Do you have any stupid special talents?

I can remember long number strings and regurgitate them in reverse order. IIRC, my best was over 70 digits.

I can whistle and hum at the same time.

Unless I’m whistling and humming the exact same tune, the humming is pretty tuneless, so its not that impressive. I used to know someone who could do the same thing, and he could sing in the round with himself.

I can read upside-down and mirror image.

I used to know someone in high school who could do that! We said he should go on David Letterman’s “Stupid Human Tricks.” Maybe we went to the same school…

I’m good at deciphering bad handwriting and also understanding people speaking heavily accented English. I spent much of The Two Towers “translating” for my husband.

I can also reach into a pile of quarters and almost always come up with exactly how much I need for the different sorts of washers at the laundromat.

I’ve memorized Pi out to 100 decimals. People have actually quizzed me on it to, then they always ask me, “Why?”

I can read backwards (mirror read) and also upside down. I can speed read at about 1200 words per minute (was “clocked” during a quicky speed reading course years ago). I can wiggle my eyebrows independently. I can make a water drip sound by tapping my cheek. I can belch at will. When in the mood, I can sometimes do a pretty good Slingblade and Agent Smith imitation. I’ve been working on the PeeWee Herman laugh, but it’s not “there” yet.

I can use a computer mouse or trackball equally well with either hand. My computer at work has a left-handed trackball, keeps people from using it. :slight_smile:

I am also astonishingly bad at picking sports winners, significantly worse than random chance. For example, at work we did a “pick the winner” type football pool, and I consistently got only 3 or 4 correct (out of 16 games) per week. I would have done much better just by flipping a coin. That doesn’t sound like much of a talent, but I think that should be considered just as amazing as someone who consistently got 12 or 13 correct.

I can blow a bubble in a bubble with one piece of Bubble Yum
I can whistle without moving my lips (drove teachers nuts)
I can catch a stack of 10 pennies off my right elbow with my right hand
I do a pretty good chicken impersonation and meow realistically enough to alarm the cat.

And I can say this very quickly, without inadvertantly cursing:

I am a mother pheasant plucker. I pluck mother pheasants. I am the most pleasant mother pheasant plucker ever to pluck a mother pheasant. :smiley:

I wish I could do that. I often want to switch, for the sake of comfort, but I’m too awkward with the left-hand mouse action. It’s pitiful, really.

I can rip through your average novel in 2-3 hours regardless of whether I’ve read it before or not. The first Lemony Snicket book took me about 15-20 minutes.

Uhm. Sleeping with my eyes half-open. I haven’t gone blind yet… :eek:

And I can sign almost equally well with either hand as the dominant one, but that’s my only ambidextrous trick – otherwise I’m about as lefthanded as they come.

I can do a pretty good imitation of the cartoony sounding “O-o-oh, o-o-oh” parts of the song “Video Killed the Radio Star.” Only remotely musical talent I have.

Me too (in fact, I’m doing it right now). Also, I can “roll” quarters in my hand, as you’ve seen Orson Welles and Val Kilmer do on TV. People think that makes me smart. Well, I am fairly smart, but not because I spent scores of hours developing some useless psychomotor skill.

Also, I can shoot pool equally well (or badly, as you like) with both hands. I can also shoot pistols and longarms with equal accuracy, either side (but not both at once). That might come in handy some day when I’m injured in a gunfight and have to switch hands. 'Course, in the unlikely event that happens, I’m probably uffed anyway, but just in case I’m ever stuck on the 30th floor of the Nakatomi Building…

:smiley:

Stranger