1. Speak French. My in-laws would love this. I would love this. It had to happen by age 4 or so. I would even compromise on now, and have an accent.
2. Knit faster. See last Tuesday's post on Ten Things I Want to Knit Now.
3. Ski since the age of 3. This seems to be all about Time Machines. Oh well.
4. Play piano flawlessly.
5. Lose 8 pounds. I suppose I know how to do this, but I don't think I KNOW how to do this all that well.
6. Get rid of voles from my garden forever.
7. Get rid of clutter, and finish my To Do list.
8. Read minds. I would only do good things with this. Mostly.
9. Freeze time. I don't think I would do anything good with this at all. The world should be happy I cannot do this.
10. Foresee the future. That would be a mixed blessing, indeed.
Another picture from La Boqueria in Barcelona. Full circle. The jamon iberico pictured is a carnivore's heaven on earth. It is silky, sweet, smooth, satisfying, lush food. The pigs were fed a diet of acorns (bellota) to finish the meat. Yet another reason to not hate the oak tree.
Everything on the list would be an awesome attribute.
Posted by: margene | Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 07:52 PM
I'm with you on #1. Actually it had to happen before age 12.
It was my first language as a child with my mother. If my mother hadn't stopped speaking it to me as a result of my developing a language confusion in a household with 3 spoken languages and/ or the French Lycee had not burned down that I was supposed to go to in 1st Grade I'd be fluent. Instead Greek became my second language. My French is appallingly poor.
Posted by: Manise | Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 08:41 PM
I think we all know HOW to lose weight - it's the doing it that's the tricky part. Great list.
Posted by: Carole | Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 08:58 PM
Ahh, the pig's legs. Everywhere in Asturias! The ones with the black toenails are the best, btw (at least that's what the locals told us.)
Posted by: LaurieG | Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 10:43 PM
I'd like a seven with a side helping of number five please. Some of the others I already have although I never much thought about the lack of voles being so good.
Posted by: Caroline M | Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 03:08 AM
So all you really need is the Time Machine... (Except for the mind reading part.)
If you find a place to order one, put me down for one, too. Maybe they'll give us a quantity discount.
Posted by: gayle | Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 05:56 AM
I've totally given up on all but the last three. Although we don't really have a vole issue....everything else, but no voles. Yet. That will be the last plague, I'm sure, before we blacktop the whole yard.
Posted by: Marcia | Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 09:51 AM
Great list. I'm with you on all of it but the voles. I'm probably tempting fate by saying this but I was told to plant my bulbs in soil mixed with lava rock and it seems to be working. I didn't find any half eaten bulbs this season for the first time.
Posted by: Hillary | Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 12:47 PM
1 is rusty but was one of those things I learned while small, along with both 2 & 4, which I can still do. 3 was learned in junior high and is beyond my scope now but I still ski in my dreams (no sore knees!). I did 5 recently and am on my way to repeating it a few more times: no sugar or grains, smaller portion size, more lettuce. 6 -- have you considered adopting a feral cat from the shelter? I had a battalion of them on the farm -- wonderful use of claws. What I need here is a terrier to keep the squirrels at bay. 8 & 10 -- I'd rather not know. 9 -- please don't! I can't sustain the current moment, and my grandmother really doesn't want to be 99 forever.
7 -- there is a logical flaw in the finishing of a to do list. Clutter is my nemesis...
WONDERFUL list!
Posted by: Sylvia | Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 01:53 PM
What a thought provoking list! I think you could learn a great deal of French on an extended immersion course in, say, Paris...
Posted by: sil | Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 11:14 PM
Ahh...jamon con guisantes. Yum. If you could turn back time, please allow me to go with you. It would be horrible to miss out.
Posted by: bev | Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 09:32 AM
Mon Dieu! Sacre bleu! Tu ne parles pas français? Quel dommage.
I should lose a lot more than 8. Perhaps if I took up aerobic swearing in foreign languages?
If you accomplish #7, please tell me how you did it. My to-do list never gets any shorter.
Posted by: Lucia | Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 01:45 PM
number 6 ditto * ten
Posted by: Teyani | Friday, December 04, 2009 at 01:40 AM