I decided the other day that instead of a bucket list, perhaps I should have a list of things I should know. I mean, we should all know a great deal of things (I'm taking this wildly out of context, but as we all remember from Hosea 4:6, knowledge is kind of important. Never reject it. The verse obviously isn't talking about cumulonimbus clouds or anything, but I'm simply making the point that knowledge=important), plus, learn something new every day (my father would be so proud), but I feel like maybe I should have a list of things I should know/do/have. And since I really do love lists quite a bit, I thought I'd turn my hypothetical musing into an actual list of things in no particular order. I'm sure this isn't complete, but it's just sort of stuff that comes to mind.
Knitting. I feel like every virtuous girl should be able to knit. I... cannot. Yet. My friend Joy knows how, so maybe whenever I get around to visiting her, we can have a little session wherein she teaches me and I attempt to learn.
Have a cool vocabulary word. My mom just found solidus the other day, which is basically a cooler/more intelligent-sounding word for, well, slash. Good call, Muth. I like to have a word and use it often enough so that I might never forget it. Then I move on to a new one. I tought everyone insouciant a while ago, just because I found it and it's swell. I like to use words other than "like" and "um," though they do have their place. Places. Oh, and recently I was bringing back forsooth, and it sort of worked. I have friends who use forsooth now. I love it.
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. I was determined to know what it meant, because I always get it confused with the Higgs Boson thing, and after a long time of seeing stuff about the God Particle in the news, I decided to set it to rights in my head which was which. So far, I never remember what the Higgs Boson thing is all about, but when I remember, I review the Uncertainty Principle in my head, just for kicks. "It's impossible to simultaneously find the position and velocity of a subatomic particle. It's impossible to simultaneously find the position and velocity of a subatomic particle." I don't even know if that's 100% correct, but I had to break it down into layman's terms so I could even figure out what the principle was about. No wonder they're so uncertain.
Have a favorite verse. I read a book recently where the girl claimed the "In all things we are more than conquerors" verse and would quote it about every other page. Personally, I'm still working on finding one. I have different verses for different occasions. For instance, I have a whole selection of verses for morning times. I have Rejoice Evermore on my wall by the postcards I collect from my cool vacations, so as to remind me that ever situation and place is rejoiceable. I (mis)quote the second half of Matthew 26:41 when I work out. I remind myself of the first part of 2 Cor. 12:15 when I'm doing someone else's work for them and I know I should have a better attitude about it. I I have other verses for other occasions, but I won't expand tediously on this point. This point being that no, I don't have an all-time favorite verse. Yet. Perhaps I never shall. I just sort of have a bunch I use at different times. But I feel like I should have One Really Special Verse For All Occasions. We shall see.
Know something cool about science. My dad knows a lot of stuff about stars and... other sky-related things. He has made it a habit to utilize the tools we have available to us in this modern age and learn. That's cool. I decided a while ago to re-learn stuff about clouds. When I was in sixth grade or thereabouts, I had to know the difference between the cirrus and cumulus and all those types of clouds. I'm ashamed to say that I can't remember them any more. So I have resolved to learn something really cool (what? clouds are cool!) and retain it in my feeble memory.
Figure out the Bible chronologically speaking. I'm not going to lie. For as many times as I've read through those Old Testament books, I still get hung up on which prophet was around when which king was reigning, and when those Persians came into play, and who was doing what. It's hard to get it straight. So I've been working on having a better grasp of what comes when.
Hepygroga. I had a teacher in school who used to refer to geography as "hepygroga," which is an anagram of geography. Anyhow, his point was that when you don't know where things belong, it's much more difficult to sort things out in your head. Much like a proper chronology of the Bible is bound to help me when I read the Bible, a proper idea of geography will help me as I hear/read/observe the world around me. Honestly, I'm terrible at geography. The other day we were discussing In Search of the Source (great book) and whether or not the book is set in Papua New Guinea, and I couldn't even remember where that was. So yeah, I've got work to do. Sometimes I go to Google Maps (or Google Earth, whichever), and just sort of scroll around the world, seeking where I might learn more. There are a lot of countries. Goodness.
Have better handwriting. At the urging my sister, who gently (coughcoughornotsogentlycoughcough) told me that my handwriting isn't even at an 8th grade level, I started working on handwriting with my younger sister. We practice for about a half hour a day. It'll probably still be an 8th grade level (I am what I am, alas), but you know what? I'm working on it. I am trying.
When to speak up and when to shut up. This one speaks for itself.
Know what a gerund is. My mom does. She knows all those things about participles and parenthetical clauses. I think that's genius. To me, a gerund is confusing. How can it do so much stuff? I mean, "ing"ing stuff is a good enough job description, so why overachieve and perform as a subject, object, or whatever else it does?
Imaginary numbers. I am sorry to admit, that I was rather... questionable at math. And then I got to the part about imaginary numbers, and I thought, "They're just MAKING THIS UP????????" and I stopped paying attention. One day I should really go back and figure out what an imaginary number is. Honestly, I couldn't even begin to tell you. That's so shameful.
ROY G. BIV. Because everyone should have a tried-and-true way to remember the rainbow colors. I also use a little acrostic (That He Just Peter Loves Grapes... virtue, praise) to help me remember Philippians 4:8. And I still sing the Books of the Bible song in my head to help me remember where to find Ezra and Nehemiah. I find it not at all shameful to get a little help from time to time.
Learn the rules to a game. I one time Do Hard Things by the Harris Twins, and they said to do things outside of your comfort zone, and especially do more than just the things that come naturally to you. So, while I don't think it's at all important in the slightest to learn the rules to football or baseball or another sports-type game that I have zero interest in whatsoever, I figure that next time somebody tries to explain such rules to me, I'll pay attention and thank them for their time.
Know when it's appropriate to follow a recipe--or not. I've gone over this before, but but I find it easier to not follow recipes. I'm doing my best to actually follow recipes in earnest. It's not very fun. I feel sorry for methodical people.
Anyhow, I could think of more things to list about, but then next time any of you ask me about it ("What kind of cloud is that? Oh, you don't know? What happened to that list?") I'd rather have fewer items to feel obliged to learn. So I shall end it with this paragraph upon which you are gazing now. This is truly the end of this post. Now I go forth and learn, my friends!
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