Wednesday, January 10, 2007

A matter of POV

I had a lot of fun with last Thursday's Thirteen of fun/cool/interesting things I've experienced in my 29 (ahem) years (or so) on this planet. My original list was actually much longer but I cut it down to what I thought made me interesting to other people. For example, by far the coolest thing I ever experienced was pregnancy and childbirth (not to say it wasn't painful!!), but lots of folks go through this, so I cut it from my list. Other cuts included finding my soul mate, watching kittens being born, seeing Niagara Falls for the first time, riding Space Mountain...
What caught my attention were the 'wow' comments I received -- because the thing is, I don't find my life any more or less interesting than anyone else I've met and I bet if you were to make your own list, you'd find way more than 13 experiences that others think are cool, too. They just don't seem interesting because you're the one doing them.

To prove my point, here are some kick-ass things that my friends & acquaintances can brag about:
  • My friend TL shot a rattler and cooked it up for dinner! How neat is that! And she rides a hawg!!
  • Amy & Christine completed NANO. I'm in awe... I can barely put down 600 words. They work/have kids, or both, and still managed to pull off the demanding feat. Kudos.
  • My buddy Suzanne gave birth naturally to all three of her 10lb + children (and by natural, I mean NO drugs). I tried this with child #1 and when it came time to birth #2, I had the anesthesiologist meet me in the dang parking lot with the epidural.
  • My hubby parachuted. Yet I'm afraid to fly!
  • My friend Leslie parachuted with a broken arm. She broke her arm playing underwater hockey - with scuba equipment. Not something I would EVER do, but admire her moxie.
  • The same Leslie goes ice-diving in northern Canadian lakes in the middle of blinking winter!!! Some might question her sanity... I admire the hell out of her.
  • My sis-in-law worked for this uber-rich mega-multi-billionaire who flew his staff to his home in the Bahamas for lunch and an afternoon of jet-skiing. En-vy!
  • My friend Stan beat cancer last year. Go Stan!!
  • My friend Stacey's mother and her young son both went through cancer treatments last year. I'm happy for mom and son have so far beaten it, but it's Stacey I admire for being a solid rock through the whole thing.
  • My friend Victor started his own charity, 'Seconds to Give' that provides clothing and books to poor villages in the Philipines. Amazing guy.
  • My other sis-in-law is an equestrian show-jumper.
  • Richard composes music and did the soundtrack for a Hollywood movie.
  • I have a distant cousin who is a stuntman!!
  • Yvona & Steve know five languages between them and have lived in the most amazing places: England, U.S., Ghana, Iran, Bermuda,...

And I still haven't seen the Grand Canyon.

What are some of your more interesting moments. Please share - I want to say 'wow' back to you!!



6 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the earlier days of the internet, back in 1994-5, I was part of a mailing-list group called the FUR, or Feline Underground Railroad. What we did was to network and provide transportation for needy cats to get to new homes, sometimes new homes that were hundreds of miles away from the kitties' points of origin. I coordinated several "FUR runs" with pick-up and drop-off points in which ten or more "FUR stations" would participate, and we helped quite a few kitties reach happy, new homes. :)

Unknown said...

You know some really amazing people. I don't know if there is anything else "cool" about me. My husband and I have been together since I was in grade 9. We've been together as a couple for 19 years this April and married for 11 this June. :)

Wylie Kinson said...

I rest my case!

Amy Ruttan said...

I don't know if there's a cool thing about me. I am proud to day that my grand father (who I never met) helped build the Polar Bear Express Railway to Moosenee, was a personal friend of Tom Thomson and was involved in the investigation of his murder at the time. So all I came claim is that I am the grand daughter of a very impressive man who wish I had known.

Wylie Kinson said...

Amy - that is so cool!! I knew Tom T died 'young-ish' but I had no idea it was murder! What happened?
Your grandfather could inspire a great literary character!

Amy Ruttan said...

Well, let's say an excellent canoer / swimmer and outdoorsman and he's found a week later drowned with a knock to the head and fishing twine wrapped around his foot! He often argued with an German American man who supported Kaiser during WWI; also Tom was engaged to a vivacious young woman who was very sought after by same German American man. I could go into a lot of detail, as I wrote an essay about it in school. It was very mysterious!