I used to be able to work magic. I could fix a bicycle or set a kite aloft. The awe these feats inspired has waned and in its stead a desire for tricks no less intriguing or difficult to perform but whose outcomes have more tangible results: to explain the unfathomable mysteries of algebra or make ten dollars disappear from my hand and miraculously appear into hers.

Makes you kind of nostalgic for the good old days. There's a milestone in there somewhere....