Question: What’s the future of engineering and what are the things that are going to matter most, especially for people getting into engineering?
Grenville: I’m really going to challenge people in the future to use their imagination to break things. A lot of the things we’ve created were built on the way we thought technology had to work…we have so much more now.
When I was a girl, I was completely afraid of Ziggy Stardust. Curious, too. I remember the first time I saw 'it'. To me, Ziggy was an alien, like from outerspace. I had a vivid imagination from the radio. I had not seen 'it' -a Ziggy Stardust. I understood she was a man. I don't know that I had completely understood that Ziggy was a character but I knew that Ziggy got talked about on the radio.
Rolling Stone Cover, Feb 2012
I remember because I was in the Queen Elizabeth Hotel. The QE it was called. And my Dad was doing or getting something from Via Rail, called CN back then, where he worked. We went through the underground plaza. And, I. saw a kiosque with magazine after magazine with the same cover.
I had no idea what "that" was but I held onto my Dad's hand. Tighter. I totally remember that moment. The smell of the metro. The people rushing. My Dad's hand. And the moment I saw Ziggy Stardust. Funny how some things stick right with you.
My parents didn't really explain. Because kids don't often say what they don't know and who would think that I had no frame of reference for creativity or art or theater or being avant-garde. Not to mention, what was going on in pop culture at the time. I did not. I was just being pulled along on an errand.
Well, eventually, I met up with a larger world than the one that I had been living in. The new world situated David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust, "Rock Music" and provided some understanding about what a young anti-establishment David Bowie was about.
I love that my wonderful West Indian/Caribbean/Guyanese/Canadian mother remembered that David was the one who sang Modern Love and China Girl, on her own, with no prompting. She said, she remembered that I loved those songs.
Those and many more.
We made our 2nd annual pilgrimage up to Seattle for the U.S. Men’s Gymnastics Washington Open meet. Our son placed 7th in his age group. Last year, the big accomplishment was getting muscle-up for the first time.
I rarely see him practice during the year, like maybe 2x , if I'm lucky. So, during meet season, it's eye-opening to see the improvement.
It takes a tremendous amount of discipline and dedication to focus on year-over-year improvement. Our son has a great understanding of the long-view from his coach. He enjoys the high bar routine the most. In it, he gets a planned five-tenth deduction. His coach has opted out of the interim move for his level but instead has trained him on the advanced move called Fly Away.
Our son: "Coach says ‘Let them deduct away. The goal isn't to stay a Level 5 gymnast forever.’"
The heart in that statement. The wisdom in it. The courage to make the investment in your future. The loving of that routine the most, anyway. I get chills every time I hear his little boy voice saying it to me. Gives me some direction for my own training and my overall life process in 2016.
The goal is to get where you are going; not to stay as you are forever.
