12/4

I left Jenny with Jazz last night while Lucy and I went out.  She is tickled that I'm working on training Jazz, so I gave her the target stick and let her try out some training with Jazz herself.  I will ask her later today about how it went and if she did anything.  We got home after 10:00p, so it was too late to chat.

12/3

"Touch" when holding out a targeting stick.

Walk around to touch the targeting stick.
Lay down to touch the targeting stick.
Jump on the couch to touch the targeting stick.
Walk onto a chair to touch the targeting stick.
Jump from one chair to another to touch the targeting stick.

Fetch? Treat under Cup

I got another book on training cats.  Nothing is new in there, but is much more succinct.  I am especially interested in trying to capture Jazz carrying a toy around, so I can eventually get her to fetch.  I'd love to have that be a possible way to exercise her, especially if I can get her jumping up and down on furniture when running to fetch something.  I don't think that cats are good at seeking something they can't see, so I will need to allow for that when throwing the toy.

Yesterday, I also started putting one of her treats into a paper cup.  She had to reach in and pull the treat out.  But the cup was very light, so much of the time she pushed it over and the treat came out while the cup rolled.  And I made it even more difficult after she started to get that the treat in the cup was hers if she could get it, by turning the cup over and putting the treat under it.  She had a hard time with that and never did knock the cup over. Instead she'd pull the cup toward her, press it against her back leg while sitting, and pop the edge of the cup up over the treat to get to it.  Impressive! 

Slim by Design Work Discussion

I talked to a person from HR yesterday about the Slim By Design book, and what it could mean here at our building to help make people less likely to consume too many calories. 

He was receptive to it, but is still not in a position to make changes himself.  After talking with him, the immediate outcomes was that he would bring it to his manager sometime soon.  Likely very soon, I'd guess, because he is an overweight gentleman and loves the idea of redesigning our workspace to help him keep weight off. 

He also suggested that I meet with our building's safety coordinator.  I guess she is someone who would be good to talk to about changing the layout of the building, but I don't know how much overlap her role has with employee health.  She's also thin, so may not be as amenable to this, and already has a full workload, I'm sure, with the other safety things she has going on.  

Weight, Slim by Design, Power of Habit

First, I put the scale that I use away.  I moved it from the bathroom floor to under the bathroom sink.  I think that's healthier for me, to slow my focus on my weight.

I also brought my balancing apes to work, and put them up on the snack counter.  When I look over there several times a day, I see the balancing apes rather than the bagels behind them.  I can also use them as a distraction when walking past.  I also like that others in the office can change them up, and sometimes I get surprised by new configurations of the apes.

I'm considering advocating for smaller plates at home. We're talking about replacing our current dishes with Correll ware, which is much lighter.  I glanced at one of their most popular styles and found them to be 10.25" for the dinner plates.  We have 11" plates at home, so that's an improvement.  I'd like to find Correll dinner plates which are under 10", if possible.

I had a small bowl of cereal for breakfast yesterday because I woke up at the normal time hungry, and I normally don't eat until lunch time.  I think this caused yesterday to be a much more balanced eating day for me than in the past.  3 smaller meals, spread over the course of the day, rather than 2 big meals and a couple small snacks.

I'm going to return the Power of Habit and the Slim by Design to the library.  They both have simple rules.  With habits, you need to follow a 4-step process to change habits, which I talked about in a previous post.  With Slim by Design, you have to use the "CAN" system.  Make that which you want Convenient, Attractive and Normal.  And the opposite for anything you don't want.  Good things easier, bad things more difficult.  Never say no.  That way leads to workarounds. 

11/15

Yesterday, I came up with two variations that I'm now trying to each.  One is to use one of Jazz's balls as the target, instead of my hand.  She's very interested in touching it with her face, and shows more excitement about following it than before.

I would like to figure out how to get her to play fetch with one of those balls.  Right now, I haven't done any reading to help me do so.

I'm also working to get her to stop sitting without a cue during our training sessions, and to touch her face to my fist without a reward every time.  I think that the latter will just take time.  The former is more difficult, because she often sits just for fun. 

If/Then Planning

Gollwitzer's If/Then Tactics (or "Implementation Intentions") - a short statement that starts with a trigger that often leads you to fail, and then the plan for what you will do if that situation arises.  

"fully understand how you often fail and create a plan for what you’ll do when a specific scenario comes up."

 Important Points:

• 
  
• The more difficult the long-term goal, the better it works.   
• The more issues the subject has with self control, the better it works. 
• Envision yourself taking the desired action.

Examples:

• If I go to the mall, then I will avoid the shoe store.
• If I end up in the shoe store, then I will not buy anything.
• If I go to Amazon, then I will only buy things I need.

Steps for Creating If/Then Statements:

1.  One habit at a time.
2. Set a target goal.
3. Create mini-goals.
4. Set a Baseline
5. Spitball ideas.
6. Track your bad habit.
7. Develop a Replacement Habit
8.  Set a firm start date.
9. Use failures to refine the if-then plan.

After reading this 9-step process, this seems like something I would use when working on changing habits, which I wrote about yesterday.  

11/5 - Session catchup

Many Sessions

Lay down in front of me - getting to be that this can be a problem.  I want her to do this last.  I need to put this on cue, so she doesn't get to the point of coming over and flopping onto her side.

Let me handle her paws - this is going well.  I can touch her paws now - all 4.  And she lets me hold her front 2.  But she sometimes pulls back when I grab her back paws (meaning I'm going too fast).

Come when called - definitely working out well, especially when I pay attention to the intonation I'm using to call her.  

*NEW* I'm trying to get her to jump through my arms.  I can often get her to walk over my arm when it is flat on the ground, and even step over it when it is hovering several inches off the ground, but I haven't been able to move to her jumping through.  I know she can do it - she has the athletic skills - but most of the time she doesn't want to spend the energy.  I need something more enticing a reward.


New issue - she's coming to the door and meowing very early in the morning.  Today it was 5:45AM.  this is ok, I guess, because I want to wake up early to start exercising more, but I also want to be able to get my sleep.  I'm not sure if this started when I started sleeping upstairs, when I started going to bed earlier, or if it was going on before.  But before, it certainly wasn't waking Turtle, because we were in the basement. 

Power of Habit - Prescription for Changing Habit

Power of Habit

The habit loop is very simple.  It is Cue > Routine > Reward (circular). 

The cue is what tells your mind it is time to activate the habit. 

The routine is the automatic response that you're doing when the habit is triggered. 

The rewards is the benefit you get from executing the habit. 

The way to change the habit is to keep the same cue and reward, but change the routine. 

To change the habit, you need to follow these steps:

1. Identify the Routine

• Likely the most obvious step.
• "Behavior you want to change."

2. Experiment with Rewards.

•  When feel the urge to do the behavior, try something else.  
• No pressure to make a change or adjustment - Collect data.
• Test different hypothesis that may also satisfy a craving.  
• Each time you attempt an alternate routine, do the following:
• Write down 3 things that are going on now.  
• Set a 15 minute timer.  
• Reflect after timer is over whether you still have the craving to do your routine. 

3. Isolate the Cue.

• Almost all habitual cues fall into one of five categories: Location, Time, Emotional State, Other People, Immediately Preceding Action.  
•  Answer these questions each time the urge hits:
• Where are you?
• What time is it?
• What's your emotional State?
• Who else is around?
• What action preceded the urge?

4. Have a Plan.

• Write it down.  
• Use a format that includes the cue and what you will plan to do.  
• Keep at it and it will change.  
• If you fall off the wagon, that's OK, as long as you keep trying. 

NaNoWriMo 2019 - Or Maybe not...

I'd like to do NaNoWriMo this year.  You are encouraged to write an entire novel in just a month.  Their mark is 50,000 words written in a single story.  That translates to 1,667 words per day, or roughly 7 pages.  In order to be realistic, I'd say only 21 days.  So that'd be closer to 10 pages per day.  That's daunting!  Now that I've done napkin math, I don't know that I want to do this again.

Reflections on Numenera Night, 4th time GMing

Me and a few friends.  I rand a module from the core book, rather than trying to craft something myself.  I also didn't use much wording to set the stage, instead mostly focusing on the "You did this, this happened, what do you want to do?" routine.  I also gave the team nudges when they didn't have a good idea in which way to go.  And I was a bit more deliberate in how I set the stage.  I really didn't give much wiggle room for them to make decisions which didn't fit the story. 

It was interesting that they did as questions that were outside the published adventure.  I had to make some things up on the spot (like that the south side of town is where the criminal element rules). 

I didn't enjoy letting them play in the world I was creating as much as I'd thought.  I wanted them to know more and do more, and they really only explored ~25% of the content because they didn't know about it.  What can you expect when you've prepared for every scenario and they just choose only one option. 

First Time running Game Recommendations - The Angry GM

My friend Matthew sent me a link to a blog that he feels is very helpful, and will give me a good start with GMing.  Some of my takeaways:

Just get out there and do it.  You'll be terrible at first, but you have to learn how to be a good GM.

GM-ing is not easy (but also not hard).  You have to practice to get better at it.  And what you're really looking for out of a first game is a group that will continue to play with you, so you can get better as they do. 

Follow these rules when running your first game. 

1. Keep the first run limited.   The author suggests ~5 hours, which mean 3-5 sessions. 
2. Use pre-gen characters.  
3. Use a published module.  

  And to prepare, he suggests knowing the rules, knowing the module.  And knowing the rules only means you need to pay attention to what is relevant to the characters you have generated.  Also, you should generate your own characters for their use. 

During the game, you control the rule book.  It is important that you being to understand that the rules are tools for adjusticating, and can be set aside if you need them to be in place of your logic. 


Your basic skills during the game are Narration, Adjudication, and Flow. 

Narrate means communicating the details.  Adjudication is determining what happens whenever the players take action.  It also involves using your logic and the rules.  And when deciding whether you need the rules, be sure to ask yourself "Do I really NEED the rules?"

Flow means continue using the basic pattern of the game.  Describe the situation, ask the players what they want to do, determine the result, and describe the new situation. 

"Here's what's happening.... What do you do?... Here's what happens... What do you do?...." etc.

10/4

No sessions, but interacted with some of the cueues. 

Turn head to her name
Sit
Sit Pretty
Follow my fist


I find myself doing the training in the same spot.  I need to vary the spot in the future, so the cat doesn't associate the spot with the action.  I do, at least, change between sitting and standing. 

Modern Principles of Shaping - 10. Quit while you're ahead!

I'm writing a 10 part blog post where I discuss the Modern Principles of Shaping by Karen Pryor, to help solidify them in my mind.

10.   Quit while you’re ahead. End each session with something the learner finds reinforcing. If possible, end a session on a strong behavioral response, but, at any rate, try to end with your learner still eager to go on.

1. Stop the session on a postive note.  Specifically, a situation where the learner gets a C/T.  
2. When ending, make sure to either stop with a C/T where the learner does something good OR manufacture one by going back a step or two, so the learner gets a reward to remember for next time.  
3. Ending with the learner eager to continue is hard.  If the learner is eager to continue, stopping could be interpreted as a punisher.  But it also makes the more likely to come back next time with renewed vigor.  
4. A jackpot doesn't need to come at the end, but it could help if occasionally the jackpots are at the end and distract the learner from the fact that the session is over. 

I'm not really in agreement with this wording.  It is really focused on the goals of the teacher, which make sense because the Principles of Shaping are geared toward putting together a shaping plan with a learner.  But, it is the learner who you need to keep engaged and if engagement drops off you as the teacher have to realize it and stop.  

Modern Principles of Shaping - 9. Stay ahead of your learner!

I'm writing a 10 part blog post where I discuss the Modern Principles of Shaping by Karen Pryor, to help solidify them in my mind.


9.       Stay ahead of your learner. Be prepared to “skip ahead” in your shaping plan if your learner makes a sudden leap.

1. Stay ahead both when progressing on the shaping, but also when reading your learner and knowing when to move in and out of the shaping process.  Both need to be calculated so you can end on a positive note.   
2. Skipping ahead is good, but I'm not confident that I can identify it when it is happening.  You can gauge the learners grasp of something by attempting to solicit a behavior 5 times, and if the learner meets your criteria 4 of the 5 times, you can move on.  But if the learner exhibits something much farther down the path perfectly, be prepared to capture it.  
3. Don't just be prepared for a leap in what you're shaping, but also for things that are not being shaped right now, but will need to be in the future.  At least this is what I'm doing now, and don't know otherwise.  I need to do a little more reading on it. 
4. This will build confidence that you know what you're doing.  This is more important for a human learner, I think, but any animal can lose confidence that you are reliable, and give up the attempt. 

10/3

2 Sessions

Turn her head to her name - good.  treating for this one very seldome. 

Follow my fist - good, but no progress on expanding this to have her jump up or down to follow my fist. 

Pick her up - No problems at all.  I need to start increasing the duration, and also starting to touch her feet. 

Feel her paws - Good, and am getting a little more intense about touching her back feet.   Front feet are still good. 

Sit Pretty - started to put this on a random reinforcement schedule. 


I feel like I'm focusing in on certain tricks to teach her and really get solid.  I think this is going to be my set for a while.  Sit pretty is a nice one to show off.  Follow my fist, too, but it is also a good one to have if I need her to go somewhere. Pick up and feel paws are good so I can move toward clipping her toenails easily. 

I could also add Laying Down, but I'm not sure if that's better than her letting me pick her up, so I can clip her nails. 

Modern Principles of Shaping - 8. Keep your attention on your learner!

I'm writing a 10 part blog post where I discuss the Modern Principles of Shaping by Karen Pryor, to help solidify them in my mind. 

8.       Keep your attention on your learner. Interrupting a training session gratuitously by taking a phone call, chatting, or doing something else that can wait often cause learners to lose momentum and get frustrated by the lack of information. If you need to take a break, give the animal a “goodbye present,” such as a small handful of treats.

1. I'm spending a lot of time making this one happen.  I do get distracted sometimes, but most of the time I feel like I'm watching the learner more than anything else. 
   
2. I don't interrupt a training session.  Instead I end it.  Not sure if this is better, but having a short training session has always been a better choice than having one that in some way is inferior. 
3. The learner can get frustrated in a lot of ways, but not having me pay attention isn't one of them.  I'm glad I'm following this already!
4. Should the goodbye present be a C/T - a jackpot?  That seems like a better idea than just giving out a bunch of treat. 

The 9 Variations on the 5-room dungeon Layout

9 Versions of the 5-room Dungeon at GnomeStew

I like the 9 versions of the dungeon, and but don't really understand the names.  I also like the ways to vary the dungeons. 

The 5-room dungeon can be used for any crawl, and doesn't have to be in a dungeon.  In a forest, warehouse, starship, or any other location this layout would be perfectly alright. 

You can physically move the rooms in the dungeon without changing the layout.  Extra long hallways, rooms immediatley adjacent to each other without a passage in the middle, and veritcal tubes all are acceptable as they don't change the order of the rooms. 

I just noticed that these layouts don't have the accompanying plot items that I discussed in the other article on 5-room dungeons.  This is all about how rooms can be laidd out, starting with the entrance, and showing the other 4 rooms.  Also, the author talks of adding a 6th. 

"One More Thing" approach to making a dungeon (from QuestingBeast)

I read about this method for creating a dungeon in Maze Rats.  I haven't been able to find its like online. 

First, put one simple thing in each room, keeping it pretty vague (a monster, a trap, a prisioner, a library).  Next, look for connections between the things.  How are they connected?  How do they explain one another?  What is their relationship?  Then, go back and add one additional detail to each room based on what you now know.  Repeat this process as many times as you like until you think the dungeon is finished. 

My attempt
A tower is emitting regular waves of thunderstorms.  Get to the top to see what's going on!


Room List:

1. Trap - The stair collapse and cause you to the inside, where you fall towards the bottom. 
2. Monster - Ant-lion type monster in a pit at the bottom. 
3. Encounter - Servant bringing equipment to the top of the tower
4. Treasure with Guardian - A Library/Museum that contains tomes with researched knowledge of the past and works of technological wizardry.  Includes several collections of historical monster tales. 
5. Artwork - Paintings of thunderstorms and the cosmos adorn the walls. 
6. Blank landing with hidden exit. - Door can be activated by tool carried by servant. 
7. Boss - A mad nano trying to coax the secrets of weather control out of a numenera.  But the weather is far from under his control. 
8. Room of Condensation - the weather above is causing massive condensation within this room.  The walls are cold to the touch, as is the air, and mist is forming and raining as you watch. 

10/2

1 Session

Sit Pretty - Accidentally C/T her for mouthing my hand when she was on her hind legs.  Also, not sure how to extend the length of time she's rearing up to paw my fingers. 
Follow my Fist - Same as before.  Need to determine how to get her to follow my fist to other levels (on a box, jump to couch, etc.)
Pick her up - No problem.  And when I was holding her, I started playing with her feet a little.  I think she's more comfortable with that. 

I noticed that she was very hungry this morning, because I didn't train her last night.  Instead I trained her this morning.

5 Room Dungeon with Story Elements

1. The Entrance that typically has a guardian of some type.
2. The Puzzle or a roleplaying challenge.
3. The Setback or a trick of some sort that impedes the heroes.
4. The Boss Fight room that provides a climax to the delve.
5. The Reward, which could be an antechamber that provides some loot or a potential revelation that ties the story together satisfactorily.

I really like this site for examples for the different types of rooms:  5-Room Dungeon Model Tips

And I really like this one for advice on keeping it short and sweet:  5-Room Dungeon Model on the Fly

Short Adventure 1 - Find me a tentacle!

A Numenera dungeon.  Can be entered by anyone who finds a "Mirror Ball." Wants to bring back a a tentacle from a hoarding jungle dweller. 

As you move around the dungeon, a thin red line, originating from your body, floats in the air behind you, slowly fading.  (Oldest line takes 1 hour to fade to nothing)

Encounters

• Chirog Family (4), Climbs as 7. p. 235 Core Book.
• Gazer (1) Perception at 5, Speed Defense 2.  p56 Bestiary
• Chance Moth (1).  p30, Bestiary
• Llaric Scropion (5), Climb as 6, Perception as 7.  p76 Bestiary
• Quotien (7), p103 Bestiary
• (Boss) Golu (5) with baby golu spawn (1).  Swarm join can attack for 3 total.  Floating mushroom top, with tentacles dangling.  Tentacles generate different energies - heat, electricity, light,  radiation, inert.  Those in its presence take 1 each turn in combat, or 1 step on the damage track each hour it is carried, due to radiation poisoning.  Golu will float away, at slow speed, upwards. 

Weird Room Descriptions:

• (Entrance) Behind you, a reflective sphere that ripples as things enter/leave its surface.  The room's walls have the shape on the outside of stacked bubbles.  There is one square portal on the floor (to room __) and two that are several meters off the floor.
• A pool of milky-white liquid that, if drunk, will turn the drinker red for 1 hour.  
• V-shaped room, with the point at the bottom, where you can walk.  Toward the top are posts sticking horizontally out of the wall.  
• An octagonal hallway with treads on the floor and each wall.  
• A dead wooden "tree" that emits gentle chimes when a breeze floats past.  
• A vast room - the far walls can't be seen - with a ceiling that barely tops 2 meters.  What can only be described as a gash opens one wall to darkness, and jungle growth has long pushed its way inside.   
• "The passage ends in a ‘T’. The right looks well-travelled and the corridor is unremarkable. The left looks untouched, smells faintly of cinnamon, and there’s a mysterious orange glow that can barely be seen at the end. Which way to do you go?" The left passage leads to the red herring.
• Piles of blinking, clicking, whirring machinery, being constantly rearranged by tiny flying squid-like tentacle monsters.
• A haunting, fluting sound drifts from a distance.  Intellect defense roll.  (5)

Story Hook: I need a tentacle from a jungle monster (Golu) to power my newest device.  I've heard you can find one through a Mirror Ball.  They appear randomly, but are generally too small. Rumor has it that Miliar has cobbled together a machine to draw them together and fuse them into a workable gateway. 

1. Entrance/Guardian: Find and convince Miliar (4, 5 with Numenera) to activate a numenera that attracts spheres and coalesces at the point of an antenna. 
2. Puzzle/Roleplay Challenge: "Control" (3).  Incorporeal Voice that can control the environment.  Can be reasoned with. Wants to be free.  Provides access to the rest of the facility and long distance transport options. 
3. Red Herring: Quotien (7), who will answer one question in exchange for a children's tale. Can provide you with a device that clicks the closer it gets to the Golu lair. 
4. Climax/Big Battle or Conflict: Kill/Capture Golu parent.
5. Plot Twist: Damage track begins to harm the PCs as they begin to make their way out. 

10/1

2 Sessions

Sit - Next progression is to the action with no click.  
Sit Pretty - Next progression is to the action with no click. 
Lay Down (in prep for Clipping Nails) - She can be playful.  I think that's not what I want to teach her, though. 


Complete/Maintain:

Next: Other intonation versions of "Jazz", Spot she can sit in (Bell she can push?) if she wants attention. Sit wherever she is, rather than walking over to me then sitting. 

Future: Touching her paws (toward clipping her nails), Handshake

Story Hook - Numenra Expert wants Cord

1. Numenera Expert (Bopuwan,Lvl 3, 4 for Numenera) needs you to get a specific piece of numenra - a long snakelike piece of synth that lights and transmits.... something... when the two ends are attached to pieces of wood.  The whole contraption will revolutionize how we build furniture by instigating the wood to blow up like a puffball mushroom, creating a single sphere of wood that can be shaped using special musical techniques.  Backfires -

1. Buy it from a shop.
1. Find the shop.
2. Haggle.
2. Happen across a Nano's estate sale.  
1. Buy it. 
2. Steal it.  
3. Sweet talk the owner into giving it to you.  
3. Trade for it from a wealthy collector (Quov, Level 3, 5 for manners/speaking)
1. Favor - 
2. Object Wanted - Something to improve my collection of ____.  
4. Steal it from wealthy collector.  
1. 2 Guards (lvl 2,3)
2. 2 Guards (lvl 4,5), with cypher that can freeze a target for 1 minute.

Modern Principles of Shaping - 7. Go back to kindergarten!

I'm writing a 10 part blog post where I discuss the Modern Principles of Shaping by Karen Pryor, to help solidify them in my mind.


7. Go back to kindergarten, if necessary. If a behavior deteriorates, quickly revisit the last successful approximation or two so that the animal can easily earn reinforcers.

1.  First, this suggests that you don't need to continually re-teach something.  You should teach it and maintain it by occasionally rewarding, so the behavior keeps occuring.  
2. Behavior can deteriorate because the behavior isn't being rewarded over a long period of time, the learner is finally understanding what the teacher wants and has forgotten what they're doing or the behavior has become sloppy over time.  
3. The trip to kindergarden is usually very quick, maybe 1-3 reinforcers per approximation.  Also, the approximations can skip over levels if the learner is understanding what you're doing.  
4. The more reinforcers you can give to the learner, the less likely they are to become frustrated.  Keeping the request within the normal boundaries of variation means they are doing it sometimes, and you can ratchet the request down further. 

9/30

3 Sessions

Turn head to her name -Expanding this to be further away.  Hard to catch a time when she's not noticing me heading to the training area with food. 
Come -Only happened once, since she's runs to me when she hears the food open. 
Sit Pretty -Started to ask her to stand higher. 

Clip Toenails - Succeeded in clipping 3 yesterday.  She also kinda bit, but not to hurt, but I only C/T for the times she was letting me hold her paw.  But she doesn't like me holding her back paws, so I'm taking my time petting her thigh and passing my open hand down her leg. 
Pick up - Picking her up and then C/T when she doesn't jump away.  Interspersing with Clip Toenails, so she doesn't know what's coming.  I think that letting her down is a good motivator, too.


Complete/Maintain:

Next: Other intonation versions of "Jazz", Spot she can sit in (Bell she can push?) if she wants attention. Sit wherever she is, rather than walking over to me then sitting. 

Future: Touching her paws (toward clipping her nails), Handshake

Choosing personal hobby focuses

I'veh ad a lot of hobbies over the years.  Some of them include:

• Juggling
• Swing Dancing
• Game Mastering (for tabletop RPGs)
• Reading
• Harmonica
• Learning Spanish
• Knitting
• Cribbage
• Board Games
• Tae Kwon Do
• Boxing
• Whistling
• Running
• Mobile Games
• Bike Riding
• Learning Electronics
• Wood Carving (Power and Not)
• Sewing
• Flying Discs

And many many more.

Right now, I want to pick up another hobby, but am constrained by the amount and type of time I can dedicate, the amount of noise I can make, and where I can pursue my hobbies.  Also, generally, I weigh how much effort I want to put into something that I don't know I'll be interested in in ~3 months. 

So, what fits the bill right now is learning Game Mastering, which includes reading rules sets, settings, and theory.  I play board games because a lot of my friends do.  And I want to get more into attempting solo RPG, but I'm afraid that the stories I make will suck when I finally get my dice. 

Harmonica is waning, because as it gets colder I won't be able to spend as much time outside, so my practice space is more limited.  I'd also like to pursue Swing Dancing more, it those are all time constrained.  And while Juggling is a big part of my identify, I don't have the drive to attend that I did before Turtle was born.

Maze Rats & Dungeon Design

So I've read over Maze Rats, and it is a short read.  I think there's some good framework in there to really streamline the dungeon delving that I've experienced with D&D 5e.  The only thing is that it doesn't have as much in there about creating a dungeon, so that's something I need to research. 

It talked about the "one more thing" approach.  Where you write things very generally (like "trap", "library", "monster", "npc", and then think about what connects them.  Then add more descriptors and iterate until you're done. 

It also suggested drawing the dungeon map, which is a great idea.  It makes it so it is something that folks can explore.  And you can pull it out any time, rather than having the preparation going to waste. 

I also was reading a DM who said you should start with a goal statement for yourself, including what you're trying to make, system, number of characters/goal level, etc.  Maze Rats doesn't have the expectation that the encounters are things that your characters can get through, which is part of the D&D 5e DM planning, so maybe that's not as important. 

9/27

1 Session

Follow a Fist - started working on getting her to follow my fist with her head after a few steps toward it, raising it up and down so she has to extend her neck.  I don't want to teach her to lay down, I guess, but it could be nice.  I eventually want to get her to follow my fist to places in the room, like jumping on the couch.  
Shake - very hard to get her to raise her right paw.  this is kinda stuck.  I need to think of an alternate behavior to shape. 
Sit Pretty -Very reliable on this one.  I need to start asking for longer behavior for this, but I'm afraid that she'll start using her teeth again. :( 
Lay on her Side - toward the end of the session, she flops herself.  And then she gets treats for that and letting me touch her feet.  I feel like she does this so she can continue to get things when she's tired.  
Let me touch her feet - Front feet are AOK, but she's very skittish about the back feet.  I can per her thighs and then down to her back paws in one motion, but I'm going very slow here.  I want her to be completely relaxed when she next needs her nails clipped. 


Complete/Maintain:

Next: Other intonation versions of "Jazz", Spot she can sit in (Bell she can push?) if she wants attention. Sit wherever she is, rather than walking over to me then sitting. 

Future: Touching her paws (toward clipping her nails), Handshake

Bullet Journals

My friend started a bullet journal.  Or, more specifically, she started a journal that has an index.  She's not using the regular task identification and bringing forward important items, which is a big part of bullet journaling. 

Her journal interests me, because the task-focused nature of bullet journals always got to me.  I like having lots of blank pages, and am growing to like the idea of an indexed journal, generally.  I've been using an indexed journal for the webinars I do for professional development.  I'm going to fill the index page before I fill the journal, though.  I didn't calculate how many pages I'd need to fill per index entry to make it work. 

And now that I'm filling my creative writing/adventure journal again from the back, the number of topics seems to be growing.  Should the topic be "Numenera" or "characters"/"stories"/"ideas" or something else?  That's where the index comes in.  How much division should it have?  Maybe for characters, it could be further broken down into characters from the country vs. cities? 

I also like that an indexed journal could be filled with whatever you'd like that can go on paper.  Stories, Quotes, Thinking Notes, Doodles, Pictures, Hopes.  But I don't like that you need to have a place and time dedicated to work on them.  My most productive times are on the bus or at lunch, because the rest of my time is dedicated.  But the bus is jostling, so writing doesn't work.  And lunch isn't great, either because its so short. 

I've also gotten scared off from most journaling because the examples I've seen are so beautiful and functional.  I couldn't do that!  Unless I tried and iterated until I was better.... 

Anyway, I don't think I want to do a new Journal, but it's really cool that my friend is. 

Modern Principles of Shaping - 6. Keep Training Continuous!

I'm writing a 10 part blog post where I discuss the Modern Principles of Shaping by Karen Pryor, to help solidify them in my mind.

6. Keep training sessions continuous. The animal should be continuously engaged in the learning process throughout the session. He should be working the entire time, except for the moment he’s consuming/enjoying his reinforcer. This also means keeping a high rate of reinforcement.

1. Continuous engagement can me either that the learner is always doing something or getting CT.  OR it could also mean that the learner is always eager and paying attention, even if they aren't actually doing anything.  The latter situations is what I strive for, and sometime hope to accomplish so I can capture some behavior  
2. Working the entire time means that the animal should respond as best they can to what they think you want them to do.  However, if something is on queue, and they choose to do something different, they're still engaged.  
3. Training time is valuable to both the teacher and learner, so be sure to set the expectation that the reward source is available now.  
4. A high rate of reinforcement could be as many as 20 treats per minute.  That seems tough to do when the learner is enjoying their reinforcer.  But maybe that means my treats are too substantial....
5. "High rate" is subjective, so some subjects will be able to do more with a lower rate of reinforcement.  
6. Reinforcement (and the information conveyed by the click) is the key to successful training.  So the more C/T you have/minute, the more likely you are to see change and success. 

Outstanding Questions: How many times should you repeat something?  Should the same criteria be used for multiple rewards in a single session?  Or is switching between criteria every C/T OK? 

9/26

None

[Trained Behaviors] - notes

Complete/Maintain:

Next: Other intonation versions of "Jazz", Spot she can sit in (Bell she can push?) if she wants attention. Sit wherever she is, rather than walking over to me then sitting. 

Future: Touching her paws (toward clipping her nails), Handshake

Modern Principles of Shaping - 5. If one door closes, find another!

I'm writing a 10 part blog post where I discuss the Modern Principles of Shaping by Karen Pryor, to help solidify them in my mind.

5. If one door closes, find another. If a particular shaping procedure is not progressing, try another way.

 

1. Depending on if this happens toward the end of within a shaping session, you may need to do this in real time.  I was trying this yesterday with Jazz with getting her to move her right paw so she can get toward a shake.  Very tough to separate actions, and easier if you can go the smoothest route.  
2. Alternatives for how to get the beginnings of a behavior: Capture, Targeting, Luring.  I tend to use capture, but it can slow down the process if the cat is just looking at me.  
3. Preparation for this part would be considering alternatives for how to get certain behaviors.  If you want the cat to raise its paw, maybe you move your hand in and the cat paws at it, or you lean forward, and the cat leans back and raises one paw in the process. 
4. This one is probably the hardest for me.  I tend to have a lot of patience, but I don't have as much as a cat.  

Outstanding Questions: How many times should you repeat something?  Should the same criteria be used for multiple rewards in a single session?  Or is switching between criteria every C/T OK?