10:03 p.m. | 2005-06-23 The World Is Odd. Or Maybe It�s Just Me. Since I last updated, the following things have happened. Amongst others, of course. I saw a live penguin in my neighborhood. I was told this: �CI, I feel like gold is coming out of your mouth�. (I was sharing some wisdom with a youngster. Great compliment and great line, I must say.) I received several CDs containing audio recordings of my family history. I�m delighted about these things. Another thing happened though too. I�m not quite sure what it means though. See, I had this dream where chickens accidentally got into a cow pen, they cross-bred and produced chickens with cow parts and cows with chicken parts. It was a very minor part of the overall dream, mind you, but that�s the only part that�s firmly etched upon my mind. Interesting yet strange. Much like life. You just never know. On another note, I hear a lot of jabber about college amongst the people I work with and whatnot. As it pertains to those who attended college right from high school and didn�t have to pay for it. The �normal� college experience, I would say. Apparently, there are �rights of passage� that pertain to such experiences. Like the one where you�re dating someone in high school and then you go to different colleges. Does the relationship withstand? Or, what should the course of study be? Or, when you meet someone in college and you graduate at the same time, now what? Those are rather serious questions, I�ve found. There seems to be a lot of other questions that are asked in those years. Like beer or class? To study or not? To attend class or sleep? To go to a party or, um, another party? I�ve found, generally speaking, that most of the college questions revolve around drinking and dating. Not a lot of attention is paid to learning. Generally speaking. Oh, and needing money. That seems common. I don�t know about any of that. Hence, I find it fascinating. The more I discover about the typical college experience, the more I�m grateful that I had a different one. Having to work fulltime, attend school at night, run a household and finance it all made me really understand � at a very young age � how important it is to learn about everything. Everything you can possibly imagine. Math isn�t about numbers, it�s about problem solving. Economics isn�t really boring when you need to know how to function in a market-driven society � it�s essential. Accounting isn�t about numbers either, it�s about balancing a checkbook, fashioning a budget and ultimately, making your household or business fiscally sound. Art isn�t about paintings in a museum, it�s about recording social-economic-historical times. It�s about politics, religion and creativity. It�s about being able to accept and express yourself in a manner that�s received. History isn�t about old stuff. It�s about learning from past mistakes and learning that your thoughts and actions aren�t original at all. What makes you you is how you respond. History contains the records of human life. Science isn�t about dissecting animals or mixing potions. It�s about how your body works and functions. And, about knowing what is poisonous and what�s not. It�s about understanding why the washer stops spinning when you open the door. All these things are about life and how to live it. How to function within it. You don�t have to go to college to be smart � not at all � but if you�re going to go? Please at least understand that it is relevant. It�s not just a big four or five year party. And, you know what else? Those probably aren�t going to be the best years of your life � may be the most irresponsible though � and you can and will have fun after college. Trust me, I know. I went to school at night for 14 years and you know what? I still know how to have fun. Actually, I have way more fun now. But now? Now I also have some wisdom. It�s a handy thing. your thoughts? seed flower