Saturday, June 23, 2007

Isn't it Weird?

When you live in a cookie cutter world,
Being different is a sin.
So you don't stand out,
But you don't fit in.

- Hanson, Weird

Again, I don't usually do memes. But I do make a few exceptions to this rule, although I make up for these transgressions by never passing them on to other people.

This particular meme comes to me from darkhalf, and it involves writing down six weird things about yourself. Personally, this fascinated me, as I do make an effort to promote the fact that I'm not exactly your normal person: I collect episodes of weird events in my life, maintain a tendency to think of strange things at inappropriate times, and somehow remain silent enough to blend into a crowd despite the invisible monkey perched on my shoulder.

In short, I know perfectly well that I'm a weird person. But it doesn't matter how weird a person you think you are -- if you put six things on that list that everybody knows about you already, then you're about as weird as a sack of unpeeled potatoes.

So now I have to think of six weird things about me that I haven't already made known to the public. That means that I can't mention anything about the stuffed toy collection, the studies in combinatorics, the efforts to combine two random words together in one phrase just to short-circuit peoples' brains... I can't mention anything that I've already mentioned to a lot of people somewhere. That makes this an incredibly difficult task... and that you'd all better appreciate the effort I'm going through. :)

1. I work a lot of pop culture references into a lot of the essays I write, just to see if people will spot them. Some of them are subtle and some of them aren't, but I put them in anyway. I don't know where these come from, to be honest -- it's not as though I encounter them in everyday conversation. Bah weep granah weep ninni bong?

2. Despite the fact that I can draw, I don't promote my skills in that area. I only use my drawings as character studies (and I make the occasional doodle whenever I get bored), but I don't go out and advertise myself as an artist. I think I can actually do design consultations about as well as I do literary critiques.

3. I don't eat much in the way of candy or chocolate, and this was the case even back when I was a kid. My peers would happily tear into a package of jellybeans at about the same time I would bite into a dish of steamed vegetables. I still find it strange that people would love these excessive bits of sugar, mind you.

4. I don't like the prospect of insulting other people, although I can probably throw around a bunch of "yo' mama" jokes with the best of them. I usually only direct insults at others under three circumstances: Either it's completely unintentional, or it's something that I can apologize for afterwards, or the person has done something that really rubs me the wrong way.

5. I always look into a woman's eyes whenever I speak to her. From what I hear, this is an incredible achievement for a guy, especially considering that their eyes will wander to a woman's chest or cleavage most of the time. Whenever I do realize that my gaze is tending in such a direction, I just turn and look at something else.

6. I hate Sudoku. I simply abhor this puzzle. I literally have to restrain myself from bawling out its many fans the moment I hear about their enthusiasm for the game. I was solving Sudoku puzzles when I was six years old (yes, it's been around for a while), and its current popularity just... confounds me. Where were these people twenty years ago?

10 comments:

Ailee Through the Looking Glass said...

On #1: Pop culture references are fun to throw around, but it's disappointing (and frustrating) when no one else gets it. I just console myself by thinking that not everyone can be Jedi-wannabe Trekkies weaned on American sitcoms and cartoons.

On #3: Excessive bits of sugar are highly therapeutic. If there were no such thing as chocolate, suicide rates would be significantly higher, particularly among women.

On #5: That's not weird at all. That's just being courteous... and being wary of getting slapped with a sexual harassment suit. Or getting slapped, period. :)

Sean said...

Ailee: I'll admit that I don't expect most people to catch the pop-culture references that I use. I don't even try to cater to the Jedi-wannabe Trekkies and such; I just want to see if anyone's willing to embarrass themselves by their stark admittance. :)

It's really strange to see that chocolate helps keep the suicide rate down, though. But... shouldn't we assume that it's the consolation factor that does it, and not the chocolate itself?

And, well... despite the fact that looking into a woman's eyes might be more polite than weird, I still get told that I'm one of the few guys who doesn't look down anybody's shirts. :)

Anonymous said...

Although sometimes, it's also pretty creepy when a guy looks directly into your eyes (I mean, MY eyes, because I'm a girl, not YOUR eyes (though that might also be pretty creepy)). Okay, scratch that, let me start over:

Although, sometimes, it's also pretty creepy when someone looks directly into your eyes. Sure, it's not as harassing as looking at a woman's chest, but sometimes I feel as though a person doesn't trust me, when he/she is looking me straight in the eye, as if he/she is waiting for a sign that I'm lying or something. I tend to look elsewhere when people look me in the eyes.

And haha, it's kind of funny how you think it's strange that a lot of people like chocolates, and the people who like chocolate will think YOU'RE strange, for liking vegetables.

And, I like the pop culture references in your posts. They're fun to look for. I do hope you put more recognizable ones though, so I'd feel better about myself, thinking, "Hey! I know where that came from!"

And, I agree re the Sudoku thing. It's just like when the brick game got popular when I was in 3rd grade, and I kept thinking, "I've been playing this since I was in kindergarten! what's different with it now?"

And, isn't the meme supposed to be 7 things? Or maybe I've confused this one with a different meme.

Oh, well. Sorry for the long comment. :P

Sean said...

Ida: Er... it only specified six things when I received it. What's been really strange lately is that a couple of people have actually gotten in touch with me and proposed certain items that should have been on the list. :)

Anonymous said...

'Eh 'di sabihin mo sa kanila, "I can't mention anything that I've already mentioned to a lot of people somewhere." :P

Sean said...

Ida: Or maybe "I can't mention that! Some small, impressionable children might be reading this!" :)

DarkHalf said...

Not fair, Sean! These facts about you aren't weird at all. :) They just define the gentleman that you are!

Sean said...

Darkhalf: Yeah, but I've already given away every single fact about me that seemed really weird to people. And when everybody knows that I pose stuffed toys in embarrassing positions, do probability calculations for fun, and play around with my umbrella as though it were a deadly weapon... then, well, it ceases being weird and actually starts being a little normal. :)

Anonymous said...

Sean, do you still tuck in your shirt crispy and tight at waist length?
Sean, ever tried to talk without trying to sound formal? :D

Maybe... you just think you're weird? :3

Sean said...

G: Everybody's weird, in a way...