What makes you WEIRD?
16As the title says. What hobbies, traits, etc. make you uniquely…you? Nobody aspires to be hardline ‘normal’, I’d hope. Do you collect something weird? Have a weird habit? Speak with a weird accent just because? I carry a blow up dog with me. He starts conversations and helps me socialize better, and lowers anxiety in unfamiliar settings.
Your turn!
- 14 comments, 66 replies
- Comment
I’m just 100% normal. Which is weird.
@shahnm Your batteries are too cold to be able to comment on that statement.
@Kidsandliz Nope. Totes normal. I read it here at Meh, so I know it’s true.
Dogs > cats, but I wear a lot of catshirts.
In fact, I’m wearing
onesome right meow!@narfcake precisely how many cat shirts are you currently wearing, proportionately to how wrong you are about cats and dogs?
@DLPanther @narfcake you’ve accidentally told us what makes you weird. Normal people know dogs are infinitely better than cats.
@DLPanther @narfcake @warpedrotors There are more cat than dog owners in the USA. This makes all the dog owners weird as they are in the minority with respect to pet ownership.
@narfcake how do I report a moderator for moderation?
One just said dogs are better than cats. Not only is that factually incorrect but is very inflammatory.
(I have both, love both…but cats are the superior animals)
@DLPanther @Kidsandliz @narfcake @warpedrotors There are NO cat owners. If you have one or more cats, you are their property.
@narfcake Woof!!! Team Doggo!!

@Kidsandliz
{redacted politics}
~ TC
@narfcake not sure if I am a dog person or a cat person, but I know I am not a people person
@narfcake @tightwad
The more people I get to know, the more I prefer dogs [really any animals- except horses…]
I suspect it doesn’t make me weird that I miss the dog I used to carry with me, who blew up at the sight of any other living thing. He started conversations that didn’t help me socialize better, and heightened the anxiety of unfamiliar, and even some familiar people. It probably also isn’t weird that I can’t seem to get going on the memorial project I’m hoping will get the grief out of my system, sigh!
@aetris The grief will never “get out of your system”. You will just learn how to live with your loss where it isn’t overwhelming your life. Over time the periods of intense grief slowly become shorter and shorter and further and further apart, although you might be blind sided when something triggers those feelings again. Even years down the road. When we lose whom we love it hurts. And as you said it isn’t weird. It is normal. And painful.
@Kidsandliz - Thank you, although “overwhelming your life” may be a bit more than what we’re talking about here!
@aetris I know for several weeks after my almost 20 year old cat, whom I bottle fed from10 days old, died life was very hard. I had missed her so much. That level of pain didn’t last at the level it did when my brother and father died, but those first couple of weeks were very hard.
@Kidsandliz
@aetris I iz sorry you lost your frien. I bet you made their life special, just remember that! Also, I am here if you need a snuggle OR want to giv a PB treat!
Luv ur frien
Charliedoggo

@aetris @Kidsandliz

Seconded.
I am unique, just like everyone else.
True story
Ever wish you made that perfect comeback?
When my daughter was in high school, she was one of the gifted band kids. She also had her own quirks (She was conceived at a world con and born on the day of CAID’s first coronation).
One of ‘those’ kids looked at her one day and told her, 'You’re weird"
Her response - “Thank you”
Couldn’t have said it better.
I march to my own drum, if that makes me weird so be it.
@Cerridwyn That response from your daughter probably shocked the potential bully.
@Kidsandliz I remember her saying he just stared a minute and walked away
I remember a greeting card someone gave me many years ago
The outside showed a small kid marching with a drum and said “Some people say we march to the beat of a different drummer”
The inside said something along the lines of
“But we know we are just weird”
I still smile and remember the person who gave it to me
@Cerridwyn @Kidsandliz I used to make buttons that declared “Proudly Apriling To The Beat Of A Different Kettle Of Fish!”
My brain works too fast, but it’s countered by an equally fast level of ADHD. So there is balance in the force.
I also hold on way too hard to the past. I grew up in the 70’s and while I have two 34" ultrawide monitors stacked vertically, a 28" monitor in portrait mode, and a 32" screen for the arcade machine I still have at my desk a boombox that I got in 1982 and an Apple IIe that gets turned on from time to time.
I also have a movie accurate set of Stormtrooper armor (that I actually coached a game in), and I 3D printed a custom Mandalorian set of armor that shows up around halloween
I’m proud to be a dork
(also working on a Vader build, but don’t tell my wife
)
@capnjb Most impressive!
@capnjb
Wear your geekdom proudly- you represent us well-with or without the armor!
@capnjb yeah you definitely need to come to Oregon and bring all of the geeky sci-fi with you. Omg! We can go pheasant hunting dressed as Star Wars characters!!!


Also my daughter still has your wife’s book in her room. It’s one of her favorites. She wanted to gift it to a friend but she was torn because your wife signed it. I was thankful she talked to me first. We took to the Amazon to get her friend a copy.
@sillyheathen Hah… I had forgotten about that. I’m glad the pages got turned more than once. I’ll let my wife know… that will make her day
@sillyheathen For the record, it did. She has been in a wee bit of a writing funk lately. That comment was well received. And timely.
@capnjb I just let my daughter know. She’s been talking about trying to become a children’s book illustrator and when I mentioned this conversation, she got super excited and said she’s been wanting to draw something. She now wants to draw a picture from the book and paint it in watercolor and send it to your wife as a thank you for the book.
@capnjb
I tried to get a semi normal picture and this was the most normal.
@sillyheathen Wow, your daughter looks so much like you but with dark hair!
@Kyeh
This is the two girls together. They’re both mini mes in so many ways poor buggers.
@sillyheathen They ARE, wow!
@sillyheathen That is so awesome! I showed my wife, and she completely beamed. Another day made!
She asked me to ask you, if she blurred out your daughter’s face, would it be okay if she could use that photo in her social media (it’s a small footprint). She’s just putting some marketing things together because today is the Lunar New Year and it’s the year of the Snake!
There is zero problem if you’d rather not. She was emphatic that a no is fine. But wanted me to ask.
OWLS! TOWELS! JOWLS! AWESOME!
@capnjb absolutely! And truthfully her book really did help her with her hair which is another reason she loves it so bloody much.
Oh where to begin.
I have aphantasia (no minds eye/I can’t picture things)
When I have dreams (no images) they’re almost always in third person. (I don’t usually occur in them)
I have mild prosopagnosia (not totally face blind, very famous people, and people close to me I can obviously recognize… but if someone changes their hairstyle I frequently won’t recognize them… If an actor has different colour hair in two different shows I won’t know it’s the same actor unless I read the name)
I love celebrating weird holidays. Penguin Awareness Day most recently… But also on my calendar each year: Badger Appreciation Day and Sint Pannekoek (Dutch pseudo holiday celebrating by gathering with family and wearing a crepe on ones head). We also have some special family ones.
If I give a card, it’s always for the wrong holiday, deliberately. So family know to expect something like “Congratulations on your pregnancy” or “Get Well Soon” on their birthdays.
My kids have an imaginary dead brother named Frank, as a joke when they were growing up, when they were told not to do something, it was always because “that’s how your brother Frank died, connected to some really weird story in which more often than not, Frank got eaten in the end”.
@OnionSoup I love to learn new words, so thank you for that. Brains are weird.
@OnionSoup I love all of this!!
@OnionSoup Jesse is our Frank. My kids know he is the favorite, but also the one who didn’t follow the rules etc
@OnionSoup this is all so fabulous! The aphantasia is really interesting and I now have a new rabbit hole to wander down. Also the mixed holiday greeting card is genius. Made me proper laugh out loud.
I love that you have a Frank. Ours is Liam and he’s still alive and hidden in an ottoman in our bedroom. They’ve started making up stories about him and telling their friends when they come over. The looks on their faces are hilarious until they realize we’re all just joking. It’s nice to know we’re not the only numbskulls that make light of those kind of things. I’d say it’s because my husband is English but frankly we’re just weird.
I haz three toes on one foot!!!
Also, I can stare at my mom quietly and she knows I want PB…or animal cookie. It is like Magik.
Also, animal cookies are new, but so yum!!
@pooltoywolf, does your doogo like pb, it is VERY yum!!
@CharlieDoggo Peanut butter contains oil, so is no good for airdogs!
@PooltoyWolf poor airdog! I eat their treats for them!!
Coffee, then some more coffee, followed by coffee…
Oh, I thought you said wired

/giphy never mind
@ybmuG please share, LOL
Nothing really makes me weird. I got there without any outside help.

@rockblossom rock on
@rockblossom Yes, I love this!!
@rockblossom
Same!
I like to play with lasers!

I am also a giant child. I should probably be renamed Peter Pan.
I also love animals, plants, tattoos, lifting weights, making art, wood working, dad jokes and cooking for my family like I still work in kitchens when they don’t even remotely appreciate it and yell at me to just put it on the plate!
@sillyheathen “just put it on the plate” is fightin’ words!
@sillyheathen @ybmuG I’m 53 but my brain is stuck at 18. Lasers, good food, and a lathe… boy we could have a great afternoon… up until the point I’m ready for a nap
My dad joke game is Olympic level… but I’m not throwing down the gauntlet. 
@capnjb @ybmuG we should have a baaaaaaaad goat joke thread!!!
Also the new less (as in not at all) murdery shed, is going to have two midcentury futons so you can take a nap when you’re tuckered out! They’re also going to be in front of ten foot windows that overlook the backyard so lots of birds, bees and butterflies to observe whilst you fall asleep in the sun, if it’s out…I mean it’s Oregon so it’s a crap shoot.
@sillyheathen @ybmuG Can I bring my Browning shotty? It’s been a while, but I’ve done some pheasant hunting in the hills near Mount Hood. Beautiful country. Even if you come home without firing a shell, it’s still a great day.
@capnjb @ybmuG I’m from the bayous south of New Orleans and I love hunting. In fact even though I’m married to an Englishman, he grew up hunting pheasant but it’s not his jam, I’ve only recently found someone to go hunting with.
Most guys here are too dudely to hunt with a lady. That imo translates to they just like to hang out and not hunt.
But yes. The painted hills and eastern Oregon are full of amazing game. So short story long, hell yeah!
@sillyheathen @ybmuG Hah! I’m married to an Englishwoman. Well, she is half Irish but I only see that side when she gets mad.
Her dad is from Yorkshire, mom from Dublin… she was raised in New York and has zero accent. I think they all canceled each other out. Heh. But, yeah… when she is mad it’s all Irish, all the time
I’ll drop her off with your husband and they can have tea and we can go find some ditch parrots 
And speaking of Louisiana, we used to do a big crawfish boil ever year. It’s been some time but the last one we did I flew in 100 pounds of live mudbugs and we probably had 60 friends come through throughout the day. It was a lot of work, but an absolutely awes0me day. I wish the prices would get back to what they used to be. I may do a small boil this spring… my mouth is watering just thinking about it
@capnjb @ybmuG
@capnjb @ybmuG this is hilarious. He’s from Leeds in West Yorkshire and we also throw an annual crawfish boil. In fact I’m currently wearing my chicken of the ditch tshirt and the most recent addition to my sleeve is a peony with a crawfish. The universe is such a wonderfully weird place!
@sillyheathen @ybmuG I’ve been in Leeds, but only briefly. We had meetings in Harrogate and we headed out for lunch and the driver of the van took a wrong turn and no one noticed. Until someone asked, why are we in Leeds? Heh. But I did get a good meal and a pint at Betty’s.
@sillyheathen
Who doesn’t like all dem tings?
@PhysAssist is say weirdos but it’s probably the norms who wouldn’t like em.
I don’t like dogs but I’m also highly allergic to them so I hate not being able to breathe, having horrible watering eyes and feeling there’s tons of stuff in my throat hours even after I’ve left a house with a dog. And all dogs can sense it on me and want to be my best friend.
I also love learning random trivia. Sometimes I’ll sit and read in my phone about the most random stuff.
@Star2236 Have you tried hanging out with a hypoallergenic dog?
@Star2236 - I too am highly allergic to dogs (cats too alas) but Bandit and his sister were dachsipoos and I never had any reaction to them.
@Star2236
Same with me, but Cats…
Oh boy, I’ve been waiting for someone to ask. Might as well just introduce myself to:
-My name is Wollyhop, (THE-YELLOW-WOLLYHOP, if you want to get technical.) which is a reference to Pikmin.
-Pansexual
Yeah, that is just the tip of the iceberg. I have more, but that is a story for another day.
@Wollyhop
@Lynnerizer I downloaded that video. I put it on loop and go to sleep. Usually on the bus.
@Wollyhop I like Tally Hall. They give me modern day “The Turtles” vibes. (Eleanor by the Turtles is one of my all time favourite songs).
Favourite Tally Hall song is “&” but absolutely could not play it on repeat… Lol.
@OnionSoup @Wollyhop YOU’RE MY PRIDE AND JOY, ET CETERA
We have a shade tree out front; I don’t know if that makes me weird, but I’m sure some of our neighbors think so…
@bee1doll
I love that
@Star2236 Thks!
And thanks for asking.I used to have a nice collection of sunglasses; both a modest selection of vintage and a few older, and some contemporary ones. As my eyesight started failing, my interest started waning. One day, getting out of my work van, with a couple of extra sunglasses on the dash, I thought: what the heck, this tree needs some sunglasses. They settled in quite nicely, and the tree collection grew.
The original tree was in the home previous to where we live now. When we were in the last weeks of moving, our granddaughters were helping out. Conversation brought up that I was going to leave the sunglasses in the tree for the new folks. Elder granddaughter objected, insisting we move the ‘shade tree’ sunglasses to our new home, which happened to have the same species of tree, in almost the same location as the first tree/home. Who can argue with a granddaughter? The picture is from shade tree #2. Some neighbors have even contributed…
@bee1doll @Star2236
I wonder if anyone passing by who needs sunglasses has ever taken a pair?
@bee1doll NGL, this looks like it is from Tumblr.
@Kyeh @Star2236 I should put out a sign: Take a Pair - Leave a Pair!
@bee1doll @Star2236 Yeah! It’ll be like those little free libraries.
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