Dark Star heading toward Context

I have just returned from three weeks of REJUVENATION.  Merriam Webster says, "to restore to an original or new state".  I would have to give my vote to "new state" because some tweaking has been going on from the original.

How badly do you need to be restored?

I have been running on grit and fumes and general optimism for so long that it had become the NORM.  The clue was on day 8 when I woke up with a very strange, albeit not negative, feeling.  It took me several minutes to identify what it was:  I felt RELAXED.  I was living in wonderful natural beauty, spending time with people I care deeply for, and the end of the time was capped with a few days of being "off grid."  With the major help and support of my husband I did not check emails, or read.  I wrote, wrote, wrote, called people, went in the lake with the dogs and began to ride on the bike a little bit.  I can state with absolute certainty that I have been RESTORED.

And, so, with this restored me I have a more focused agenda for myself.  I spent a couple of days going through what I have been WORKING ON with my game.  It is MY game and I realized it will always be that unless I finish it and give it a whirl.  I really believe that people are asking right now:

1.  Is going to college worth it because of the cost and outcome?
2.  Do kids learn skills and content in high school that is really valuable, or is it just a grind?
3.  Does high school and college prepare a student for finding a job and really living in the world?

And, for those questions I am convinced I can help find answers.

I have been trying to learn UNITY which is a game design platform.  Boy, figuring this one out is really, really CHALLENGING.  But, I will figure it out.

And, on my agenda is a second project...writing a book.  I am not a DEAD HEAD but I think the Grateful Dead and its surrounding world is one of the most interesting anthropological topics I've seen in a while.  So, I am setting out to look at a small section of it, and how the Grateful Dead has impacted my life over about twenty years.  I really did send a wedding invitation to Jerry Garcia (and it must have landed in someone's mailbox because it never came back.)  And, I did want to play Aiko Aiko as I walked back down the aisle.  But, there is much more to that story.

How many of you listen to Uncle John's Band, Not Fade Away, Dark Star or the Sirius station?  How many people who read this blog and live somewhere out in the world away from the United States know what I am even talking about?

Did I mention I have just returned from visiting my most wonderful child who has begun college?  It was a really satisfying, fun and successful trip which I am so glad I made.  There is life on the other side of high school.

My wise and creative child said, yea, yea, the Grateful Dead book....but what I really should be writing about is the ten years of homeschooling!  Hhhhhmmmmm.....