Keeping the grey matter moving

Sometimes I have to wonder just exactly what I've got going on in the area between my right and left ear.  I swear sometimes I can hear the wind blowing around in there.  Often I think it must be filled with mush, or maybe leftover oatmeal.  I watch the commercials for that famous company that tells me they can teach me a foreign language in weeks and I will be able to speak like a native in that particular country.  Yeah, right.

Earlier this year I thought about taking an on-line class about poetry, and before long subtle ads began appearing along the right hand side of my facebook page encouraging me to do exactly that. Then, I showed an interest in an on-line class called 'Art for Beginners', that touted I would be able to draw just about anything, as though I'd been an artist all my life. Again, ads appeared at various websites reminding me I had been interested in art.

Now, don't get me wrong, I understand I'm under a microscope anytime I'm on-line, and I know big brother is always watching.  And, I appreciate these folks want to help me keep my grey matter moving.  I just wish they were willing to pay my tuition to attend all these classes.

Here's what I think.  There ought to be some kind of tuition, scholarship program specifically for old people, where rich people would adopt one of us 'old folk' and pay for these online college courses to help us keep our grey matter moving.  Hey, couldn't it be a tax deduction for them, and wouldn't that make us their 'dependent' (another tax break)?

We would have the satisfaction of being able to learn something new, and they would have the satisfaction of giving an old person the opportunity to continue to be an independent thinking, mentally agile, senior citizen.

The on-line classes I take cost about a hundred bucks for a 10 lesson, 6 week, 20 hour class. Let's say, our benefactor set up a scholarship of 500 dollars year.  That would take us (me) through the year, with a couple weeks break between each class.  Wouldn't that be wonderful? Oh, the classes I could take.  Oh, the people, classmates, professors, I could meet. Oh, how my horizon would expand.

Okay, so this is a pipe dream, and I know this will never happen.  Reality is I've got to be the one to keep my own grey matter moving.  Thankfully, most of my days I am aware there is actually 'stuff' moving around in the area between my ears.  For instance, this morning, I don't hear any breezes, and the innards seem a little more solid than mush or leftover oatmeal.  Maybe I'll drag out my unfinished French work book and see where that leads.