I is for Icarus

and for Interpol

I have a fantasy about a proper education. It's the kind of education I don't think anyone under the age of 100 has had. It is a classical education, the kind that included private (public) schooling wearing a striped blazer and a straw boater and concluding with a Grand Tour. The kind that rich people had a century ago, though maybe they still do now, how would I know?

In my elementary school, polyester blazer and morning and afternoon hail marys, I dreamt of having a classical education, where I'd learn greek mythology, latin declensions and how to drink tea with the Queen.

Instead, I learned about Icarus from the in-flight magazine on Varig, the now defunct Brazilian airline we traveled on when I was a kid. I feel like most of my 'classical' knowledge has come, derivative and partially pre-digested from other sources. I don't know much, but I know 'of' a lot of things. I blame the internet. I blame television. I, of course, blame my parents.

All right, maybe it's a smidge my fault too.

So, I have bought a book on Greek Mythology and I'm reading about the incest broth that was Mount Olympus back in the day. I'm also reading The Case for God by Karen Amrstrong in order to get my Mythos straight from my Logos. No matter the gaps in my education, it's all me now, and I believe saying it's too late to learn is like saying it's too late to breath. "No, I've breathed enough, thanks. I'll just quit while I'm ahead."

Go forth and read something you don't think you need to learn. Get schooled.