# No matter how hard I try... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 24, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184 "2013-05-24T01:04:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184/41 "2013-05-28T23:43:25Z")
I’m sure confirmation bias is in play here, but it seemed like everyone I knew who picked up a guitar (or other musical instrument) was able to at least achieve some level of competence. meanwhile, the best I’ve ever been able to do is fumble through parts of a couple of relatively simple songs. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184/42 "2013-05-29T00:48:37Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Along with the enormous river that runs along side it - after which the apartment is named. Oo oo I know! I know! Pick me! ---
**Author:** ![Courk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@Courk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Courk)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184/43 "2013-05-29T00:49:22Z")
> [@Rollo\_Tomasi](#): > > I can’t snap my fingers, no matter what. I’ve even had people watch me try, and they can’t figure out why there’s no sound either. I can’t reliably snap my fingers. I probably have a less than 1% success rate. In fact, it’s only been within the last few years that I was able to snap my fingers for the first time (I surprised myself – I was snapping to emphasize a point, and actually stopped mid-thought because _I actually made a noise_). ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184/44 "2013-05-29T07:40:55Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > I can’t raise my left eyebrow. I can raise my right eyebrow but not my left. And I’ve been trying for years. All I’ve ever accomplished is a weird, kinda confused-looking, brow-furrowed squint. I can do winks with either eye, I can twitch my nose like Samantha in Bewitched, I can even lift my left eyebrow but not the right [nerve damage from whacking the side of my head falling out of a tree when I was really young] I can single hand cut a deck of cards right or left handed, I can simultaneously write my name backwards with my left hand and forewards with my right hand upside down or rightside up, or write normally right or lefthandedly. [I started out a lefty but the nuns screwed me up making me write righthanded.] I am a serious klutz, I can trip on a sunbeam on a perfectly flat floor. I have trouble catching a ball, I can not jump rope or skip. [I didn’t actually play with other kids much, I spent a lot of time sick or isolated because I was staying with my grandparents. If you don’t play those kids of games when really young, you don’t develop the skills.] ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184/45 "2013-05-29T07:47:49Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > I can’t whistle, but I can wiggle my ears. Yes, really - there are tiny muscles running from the rear of the mid-point of the ear and aft at an incline. I have no idea why these are voluntary in my case and not normal folk’s. I cannot operate them independently of each other. I can wiggle my ears too. But I can wiggle the left one independently of the right. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184/46 "2013-05-29T10:00:49Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > I can’t navigate to save my life. I’m not even sure how I survived the first 24 years of my life without a GPS. **And even with a GPS, I turn the wrong way all the time.** Now that my memory sucks, it’s even worse. It happens. [This guy](http://myupperwest.com/upper-west-side/uws-schmuck-of-the-week-the-guy-who-followed-his-gps-down-a-staircase-in-riverside-park/) got a lesson about what happens when you pay to much attention to your GPS. Or at least, this article seems to assume that’s what happened. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184/47 "2013-05-29T10:45:30Z")
I have great difficulty in languages, I can pick up bits and pieces but just can’t put them together. (this may well be a confidence and an immersion issue). Roller skating? I nearly kill myself. Snowboarding? utter crap. Things that came easy? Skiing was perfectly natural to me, never had a lesson but within an hour of strapping a pair on I was fairly confidently skiing in a fairly parallel fashion, no falling over. (not that I’m a “good” skier, just that the basics were natural). Also maneuvering a motor-boat, seems fairly intuitive to me. ---
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184/48 "2013-05-29T11:42:49Z")
I have a really hard time tying things. I cannot tie my shoes; I mean I can, but they will keep opening up and untying frequently because my obscure method of tying them is not very effective. Therefore, I always have to get my dad to tie them in a way so that I don’t actually ever have to tie them again. They stay tied. I can _barely_ tie my TaeKwonDo belt and this is after 9 months of training. In fact, for the first seven months, I would piss off my mom because I couldn’t tie my belt and she would always have to do it. Obviously, tying ties is out of the question for me. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184/49 "2013-05-29T11:52:43Z")
> [@Lanzy](#): > > Juggling, can’t do it, still trying after over a year. Keep trying- I was going to juggling clubs up to three times a week for two years before I actually finally learned to juggle (I do circus hula hoop, which is sort of under the general ‘juggling’ aegis, I wasn’t just going there and flailing for two years). I tried a lot over those two years, but it took a decision of ‘I will practice every day for 20 minutes, no excuses, and I will continue until I can do this’, and it finally clicked a few weeks later. Juggling 3 clubs took another three years, and I still haven’t _quite_ got it. I’m sooo close though… Mine’s hard to describe; I can do this weird thing with my tongue, I can sort of turn it on its side, so the tip’s vertical, but I can only turn it one way- if I try and do it the other direction, my brain tells me I have, but it’s lying, it’s always actually gone the same way. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184/50 "2013-05-29T11:55:24Z")
I am suddenly feeling much better about not being able to whistle! So thanks for that! Names also, I’m really not very good remembering names and dates. What year did this or that happen? Who cares? I can always look it up! Identifying dogs by breed seems like a magic trick to me, I never get it right! ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184/51 "2013-05-29T12:12:21Z")
I can’t whistle or roll my “r”'s, the later of which certainly causes problems when I speak Portuguese to the locals. One notable talent is that I possess is the ability to crack my knuckles - on both hands - by making a fist. As a child on the schoolyard, this gave me a certain amount of stature that was exceeded only by Joey Neagle, who could turn both eyelids up and make them stay put. ---
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184/52 "2013-05-29T12:19:10Z")
How _do_ you whistle? ---
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184/53 "2013-05-29T13:06:52Z")
> [@Indyellen](#): > > I can’t blow bubbles in bubble gum. Every time I try, I end up spitting the gum out. I’ve tried multiple methods, but nothing. I can’t blow bubbles in gum either. ---
**Author:** ![Grrlbrarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrlbrarian/32/4048_2.png) [@Grrlbrarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrlbrarian)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184/54 "2013-05-29T16:52:48Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > I can’t (couldn’t—can’t drive any more) drive a stick shift. My stepfather tried to teach me on the tractor. My mother tried to teach me on her Fiat. My current husband tried to teach me on his MG. It just didn’t compute. > > But I can do everything else. This. I cannot drive a stick shift. I have lost count of the people who have tried to teach me, and after a short session, I have yet to find someone who doesn’t pronounce me hopeless. I’m 41. However, I can pick up pronunciation in most languages in no time flat. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184/55 "2013-05-29T19:51:12Z")
I once spent the majority of a weekend trying to solve a rubik’s cube _with the instructions_ I couldn’t do it to save my life. This was especially embarassing because my Dad collected wooden and metal puzzles ([like these](http://www.creativecrafthouse.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=90)) and I was infamous for solving all of them in less than a minute. I can freely move all the muscles in my head on command. Scalp wiggle? You got it. Nose wiggle? Which direction? Both sides or just one? Ears? Up? Down? Front? Back? One or both? You get the idea. Except that I can\_not\_ raise my right eyebrow or wink properly. And the name thing. I’ve even momentarily forgotten my daughter’s name, _I named her_!! ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184/56 "2013-05-30T14:10:55Z")
If there is a word for the exact opposite of ambidextrous that’s me. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184/57 "2013-05-30T14:17:09Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I could never see those pictures that were supposed to appear if you stared at them for a few minutes. I still think they were an elaborate troll attempt. I love Magic Eye. I can look at one and make it 3D popped towards me or pushed inwards just by adjusting how I unfocus and focus my vision. Can anyone else do this? ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184/58 "2013-05-30T14:28:32Z")
> [@Anonymous User](#): > > How _do_ you whistle? You just put your lips together and blow \*extra points to anyone who knows what that is from ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184/59 "2013-05-30T17:48:07Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > If there is a word for the exact opposite of ambidextrous that’s me. There is: [Ambisinistrous](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ambisinistrous). ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184/60 "2013-05-30T20:42:40Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > I love Magic Eye. I can look at one and make it 3D popped towards me or pushed inwards just by adjusting how I unfocus and focus my vision. Can anyone else do this? If you focus in front of the picture, you’ll see it one way, and if your focus point is behind the picture, you’ll see it the other way. I can only see about 1/3 of them even one way, but I have fairly craptastic 3D vision anyhow. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-matter-how-hard-i-try/659184.md?page=4)