Abacaxi Mamão

This is in response to a challenge from AidelMaidel.

The rules are simple:

• You have 15 minutes and 15 minutes only. Time yourself.
• No making changes once the list is completed beyond correcting spelling mistakes.
  
• Be honest. It's okay if it's silly or strange or weird or disconcerting.
  
• Resist the urge to explain yourself. Wait and see what other people will ask you to explain after they read your list.

1. I can type 90+ words a minute.
2. I can curl my tongue up into a tube or into what we used to call a three-leaf clover. I think some others call it a flower.
3. I can understand fluent spoken Modern Hebrew.
4. I can speak Modern Hebrew semi-fluently.
5. I can spot a misplaced comma or a sentence fragment in the middle of a bunch of prose in a millisecond.
6. I can write long, articulate blog posts in under 30 minutes. (I think they are articulate; you think they are long. At least one of these things is true.)
7. I can change a diaper.
8. I can learn mishna in Hebrew, usually with the aid of Kehati.
9. I can make a very yummy lasagna and sneak all kinds of healthy things like tofu and wheat germ into it without anyone being the wiser.
10. I can make a good tofu stir-fry.
11. I can do very well on standardized tests involving analogies, reading comprehension, writing, correcting grammatical errors, and logic. (At least, I could six years ago, the last times I took a practice standardized test. I think I still could, although I haven't taken a real standardized test in probably ten years.)
12. I can walk two miles to work without feeling like it's far.
13. I can last indefinitely without caffeine.
14. I can enjoy an 80% cocoa dark chocolate bar without finding it too bitter for words.
15. I can wiggle my ears.
16. I can play hopscotch.
17. I can jump on a Pogo ball (although I haven't done so in probably eighteen years or so, and it probably couldn't support my weight at the moment, so maybe I should remove this one).
18. I can plan and execute an enjoyable commencement ceremony for eight adult learners.
19. I can give a rousing commencement speech written on the day of commencement.
20. I can wash dishes really, really well the first time. (No oil residue, no bits of food left on them, including outsides of pots, handles, covers to things.)
21. I can sleep for 10-12 hours on a Friday night.
22. I can write and edit a 24-page course catalog.
23. I can write an essay on prosbul and heter mechira by finding the appropriate gemaras, learning them, and consulting various secondary and tertiary sources.
24. I can ride a bicycle.
25. I can wear jeans to work on Fridays.
26. I can reach things at the front of the third shelf in my kitchen cabinets without standing on a chair.
27. I can build a bed from raw lumber.
28. I can operate an electric drill.
29. I can operate an electric circular saw.
30. I can operate an electric sander.
31. I can get a screw out of a hole even if it's been totally stripped from the inside.
32. I can use a vise grip.
33. I can fix the couch I inherited from my grandmother with a drill, a wooden dowel, and some wood glue.
34. I can use wood filler.
35. I can sand wood.
36. I can stain wood.
37. I can get friends to travel far to help me build a bed.
38. I can do my own taxes without the use of tax software, even when Schedule C and two different states are involved.
39. I can walk up to the sixteenth floor for a Shabbat meal.
40. I can make a really yummy green salad.
41. I can make microwave popcorn.
42. I can keep my houseplants alive for eight years running (African violet and philodendron, purchased at the beginning of my sophomore year of college).
43. I can travel alone in Brazil.
44. I can take pretty pictures.
45. I can paint flowers, mountains, birds, and fish with watercolors, using Japanese painting techniques. (At least, I could from the ages of 7-14. Haven't painted in about 13 years, though. Wonder if it's a skill you lose?)
46. I can make things out of Fimo or Sculpy.
47. I can do quite well at the game Taboo.
48. I can supervise a five-year-old on the playground and join in her fantasy games.
49. I can daven weekday mincha by heart.
50. I can write a 116 page senior thesis on women college students during World War I, and their changing attitudes towards the war and towards woman suffrage that receives a grade of magna cum laude.

Labels: life

# posted by Abacaxi Mamao : 1/27/2008 10:42:00 AM