Essay ideas?

I really feel like I need to become more educated. I'm pretty sure (maybe this shows my lack of education) that if you don't use certain parts of your brain, the neurological pathways don't work so well. I'm feeling like my brain needs some more stimulation. So I have idea... I may be setting myself up to do something that sounds like a good idea now but is really foolish. This will also test if people actually, 1) look at this blog, and 2) care what I write.
So here's the idea. You, the reader suggests something for me to research and learn about. Having made myself educated, I'll then post a synopsis of my findings. Basically, I'm asking for essay ideas. It can be something that you're interested in or just anything that you think could be good to learn about. It can be about current affairs, historical events, people, places, faith and religion, just to name a few.
If you have suggestions, please leave a comment with your idea.
Thanks in anticipation.

The Bunnings Bug

This weekend I discovered the joys of Bunnings. Prior to this, the only time I have been there is to wish people a Merry Christmas from the Salvos. However, since moving house, my gardening instincts have come out. Anyone who has been to the old house at Springfield Rd would know that the garden there wasn't high on the agenda. Weeds would often grow to about 3ft high, which was only about 1ft taller than the grass! When it came time to move out, the gardens needed some serious work so I went out and bought a whipper snipper and a hedge trimmer. I had a great time hacking away at the bushes and grass. Since then my thumb has gone from having a slight green tinge to being as green as Kermit! Weeds are my enemy and long grass must be cut. I cannot walk past a weed in my backyard now without being compelled to pull it out.
On Saturday morning, like 90% of people in the Eastern suburbs, Erin and I went to Bunnings. We had a couple of things on the list to buy but ended up staying there for 2 hours! All in all we bought;

- A shovel
- Seed-raising mix
- Gardening gloves
- Light globes
- Capsicum seeds
- Herb seeds
- Compost bin

..Not to mention a myriad of other items we checked out. While looking at compost bins, an announcement came over the speakers "DIY on composting now starting". Struggling to find the appropriate bin we thought it would be a good idea to go along and become experts. As it turned out, Erin and I were the only people interested in composting so Hank, on his first day at Bunnings, taught us all about composting and worm farms. Well done to Hank. He performed like a seasoned veteran. Surely he'll appear on a Bunnings ad soon. So 2 hours and a lengthy receipt later, we headed back to Chirnside and got stuck into it. I've caught the Bunnings bug and can't stop thinking about what I need to buy next. You'll know I'm in real trouble when I start buying power tools!

Am I really good with my words?

I've realised that writing skills are like most skills...if you don't use them, you lose them. I have lost my writing skills. I used to consider myself a good writer and have been told many times by Annie, "you're good with your words". I'm beginning to doubt this. Over the last few weeks I have laboured over an application for a client that I have had to write at work. It really should be a piece of cake but for some reason I have found it agonisigly hard. All flow is gone and I've found myself writing like a grade 4! As I have been writing, I know how bad it is but I can't fix it. The words just don't come easily. At the peak of my ability, I was blogging regularly and honing my skills. My decline seems to coincide with the fact I have stopped blogging. So, in order to get in the flow again, I am blogging. So here goes...