Won’t Someone Please Tell Me What "Ditty Wah Ditty" Means?
Why would I attempt 14 goals and put them right out there in public like the unwashed hands of a Taco Bell employee? The neuroscientists among you know the answer. It's called the Optimism Bias. 80% of us sinners are consistently overly optimistic about the outcome of events we personally undertake.
Now, I knew about the OB before I began, so I am not offering this as an early mea culpa; I’ve got plenty of excuses queued up for later, when the going gets rough. I’m not worried, because I have a secret weapon. It’s called the myelin wrap. Not to be confused with the Crunch-Wrap Supreme, which delivers a whopping 560 calories, 70 grams of carbs, and 1350 milligrams of salt. This from a cow that’s been genetically engineered to produce the very meat it consumes, thereby creating the perfect loop of self sustaining Taco Belldom; technology’s Möbius strip of meat consumption.
In Daniel Coyle’s, The Talent Code, he explains how the myelin wrap is the holy grail of acquiring skills. Myelin is the fatty brain insulator that wraps around a neural pathway every time a neuron chain fires. It makes the pathway signal stronger and faster by preventing the electrical impulse from leaking out. (Think double-walled Forceflex trash bag.) According to UCLA neurologist Dr. George Bartzokis, (rhymes with Fartzokis, a gift for you Dave Nicol), “All skills, all language, all music, all movements are made up of living circuits.” And the more myelin you wrap around those circuits, the more skill acquired. So, Albert Einstein––tons of myelin wrap, Michael Jordan––myelin wrap galore.
Brittany Spears? Mostly Crunch-Wrap Supreme.
Yep, I’ve been busy myelinating my ass off. The trick to myelin wrapping (unlike Christmas wrapping which trust me, is best done by the people at the gift store), is to employ the following strategy:
• Practice at a sloth-like speed, with maximum focus, known as ‘deep practicing.’
• Challenge yourself with a level of difficulty that frustrates, and makes your loved ones miserable and possibly resent you forever. (There is always a price to be paid for science or takeout food.)
Take goal # 10––the Blind Blake tune I’m attempting to master, "Ditty Wah Ditty." Blake, who was the king of ragtime guitar in the 1930’s, had Bounty-sized rolls of myelin wrap. Still, even he experienced frustration in pursuit of fast-fingered excellence. I offer up proof with the first line of Ditty Wah Ditty: “Won’t someone please tell me what 'ditty wah ditty' means?” Here is Blind Blake, the song’s composer, and yet he has no idea what's going on in his own lyrics. Hey, this myelin wrapping thing is tricky business. Just because you’re one of the greatest guitarists of all time, doesn’t exempt you from having a brain fartzokis now and then.
But thanks to Daniel Coyle, I’ve got the secret sauce. I sit with my National Steel guitar in hand, having slowed "Ditty Wah Ditty" down to the point where each string rings out and dies before the next string can even think about sounding. Hell, between notes, I may have enough time to choke down a Crunch-Wrap Supreme. I am pathologically optimistic.
Now, I knew about the OB before I began, so I am not offering this as an early mea culpa; I’ve got plenty of excuses queued up for later, when the going gets rough. I’m not worried, because I have a secret weapon. It’s called the myelin wrap. Not to be confused with the Crunch-Wrap Supreme, which delivers a whopping 560 calories, 70 grams of carbs, and 1350 milligrams of salt. This from a cow that’s been genetically engineered to produce the very meat it consumes, thereby creating the perfect loop of self sustaining Taco Belldom; technology’s Möbius strip of meat consumption.
In Daniel Coyle’s, The Talent Code, he explains how the myelin wrap is the holy grail of acquiring skills. Myelin is the fatty brain insulator that wraps around a neural pathway every time a neuron chain fires. It makes the pathway signal stronger and faster by preventing the electrical impulse from leaking out. (Think double-walled Forceflex trash bag.) According to UCLA neurologist Dr. George Bartzokis, (rhymes with Fartzokis, a gift for you Dave Nicol), “All skills, all language, all music, all movements are made up of living circuits.” And the more myelin you wrap around those circuits, the more skill acquired. So, Albert Einstein––tons of myelin wrap, Michael Jordan––myelin wrap galore.
Brittany Spears? Mostly Crunch-Wrap Supreme.
Yep, I’ve been busy myelinating my ass off. The trick to myelin wrapping (unlike Christmas wrapping which trust me, is best done by the people at the gift store), is to employ the following strategy:
• Practice at a sloth-like speed, with maximum focus, known as ‘deep practicing.’
• Challenge yourself with a level of difficulty that frustrates, and makes your loved ones miserable and possibly resent you forever. (There is always a price to be paid for science or takeout food.)
Take goal # 10––the Blind Blake tune I’m attempting to master, "Ditty Wah Ditty." Blake, who was the king of ragtime guitar in the 1930’s, had Bounty-sized rolls of myelin wrap. Still, even he experienced frustration in pursuit of fast-fingered excellence. I offer up proof with the first line of Ditty Wah Ditty: “Won’t someone please tell me what 'ditty wah ditty' means?” Here is Blind Blake, the song’s composer, and yet he has no idea what's going on in his own lyrics. Hey, this myelin wrapping thing is tricky business. Just because you’re one of the greatest guitarists of all time, doesn’t exempt you from having a brain fartzokis now and then.
But thanks to Daniel Coyle, I’ve got the secret sauce. I sit with my National Steel guitar in hand, having slowed "Ditty Wah Ditty" down to the point where each string rings out and dies before the next string can even think about sounding. Hell, between notes, I may have enough time to choke down a Crunch-Wrap Supreme. I am pathologically optimistic.
And the "deep practicing" of your goals leads us right back to David Freeman's "Total Chewing". And we all thought he was kidding!
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