Ronan Tynan

I feel like such a slacker! Consider Ronan Tynan. The man was born with a lower limb disability, but that didn’t keep him from riding horses and racing motorcycles as a boy. When he was twenty, his legs had to be amputated below the knee . He was climbing up the steps of his college dorm just weeks after the operation, and within a year he was an athlete winning gold medals in the Paralympics. Between 1981 and 1984 he won eighteen gold medals and fourteen world records of which he still holds nine.

Yikers! There’s more. Ronan became the first disabled person ever admitted to the National College of Physical Education. He later became a medical doctor specializing in orthopedic sports injuries.

Amazing enough, eh? But there’s more still.

At age 33, when he was well into his residency as a doctor, Ronan began serious, formal voice studies. Less than a year later he won both the John McCormack Cup for Tenor Voice and the BBC talent show Go For It less than one year after beginning the study of voice. His operatic kudos go on and on. Then, in 1998, he joined Anthony Kearns and John McDermott, known as the super successful Irish Tenors.

And of course he’s written a book. His autobiography, "Halfway Home," was published in February of 2002.

Wow. Pretty damned amazing. Oh, and apparently he’s a really nice guy, too. Ah well, at least we can be childish and make fun of his ears. Hmmm. Looks like he’s pretty hardcore Christian, but I won’t hold that against him. Thinking about him either makes me feel like a complete failure or is very inspiring and uplifting. Click here and decide for yourself.

Gnat on Metamphetamines

“The Know-It-All” by A. J. Jacobs. I love this book. So much that the public library is fining me several dollars for bringing it back several weeks late. Incidentally, I’m nowhere near reading it all, but I love the premise. This non-fiction book lets us into the twisted mind of a man who decides to read the Encyclopedia Britannica, A to Z, cover to cover. Yikers!

I can totally relate to the author.
-He practices what I call buffet-style religion, sampling different religious and spiritual traditions and taking only the parts that resonate with him.
-He likes odd juxtapositions and abrupt changes in subject. “I love seeing the prophet Abraham rub elbows with Karl Abraham, a German shrink who theorized about the anal explusive and phallic stages.”
-He learns fascinating stories and random facts and is dying to slip them into ordinary conversation or just tell people about them, but others really couldn’t care less (that abalones have 5 assholes, that opossums have 13 nipples, or that dwarves have prominent buttocks). That’s me on any given day.
-He’s a big nerd.

Yup. That’s me! Although I would never go for the Britannica. Nope, the Americana is for me! Isn’t it at a 4th-grade reading level? At the end of my second year of college I spent a good part of an afternoon reading the entire entry on France, including history, political system, etc. for a big oral exam on French civilization. So many facts, so little time!

The title of this entry is a reference to how Mr. Jacobs describes his attention span. He’s a hilarious writer. Click here for info on the book.

Free Hugs

Click here and watch the 3.5 or so minute video. I love it, love it, love it. Made me cry.