A question that I am asked quite often, relates to my chosen Twitter name – @daverage.
Before we get into that, I want to clear one thing up. It is Dave Rage, not the Excel function, DAverage!
Back to the story. Dave has-been with me since university. On one of the first nights in the halls of residence, we all decided to make door signs for each other. The thing was, no one could spell Andrzej, so they decided to call me Dave!
That stuck with me and from that day onwards, I was known as Dave.
I keep seeing articles stating why everyone should learn to code. The same message is aimed at adults and children, pointing to a new type of digital literacy needed to survive in the new world.
I myself have known how to do code in one form or another since my dad showed me BASIC at about 5 years old. In later life, my career relied on me knowing how to code as a web developer. I have built many tools and found being able to code of great benefit to me. It has certainly been a skill that I have made use of a great deal in the last 30 years or so. But does that mean my 9 year old should learn, or even my 4-year-old?
Anyone who knows me, knows that I often do stuff simply because it amuses me. A good example of that is the title of my book, Even Ninja Monkeys Like to Play. I went through dozens of iterations whilst trying to come up with a name. In the book there is an official reason for the name – which is partially true. My daughters crazy imagination and desire to be a pink unicorn with wings was the key inspiration for the name. However, there is another less obvious and far less grown up reason.
Not long before, I wrote the book, I was trying to work out a way for people to be able to reference the User Types Hexad in academic papers. A few people had issues referencing from a website, turns out the academic world is not so keen on blogs. Anyway, I decided to write a paper and submit it with a little help. Long story short, the paper was rejected. In a wonderful leap of circular logic, the fact that the user types were already on my blog, meant they were not original work and so a paper was not an option. Whilst trying to figure out another plan, I was told that often it was far more acceptable to cite a book than a blog. So, I decided to get the book done.
So, here it is. Writing and publishing the book have broken my brain a little! I am working on two blogs at the moment though. One about publishing a book for under £50 ($80) and the other about dark personalities and disruptors!
However, anyone who has been reading for a while will know that when my Gamification brain breaks, I pursue other creative outlets. There were the Batman Breaks, the short stories and the memes.
Well now I have been writing some poems for my children! Yep, you heard that right! You can find them all on Wattpad – Poems for Children
The girls in a hurricane simulator at the London aquarium !
Posted by Andrzej Marczewski on Monday, 28 September 2015
This video was taken of my daughters at the London Aquarium in a hurricane Simulator. For £2, you lock the kids in for about 30 seconds and it simulates winds of around 80mph. Why? Because it is fun! It serves no purpose, there is no higher meaning, it is just (for some) an enjoyable experience.
It is good to be reminded that not everything needs to have a purpose to be important. That simple £2 investment gave my children an experience that cheered them up after a lot of walking and that created smiles and memories that are priceless.