.S. has, for the most part, devolved to the point where education is
about regurgitation of "facts" as opposed to the application of
"principles?"

Jeff Isom
Cleveland, OH / Sunset Zone 39

I'd venture that this is because we Americans feel the illogical need to
understand what we're being taught - from an intellectual point of view. We
have to feel good about what we're digesting and "know" that it's worthwhile
(forget the fact that, since we lack the fundamental understanding in the
first place, that all of this is impossible). If we don't understand the
process, we fear and dislike it. If the teacher demands that we forget all
of that junk and just absorb the instruction and put it into practice
without question, we think that we're being duped or that we're being
"disrespected."

None of this has anything to do with learning, of course. But we like to
delude ourselves that it does. See, "we" know what's right and the teacher
does not. It's quite simple. ;-)

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
zone 8, Texas

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++++Sponsored, in part, by Jerry Meislik++++
************************************************** ******************************
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+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

wow, yes i'm a newbie. i bought
the juniper while walking thru
chinatown for the new years parade
last week. anyhow, i'm hooked!
yesterday i bought a cotoneaster and
a palm from a north los angeles
wholeseller online which should arrive
tomorrow and i now want a chinese elm.
i've been reading a lot of info on the net and
i must say the info you just wrote
was great!! thanks for the time you
put into your response!!

In a message dated 2/11/2003 7:39:26 PM Central Standard Time,
writes:

I would have paid $1000 for someone to clobber me in the head
with a baseball bat so I could have paid more attention to the 'rules' back
when I first started.


Aw da&$, ya means I been underpaid all dees years? I only gets $250 for
whacking people wid a ball bat. I guess I'm gonna haf ta ask da boss fo a
raise & hope I don't get whacked mysef.

Muggsy da' enforcer



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