Welcome to my collection!

For years, really as long as I can remember, I have been gathering, honing, and utilizing a variety of skills. It has led me to interesting jobs, taken me on adventures, and generally kept me active beyond what most people consider the norm. Many seek out the shiny new car, I look for something I don't know how to do and seek to at least gain a proficiency. Not always do I succeed, but I always learn.

I believe the Boy Scouts of America are at least partly to blame for this behavior. The nature of the Merit Badge system, whereby Scouts are encouraged to meet a set of requirements demonstrating a passing knowledge and proficiency in various skills, lends itself to a "Jack of all trades" disposition. In order to obtain the highest rank in Scouting, that of Eagle Scout, a boy must obtain a certain number of required skills and a similar number of those that interest him personally. Skills range from camping and first aid to citizenship and personal finance. Like many Scouts, I had far more of these badges than required when I earned my Eagle. And I suppose I just couldn't stop.

What skills are we talking about? What will I talk about here? Well, here's a list of a few of them that I already have. Personal history suggests the list will continue to grow!

Blacksmithing
Emergency Medicine
Woodworking
Acting
Writing (technical and creative)
Fire starting
Sword fighting
Various Computing skills (basic networking, HTML, Word, Excel, podcasting, etc)
Cooking (including baking, open fire, dehydration, grilling...the list goes on)
Firearms
Straight razor shaving
Personal finance
Food storage
Motorcycling
Camping/backpacking/canoeing
Sewing (from buttons to full blown costuming for theatre productions)
Leadership
Training (both hard and soft skills)

OK, that was more than a few, but you get the idea. My goal here is to touch on different skills; why they are important, how you can pick them up, and how to fit them into your life. Some will be fairly out there, others will be immediately within reach, but hopefully most will be of interest. I also hope and expect to pick up a few more from those who stop by to read.

The goal is to do at least a post each week. Feel free to keep me honest! Let's get to work, shall we? Where to begin...