School's back!

The kids started back to school yesterday.  They were all very excited.  New school supplies are so much fun.  Boxes of bright color crayons, the smell of freshly sharpened pencils, the cool, smooth feel of new notebook paper waiting for the first assignment.  New clothes, new shoes, new backpacks.  The rush of the early morning: packing lunches, grabbing breakfast, looking for homework, shoes, jackets.  Then when you get to school there is the anticipation of finding your old friends, looking for new ones, meeting your teachers.

I love school.  If I were independently wealthy I'd go back to school.  Maybe not full time, but just to keep learning new things.  I have such a long list of things I wish I knew.  I'd love to learn a language or two.  I wish I knew more about art.  Computer programming fascinates me.  I know a lot about software, but I'd love to learn about computer hardware.  And then, of course, there is writing.  I find myself torn on that subject.  I did a couple college writing courses.  They were interesting, but stifling.  Shouldn't my writing be the way I want it?  If I write an opinion paper, shouldn't it reflect my opinion?  I never understood professors that marked things "wrong" when I stated my opinion about a subject or article I read.  Perhaps this is why the world is so full of "lemmings" without an original thought in their heads?