The Skills Goals

These are 12 skills I want to learn this coming year. I may not become a master in all of them, but I will become proficient.

• Karate (begun 1/3)
• Making fire without matches or a lighter
• Soap Making
• (re)Mastering the Rubik’s Cube
• Small craft woodworking (begun 2/12)
• Beer Brewing
• Become proficient with my handgun (begun 1/9)
• Navigation by stars
• One-handed shuffling (started practicing 2/27)
• Baccarat
• Bird watching (begun 1/3)
• ???

Karate – I began taking karate lessons at a local studio. I hope to achieve my first belt by 1/15.  I had to stop because of a “funding issue”, so I am beginning again the first week in March. I have achieved my second belt already.  (6/6)

Handgun Proficiency – For nearly a year, my wife and I have discussed getting a handgun for protection. I grew up around guns, learning at a young age to respect their power and lethalness. But what I know best are rifles (.30-06, .300 WM, .270 W, .22) and shotguns. I don’t know handguns very well, and if I am going to have one, my respect for them dictates that I will need to know it inside and out and be skilled in its use.

Rubik’s Cube – The story is legendary in my family: My uncle gave my father a Rubik’s Cube years ago on Christmas, back when they were all the rage, and after fooling around with it for a while the adults left it sitting under the tree. According to them, I picked it up and began working on it, finishing the thing while everyone was eating lunch. I was 4. I don’t remember this. But I would love to be able to complete one again.

Bird watching – My wife installed several bird feeders in the backyard just off the patio this past fall, and we’re having a blast watching them in the mornings with the kids. I just wish I knew more about them and how to identify them. To rectify this, we’ve picked up several books.