ANNA GOOLER
Gargoyle staff reporter
Posted Friday, Dec. 7, 2007

I HAVE ALWAYS prided myself on being weird. In middle school, many people would comment, “You’re so strange!”

“Weird,” I would reply. “Call me weird, not strange.”

Of course, this only made me seem weirder. I just like the word “weird.” It’s a weird word. It doesn’t follow the usual chanted rule: “I” before “E” except after “C,” or when sounding like “A” as in “neighbor” or “weigh."

But, why do I like being considered weird? I think it’s related to society’s emphasis on being an individual yet fitting into a community.

In elementary school, I wanted to fit in and be popular. But the group of popular girls didn’t accept me. I kept trying, but finally I decided I would strive for the complete opposite.

In seventh grade, the complete opposite of popular meant goth, so I saved up my money for dark clothes from Hot Topic. I applied globs of black polish on my fingernails. And, of course, as a true verification of my gothic nature, an affirmative answer never followed the question, “Are you goth?!?”

The point of altering my style of clothing was to stand out, but it really just made me seem like another “wannabe."

After I realized that my attempt to be nonconformist just made me more of a follower, I decided to simply wear whatever I like. No more dying my hair blue or decorating everything with skulls. It didn't reinforce the idea that I was weird.

However, there are a few things I still do that can be considered weird:

1) I have always loved collecting things I find interesting. I love particularly shiny rocks, or rocks of an interesting shape or color. I also like sticks. If there is a stick that is really smooth, or that has a cool knot, I'll take it home and keep it in a drawer.

In third grade, there was one particular stick in a flower box that I played with during recess for a week. I thought it looked like a vacuum cleaner, and I would push it around in the dirt. I couldn't bring it inside, but somehow, it was always where I left it.

2) I love anything with rainbow colors. If I see a colorful shirt, I'll mentally check: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. If the colors fit the correct order, I will probably be buying that item. (Yes, I know I left out indigo, but as a wise friend once commented about rainbows, "Nobody cares about indigo.")

I don't know exactly what has drawn me to rainbows, but I think it may have something to do with wearing all black for a year.

3) Finally, my favorite weird aspect is my plethora of interesting nosies. My signature "bip" was displayed in Big Show 2007, and I often make a noise during Japanese class that may be compared to the character Harold from "The Red Green Show." This one is more of a "haw." Perhaps I will make a career out of it.

Of course, these examples are all relative. Anyone who takes great enjoyment in running more than 100 meters at once seems pretty weird to me. And maybe I'm not as weird as I think, but it's fun to be different.

So, what kind of weird quirks are you hiding?