13 skills challenge

Several months ago, I was listening to a podcast by Paul Wheaton who (regardless of how you feel about him personally) knows an awful lot about permaculture.  He kept referencing the name Jack Spirko in his podcasts from time to time, so I eventually googled the name and discovered a community built around Jack's podcast: The Survival Podcast or TSP.  In addition to being a voice for permaculture and homesteading, Jack provides a libertarian perspective on the happenings of the day, and does a lot to promote his philosophy of modern survivalism.  One aspect of his philosophy that grabbed my attention about a month ago was the 13 in 13 challenge.  This was a challenge Jack issued to his listeners to better their lives by learning 13 new skills in 2013.  I am a latecomer to the challenge, and I strongly doubt that I'll master all 13 of my goals before the new year, but I'm excited to track my progress and build my skill set.  The idea isn't to prepare for the apocalypse and total collapse of our civilization; it's simply to live a better life that is less dependent on the system in which we currently live.  I'll be blogging my progress on each skill here and hopefully be finished sometime in 2014.