Merit: Jack-of-All Trades (+5)

Ok, so this is going to probably sound trite, but one of the biggest revelations I've had this year is that the world of roleplaying games and television isn't actually so far off from reality. What I mean to say is that some of the coolest things I saw in these media, I assumed existed only in media. Like smokey bars and strange characters, fate, random encounters . . . the world is a cool place, outside of the books and screens and dice.

And I was just thinking about how nice it is when you create a character for yourself, that you get to pick out skills and merits for your character. Want to be a gem appraiser? sure! Want to track wild beasts, or evade security systems? SURE! You got to have all these cool, useful skills and talents. And for some reason I used to think that you couldn't get cool skills like that anymore. More than that, I figured that since I had chosen my career path, I probably wouldn't have time for stuff outside of that. I'd be a biologist. But yesterday I filled in for a missing part in Sean's play, and I had such a good time! I walked in, smelling the dust of the stage and feeling the heat of the lights, and I felt bewildered for a minute. What do I do? I'm just a biologist!

But then it was like, DUH AMBER, you've been on stage before! I've had central roles in 3 musicals, and had such a great time doing it. I'm not a professional, but I'm not a novice. But I'm getting off topic. The point is: it was so refreshing to do something non-scientific, and do it with some proficiency. My parents gave me a really good speaking voice, and years on the speech team don't hurt--especially since my main categories were poetry interpretation and orginial oratory. Doing a dramatic reading was non-stressful, and I think I helped instead of hindered.

So it got me to thinking: what other skills would be fun to have--what other things could I learn to do that would give me space from biology, and make me a more useful person?

So I made a list of the things I'd like to learn how to do.

ride a horse
handle birds of prey (aka, become a falconer)
sew clothes
make sushi (get more cooking classes in general)
polish, cut, and set gemstones
be a better photographer
draw a comic book
make a movie
scuba dive
sail
fix/maintain a car
pick locks
use a gun well
fight with a knife (I suck)
dance the tango and other latin ballroom dances
belly dance (c'mon, it would be cool)
become a bartender
Become more proficient in Spanish and maybe German or some other language
Play a drum set

Man, sounds like enough for now. It's fun to think about, especially when there's more important things, like school, you should be thinking about.