(Howell Creek Radio address for Nov 6, 2012 -- ) # Roundy Wells The following conversation happened more than once in the last couple of months. -- "I've been thinking some more about going to college," I'd say. -- "I think it's a good idea," Trixie would reply. "You should. You'd probably find it easy." -- "Well I don't know... anyhow yesterday I" -- and here I would insert one of: "pored over some info online / talked to so and so / submitted a created an elaborate spreadsheet to try and understand the cost in real-life terms like things we would have to skip buying or events we would miss due to studying." And we will proceed to discuss whatever thing I did, and move on to more gratifying subjects with the understanding that, you know, these things are complicated and it just needs more careful study and consideration. I'm not so sure how much I'd actually miss due to studying. When I was building my house there were plenty of nights and weekends where I said, screw it, I don't feel like building a house tonight. There's something else I'd like to do better. And that, friends, is how you get a house built in three years instead of two. And then, too, what kind of college would it be? You can forget the ivory halls, the reading rooms and freshman dinners, natch. There would be nothing in the banal North Hennepin testing facility of the college of which my head has always been a student; and yet, in late nights, I still dream of a chance encounter with a floppy-haired student -- what did you say your name was? Gerry Hopkins -- tromping downstairs into the night club two steps at a time, an electric thrill as Gerry recites his first piece for the poetry slam -- > As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame; > As tumbled over rim in roundy wells > Stones ring, like each tucked string tells, each hung bell's > Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name; > Each mortal thing does one thing and the same > Deals out that being indoors each one dwells; > Selves -- goes itself; _myself_ it speaks and spells, > Crying _What I do is me: for that I came._ > I say more: the just man justices; > Keeps grace: that keeps all goings graces; > Acts in God's eye what in God's eye he is -- > Christ -- for Christ plays in ten thousand places, > Lovely in limbs, lovely in eyes not his > To the Father through features of mens faces.[^gmh] Synopsis ------------ Radio address for Nov. 3, 2012. I contemplate going to college late in life, and compare the realistic options disfavourably with the college of my dreams. I only had 3.9MB left in my hosting service's upload quota at the time of this writing, so I recorded everything in mono and got creative with my encoder's compression settings. I mentioned this on Twitter, which sparked some good thoughts and exchanges which I'll summarize as a blog post soon. Sincere thanks to [Mark](http://twitter.com/mja "@mja"), [Ken](http://twitter.com/KenBavier "@KenBavier"), and [Rundy](http://twitter.com/WriterRundy "@WriterRundy") for the kind, helpful and interesting thoughts offered. The "spoken word performance" at the end is an untitled poem from _Poems (1876 - 1889)_, by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Music is [_Boy With a Coin_][bwc] by Iron & Wine. [^gmh]: by Gerard Manley Hopkins, published posthumously in 1918 [bwc]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000YMWKNE/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000YMWKNE&linkCode=as2&tag=joelsimprpers-20