It'll burn your pupils out, kid.

O friends, O friends, I wish for you the most excellent of evenings! It has come to my attention of late that I have not been finishing anything I start for the weblog. I have no fewer intentions for it than usual, but they are simply not following though to their respective conclusions. I have two hypotheses as to why this might be the case. The first is that I might be taking the weblog too seriously. If this be the case, let this very posting mark the end of that! The second is that I have been priveleged to engage you friends in person more often in person, which lessens the importance of this outlet of communication with you. In that case, how happy I am to say less via weblog! I think the second is quite true, and I do not know about the first. See how, once I was free of the Academy at Oxnard, my posting suddenly decreased. Clearly I had less reason to ramble.

That said, that was not my purpose in writing this evening. This evening I shall turn my quill upon one of my earlier subjects, that of education. Many things are often said on the subject of education, and as far as I can tell little is ever learnt by saying any of these things. What little is learnt, I think, can be summarized in the fact that hot air rises. This, after all, is how balloning works, at least for ballooners. This is not how ballooning spiders pursue their craft; however, for ballooning spiders merely glide. Spiders have no need for education, but they often have many more eyes than the average ballooner, who does have use for education. Indeed, to float so far by hot air, the ballooner must be in great need of education. Nothing indicates a lack of education like senseless talk of education, so nothing gives rise to more hot air. Spiders do not speak, so they do not run this risk.

Now, how shall we speak of education without becoming lost among the clouds? Furthermore, what is really wrong with being lost in the clouds? I tell you, there is nothing wrong with it, so there must be two kinds of hot air: right hot air and wrong hot air. The former leads to fantastic adventure, the latter leads to humdrum and frustrated wandering. How, then, can we achieve the fantastic over the humdrum? Why, by fine and beautiful education, of course! And what is a fine and beautiful education? It is an adventurous education, but one wrought with difficulty and noble suffering, in conjunction with wonder and cameraderie. Only then will the ballooners see what ballooning is all about. Spiders will never see this.