Long Day.

Tuesday was my long day this week. That is, the longest day I spend at work. Of course, everyday with Tony is a long day, especially for my wife, and sometimes me. And I am not complaining except that I would rather spend more time at home than at work.

Tonight, Tony was up when I got home. He didn't fall asleep till the wife put him in his crib and I endured twenty minutes of his crying and waving a pleading hand at me. I let him cry himself to sleep all the while having to strongly resist the urge to pick him up. Doing so, I thought of a Clarence Thomas interview I heard where he talked about the man who brought him up having to be tough on boy Clarence and not give into the urge to be easy.

To pass the time in Wuxi and to keep myself sane, I listen to right wing pod casts I can get off Itunes like Radio Derb, Dennis Prager, Shire Network News, and Hugh Hewitt. It saddened and shocked me to hear that Hewitt's sometime sub host Dean Barnett, a Red Sox Fan, died. It was not long ago that I was listening to him talk with Mark Steyn about John McCain.

Some of the richer students have lost massive amounts of money on the stock market. They will have to forgo trips to Europe.

It is getting cold on my bike ride to work. I am thinking I will ask the wife if I can borrow her leg warmers.

David Warren on education. I can't help but want to link to his every column. What he has to say in his latest column about bachelor's degrees is so true. And I have to confess that "the expense of spirit in a waste of shame." that Warren writes about applies to me in a manner that I am very ashamed to admit, but must, because it would be against truth not to. I went to school and got two bachelor's degrees - seven years spent in school because I didn't know what to do with myself. Only by listening to Rush Limbaugh did I get out of the rut I was in - though I have to admit I am still not satisfied with my performance: the goals I set were to modest for myself and I haven't really exhibited the courage I need to get through life.

I did some things that were commendable in a way. I moved to B.C., Canada and I took the first job, I could find in a restaurant, and worked till something better came along - the driving job. It made me enough money that I could buy a car and go to China. And I always read, unconstrained by having to think about passing a test as I did and letting my thoughts wonder.

In the Warren article I linked, he said the best students were self-taught. And I would have to agree with him from my experience in school and teaching here in China. I learned more reading in the library and in used book stores than I ever did sitting in class not following some professor's lecture. I slap myself with shame when I think of the years I wasted in university.

If I can impart anything to Tony, it would be that he learn as much as he can on his own. That is, I would like him to become self-taught and learn from those who have something useful to impart. Don't believe the bullshit!