I am reading a biography of Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon, and I find myself fascinated by King and Simon, and unsure of Mitchell.  I don’t know how much of this is preconception because my parents didn’t like Mitchell, so I am unfamiliar with her music and only have an idea of her as a dirty hippy, or if it’s because I don’t like squalor.  So far, her part of the bio reads like greasy hair, filthy fingernails, and body odor.  It also might have something to do with the fact that I have superimposed my friend Sheila over Carole King, so I like her even more.  (It’s easy to turn Carole into Sheila because I imagine they have similar spunky, friendly, happy personalities.  I also think both of them are quite stunning, though they look nothing alike.)  I’ve always had a girl crush on Carly Simon, so there’s no surprise I am interested in her.

I am very interested in people who are driven to pursue one particular interest.  It is impossible for me to narrow down my own likes into areas of expertise.  If I could swallow a pill and become expert in an area, I would gobble them by the handful, but given the amount of time and energy it takes to be even remotely knowledgeable of a subject… Personally, I cannot make a meal of just one thing because there is so much else out there I want to taste.  Well, I’m an expert at my son and my own motivations.  That’s about it. 

That is one of the nice things about parenting, for me.  I get to dabble in things I’ve either forgotten, or didn’t get around to the first time.  As Thor learns, I can relearn or explore whole new arenas of interest.