Kenny <kentilton@gmail.com> wrote:
+---------------
| cartercc <cartercc@gmail.com> wrote:
| >I admitted to ignorance, not stupidity. I have two Masters degrees
| >in CS and SE, a doctorate (not in CS or SE), and six technical
| >certifications. 
|
| And you are a grad student now in something else so let us put you down 
| as smart and rudderless. And apparently Lisp does not like to be cruised 
| by rudderless vessels, it keeps pitching you up on the shore. Speaking 
| of shores, you should see my "Just Write Applications!" rant. If you 
| just keep sticking your toe in the water of course you'll never make any 
| headway. I need help making this metaphor even worse. Throw me a life 
| preserver, someone...
+---------------

How about a change of analogy [courtesy of my buddhist guru]?
If you dig 100 one-foot-deep holes all over the land, you'll
never strike water, but if you dig a single 100'-deep hole,
you might. [But no guarantees. You still need to dig in the
right place.]

In either analogy the mantra remains: "Just Write Applications!"

Pick a serious coding task, hopefully something that you *want*
to do and that somebody [yourself and/or others] *want* to use,
and "just do it"!! In Common Lisp, of course. You'll learn more
than you ever thought you could.

Third analogy: Reading all of the roadmaps and travel guides in
the world will never get you from your couch to the ski slope.
You actually have to *go* there!

Etc.


-Rob

-----
Rob Warnock			<rpw3@rpw3.org>
627 26th Avenue			<URL:http://rpw3.org/>
San Mateo, CA 94403		(650)572-2607