We found out yesterday that Sweetie made the Dean's List for his first semester at the university. Whoa. Back up a few years ago when he was not sure if he wanted to go to college so he decided to include college requirements in his homeschooled subjects just in case. The boy never studied more that a few hours in the morning since we agree that "The secret lies entirely in the fact that education is as effective as it is pleasant, unhurried, casual, and is as ineffective as it is stressed to be important."
He took a study course and received some other study assistance that helped to clarify his goals as a student. He started taking classes at a community college at age 16 - one here, a couple there and decided that he would try going to the university. And there he is on the Dean's List.

I guess this is more of a testament to the fact that education doesn't have to consist of years of boring government school work than anything else. We're fortunate to live in a time when there are lots of viable educational alternatives that suit the various needs of our kids (without drugging them). Parents just need to be brave enough to step away from the system and find out what works for their kids.

I've been giving some thought to the willingness to communicate lately. Understanding how to communicate and being willing to communicate are entirely different fields. Someone brought to mind John Galt ("Atlas Shrugged") recently. When I read the book as a teenager, the character had a profound effect on my understanding of integrity. These days, he just seems like a grumpy curmudgeon.

At this point in my life, I'm working more along the lines of patience and understanding. A line from "Kundan" struck me:
"I beseech all the Buddhas who wish to pass away to please remain for countless eons to light the world for those who remain."
It's not a matter of getting what you can and running. That's the time to look around and see who else needs a hand.

"The hardest task one can have is to continue to love his fellows despite all reasons he should not."
This humbles me everytime I read it.

Being able to listen to and help others is a grand thing. Maintaining a state of willingness to listen and help others is where the work comes in.

Sweetie has decided to be a Classics Major. It's fitting since he's studied
Homer all these years. And people say TV is bad for you.

It's snowing again today and I'm so pleased to see it coming down. It's really dumping a lot of damp snow - not that dry powdery stuff that people pay so much to ski in. It's really saturating the ground.

Anyway, so I was listening to The White Stripes with Sweetie the other day thinking, "This song sounds so familiar..." Then I got it: Burt Bacharach's 'I Just Don't Know What to do with Myself'! Now I can't remember if Dionne Warwick or Dusty Springfield made it famous. It's funny to me to hear my kids listen to music I listened to when I was younger than they are.
Some of this remixed music reminds me of Mannerism in that they take the music of our Renaissance (60's -80's) and distort it rather than finding their own sources of inspiration. I like the White Stripes version of BB's song, but it does sound a bit tortured compared to the earlier version.

I found this great source for free webpage junk. If you want a weather forecast or "this day in history" or riddles, you can get free code. I put an Amber alert ticker that they offer on my mom blog.

Happy birthday to me!

Sugar and I took the day off to buzz down to the Denver Art Museum to use our membership but more specifically, to see Frederick Remington: The Color of Knight exhibition. "The Scout: Friends or Foe?" was one of my favorites. I was surprised to see his early night paintings were illustrations for magazines done in mostly blacks, whites and greys. I had a friend in college, a loner, who used to go out at night and paint oils of industrial areas of Tallahassee. She was brilliant and last I heard, she became a doctor working on a reservation to help her people. Lucky them. I imagine that she's painting great prairie landscapes and not so lonely anymore.

I just remembered today that things were moving too fast for me last year so I decided I wanted time to slow down. Boy, has it ever. I get so much done and look around then just to be surprised the clock has hardly moved. Still have to tinker with the process though - stuff more motion into the schedule or something like that. Sort of like working with oils, I imagine - a little bit of motion here, a little less there.
I just have to be careful what I wish for.

Gleaning today from boingboing:

Sock Puppets in Oil

And a William Carlos Williams poem that exudes summertime:

"This is Just to Say"

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold