Day 19: It took the whole blog to figure this out

Day 19: A Talent/Hobby of Mine

Oh, does that mean I have to say I'm good at something?

OK, well, that settles it, I'm out for day 19. Unfortunately, I don't think some of my peeps or tweeps will let me do that. I'll have to come up with something. Talent. Hobby.

Well, I like artsy stuff, but I get bored of it easily, and have to come back to it repeatedly...it's not something I can do for long periods of time to keep myself entertained. As for books, I love books, and I can read for hours at a time, but again, I often switch between books, and I'll be reading 2-3 books at least at a time. Right now I'm in 2, one very boring (it's about job-hunting and resumes and whatnot) and one entertaining (Her Fearful Symmetry, Audrey Niffenegger, who also wrote The Time Traveler's Wife). I like television, but not enough to watch a whole lot of it in my room (my sister thought I had never turned my TV on- I have, I just don't watch it a lot). TV really isn't a talent or a hobby anyway. I like sleeping...is that really a talent or hobby? Besides, when I'm stressed or busy, sleep is not exactly easy...I'll sleep at strange times, and not times that I want/need to. I like writing, but I don't find that I'm really talented at it, and I find that over time, my creativity has lessened to the point that I need a little boost to find something to write about. I was interested in school, but now that I've graduated, I can't really say that school is a hobby anymore. I can't really say I was talented at it- I never made any honors once I graduated high school, no deans' lists, nothing. In fact, I got kicked out of the Honors College and lost a scholarship. Hm.

I guess what I am talented at is really putting myself up for a beating, and finding things that I'm not really talented at. I'm good at putting myself down, and finding things that are wrong with me. I really need to work on that. I'm good and finding things I need to work on, and then lamenting myself for not working on them.

Oh, and a hobby of mine I just remembered. Learning long words. I love long words.

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia- the fear of long words

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis- a disease of the lungs caused by breathing in the microscopic silica particles contained in the ashes of a recently erupted volcano

Antidisestablishmentarianism- everyone's favorite- against the separation of church and state (I think)

I've always been a word lover. Now that I think about it, that is sort of a hobby. When I was in high school, I nearly made it to state UIL competition- rendezvous being one of the words that held me back. I will never forget how to spell rendezvous for as long as I live. I don't remember how I misspelled it, but I will remember how to properly spell it!

I can remember when I was in elementary school being the only one to ace some of the practice spelling tests, which got me a free ride out of the Friday spelling tests at school. One that stands out to me was when I got the bonus word, chlorophyll, in the 4th grade. Another is when I got the bonus word acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin), but I don't remember what grade I was in for that one.

Of course, I don't have the challenge that comes with learning those new words now, but occasionally I'll come across a new word that interests me, and I'll learn it simply because I like it. Unless I really have a motivation, though, I really don't learn as many new words as I did in the past. Typically, it's words that really interest me or have some sort of meaning to me, or words that I find have some sort of use. Sometimes, it'll happen to be a word that I come across more than a few times and I'll just recognize it over time.

And it takes me a whole blog of thinking and challenging myself to find out that indeed, I do have a hobby, and that hobby is learning new words, although I'm not quite as talented at it as I used to be, and the lack of challenge to learn new words has led to a slower acquisition of new words. Awkward...

Huzzah!