9.11.2008

Wishful Thinking on a Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I Wish I Had the Ability to Do...

1. Shoot pool
Man, I would be such the badass pool playing chick. Swiggin’ on a longneck. Swearing like a sailor. Lining up the stick and knockin’ those balls in the holes. However, I have no idea how to even hold a pool cue, much less play the damn game. Perhaps in my next life...

2. Raise one eyebrow only
If anyone on earth needed to have this talent, it’s me. Skepticism, slyness, sassiness -- it works with all of them. Me -- no can do. Although I try mightily -- to very scary effect. It’s not pretty.

3. Play music by ear
I can read music -- I just don’t have the ability to hear something and then play it. Not sure what I would do with this one, but it would be nice to have. To whip out at cocktail parties and such...

4. Drive a stick shift
Have absolutely NO idea how to do this. I have a semi-recurring nightmare in which the group of people I’m with are in some sort of predicament and the only way to get us out of said predicament by car and I’m the only one able to drive... and the car is a manual transmission.
Yikes!

5. Chop like a professional chef
I’m a pretty fair cook. Not bad, actually. But my knife skills... ai yi yi. A gorilla might have more finesse. I get the job done, but only after much effort. It’s no wonder I am one with my mini-chop.

6. Deal with numbers
The financial kind of numbers. I don’t like them. They don’t like me. It’s a hate/hate relationship. I could regale you with stories of my financial escapades that would (and have) made accountants weep and shudder. When I was a swinging bachelorette, I decided that the best way for me to make sure I was always at least slightly financially solvent was to round up every transaction I entered in my checkbook. Write a check for $23.27. Enter into the check ledger as $24.00. (Yes, I realize I never had ANY idea how much money I actually had. But it worked for me.) Cut to me being a newlywed with a joint account... I go to close my bachelorette account. And discover that I have nearly $2000 in it that I didn’t know existed. All you financial types can stop shuddering now...

7. Dive
Can’t do it. Dive into a pool, that is. Gotta gracefully slide in from the side or descend like Norma Desmond down the main pool steps. I don’t know if it’s a coordination issue or my bad sinuses that hurt like hell when I position my head in such a way under water or what. I *barely* learned how to do this, after hours of tutelage from my dad at the tennis club pool, in order to pass my water safety instructor course in high school. Couldn’t dive in now if I tried. So please don’t ask.

8. Tap dance
I am convinced that if I had taken dance lessons as a child, I would be a stah on Broadway today. Sadly -- and obviously -- that is not the case. I did take a tap class as an adult when I was in my early 20s. Great fun --- even though I was the youngest student by several decades. Let’s put it this way: all of the other ladies in the class could tell you exactly where they were when Glenn Miller’s plane went down. Anyhoo... the class was wonderful. But aside from a very halting step-ball-change, I got nothing in the way of tap skillz.

9. Make a decent pie crust
You know that cooking thing? Doesn’t translate to a baking thing as far as I’m concerned. I suck at making pie crust. Suck. Suck. Suck. I’m actually not bad with the yeast-based baked goods -- but delicate things like pie crust. Big disasters. Thank goodness for Pillsbury's pie crust dough, found in the refrigerator section of your grocery store. Saved my tuchus more time than I can count.

10. Change a tire
This right here is the main reason for my AAA membership. Worth every dime.

11. Give myself a decent pedicure
Why oh why do I find it impossible to NOT get any polish on my toes when I attempt this. Again, it looks like a gorilla grabbed my bottle of Lincoln Park After Dark and went to town on my tootsies. I spend more time peeling polish of my skin than I do painting the damn nails themselves. Ugh.

12. Understand sporting nuances
Can you tell a slide ball from a curve ball as it comes flying off the pitcher’s mound? How about reading a defensive set-up in football? I can’t -- and it pisses me off. I wish to goodness I could see and understand all those subtle things about the sports I love. I was at a baseball game earlier this summer, sitting in front of a friend of mine -- who identified and commented on every pitch that crossed the plate. I thought I was good being able to call a ball or a strike... HA!

13. Not kill anything and everything I try to grow
Just call me Black Thumb, Well-Meaning Killer of Plants. Some people have the touch -- actually, I guess I do have the touch. The Touch of Death. Plants wilt away from me when they sense my presence at the nursery. I’ve killed enough basic to make pesto for a year for the city of Florence. And now I think I want to try and grow tomatoes... HAHAHAHAHA! Yeah. I’ll keep you posted.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

My tap dancing is minimal and I have no interest in sport nuances, but outside of that you want to be me! I'll warn you, though, I'm a lot fatter than you are.

Anonymous said...

i'm so with you on 2 and 4!!!
fun post. good luck learning your new skillz!!

Sprezzatura said...

I've got your back on #s 1, 2 (Lord knows I have #2 down), 4, 6, and 8.

I will always and forever outsource #s 10 and 11.

So technically, we just cut your skill deficiency list by more than half.

Next problem that needs solving?

Always Been Different said...

you and me me both on killing EVERYTHING!!! LOL!

Happy TT!

Barbara Doduk said...

Great list. I think there are always so many things we all wish we could do.

Happy TT

B @ The Love Blog

bronsont said...

LOL, you're Mrs bronsont, didn't think anyone else in this entire world did number 6 but her!

Jen said...

I'm so with you on 1, 3, 10 and 13. Especially 13.

I actually can do a couple of the other things, though.

Unknown said...

I can do #2, stronger with the left than the right. It does come in handy, actually.

As far as #12, don't worry about it; most people who act like experts at analyzing football formations are full of baloney and their audience is usually afraid to call them on it. It's kind of like the emperor's new clothes. If Joe Sixpack on the couch at home can read defenses on sight like he thinks he can, why is he at home on the couch?
In baseball: just about every pitcher throws a fastball, a curve and slider. Knowing a fastball goes straight, a curveball drops and a slider drops and breaks left is enough to qualify as an expert.

http://www.lokeshdhakar.com/2007/09/20/baseball-pitches/

Anonymous said...

What a great post! I'm with you for #6 and #12. I can drive a stick shift and tap dance thanks to my parents. My dad made me learn how to drive on a manual, and my mom made me take dance lessons to try and keep me from being a klutz.

Anonymous said...

I can handle #4,6,7 & 10 when you figure out the rest, I'm coming to you for lessons!

XOXOXO

Patrice said...

Nice list! The only things on your list I can do are make a pie crust and work with numbers.

Gayle said...

This is the best list I've read all day. Very funny stuff.

Bethany said...

I agree with you on so many of those! Mainly...#'s 3, 4, 7, 10 (YEA for AAA!), and 13...cool list and happy TT :)

Miss Janey said...

MIss J thinks Citizen Jane could learn to play pool. Miss J lived in a house w/ a pool table for a time and played, well, decently. Longneck lifting is a great skill to pair it with.

April said...

OMG, I think I share ALL of these with you.
No one tap dances on Broadway anymore.