Like Riding an Iambic Pentameter Bicycle.

Posted bycasey coombsPosted inToo lazy to label.

I have been staying with a family for the past few days whom I’ve known for a couple of years. They have three of the most well behaved teenage daughters I have ever come across. I’ve been able to help them with their homework over the past few days and it’s coming back to me so fast how much I loved algebra and Shakespeare.

I didn’t just love them either, I was good at them. Grade A bookworm dork who loved school. And Shakespeare.

I have a whole other reason to go back to school and to keep learning. Somewhere in twelve or fifteen years the moosh is going to come to me with Othello confused. Or biology. Or anatomy. Or calculus. Or quantum physics.

I don’t want to be confused too.

Right now it may be all about the ABC’s, but before I know it those ABC’s are going to turn into (a+b)-c=x.

I want to be ready.

******

What have you forgotten you’re good at?

29 thoughts on “Like Riding an Iambic Pentameter Bicycle.”

  1. Here via a recommendation from Ali at Cheaper Than Therapy.

    Being an engineer, all the math/science stuff that I was good at in school is still in use, so technically I didn’t forget I knew it.

    So, I’ll go with grammar. I was actually taught grammar by a former nun at a Catholic school. We did the whole old-school (even for back then) “sentence deconstruction” (like, underlining objects three times, parentheses around phrases, squiggly line under – I think – subjects, et cetera). It was so awful at the time, but now I can actually compose a sentence and sound somewhat coherent (at least for an engineer).

    SciFi Dad’s last blog post..TPS: First Trimester Quotes

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  2. Well, it’s not forgotten, just needs to be dusted off. I’m a trained flutist. I minored in Music Performance in college, played in the college community orchestra (which was heaven) and then played in a community concert band after law school. I stopped playing a few years ago after the birth of my oldest. I miss it. It’s just not the right time to go back.

    Kristin’s last blog post..A change of scenery. It does a mind good. (UPDATE)

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  3. I’m really good at teaching kids to read and love it. Before my job as Mama I was a reading specialist and I worked 1:1 with kids who were struggling with reading. The satisfaction of seeing a little one finally “get it” was priceless. I miss it – but I’m looking forward to the day when my sweet girls “get it”. I hope I’m the one that will help them to unlock the magic!!! And some day when they’re big and don’t need me anymore, I’ll go back to unlocking the magic for other kiddos.

    Lisa’s last blog post..Praise God!!!

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  4. It was Science, and Art Appreciation for me. I failed miserably at Home Economics, and now I’m a full-time stay at home Mom, who can cook and clean, so that one always makes me laugh 😉

    Pre-School starts next August for our oldest son, and already I’m stressing about everything…

    Nicole’s last blog post..The 5 Minute Pick-Up

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  7. I used to be good at piano, bass clarinet, and math. I actually used to win math competitions sponsored by the university where I now work …. as an English professor. I kind of miss those other parts of me …

    mimi’s last blog post..Spa-aaaahhhhhh

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  8. I’d forgotten how much I like to write (and seemed to get smashing good grades in English [to make up for my lousiness-beyond-belief in Math, I presume]). But then I made a blog, and I feel like I get all that writing out of my system, with nobody grading my work (aside from the occasional troll). It’s nice.

    Camille’s last blog post..{To Be a Hotdogger}

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  10. Um, EVERYTHING. I, like you, was a grade A dork. Math and English were tops for me. I’m already there, though…with my genius 10 year old. HE’s looking to me for answers and as of right now I can still give them…in another year or two I’m going to be out of a clue. I’d best get back on the bandwagon out here…

    Sadie’s last blog post..Haiku of one with much

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  12. Math, anything to do with numbers ahs always been “fun” for me. I tried explaining it to my kids when they were wrestling with it, but they couldn’t grasp why they will need ALgebra in the reqal world.

    DUH! DO you not think you will ever go to the grocery store?

    Adrienne’s last blog post..Gas

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  19. um, i didn’t forget, but i do miss them: singing, with harmonies and other people, not just to the radio.

    tae kwon do, i can’t believe it’s been 10 years since i got my black belt and i haven’t done ANYTHING since.

    megachick’s last blog post..birthday bug

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  24. You actually liked Algebra ? Wow, I wish I’d known you in school.

    I think I’ve forgotten just about everything after basic addition and subtraction. Heaven help me , my kids are about to start kindergarten in the fall…and I know I’m in for it as incredibly academic as kindergarten is nowadays. 😦

    Worker Mommy’s last blog post..Burning Questions

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  27. So this sounds like a good reason to NOT have another child … they’ll keep you from being able to return to school that much longer.

    Or am I missing something here?

    I’m good at acting. I did a lot of community theater work in my teens, 20s and early 30s. But, since I’ve switched from newspaper reporting to newspaper editing, I no longer have the requisite free nights and weekends. I miss it. My last show was in 2000, and I had nearly 1,000 lines, and I rocked the casbah.

    Jim Thomsen’s last blog post..Closing sale, everything must go.

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  28. Ha! I hated math, sucked at math, didn’t care for math! I was the english/grammer and history pro! Well, and pro at other things like sluffing and, um, ya.

    I would love to go back to school though! At this point it’s becoming a necessity! My brain doesn’t work like it used to! I think it’s atrophying. Is that even a word? So much for being pro at english/grammer!

    Carrie’s last blog post..PRAYERS NEEDED!

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