A few weeks ago, I had the chance to learn some knife skills from an expert. Not “I’ll cut you” knife skills, but the kind of skils that only expert chefs or cooks possess. What I got from the lesson, more than new and exciting ways to peel an orange, was a reminder of just how cool it is to learn from someone who’s an expert at what they do.

Our instructor was Shuna, who started her (excellent) TypePad blog a little while ago, and has worked in some of the best restaurants in the country. The one thing she said that really showed her domain knowledge was an offhand comment, when listing some of the things she’d learned in the kitchen, that “If you drop the Saran Wrap, you don’t try to catch it. Let the box fall.”

It took me a full 10 seconds before I had the “aha!” moment that made me realize what genius that was. Now I find myself hoping for the chance to meet other people who are that good at what they do, and who are willing to share that knowledge with me.