Pickels, Doddles, and Webkinz R awsum

[Pezzle]

People often consider me less intelligent than them simply becuase I wasn't always buried in a book as a kid. I often spent my time drawing, countless hours in fact. I was writing books (though the aim was more to llustrate..) at 3, though my spelling needed polishing, I was trying to convey stories, and convey stories I did. I still don't read all that often anymore, I just always feel so damn busy. I'm lucky to get through 80 pages a week =\, I usually get tired from reading quickly. I've been told, however, that this makes me weaker in my brain-mush than them, because their vocabulary is superior.

Not true, it's just while you may prefer WWII books and Shakespeare, I prefer to read about nuclear reactors and hacking... and M-Theory. I have a wide -technical- vocabulary.

Weird rant... I'm done with the rant.

[Rahmota]

I love reading too. I probably have about 5-6 hundred books in my own collection (not counting the wife's romance novels which are basically all the same story) ranging from the hard core science fiction of Heinlein, Asimov and Clarke to fantasy like LOTR, HP, Lovecraft, and all kinds of in between. My kids all have books of their own and my daughter is reading at a fifth grade level in 2nd grade! And my youngest is reading at a 3rd grade level in 1st grade. So books and the printed word are very valuable treasures aroud here.

As for the OP girls they will be balanced out in the long run by the kids who actually do read.

Knowledge is Power! Librarians hold the keys to knowledge. SO they are the true masters of the universe!

[GoldFinch]

:Teacher would call on one of my classmates to read, they'd start...droning on slowly in this incredible monotone. I'd tune it out and read ahead.

Then, when the teacher would call on me to read next, I'd...notice the teacher and everyone else staring strangely at me, and realize I'd gone too far ahead again!

I did this too! I would hate it when my other classmates read so slowly and dispassionately. They all sounded like robots and it made me angry. I was such a dorky kid.

[XCashier]

I would hate it when my other classmates read so slowly and dispassionately. They all sounded like robots and it made me angry. I was such a dorky kid.

Yeah, me too! And when I was the first one called to read, I used a theatrical flair and read aloud at the speed of normal speech, as if to say, "See, this is what reading a story should sound like!" Few others got it, though...

[GoldFinch]

Yeah, me too! And when I was the first one called to read, I used a theatrical flair and read aloud at the speed of normal speech, as if to say, "See, this is what reading a story should sound like!" Few others got it, though...

I did that too! Especially if it was English and we were reading a short story from the book. My classmates always looked at me as though I was some kind of psycho.

[karl hungus]

Does anyone else get the urge to slap people who say things like 'Reading iz dum!" or maybe hit them over the head with a nice thick book?

I'd rather write "Reading is good for you" on a baseball bat & hit them about the head with it. But that's just me.

[Sharsarannon]

Yeah, me too! And when I was the first one called to read, I used a theatrical flair and read aloud at the speed of normal speech, as if to say, "See, this is what reading a story should sound like!" Few others got it, though...

We read Pygmalion aloud, and each part was given to someone- I asked to be allowed to read Liza.
Now, for those of you who don't remember, Pygmalion is the play that became My Fair Lady, so her first line is " Naow look what yeh done, tyoo banches o' voilets trad in the mad!!" Performed with a heavy Cockney affectation.

So when I delivered the line the way it is intended to sound, in that dialect, there was dead silence and then a roar of appreciative laughter- they insisted I keep reading as Liza the rest of the book! (Karmic Payback for all those times I'd get called on to read Robbie Burns and get glared at for using the correct wording for that stuff, methinks)

[Jester]

Slightly back on topic, I have a lot of trouble intentionally misspelling words or mangling grammar.

Me too. Misspellings jump off the page at me. This drives some of my friends nuts....unless, of course, they need someone to proofread their stuff!

One thing which really annoys me is when I've got my nose deep into a book, and people are trying to talk to me... They can wait till I'm done with the book for the time being. I really dislike having my attention torn from a good, engrossing book.

I can't count the times I have been sitting down eating and reading after work, and one of my coworkers would come up to me and just start yabbering away. ONE guy there had me pegged though....if he was serving me, he would just bring me my food and refill my drink and leave me alone. He got it. The rest? Didn't.

The other day I was sitting at the bat at one of my jobs, before I had to work, eating my lunch and reading a book. Lady next to me reached over and physically picked up the front of the book to see what I was reading, then started asking me about it, then started commenting on what a good book it was, then just kept talking, and talking, and talking. I tried just reading and ignoring her, but once it became clear she was not letting me out of her clutches, I closed the book and put it away. Had I not been an employee of said establishment, I would not have been nearly as polite and patient with her.

The one that blows most people's mind is that I pitch right-handed, but bowl left-handed.

I am completely right-handed...except I shoot pool left-handed. And I CANNOT shoot pool right-handed. It's as unnatural for me as trying to write with my left hand. Very odd, and something that confuses many people, myself included.

[jb17kx]

I'm quite similar to some people here, but reversed

I'm very dominant lefty. Eating (I use a full service properly, but just a single peice of cutlery goes into the left), drinking, writing. Whatever it is, I favor the left for it.

However, there are a few things I do right-handed that confuse people who know me. I play cricket, softball, those sorts of sports, right-handed - both bowling/pitching and batting.

Strangley, I also prefer to use remote controls right-handed, unless they're bulky and/or well-featured - then I swap it over.

I suppose it's just one of those nuances that we all have.

[earl colby pottinger]

I'd rather write "Reading is good for you" on a baseball bat & hit them about the head with it. But that's just me.

My life REQUIRED me to do that when I was going to school. Because of my parents I ended up in a diffirent school every year. Every year the local bully saw a bookworm (ie easy target), every year I had to prove 'the pen was mightier that the sword', at-least it is if it is 'The Collected Works of Shakespeare', 'The Encyclopedia of Science and Technology' or 'The Year's Best SF' and if that did not work I use every part of my body to attack.

But interesting enough no-one tried to stop me from reading after the first week in school. That included the teachers. It was easier to leave me to read what I wanted in class than have me not only answer the question ask but also point mistakes in the teacher's part.

Note: most mistakes are really the teacher limiting what they teach as most students were not ready to try and understand the entire subject.

[siead_lietrathua]

...
I still want to know what a Webkinz is. =^_^=

eh, they are plushies you can pick up at a few stores, or buy online. they come with a passcode to the webkinz site, which is basically habbo hotel for stuffies. it's nice because you dont have to pay anything but your initial toy purchase for a year, when you have to pay to renew or buy another plush (not sure which)

and the plushies are uber-soft too.

[Sofar]

I am completely right-handed...except I shoot pool left-handed. And I CANNOT shoot pool right-handed. It's as unnatural for me as trying to write with my left hand. Very odd, and something that confuses many people, myself included.

I'm ambidextrous, though my writing looks a lot better if done with my right hand.

[Bloodsoul]

I've been told that I write left-handed with my right-hand (I think due to the odd way that I draw, or something).

Bah, wish I had time to read a nice book. Have a fair stack of novels and manga I haven't touched in months. Then again.. I could just go offline right now and read.

<.< >.>

[Brightglaive]

My parents started us out at 3-4 Years old with the King James edition of the Bible which we read as a family. By first grade I was reading fluidly (i.e smoothly not start-stop stutter). By second grade I would read ahead of the class until I had read the entire reading book, then I would grab another reading book from the classroom shelves. When the teacher would ask a question about any of the reading they were doing that day I could answer perfectly. When she asked about what she was currently teaching if I couldn't answer I was told to "put down the book". By the end of 6th grade I had read all of the fiction section and 97% of the non-fiction section of the school library. I was checking out 7+ books per day and was reading at a 12th-grade/entry college level.

I, too, was branded a geek. However I had a 6th grade teacher with great insight that suggested that I get into an advanced program that placed 7th and 8th graders into mainstream high school subjects and curricula called the Extended Learning Program (ELP).

I am right-handed but can write, shoot pool and swordfight ambidextrously. I skateboard goofy-foot (right foot forward) and my sword fighting stance is always with my right foot forward. The reason for this being is, if you are right-handed, your right brain has better spatial recognition and conceptualization than your left brain. (Left brain controls the right side of your body, right brain controls the left side of your body. exact opposite for lefties). By the way, all japanese swordmasters teach their students right-handed, even if they are left-handed. However I've found that Bo staff fighting or fighting left handed or with two-swords can give me a better advantage against my opponents if they are right handed.

ECP I wish I would have thought of that. Beating someone with a large book would have gone far to bolster my self-esteem in grade school.

To this day I still read to my children fluidly with the appropriate pauses, emphasis and character voices. My kids LOVE a good story from their Dad. The only downside is that if I use this in a speech or training I tend to lull people to sleep. Good for the kids' bedtime, bad for training/speeches.

I also pick out the problems on pages of text esp. when somebody uses a word that is absolutely wrong (e.g "your right" instead of "you're right" or "Don't loose your head" instead of "Don't lose your head") that type of thing really drives me NUTS I suppose this is also why I like to proofread my posts 4-5 times before posting to make sure I don't sound (herm....type) like an idiot.

[protege]

Bah, wish I had time to read a nice book. Have a fair stack of novels and manga I haven't touched in months. Then again.. I could just go offline right now and read.

<.< >.>

Right now, I have a huge stack of magazines in my office. Not *those* kinds of magazines, you pervs. Mostly model train and classic car magazines...roughly a pile 3 feet high, simply because I don't have as much time to read them. As if that wasn't enough, I have an entire bookcase filled with bindered copies of Model Railroader going back to the 1960s, and about 20 years of Classic & Sportscar. Also in the mix are just about every MG book I could find, along with most of my college textbooks, notes, and other research materials. Hobbyists tend to have lots of books and things for information.

My feeling is, that if someone's already run into the same problem, maybe I can learn from their mistakes...or possibly improve on their solution. Sure, the magazines may be old, but the ideas are still there.

I still read whatever I can get my hands on, even though there's not much time for that now. It wasn't much different in school, and yes, I did get picked on because of it. Early on, I ran into problems, mainly because the local elementary school sucked ass. It's not that I was stupid, far from it. I'd already taught myself to read. I was just bored with things.