Technorati Ranking for The Boy Who Knew Too Much.

By reason of nothing more than randomness, I decided to check my Technorati ranking, yesterday. I found myself rather stunned by the result.

Those of you who are long term readers of my blog will have noted a blog post I wrote on May 27th 2007. Then, I remarked that my blog was doing unexpectedly well. I had a Technorati authority of 23 - which meant that 23 independent blogs had linked to me in the previous six months - and I stood 222,604th out of all the world's then, 71 million blogs, in Technorati ranking. These rankings are an indicator of how important other people think the blog is, as it is measured by the number of people who decide to link to it, from the rest of the blogosphere, compared to how many people are linking to all the other blogs. I was, at the time, rather pleased to have my, then, young blog, considered so highly by the rest of the blogosphere.

Yesterday, I saw a surprisingly different tale concerning my blog. Firstly, it should be noted that, according to Wikipedia, Technorati was tracking and ranking 112.8 million blogs by June 2008. Presumably they are likely to be tracking more now. Anyway, have a guess where my blog was listed, out of such a giant horde of blogs, in significance in the blogosphere, yesterday?

Well, I was stunned to note that my blog was listed as the 15,157th blog in the world out of all of its hundred million plus blogs! Not only that but astonishingly its authority was listed as 419. This means that, in the previous six months, 419 new bloggers decided to link to my blog. To my mind, that is a very large number.

To put it into terms that might be more meaningful, my blog is in the top 99.987% of all blogs, worldwide.

Now, I must point out that Technorati is measuring blog importance in terms of the number of people who think it worth linking to a blog. It is not measuring purely the traffic to the blog. My blog remains a niche interest, in regards to its subject matter, but what is clear, is that those who do read it, appreciate it, more than is typical - for a lot of people are linking to it.

Thanks to those who have linked to my blog. I am really amazed to learn that there are so many of you out there. It is appreciated and acts as a spur to keep on writing.

I did note something even more interesting. Technorati indicates that my blog has fallen in rank recently. Thus, an authority of 419 is NOT the peak it has reached. It has, in the recent past, been even more popular.

If you have a blog, and like anything that you read here, I would be grateful if you could link to the posts that you like, or to the blog head page. Thanks very much.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals. If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

Blogger formatting problems: again!

Please excuse the mess that is the format of the "Chemistry experiments beyond the book" post, below. I simply can't get the paragraphing to work - and I have no idea why. Blogger has done this to me before - once or twice and I do not know how to resolve it.

I hope you can manage to read it despite this.

Thanks.

50,000 blog visitors and counting

Today, this blog passed a bit of a milestone: it broke the 50,000 visitor mark. As of 7.55 pm, December 29th 2007, I have had 50,030 visitors to this blog since September 19th 2006 (Day 1).

I don't know how that compares to other blogs, but for me it is a satisfactory outcome. To have had 50,000 readers in every country of the world, is a fair introduction to the internet. Of course, though appreciable, it is a small number compared to the number of people in the world. By that measure about one person in 120,000 has read at least one article from this blog.

Thank you all for taking an interest. Happy reading!

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and no months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and five months, and Tiarnan, twenty-two months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Comment post backlog

There are a number of comments which I haven't had time to post, or write a reply to. I will try to attend to them in the next couple of days.

Thank you for your patience.

Breaking the 600 barrier

This is my six hundred and second post. The total in about fourteen months, surprises me.

So, although only a handful of posts are listed on the left-hand side bar, there are over 600 hiding here, on this blog.

Happy reading.

The Author's Purpose in Writing

One of my readers has observed that not all of my posts are on giftedness. This is how I intend it to be. Yet, their comment led me to think I should explain why I write what I do.

My first purpose in writing is to communicate my understanding of giftedness and what I learn and observe from my children (and from my own life), as examples of this phenomenon. I think this helps young parents faced with their first gifted child get to grips with some of the issues they will face. So, in that sense, my writing fulfils a social objective of supporting others in a similar or somehow analogous situation. All giftedness leads to varying degrees of the issues discussed on my blog pages and so any parent of a gifted child can better prepare themselves for what lies ahead by coming to know what one parent of gifted children has had to go through.

That is clear and probably understood without stating it - but I thought it better to make it explicit. There are, however, other purposes in writing. I wish to record my children as they grow up, so that I might enjoy their childhood many years from now, when, perhaps the details would otherwise have been lost to my, then, aging mind. It is, therefore, an investment in my future contentment at the parenting life I have led.

A further purpose is to explore and record the personality of my children - so not just looking at their giftedness, but recording anecdotes which show them as they are, which reveal something of their personality aside and apart from their giftedness. This was not understood by the reader who mailed me. He expected all posts to illustrate giftedness - but this is not so - and why should it be? There are more aspects to a gifted child than simple giftedness: there is their developing personality, funny moments, sweet acts, thoughtful deeds, developmental milestones, their interests and hobbies, their outlook and viewpoints, their friends, their loves and their lives (all later on, one would think).

A gifted child is so much more than a gift - and so a blog about gifted children - as mine is, should also be so much more than just about giftedness - and so it is. In some posts, a broader view of my children is evident. Glimpses of their personality and individuality are to be seen. It is these, in some ways, which are more important to capture. It is these aspects of them which make them unique.

I also wish to write in a more scholarly fashion, at times, looking at the literature on giftedness, genius, prodigy, intelligence, creativity, left-handedness, child development and the like. My purpose is to distill the essence of this work to make it readily digestible to all, so that my readers might be better informed of the scientific understanding of all things gifted.

On other occasions, I write of issues that seem to have some social importance, not just to gifted people, but to society in general. This is an important function which allows me to express my views on wider matters in the world. Elements of myself are to be found in such posts.

I also write of countries that I know personally - these include Singapore, the UK, Ireland, and the USA - the four countries with which I am most familiar. My view on all such matters, is that I would always like to see improvements in each society - so if I discuss one, it would usually be to address something which could be done better.

I take no political views, in this blog, but that doesn't mean I can't comment on something a politician does or says. There is no intent to take a political stand in doing so.

I hope that goes some way to explaining what I write and why.

Happy reading all.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and eleven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and four months, and Tiarnan, twenty-one months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

International Olympic Committee blog visit.

There is nothing more likely to remind one how small the world is, than starting a blog. Yesterday, I wrote about the Youth Olympic Games planned for 2010. Today, someone from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) read the article I had written about them: amazing.

More specifically, someone whose IP address is called Comite International Olympique, from Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland, with the domain name: "Olympic.org", read the article in question. What I find even more incredible is the manner in which they were alerted. Someone who had read the article in the twenty four hours after I wrote it, sent an email to someone they knew at the International Olympic Committee, enclosing a link to the article - and they opened it and read it. That, to me, is rather surprising. It just goes to show how small and interconnected this modern world we live in, is.

I posted an article, from Singapore, addressed to no-one in particular, leaving it to chance who might see it. Twenty-four hours later, the organization I spoke of - the International Olympic Committee (IOC), had been notified of it and had read it. Phenomenal.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Freedom of Speech and the United States

Is there true freedom of speech in the United States? Is there freedom of speech on the internet? Does it endanger international relations and stray into politics, to speak freely on the internet?

I ask these questions for a reason. You see, I keep an eye on the locations of those who visit my website and on who comments on my pages. It is helpful to keep track of such things, since then I know something of the perspective of those who comment. I have, therefore, noticed something with regards to one of my posts. I wrote of George Bush's difficulty with the English language, picking up on a Reuters report that had made his mangling of English centre stage. It seems that simply speaking of such things is not permissible, at least in the eyes of at least one American. You see, there used to be regular visitor to my blog from Bothell, Washington - or Washington, Bothell. Every day, they would visit my blog. Until, one day, I wrote about George Bush's linguistic limitations, not in censure, but with a sense of worry about the wherewithal of a nation's Commander-in-Chief. Apparently, one is not really free to speak of anything one wishes in America - at least, Americans on the ground don't really respect freedom of speech, with their hearts and minds. You see, if you speak freely, without wish to offend, they can get offended and take umbrage: so where does that leave freedom of speech? It is, in effect, only a theoretical entity, in America. That visitor from Bothell, Washington had been a steadfast regular on my blog - but after I alluded to the Reuters report on George Bush, she or he, wrote a somewhat miffed remark on the post, and then never visited my blog again.

To me, his or her action is very significant. It means that, in practice, there may not actually be true freedom of speech in the United States (or perhaps anywhere else - but most other places don't actually boast of having it in the first place). True freedom of speech, in my eyes, implies that no-one will take any kind of action against you, for voicing an opinion. Not visiting a blog, again, comes under the category of a retributive action. It indicates, therefore, that the high principle of freedom of speech is not actually respected by that individual. That action led me to wonder how many, or how few, other Americans really understand what a world where speech was truly free should be like. In such a world, no opinion would ever attract censure and all would be listened to with equal open-ness. That is the ideal that America speaks of, when it boasts of its freedom of speech. Yet, in truth, the reality falls short of that, at least if this example is anything to go by.

It is perilous, it seems, to speak of anyone in politics. People are polarized and any opinion, about anyone political, whether it be local or international, is likely to differ from the opinions of many of one's readers. In a free world, where speech was truly free, it would not matter. One's opinion would not lead to problems. I have learnt, however, from observing that event, that although one may write as one wishes, on the internet, that certain opinions - perhaps any opinion, in fact - will lead to some people taking exception to it.

We have, therefore, the freedom to write as we wish - but not the freedom to be welcomed universally.

Freedom of speech is an admirable ideal - and it is heartening that the United States says it upholds such a thing. Indeed, as I understand it, it is a First Amendment right, in the Constitution. Yet, its citizens - at least some of them - have not yet fully internalized what freedom of speech really means. I look forward to a day when all the world is free, in every way - being free in speech, is probably the easiest freedom of all - if only people would be tolerant of each other, in all our infinite variety.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Lost and missing comment posts.

It has been brought to my attention, by a blog reader from America, that comment posts are going missing.

This reader said she had written three comment posts which had not been posted - and was rather put out by it. Well, as I wrote to her, the explanation is simple: I never received the comments. Now this poses the question: how many of your comments are going missing? Is this a general phenomenon? Are people getting frustrated with comments not appearing?

Well, all I can say is that this is the second time someone has asked about comments which I have never received. There is no telling how many people might be affected by this. I post all comments unless they are mad, rude, or likely to pose a problem if read by children. Thankfully, very few posts come into those categories - so almost all comments get posted. If yours has not been posted - and it is not one of those three kinds - then it is probable that I never received your comment post.

I do not know what the problem is - but it seems that, sometimes, blogger does not pass comments onto me. It could be that the commenter is not following comment protocol and is failing to register the comments, properly. Or it could be that blogger is simply losing the comments. I do not know.

So, if you have commented and it hasn't appeared - try again - or email me with the comment and I will see if ever received the comment post in the first place. Thanks.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

First Anniversary of Prodigy Blog

A year ago, today, on September 19th 2006, I made my first posting on The Boy Who Knew Too Much: A Child Prodigy.

I had chosen a simple self-explanatory title for the blog - and the same for the domain http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com.html/

I began knowing nothing of the medium but came, in time, to appreciate its flexibility and the facility it gives anyone, with something to say, the means to communicate it to others. The Blog is changing the way people relate to others all over the world. It has dissolved the barrier that separated the common man, from playing any role in the media. Blogs are a new media that are truly accessible to all who are likely to be able to use them ie. those who can write, think or comment on the work of others, if they are not able to create their own.


It is difficult to believe that it is a year since I began - but that is what the date on the first posting says, so a year it is.

Since then I have posted 523 times, my blog has been visited by 33,095 visitors, reading 105,687 pages (which can include a whole week's postings per page), as of 8.45 pm on the first anniversary of first posting.

My peak readers hit over 3,000 in one frenzied day - when the story of Ainan hit the world's newspapers - and after the first few months in which I began to build both an audience and posts, visitorship has rarely dropped beneath a hundred readers in a day.

I have regular readers from various parts of the world, particularly in countries where English is a first language, like the USA, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Singapore and the UK. I also have what I call "deep readers". These are people who chance upon my blog and then spend several hours reading it. Typically these readers spend two or three hours doing so - but some are much longer - up to over five or six hours at one reading, if memory serves me right. This is, to me, an indication that I am writing in a way which a certain kind of reader, at least, finds rewarding - otherwise why would they spend a large chunk of their day reading?

I have noticed that there are cycles in readership with some periods attracting more than others. It is clear, too, that I have had readers from everywhere on Earth - even, believe it or not, in parts of Africa, where one would expect few internet connections.

Even the people of small islands in the middle of nowhere have popped in to look around.

I haven't counted the number of comments on the postings exactly but it must be well into four figures, when all are added up. Most comments have been kindly, supportive, interesting, or informative. A few comments didn't make it to posting since they appeared to have been written by people with "issues" over giftedness (mainly spiteful, sometimes mad). All in all, though, if a typical reader is represented by the typical comment, then the typical reader is well-informed, thoughtful and not infrequently insightful. It has been a pleasure to relate to you all, through this medium, this past year.

I have surprised myself by how much and how often I have written. I did not know what I would say before I began...just that it would be good to say some of the things I think about. I hope it has been of some use and interest to you all.

I am pleased at the readership that I have garnered, to date, for there are over 70 million blogs in this world and it is difficult to see how they can all get readers when the number of people connected to the internet is, as I read some while back, only about 10 times that number. That indicates a ratio of ten possible readers for every blog, if they are spread out evenly. So, set against that kind of statistic, I have quite a healthy readership. Yet, it would be good if, in the year ahead, the readership could expand. Thus, I have a suggestion. If you like any of the articles here, or appreciate the blog in general, then why not link your site (if you have one) to mine, or the posting in question. Then others could get a chance to enjoy it too.

Looking ahead to the second year of my blog, I have, at the beginning of that time, the intention of continuing to blog regularly. I will continue to cover giftedness in all its manifestations and child prodigy in particular. I may choose to expand into other areas - but at the core will be the issue of human excellence and giftedness of all shapes and sizes. It is a subject I know well, and is one I feel important enough to give some time to, regularly. The gifted are a minority - and like all minorities they need people willing to speak up and speak out, lest people forget that they have needs, too. Perhaps, to some degree, my blog helps to that end.

So, if you have enjoyed any of my postings, why not spread the word - and see if, at the end of my second year of blogging, my total readership can exceed the 100,000 mark. I just have to do twice as well in my second year as in my first. That is my goal. I would appreciate your help in achieving it. Thanks all. Happy reading.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and nine months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and two months, and Tiarnan, nineteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

This is my five hundredth post

Since I started this blog on September 19th 2006, I have posted 500 posts. That surprises me. No doubt the number of words written runs well into six figures. It is funny how a little daily writing soon adds up.

So, if you are new to this blog, there is a lot to read on many different topics related to education, giftedness, prodigiousness, gifted parenting and the like. Every nook and cranny of these areas has either been looked at already or will be looked at over time.

Happy reading!

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and eight months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and one month, and Tiarnan, eighteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

The Intelligent Singaporean, blog aggregator.

Long, it seems, has The Intelligent Singaporean been a fixture in the Singaporean blogosphere - but no more. Today, their Last Message was posted.

For those who may not know, The Intelligent Singaporean, was brought into being to aggregate all interesting comment in the Singaporean "socio-political blogosphere", to allow Singaporeans, and interested parties overseas, to easily find significant articles of the day, about all things Singaporean.

This has been an important role, for many Singaporeans, for it has made it much easier to access alternative and insightful opinions about all "socio-political" matters affecting Singaporeans today.

The reasons behind the closure of The Intelligent Singaporean (found at Wordpress), are not clearly stated - they are just referred to as "events" that lead the founder of the blog to have to close it down.

I am grateful that The Intelligent Singaporean took notice of my writing on a number of occasions and referenced it.

It is a pity that this role of gathering the ideas and insights of the day, in one convenient place, will no longer be performed by The Intelligent Singaporean. It was a popular and successful blog aggregator/commenter appreciated by many and was listed as one of Technorati's higher ranking blogs.

I wish the founder(s?) of the blog well in whatever future role they play in the blogosphere, if any.

(If you would like to read of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and eight months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and one month, or Tiarnan, eighteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, genetics, left-handedness, College, University, Chemistry, Science, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Technorati ranking for scientific child prodigy

As many of you may know, Technorati provides rankings for blogs. It claims to list over 71 million blogs on its site, ranking them all from top to bottom.

As of today, my blog is ranked as the 222,604th blog on the net with an "Authority" of 23. That means it is ranked higher than about 71 million other blogs. That doesn't seem bad at all considering how young the blog is - and the niche interest that it occupies. To me, that indicates that there is quite a lot of interest in the world about all matters gifted - more than one might suppose.

So, if you are a reader of this blog, you are most certainly not alone: there is a whole world of fellow readers out there, too.

Happy reading.

Babelfish: page translation for you.

Scientific child prodigy is attracting many readers from non-English speaking countries. In the light of this I have added a translation engine to the page. Although, it will give a general sense of what I am writing, the translation will not be such as to render the meaning, exactly, if my trials are anything to go by. However, it may allow you to come to some understanding of the page, if English is not your strong point.

Please feel free to comment about your experiences with the translation engine. Is it useful? Should I keep the feature? Is the quality high enough to allow you to gather the basic meaning?

I would welcome your thoughts.

Meanwhile, wherever you come from, I hope you enjoy the blog. There is much to read - so happy reading!

Malay Translations of Blog Posts

Today, so far, there have been about 2,700 visitors to this blog from Malaysia. In the light of this, I am going to try to include Malay translations of my postings in the future, to satisfy the interest of Malaysian visitors. Thus the same posting would appear in two languages. I would welcome your thoughts on this - from both English and Malay readers.

Malay postings will not necessarily be available at the same time as the English postings - but, if there is enough demand from Malaysia and Indonesia (as well as, of course, Singapore) I shall continue to post in Malay.

I hope this widens access to my blog. This post will be translated later - since I understand the irony of promising in English, a translation to Malay!

These translations will not, of course, be done by me, but by my wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley - so I thank her, in advance, for her help in this matter. I do not know whether she will have time to translate all postings - but she could certainly do some, which no doubt would help many readers.

Best wishes all.

Fintan's reaction to the blog

Yesterday Fintan, three, looked over his mummy's shoulder and saw the blog, on the screen. He stared more intently at what he saw - and then he exclaimed: "Fintan!?", his face alive with warmth as he realized that his name was mentioned on the screen.

Some people have wondered about how my children react to the blog. Well, yesterday Fintan showed, most clearly, how he felt. He was touched that his Daddy was writing about him. I think he understood it in terms of one caring enough to make the consistent effort to record his actions and thoughts - and that warmed him.

I need no more encouragement than that.

Why: "The Boy Who Knew Too Much"?

It seems from some of the comments I have received, over the months, that the meaning behind my blog title is not as universally understood as I would like. To clarify a little I am going to post a copy of a comment in response to one puzzled commenter:

"The title of my blog is meant to capture the sense one gets on talking to Ainan that no-one could possibly know so much. It is not meant to propose the idea that he should know less. Naming a blog can be tricky since words may be misinterpreted, or read in ways other than intended. Ainan "knows too much" only in the sense that he creates in a listener the sense that what he does is somehow bordering the impossible...for how can one so young know so much? That is what I wanted to relate.

My title is not giftist - it is a title written from wonder - though I see how it could be misread."

So, my blog title is meant to evoke the wonder that comes from speaking to Ainan, when he chooses to speak his mind. It was never intended to suggest that he be diminished in any way. Thus, it cannot be said to be "Giftist" (a word of my invention, recently).

I hope that answers anyone who has taken exception to the title.

A reflection on blogging: an inexhaustible life

I have surprised myself with how, each day, I find something to write about. When I began blogging, I did not know whether that would be possible. Now I do.

What is it that allows me to write daily? Well, I have found that my children provide abundant material. I have three kids and a careful eye upon them reveals many interesting things which I can relate, daily. It is my hope that this will prove to be an inexhaustible source of interesting anecdotes relating to the lives of gifted children, as exemplified by one family, the Cawleys of Singapore.

I wish to keep this online account going indefinitely. I do not know, however, how long it is possible to keep seeing new things in one's children. That in itself is an interesting question: is there an infinite variety of things to observe in a single family? Perhaps there is. It would certainly be rewarding to think so.

I would like to thank those of you who have interacted with me through responding to the material posted. If you have a thought to share - just comment and I will reply too.

Blogger - unable to post

I would like to apologize to my regular readers for the longer than usual gap between postings: I have been unable to post to Blogger from my home computer. I don't know if this problem will persist, there, but I am able to post from someone else's (so perhaps it will be alright when I return home).

I am a regular blogger. I write every day. If there is ever a delay in posting it is because I CANNOT post, not because I don't want to. Therefore, your patience, in returning to check later, will eventually be rewarded by a resumption of posting.

Thanks for your patience.

Thanks to the kindly Californian

Someone from California left a comment which I can't publish but which was the product of kindness and thoughtfulness. I would like to thank them and to be aware that I will heed their words.

Your intent is much appreciated.

Best wishes to you in the US of A.