Forgetten amongst the brain droppings

I will admit when I am beginning to feel a little overwhelmed. I am rather looking forward to the end of the month and I am also dreading the end of the month like a tourist dreading the public washrooms in a foreign country.

I forgot to post about an awesome novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig. I like it for the travel aspect (read the synopsis), but also as it applies to teaching and, by extension, our little online project here.

A section of the book deals with our Education system. That the average person just doesn't need or is interested in a great deal of the stuff we cram into their heads. And so, a young person drops out of the educational system sometimes before getting a diploma, sometimes after. Some do some wandering, see the world and gain some perspective on what job they want and go to work doing that.

Sooner or later, they realize they need more than just knowledge about their job, they need some working theoretical knowledge about their chosen job/career/place of business. That is where the Educational system works best: people who want to learn, and are more than just curious about something. They need the information like a sponge needs water.

Sometimes, I feel like the dried sponge; I need to go to work on my own research projects. Self directed, self improvement, self rewarded activities which make my life and the lives of those around me better are what I do. Sometimes it is only an iota better, but even a teeny tiny better is better than some sort of endothermic (aka "Life sucking") life.

But I am Pirsig's student: Perhaps not the most intelligent, but one of the more motivated, as I want the knowledge.