What's the life of a man, any more than a leaf ?

[venta]

Come January, I shall be making my usual bookkeeping post in which I witter tediously about the extent to which I've kept the previous year's resolutions. However, I have a new plan for making resolutions this year... and I need a bit of assistance.

My aim for this year is to acquire twelve new skills - one per month. They are to be things which could be regarded as useful life skills. Now, I'd love to learn to speak Japanese, or to play decent jazz piano from a fakebook, or to learn to ride a horse, but these are clearly abilities I'm unlikely to acquire in a few weeks.

I've already selected some of the skills I shall attempt to acquire. I don't know how to feed or bath a baby, or change a nappy, and I feel I should be able to (learning this obviously requires me to locate a friend who will lend an appropriately sized baby. Offers welcome.) Most of the basic first-aid skills I've learned have fallen out of my head (or changed in the years since I learned them), so I should brush up in that area. I'd like to learn a few basic guitar chords; I've no delusions of learning to play guitar in a month, but being able to keep up with the three-chord trick should (I hope) be manageable.

However, I'm after suggestions to add to my list. As the guitar should suggest, I'm willing to accept a fairly broad definition of 'life skills'; think of it as a list of abilities which today's urbane sophisiticate could be expected to possess. The skill must be plausibly learnable (or its basics graspable) in a few weeks. And I don't wish to get all SMART, but it should be objectively measurable. There should be some goal (a first-aid certificate, a non-wailing baby, and a quick rendition of a few Status Quo numbers) to demonstrate I've achieved some level of competency.

Does anyone else fancy this for the new year ? If so, shout up and we can get compiling a list from which any takers can select their twelve life skills.

Comments

[ebee.livejournal.com]

Re the riding - breaks down into an acheivable goal of 'be able to manage a sole charge rising trot'. I'm happy to teach and facilitate for around 20 gold coins. You're a quick learner. I can also hook you up with a new form of dance for 5 gold coins. And the first aid if you'd like.
Other suggestions- not necessarily limitted to you since you're already very practical.

-boil an egg
-change a plug
-change a fuse
-do a rubix cube
-plaster a wall
-clean an over
-cut down or prune a tree
-learn and perform a song
-learn a shakespeare speech
-drive a minibus
-capture a hamster on the loose
-Talk down a toodler
-make a real sausage (ask ducttape_geek)
-build a fire from scratch
-build a desktop pc from scratch
-learn to use a weapon or do a self-defense class.
-greet someone in 10 languages


I'll have more and will be posting this to another com if thats ok..

[ebee.livejournal.com]

I've also stuck this on my LJ and in TheLadiesLoos seeking more ideas!

[venta.livejournal.com]

I used to be able to do a Rubik's cube. Don't think I can any more, though, because it was very much a 'learned' skill with me. I don't have the spatial awareness to solve it properly.

I am vaguely alarmed at the idea you think it might be necessary to put'boil an egg' on the list of anyone over the age of about 10!

[ebee.livejournal.com]

Actually - boil an egg has been voted multiple times running in the Times as one of the most contentuous skills that requires a huge flexibility of method! (also, most 10 yr olds aret allowed to cook these days!)

[venta.livejournal.com]

From which we deduce that Times readers are flippin' useless round the kitchen!

And why does it require flexibility of method ? There are various different ways to do it, but so long as I end up with a boiled egg why does it matter how I achieved that ?