25 Skills Every Man Should Know: Your Ultimate DIY Guide

This offering from MSN today I found truly droll, because I think how-to skills "for men" are generally equally important for women. I mean, we all have to take care of ourselves and we pretty much inhabit the same world, right? Stands to reason that skills are skills and anyone should have 'em. And I know that articles on these sites are vapid fluff, but I couldn't help myself, away I clicked.

Now, I know that mixing concrete and hooking up an HDTV should be the exclusive province of Teh Doodz, but rescuing a capsized boater and cleaning a bolt-action rifle rank in the "Top 25 That Every Man Should Know"? Seriously? I would have included sewing on own buttons, ironing own shirts, cooking own meals to the list, but what do I know? I might be smelling a touch of irony, but I just can't tell anymore. And by the way, I can build campfires, navigate with a map and compass and fix dead electrical outlets (Indispensable Dood Skills #7,8,9) better than most men I know.

The comments made me laugh the hardest, as they often do. Especially this quote of Robert Heinlein:

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

Oh, if only!