Occasionally you get a nudge from the world, asking you to do something. Say, feed your neighbors fish. Occasionally, there is an accompanying insistence or urgency that comes with it. Say, go feed your neighbors fish now, because the fish hasn't eaten since yesterday, and those other things you're thinking about doing now, you can do later. Sometimes you follow these nudges, and sometimes you ignore them. Today, I followed the nudge...
I fed Mr. Mish (the fish), as I have done earlier, and waited to go see the man about the horse. Feed the fish, if it gets overwhelming, use the neighbors plumbing; and that's what happened. After wasihng my hands, I peaked in the stack of travel, fitness and such magazines, and saw a book: Ellen Langer's The Power of MINDFUL Learning. As a teacher, I am interested in discovering ideas about learning, education and approaches to understanding the learning process. I like finding new ways to think, especially those that engage the imagination. Because the back cover praise for the book suggests that Langer's ideas apply to realms outside of education as well, I borrowed the book. It wasn't until after I finished the introduction (and of course, fed Mr. Mish), that I noticed the cover picture resembled a Magritte painting. This discovery just doubled my interest. Author's typically have some say, if not the authoritative say about their cover art, so if Langer is a fan of Magritte or Surrealism, she should prove interesting to read. I have had an ongoing fascination with Surrealism, and a growing fondness for Magritte and you can expect to find something here in the future relating Rene Magritte and Stanley Kubrick... have a beer with me if you can't wait for the details. But the artist was somebody unknown to me: Rafal Olbinski (pronounce ol-BEEN-skeeh, common misspellings: rafel olbinski, rafal olbniski, rafel olbniski).

I haven't read enough of Langer to offer my opinion yet, although there is a link here to a brief summary. but I can recommend that you check out the artwork of Rafal Olbinski. Unwittingly, you probably have already, as his works have appeared on the covers of several major magazines like Time, Newsweek, and others. Magritte's influence on his work is clear.