A SKILLFUL MEME

Sooo ... i shamelessly pilfered this from Turnbaby's fine blog because there's nothing more interesting to me than ... ME! *laughs hysterically* (i really don't expect most of you to get the joke) And this meme is all about what i can and can't do ... i figure i'm going to surprise myself as much as anybody, 'cos my intent is to be brutally and scrupulously honest, and i have no idea what my results will be. Well, here goes nothin'.



The Rules: You highlight the things you can do and you leave in normal type the things you can’t.



1. Give advice that matters in one sentence. (i am unapologetically verbose)

2. Tell if someone is lying. (thought i could, but i am too trusting)

3. Take a photo.

4. Score a baseball game. (i have no idea what this means, so i guess that's a no ...)

5. Name a book that matters.

6. Know at least one musical group as well as is possible.

7. Cook meat somewhere other than the grill.

8. Not monopolize the conversation. (of course - i'm the quiet, shy sort)

9. Write a letter. (knowing when to stop is my problem)

10. Buy a suit. (hmmm ... doesn't indicate men's or women's ...)

11. Swim three different strokes. (like the proverbial fish)

12. Show respect without being a suck-up. (can also be facetious without my target being aware of it)

13. Throw a punch. (shoulda asked if i could take a punch ...)

14. Chop down a tree.

15. Calculate square footage. (surprisingly, given my limited math skills)

16. Tie a bow tie. (my piano tuner wears a bowtie ... everybody else I know wears a clip-on)

17. Make one drink in large batches, very well. (used to be able to, but haven't for years now)

18. Speak a foreign language. (technically, french isn't a foreign language in Canada, but i speak two languages ...)

19. Approach a man out of her league. (this one time, at bowling ...)

20. Sew a button. (and make my own clothes, too)

21. Argue with a European without getting xenophobic or insulting soccer. (had lots of practice with my friend Francois-Xavier while at university ...)

22. Give a man an orgasm so that he doesn’t have to ask after it. (grins)

23. Be loyal.

24. Know her poison, without standing there, pondering like a dope.

25. Drive an eightpenny nail into a treated two-by-four without thinking about it.

26. Cast a fishing rod without shrieking or sighing or otherwise admitting defeat.

27. Play gin with an old guy.

28. Play go fish with a kid. (daily ...)

29. Understand quantum physics well enough that he can accept that a quarter might, at some point, pass straight through the table when dropped. (huh?)

30. Feign interest. (don't have to. you fascinate me - REALLY!)

31. Make a bed. (here's a challenge - make a bunkbed ...)

32. Describe a glass of wine in one sentence without using the terms nutty, fruity, oaky, finish, or kick. (does "It came in a box." count?)

33. Hit a jump shot in pool. (somehow thought that was basketball ...)

34. Dress a wound. (usually pass out afterwards, but I'm good when the chips are down)

35. Jump-start a car. Change a flat tire. Change the oil.

36. Make three different bets at a craps table. (Something tells me i'd have to have gambled to do that.)

37. Shuffle a deck of cards. (Eventually ... but it takes time to pick the little buggers up.)

38. Tell a joke. (terrible at it)

39. Know when to split cards in blackjack. (um ... see #36)

40. Speak to an eight-year-old so he will hear. (i can do one better - speak to a teenager so he/she listens)

41. Speak to a waiter so he will hear. (yes, actually and get preferential treatment lots, too)

42. Talk to a dog so it will hear. (absolutely)

43. Install: a disposal, an electronic thermostat, or a lighting fixture without asking for help. (not if I want it to work ...)

44. Ask for help. (i have a really hard time with this.)

45. Break a man’s grip on my wrist. (took a self-defense course)

46. Tell a woman’s dress size. (rule of thumb - always underestimate)

47. Recite one poem from memory. (more than one)

48. Remove a stain. (yes, he's gone ...)

49. Say no. (VERY difficult, but important skill to have)

50. Fry an egg sunny-side up.

51. Build a campfire.

52. Step into a job no one wants to do.

53. Sometimes, kick some ass. (verbally, yes. physically, never)

54. Break up a fight.

55. Point to the north at any time. (*points straight down* i'm already there)

56. Create a play-list in which ten seemingly random songs provide a secret message to one person. (*grins* yup)

57. Explain what a light-year is.

58. Avoid boredom. (i'm never bored - too much to do)

59. Write a thank-you note.

60. Be brand loyal to at least one product.

61. Cook bacon.

62. Hold a baby. (as often as possible)

63. Deliver a eulogy. (If i knew the person well enough, i would be singing, not talking)

64. Know that Christopher Columbus was a son of a bitch. (prefer to think of him as a product of the times)

65. Throw a baseball over-hand with some snap. (throw a ... *dissolves into gales of laughter*)

66. Throw a football with a tight spiral. (*laughs some more*)

67. Shoot a 12-foot jump shot reliably. (see? i knew it was basketball!)

68. Find his way out of the woods if lost. (most of the time, but nobody can say so with 100% certainty)

69. Tie a knot. (i'm from a fishing village)

70. Shake hands.

71. Iron a shirt.

72. Stock an emergency bag for the car. (a necessity in northern climates)

73. Caress a man’s neck. (better ask Mac about this one ...)

74. Know some birds. (know some bees, too)

75. Negotiate a better price.

SOOOO ... WONDER WHAT HAPPENED TO COCO?

i know i know ... came back a couple times, saying i was back, and then disappeared again. Sooo, what's with that?

Ever fall out of the habit? Plain and simple, i sit here wondering what to write about, and then i end up not writing, 'cos i don't want to appear lame, right? WRONG!!

Today, i bite the bullet, and write whatever comes to mind, no matter how little significance it might have. i'm not a poet, or a politician, or an activist. My opinions about most things make no sense to anybody but myself, and they are mostly emotionally driven, anyway, so who the hell cares except me and my own?

i don't really care to list all the complaints about the astronomical price of gas these days, or the guy who is planning on breaking the world free-fall record over Saskatchewan this week. Hey, if he's crazy enough to want to reach speeds of 1200 km/hr with his body and perhaps have an arm or a leg torn off in the process, what does it matter to the rest of the world, really? His decision. And if the price of gas hurts so much, why are we still driving big gas-guzzlers and NOT using public transit or car pooling? i counted the number of cars containing only one person crossing the causeway into the city this morning, and the ratio of single passenger vehicles to multi-passenger ones was about 1:20. And what's more, about 40% of the vehicles i met were minivans or SUVs. That isn't counting construction vehicles, pickup trucks and busses, either. There's another 30% for you. Problem is, the busses are nearly empty, unless they are school busses. i travel alone too, but i work 30 km outside the city, opposite direction to just about everybody else, i drive an economy car which still only takes $50 to fill and i get, on average, 10 days out of it. That seemed like a lot of money to me, until i was talking to one of my students and he was complaining that a fillup of the family pickup truck was $160 for the week!! i guess everything is relative.

So what the hell do i care about enough to write on? i don't watch tv, so i have no opinion about the shows that people watch because i have never seen them. i'm not just saying that, either. When i noticed that my son, who is 5, was becoming dependent on tv as a source of entertainment, i had cable disconnected. That was over a year ago. Now we actually do things together like read books, take walks and play games. It wasn't even difficult to make the switch. We check the weather on the computer, and keep up with the news that way, too, so we aren't missing anything. Once a week, on Saturday night, we make pizza and watch a dvd. It has become a special occasion for us, an event that we both enjoy. Without tv, we actually have more time for "us". Unexpected benefit.

i'm going to feature some kind of music on my blog each time i post (now doesn't THAT sound optimistic!) but i won't always post a Youtube video, 'cos they take too damned long to load once you've got a few on your page (take note, all you blogging Youtube addicts out there). Instead, i might try just posting the link to the Youtube video i want you to hear. Click on it to take you there - no muss no fuss. That also takes care of the "embedding disabled" feature (which ticks me off every time i see it - what's with that, anyway?)

Here's today's music - and i should warn you that i have eclectic taste, so you'll never know ... Today's selection is one of my all-time favorites, though, for a multitude of reasons.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=uZWxErEbQkY

As you can see, i still have no ideas for this blog. About what shall i write ...?