I started writing when I was six years old. My first piece was one sheet of wide-ruled paper, written in blue ink. The topic? Organisms. If I close my eyes, I can feel the paper, smell the ink, and even see the encyclopedia (yes, people, I am old enough to remember a time when we did not Google. We Britannica’d.) My second piece was an eleven page short story (front and back, so really, 22 pages) about a brother and sister who were kidnapped and lost in the Australian outback. Yeap, I Britannica’d for that piece too.
We all have certain topics in which we are interested over others, don’t we? Over the years, my interests have varied quite a bit. Thanks to the development of Google, it is terribly easy to cram any sort of peripheral information in my brain these days. I remain selective, however, and try to stay away from the “fluff” but still find myself caught up in it.
In no particular order below, are things I wish I had bothered to learn about/do during the course of years gone by or want to learn about/do in the future:
1) Gaelic – I have always wanted to learn how to speak this language. Even before we discovered there is Irish in the family history. Perhaps it’s my fascination with all things Arthurian. Yes, I know Gaelic isn’t associated closely associated with it (at least, I think that’s the case – I am half asleep at the moment and I have had a couple of beers. Be gentle.) I know this is something I can remedy. Maybe one day I will.
2) Beef Wellington – I want to learn how to cook this. Not because of Gordon Ramsey but because it’s allegedly such a culinary challenge. There’s not much I can’t do in the kitchen but this is one of the few things I haven’t gotten around to trying.
3) Why people watch the Kardashians. On second thought, maybe this is something I don’t want to know.
4) Who the hell decided it was a good idea to send professional athletes to the Olympics for team sports like hockey and basketball. Talk about stealing an amazing opportunity from deserving non-professional athletes….what a crock of bullshit. In case you need a refresher course in how amazing a team of amateurs can be, look back at the Hockey team the US put together for Lake Placid. Sure, Dream Teams are lovely but they defeat the spirit of the Olympics in my humble opinion.
5) Morse Code. There was a period of time when I had this crap memorized but somehow I lost it. We’ll blame reality TV.
6) Sign Language. I used to know quite a bit of sign language, but again, somewhere along the line, I lost most of this knowledge. I need to remedy this. As for blame? I got nothing.
7) How to cook Asian cuisine. I’m slowly learning the flavour combinations but am definitely more at home with Italian or American food. But life begins beyond your comfort zone and all that. One things I’ve realized about Asian cuisine is that it is not that dissimilar from Italian cooking in theory – it really is all about getting comfortable with flavour profiles.
8) Deep Sea Fishing. Yeah, I’m not sure I would even make it out to sea without vomiting but hey, you don’t know unless you try, right?
9) Who is responsible for Stonehenge. It’s always fascinated me, Stonehenge. Again, I think this goes back to my unhealthy obsession with all things Arthurian and Druid. So many theories, so little real fact. It’d be a blast to really dig in and find out more.
10) Why the hell cats insist on sitting on your keyboard while you’re typing. Not that this is happening right now or anything. At least I can still move my fingers.
What are some ridiculous or serious things you wish you knew or want to do?
You crack me up! I wish you lived closer because if you did, I’d love to talk to you about this stuff for hours on end. xoxo
Heeehh… I have a lot of weird thoughts rumbling around in my brain. Sadly, or perhaps fortunately, most of them are highly inappropriate to address in public. I had to make this list tame. Ahem.
I can and will happily help you with 7 & 8. Love learn more about 1, 2, 6 & 9. I used to know 5 as well. 3- Ummm… the sad moral decay of society? 4- Poor decision for sure. But to some, its all about winning, right? And finally 10- Kitty sits there because she knows she owns us!
It’s strange and happy when I find someone who remembers the “olden times”
We had a whole set of Encyclopedia Brittanica in our house, and I used it often for school. I kinda miss it. Again, the paper feel and knowing it’s legit, which is harder to find online.
I’d love to learn Gaelic too. Morse code sounds fun. I actually did learn some ASL and I still have the books from my college course.
As for me, I want to visit Ireland and Scotland (yeah, it’s in my blood) and include Stonehenge in my wanderings. I had a interest in learning Latin at one point. It’s one of the hardest languages, but the basis for so many others. Plus, I’d know what the people on the TV are saying when they speak Latin.