Where my attention span has gone

I have many interests. I'd really like to know something about everything. If you want to know the truth, I'd really like to know everything about everything. I don't aspire to be a Jen-of-all-trades here, no: I want to master them all.

This is why I have shelves and boxes of books on subjects ranging from Buddhism to politics to astronomy, why I have fiction books of all genres (except chick lit, something I'd be happy to never see again in any form), and why I haven't yet gotten around to selling most of a friend's books since she gave them to me to list for sale on half.com. I want to read them first, you see. Topping my list of my friend's books-to-read is Mao's Way because, well, I really don't know shit about Mao and I surely should. Especially considering all I've read about Tibet and the life of the Dalai Lama; I know my learning is very lopsided and I feel quite remiss.

So, why haven't I read Mao's Way yet? It's been in a box for about four years. I'll get to it next, I always say. And then I go and read Jon Stewart's America. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I have the best of intentions, but my attention span works against me. Here's what happened this morning: from a Google Reader feed I opened up four links:

18 Means for Living Below Your Means
How the U.S.A. Elects its President
25 Great Websites from which to Draw Inspiration
Most Popular Items on 6 Internet Sites

Which one did I go to first? The one with the drunk kitten faceplant at the top, of course. It wasn't even very good.

Next, the other one that features a list of a bunch of pretty pictures. But I haven't linked through to any of the sites yet.

I'll end up closing the one about the President since I really do pretty much understand it anyway. And I'll scan the one about living below your means, in the end determining that I already know all that stuff.

I want to master everything, I said? Eh, I guess not really. When I'm not actually working on anything important, my attention span has gone to the LOLcats and I'm basically OK with that.

But I guess if it were easy to master everything, everyone would be doing it.