Working on the Skill Set

It's been a pretty eclectic couple of weeks--in addition to working the web I have found myself recording and editing audio, reacquainting myself with setting and printing lead type on an antique press, writing reports and poetry, booking studio time, conducting interviews, playing the guitar, discussing scripture and sutras, planting shrubs, designing publications and I forget what else. I was beginning to feel like a clever fellow, maybe even a jack-of-all-trades, until I ran across this list of essential skills from science fiction writer Robert Heinlein:

"A man should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

Of the above, I feel confident that I can change a diaper and pitch manure. I can manage a weak sonnet if you put a gun to my head. The remainder will have to be tacked onto my to-do list.