Zen and the art of list avoidance

I was reading Buffalo's post that described the excellent writing abilities and apparent educational prowess of many of our best bloggers. I was not on this list. Now, before you automatically assume I am complaining about this, you can stop assuming that right now. Most everybody he mentioned puts me to shame. I do not speak in the novella fashion that most of them do, and I rarely subscribe to the power words that send many people to the dictionary when they have the humility to admit they are not quite sure what "that" word actually means. My content leaves alot to be desired, as I report from a rather narrow and mundane world, inside looking out at an ever increasingly complex planet. There is nothing I could say about the world that others have not already said more succinctly, with more interesting graphic and pictorial support as well. However, I am not really bothered by this. YOU guys, or those that stumble upon my blog, might be, but it doesn't keep me awake at night. For one thing, anybody that keeps up with this blog knows well by now that it is written in "plain speak", with a little dash of flash to pry a smile from the reader. You do not visit me to learn the secrets of the universe, the inside scoop on pop culture, or a first look at something revolutionary and life changing. But, you never really leave empty, now do you?

When I joined the Navy, I did it right out of my senior year in high school due to the fact that one: the dozens of different schools in various states that I attended while growing up as a welfare kid all had differing graduate credit systems, and those credits didn't add up in the last school I attended as a senior, and two: I didn't have a home anymore with the breakup of my Mom and her "significant other". I ended up with a quick and dirty GED, which to this day implies I didn't REALLY graduate.

After I did my service to my country, I had the GI Bill, which would have made going to college a real possibility. However, I had it in my mind at that time that I was anything but college material, especially with my aversion to anything math related. So, I continued on in life content to pursue whatever blue collar opportunities presented themselves.

What I did NOT do, however, is stop learning. I have always been an avid reader, a great fan of science and tech shows on television, and have soaked up more knowledge about the world around me on my own than any institution could have, in a general fashion, that is. I know a little bit about everything, although I can not claim to know everything about any one thing in particular. And I am somewhat proud of my critical thinking skills, however twisted they might be.

Was I ever really college material? Well, I attended almost two years of community college in an ill-fated pursuit of a nursing degree, and was amazed at how utterly simple most of my classes were, sans algebra. I am proud to report that as far as grades went, I had it sussed! Unfortunately, events transpired, of which I will not go into here, that required me to abandon school, but I did come out of the experience assured that I was fully capable of becoming formally "edumacated". And yes, folks, to this day I am convinced that aside from narrow facts and figures, I did not learn anything that I did not already have an understanding of gleaned by my own life's experiences and discoveries. Yes, I know that I am paying dearly in many ways by not having a certificate of intellectual authenticity issued by the powers that be, but in the grand scheme of things, my brain is functioning just fine without it. Things could be worse. I could have the thought processes of a republican.

So, did I belong on that list? I dare say not. All if not most of them walked a more formal, in- depth path than I did to arrive where they are, and I am sure they paid some dues on the way. The list I do belong on probably has one name on it.
Being on that list does not make me special or lesser as compared to the people on that other list, but I take pride in being on it regardless.

Besides, being on that list would have ruined any chance of Madness, Musings, and Melancholy being the truly unique creation that it is. Imagine what all those big fancy words and eloquent sentence structures would have done to the poor thing..........