Gifted and Talented

When I was a kid we had "Gifted and Talented Education" for the special kids. Not sure how they selected us for these GATE kids, but it was designed to help the high-achievers achieve highly. I was not much of an achiever, but I can crush a standardized test and that was good enough to get me in. (This says more about how dumb the rest of the kids were than how smart I was.) It was nice of them to give us an opportunity to do whatever it was that we did in those classes. I can't really remember, except that it got us out of regular class. Since I hardly ever paid attention in class anyway it was fun to walk down the hall at Bagby Elementary and play with computers or art or string or whatever. I do remember our GATE teacher one year was Mrs. Bagby. She married the grandson or great-grandson of the person after whom the school was named. So that was fun.

In the many years since my matriculation at Bagby Elem. I've developed an appreciation for truly multi-talented people. My friends in college that were super nice, could shred on guitar, run 15 miles, pwn a physics test, write a good essay, hold down their position in anchorman, or some combination of those things: These people are very hard to find. It takes a unique combination of hard work and intellect to be a person like that, along with a generous helping of physical talent. (I have the unfortunate handicap of being lazy, not very bright, and not terribly gifted.)

Anyway, some of these superbly gifted people have become great friends of mine, and they are an inspiration to me. One of them got a new job today, and although I am deeply sad to see him take his awesomeness elsewhere, I look forward to hearing how things work out at the new gig, and wish him the very best. 

I include this song from Timmy Curran. Not because the subject has anything to do with my buddy leaving for greener pastures, but because Curran is one of those multi-talented people, and I think it's a great song for anyone to have written and sung, never mind a world-class surfer.