I Am a Weirdo

And I say it with restrained pride. My friend Pearl likes to say, "Everyone is someone's weirdo." (If you click on her name, you can be instantly transported over to her hilarious weirdness post.) I may be a little weirder than most, though. 1. I unconsciously pick up into my own speech patterns the accents and verbal nuances of whomever I am talking with. Like conversational Silly Putty, I will lift your speech patterns and make them mine if we ever talk. And I don't even realize I'm doing it until it's too late. 2. In the locker room of my gym, I don't touch anything with my bare hands. Although it is a very clean, new locker room, I must use a paper towel to directly touch any handle or surface in there (or any locker room). 3. Bulls, large horses, and various wild animals don't bother me at all in close vicinity. However, should I spot a roach or mouse,  I will break any land speed record and leave my dignity in the dust. Just be sure to get out of my way. 4. I take my own pillow when we stay in hotels. I just can't sleep if I don't have it. 5. I like to leave little notes inside books in libraries and books stores for others to find. Just for the fun of it.

6. I talk with animals in what I imagine to be their language. That means I meow with cats, woof with dogs, moo with cattle, and whinny with horses. I even squeal with guinea pigs. And usually they talk back to me. 7. Even though I have read Where the Red Fern Grows with my students each year for 29 years and know it well enough to have large chunks of it memorized, I still cry at the end. 8. I like to dance, and much to the horror of my 16 year old daughter, if a good song comes on in the mall or grocery store, I will bust a move. 9. Even the thought of ingesting shrimp, coffee (which I've never tasted), or bananas absolutely makes my stomach turn. 10. I can and have spoken in front of a couple of thousand people without nervousness, but sometimes talking on the phone with someone I don't know makes me tremble. 'Fess up. What makes you a weirdo?