I never knew how stupid I actually am. Why didn't someone tell me? The last few years have been a huge wake-up call for me. I never realized that people would be opposed to the U.S. being in the U.N. What clued me in on that? A BUMPER STICKER!! When did I get stupid??

That's just one example. I had never heard of: Susan Sontag, Stephen Sondheim, Allen Ginsberg, Merce Cunningham, John Cage, Lenny Bruce, Uta Hagen, Pablo Neruda, Michelangelo Antoniotti, Bernardo Bertolucci, Akira Kurosawa, Carmina Burana, Vaclav Havel, Federico Fellini...

Where did I get this list? Movies: Rent and Under the Tuscan Sun for this list. The amazing thing is that quite a few of the people on this list are related to the film or theatre industry somehow. My chosen profession? An actor. How in the hell had I never heard of them?

Not only that, I am a voracious reader. Why is it that I had only heard of ten of 81 books on the list of Pulitzer Prize winners? And on top of that not only have I never read any of them, half of the ones I had heard of, I only had heard of as movies... and I haven't even watched the movies!

So in an effort to correct my stupidity (if this is possible) I am now going to attempt to learn about modern politics, learn about the people listed above, watch their movies, read their work, read the books on the Pulitzer Prize list. I am also going to attempt to read the College Board's 101 Great Books for College Bound Readers.

I have actually heard of 52 of them. So much for the good news. I have read 5 of them...All of Shakespeare's that are listed plus Pride and Prejudice. I have seen movies made of 4 of them. And we won't even discuss how many of them I have only heard of because they were mentioned in another movie. (at least 12)

I am not a person who is content not knowing. I mean after all, I actually looked up all those people to find out who they were and why they were important enough to be mentioned. So one of my resolutions for this year is to broaden my horizons.

I will spend my spare time reading, watching classic movies (I noticed I have never watched some of the classic movies either i.e. The Godfather movies, Citizen Kane, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and even Casablanca for heaven's sake), and I am even going to try to try new music (I'd never heard of Musetta's Waltz either!) . Any suggestions for books, movies (but I am not a horror fan please keep this in mind), and music I will gladly accept and add to my list.