What is the most surprising thing about me?

[Celebration]

I have to answer that question before I give a talk/demonstration. I want some input. One thing that is surprising about me is that my left hand is double jointed, sort of. I can easily touch my thumb to my forearm, I can bend my little finger over into my palm, and I can switch fingers together/apart really easily. I can also turn my left hand into a claw looking thing. No I don't have pictures.

Another thing surprising is that I can do mirror writing in script. Tell me to write anything, and I can do it. It will look correct only when you look at it in a mirror.

The third surprising thing about me is that I went to first grade in the back porch of someone's home after I refused to go to my regular first grade. The teacher forgot to teach us how to subract. It was a sort of home school before it became semi-acceptable. She also didn't believe in phonics.

The fourth surprising thing I do is successfully use a pendulum. My daughter and I figured out she was going to have a boy before the pregnancy tests could be accurate as to whether or not she was pregnant at all.

The fifth surprising thing about me is that I have been on DU a long time and one of my first posts in the Lounge is a poll in which I am revealing all my important secrets.

Thanks all, for voting. Whichever one wins, I will write more about if anyone would like.

[I Have A Dream]

1. The mirror-writing is fascinating!

:D

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My dear itsjustme!

Those are all fascinating, but I'd really like to hear more about the pendulum.

I miscarried my first pregnancy very early, around 9 weeks, and I always wondered what I would have had.

A friend tried many years later to do the pendulum thing over my hand, but she said it was inconclusive...

I did go on and have two healthy, beautiful daughters, but I've never stopped wondering if that miscarriage took the son I'd always wanted...

:hi:

[Celebration]

7. Okay, just as a general rule

It's like riding a bicycle. It may seem impossible when you first try it, like when you first got up on a two wheeler. Then it becomes second nature.

First you have to buy your own pendulum-- don't try to use someone else's pendulum. There are some that are really cheap on Ebay.

Practice using very specific yes/no questions--where you KNOW the answers. See which way the pendulum moves to your true or false statement. Keep practicing until you notice a consistent pattern to the way the pendulum moves with yes/no questions.

Then you may start using it to answer questions that your subconscious knows, but your conscious mind doesn't know. Don't expect 100% accuracy, particularly at first. As an example, once out of about 95 times that my daughter made me check the sex of her baby, it came back "girl."

The wiki how directions on learning how to use a pendulum are pretty good.

Some brief directions are at the bottom

http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Dowsing-or-Divining-Rods

I rest my elbow on an armed chair to do it.

To test what you expressed a desire in knowing, first get a yes to

1. I am balanced.

2. The best whole truth is my name is (actual name).

Get a no to

1. The best whole truth is my name si (quickly made up name).

Think about your pregnancy, and then get a yes to

1. I am testing myself at age______ in the month of _____ when I was pregnant.

Then get a yes and no to

1. I am pregnant with a boy

2. I am pregnant with a girl.

Good luck. Do remember that most miscarriages are for medical reasons.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

3. first grade on a back porch sounds lovely.

:thumbsup:

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[I Have A Dream]

10. She's not like that at all. This is just a fun poll.

You couldn't be more wrong about her.

[Why Syzygy]

11. MIrror mirror on the wall.

what you see is who you are.

[Ann Arbor Dem]

12. I can't wait to vote in *your* poll

:eyes:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

26. Hey, this is in the Lounge

where folks can talk about themselves and get feedback. I'm sure itsjustme realizes that the feedback is more a reflection of the poster than on itsjustme.

[SheilaT]

5. I voted for the first grade

without subtraction. Did you go on to second grade in a regular school? How far behind did not knowing subtraction put you in math? Did the regular school use phonics? Your home schooling teacher, alas, is not out of the mainstream in not believing in phonics. Also, how many others were in this class? How formal was it? To me, this is the personal story that is most interesting.

While mirror writing isn't very common, others have done it, and it puts you in the same league with Leonardo da Vinci, which is nice. There are others out there who do the pendulum thing. My younger son can touch his thumb to his forearm and it creeps me out, but again, others can do this. So while being home-schooled isn't very unusual on the surface, your particular story about it could be quite fascinating.

Thanks for posting your stuff.

[Celebration]

9. in second grade I had to catch up with everything

I was put into an exclusive private school in first grade at first, because I was a month or two too young to go into public school first grade. As it turned out, the private school was straight out of hell, at least for me. They forced me to eat really greasy crap food, and I threw up every day after lunch. Once when I did this my teacher had me locked into the "cloak" closet. But I did learn phonics until November, when I went to the back porch school.

At the back porch school, half the kids were in kindergarten and half in first grade. It was overcrowded and bedlam. I went happily to this school because it was not the first school. When I tried to sound out words the teacher very nicely corrected me before I had a chance to sound them out. That was frustrating for me because I knew I could read if she would just give me enough time. I think I frustrated her as well because I was the only student in there who had been exposed to phonics.

I think I barely passed the "entrance exam" into the public school second grade, which I had to take because I was a little too young. I had enough phonics in the very first school to catch up with that quickly. I was really relieved to get back to phonics. I was good in math naturally, so I somehow knew the concept of subtraction, but without knowing what a minus sign was about. So that turned out to be more of a technicality. I had not been taught the minus sign. As soon as I learned that the minus sign meant taking away, I got it. But I sure missed all those questions on the entrance exam.

[siligut]

8. I voted other

I want the world to be more like his. There are people like you all over. They don’t speak up because there is a huge pressure to make us all fall in line [MSM and other fuckers). Thanks. Keep it up.

[Celebration]

27. well, you are right, I am not an MSM fan

Not much of a mainstream anything fan. I do like American Idol. But at least I admit to it. Pressure doesn't bother me a whole lot.

[BlueIris]

13. First grade on porch.

That is awesome.

[I Have A Dream]

15. That does sound lovely!

:)

[Celebration]

20. well, it was hot in South Texas

And not all that many people had air conditioners back then. There were lots of noisy fans and noisy children on the porch. But, we each had our own gardens. Since I started late and didn't have a green thumb my garden only grew radishes. To this day I love radishes because of that. For Christmas the teacher gave the girls little dolls with clothes that she made by hand. Her husband would take us for walks sometimes and we were always on the lookout for dinosaur prints in the sidewalk. Believe it or not, one section of her yard was reserved for the boys only during recess. The other part of the yard anyone could play in. Naturally I complained all the time about this, but those complaints didn't get anywhere. This was back in the late 50s. I think I recall playing under her house most of the time during recess, because it was cool there. We all got to go home before lunch, which is the main reason I liked this school. The things I learned in first grade most kids learn in kindergarten now, I think.

The first school I tried was really awful. Fortunately my parents didn't force me to continue there.

[minnesota_liberal]

14. Go with the mirror writing

If that doesn't impress your audience, tell them you're indestructible - but expect that they'll ask for proof.

[Orrex]

16. Other. I have an enormous cock.

Oh! You mean the most amazing thing about you? Whoops--my mistake!

[I Have A Dream]

17. ...

:spank::spank::spank:

:P

[ChazII]

18. Mirror writing.

I do that in cursive as well. It is easy since I am a south paw. Want to really amaze people? Mirror write updside down. Not only is your writing going right to left, the letters are upside down as well. (It is amazing the things one can learn when teachers go on strike.)

[Celebration]

19. Haha re: the strike

I think I taught myself because I was bored in the classroom. I'm going on an airplane soon and I may take a pen and paper along and try to teach myself mirror writing upside down! One thing I don't think I can do is start at the end of a word and go forward. There is someone on YouTube that can do that. But--I don't think it is cursive. I say the alphabet backwards as well. I got bored with doing it the regular way.

[Orrex]

21. I'm particularly amazed by the pendulum

I mean, the chances of a correct boy/girl guess are pretty slim.

[Celebration]

24. LOL, well consciously she didn't even know she was pregnant

And she didn't believe the pendulum at first. So, she went to a party and drank some beer. Later when she could take a pregnancy test and it came back "yes", she started to panic because of the two beers she drank. I told her that she needs to trust the pendulum next time.

[davsand]

22. I am always most amazed at your essential kindness.

I know it wasn't an option on your poll, but you are one of the kindest people I know. Can I vote for THAT?


:hug:


Laura

[Celebration]

23. NO!!!!

Just kidding. That's sweet actually. Hi Laura.

:hug:

I just had to complete a personality survey where I had to judge myself on kindness- one being the lowest, and five being the highest. I gave myself a four and honestly I thought I was being overly generous with myself on that one. I am always amazed by the really, really kind people that I know. I know a few people who are actually defined by their kindness. My sister is one of them. Just being around her makes me feel unkind in comparison. As an example, she and her husband deliver Meals on Wheels one day every week.

I am just hoping that the kindest candidate wins this election.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

25. Double jointedness is fascinating to me

it sounds almost like a magic trick the way you describe it!

[Celebration]

29. really?

See, that is why I did this poll. I can't tell what is surprising to people. Really, I love the claw thing that I can do with my hand, because this skipped generations from my grandmother to me. And none of the other grandkids inherited this ability. I am sure there are plenty of other people around that can do this, but the percentage is most likely low. Part of it might be the fact that she demonstrated this a lot........... But still, I looked at a double jointed person on YouTube. I couldn't do anything that he did with his legs, like putting them behind his head. But I could do everything he could do with his hands, including folding my thumb back onto the back part of my hand, and keeping it there.

[LWolf]

28. Mirror writing.

As someone who is seriously NOT spatial, someone who can't remember which is her right or left hand without freezing and looking for a few seconds, someone who can't tell by looking whether something is straight or crooked, can't visualize how the furniture will fit in the space in a room,

mirror writing is amazing.

[Celebration]

30. oh, thanks

And thanks for voting. I am pretty spatial when it is two dimensions. I love maps, for instance. When I go on vacation I love getting my bearings and figuring out where things are spatially. A lot of this might have to do with how I was raised- my parents rarely read to me. However, it was important to them that I learned eye hand coordination. I'm not all that great at decorating, though.

[FirstLight]

31. Pendulum for pregnancies for myself and friends...for sure

also for big life changes, quiting jobs, etc...and all was right on.

I should have used that on my exhusbands! :rofl:

[Celebration]

32. Yup, for sure

Use the pendulum on stuff like that. It's the bees' knees!!!!!!!!!!

[Flying Dream Blues]

33. I also voted for first grade on the porch...what a healing experience after

the "mean school", even if you did miss a little subtraction. Mostly, I like your poll for being refreshing and authentic. As James Lipton would say, "itsjustme, you're a treasure (treszzzzuh)!"
:hi: :)

[mother earth]

34. Hi, Itsjustme, you are the only person I know who can do

mirror writing. How you learned you could do this must be a whole other story.:hi: Though that pendulum thing is pretty neat too. I could definitely think of an answer we all want.