It's Raining on My Parade

Showers are in today's forecast, with thunderstorms possible. It's a fine day for sitting in my sunroom office, surrounded by wet, yet snug and dry, working on a story assignment about, of all things, rain.

I have beside me on my desk a compilation of numbers, 350 sets of numbers to a page, representing the past seven decades of rainfall in my hometown. It's my job today to pore over these figures (hm) and analyze trends, then write an entertaining magazine article about them.

Ha! Sometimes I laugh at the work I am paid to do. What I know about rain you could put in a teaspoon. Let's see: The water cycle is this, evaporation from ocean surfaces, water vapor in the air, condensation, formation of clouds, collision of warm air and cold air, the jet stream, and voila ~~~ snow in Virginia, rain in California.

The only difference between me and the next nincompoop is that I'm motivated to go find out about rain, whereas the next nice nincompoop actually has real work to do.

(Silence for all of five minutes, while subject refers to the magic of Google, unearths the USGS water cycle diagram, and says, Aha!)

Now well-schooled in the water cycle, I turn my attention to an unrelated question: Is writing a left-brain or right-brain activity?

That question comes up while I pour myself another cup of French roast coffee. If I were in the same zip code as my friend and neuroscientist Mariana, I would call her up and ask. But I can hear her answer: Depends on the type of writing.

Nothing is simple. Nothing is ... Wait. Creativity is a right-brain activity. Why don't I go write a poem about rain, and put all the rest of it on the back burner for a while?

You see how my mind works. That's why I'm blogging rather than working. Being in my head at the moment is like riding a bucking bronco. There's no steering this beast.

So here's a list I found of the primary actions of the two brain hemispheres. Just a quick look-see tells me which side dominates in me right now. What about you? Which side is in charge?

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS

uses logic

detail oriented

facts rule

words and language

present and past

math and science

can comprehend

order/pattern perception

knows object name

reality based

forms strategies

practical

safe

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses feeling

"big picture" oriented

imagination rules

symbols and images
present and future

philosophy & religion

can "get it" (i.e. meaning)

believes

appreciates

spatial perception

knows object function

fantasy based

presents possibilities

impetuous

risk taking

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