<p>Right-- we all have one. Some little thing that makes us different, quirky, unique. Not from a college admission perspective, but just from a general life perspective. Do you run marathons? Fly a plane? What?</p>
<p>Throughout the substantial time I’ve stayed home raising six kids, I have found that my interests and abilities have evolved somewhat. I have become a prolific contributor to the local editorial page to the point that I have, to quote from one of my favorite movies (The Big Chill), “a small, but deeply disturbed following” <em>lol</em>. I’m obviously just kidding about the deeply disturbed part, but I DO receive many kudos for my contributions, many of which tackle controversial local topics. So, I have decided that in my next life, I’d like to be a syndicated columnist!</p>
<p>I have a creative streak a mile wide, which has been somewhat stunted by my SAHM status, so I tend to go overboard on birthday presents and such, creating hand-painted, very personal gifts for my kids’ special friends. Just yesterday, my youngest went to a Build-A-Bear party, so I created a special t-shirt for the birthday girl’s bear which was personalized with her picture and “I love ___” on it. And I hand painted a little bear dresser (one of those drawer storage thingies) for the bear’s clothes.</p>
<p>But I think my major “hook”, as intangible as this may be, is my ability to relate to ALL kinds of people and to make them feel comfortable. I didn’t notice this for a long time, but people kept pointing out to me how I can basically make ANYONE feel at ease. I can go into a store and walk out with the cashier’s phone number because she found me “easy to talk to”. My kids often jokingly complain, “Mom, my friends like you better than they like me!!”, though they are secretly proud that their friends feel comfortable with me. I am equally at home conversing in a line at Wal-Mart as I am being involved in an intellectual discussion. This ability has served me well in my myriad roles over the past 18+ years. </p>
<p>~berurah</p>
<p>Quirky, moi? Not a chance. Just your basic every day common Joe. A plain vanilla cone at Baskin-Robbins. Well, maybe I’d stand out a little. I’m 6’3" and weigh 290 :eek: (of which about 230 is still in relatively close proximity to where it should be and once was. Picture an athlete gone to seed a long time back.). So size MIGHT be a small factor. </p>
<p>Other than that- your dime a dozen Top-Sider and jeans wearing unfashionably long haired liberal redneck rancher/lawyer/anti-social hermit from rural Texas sheep and goat country.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, and I can also ride a motorcycle at the speed of light. So, I’d say all in all -I’m probably indistinguishable from most of your neighbors on the cul de sac.</p>
<p>Smack in the middle of the cul-de-sac, appearance-wise, myself…</p>
<p>But lurking beneath this plain exterior:</p>
<ul>
<li>I can have a baby w/ no drugs</li>
<li>I can ski any mountain</li>
<li>I can speak french</li>
</ul>
<p>SBmom, we have so much in common!
-I have taken drugs without having a baby (much earlier foolish self)
-On my honeymoon I received the first refund in the history of the Red River Ski School
-I am barely understandable in English.</p>
<p>We could be twins.</p>
<p>P.S. I was told that during the “snowplow” beginner stopping technique lesson I was passing the racers on the downhill course.</p>
<p>I predict we are going to find a wonderful and varied set of people hanging out in the Parents Cafe. So far I’d love to know all of you (and will probably say that about everyone else who posts, too!) A few quirks about me:
[ul]
[<em>]I am a highly organized person (note: this does not imply highly neat, necessarily) and have an amazing ability to multi-task to get things done. I have more energy than anyone I know… except my younger son.
[</em>]I am a very good cook, and have an inate ability to plan as I go along so that every dish is ready at the same time.
[<em>]I am good at explaining things, using vocabulary appropriate to the people I’m helping, from child to brilliant scientist to aging WW II vet. (I think I should have been a teacher.)
[</em>]Just before I turned 50, I lost 30 pounds, went sky-diving, wrote the first of my three NaNoWriMo novels (“50,000 words in 30 days”: <a href=“http://www.nanowrimo.org%5B/url%5D”>http://www.nanowrimo.org</a>), finished a sprint-distance triathlon, and pierced my navel. I love long hair on anyone (including myself, my husband, and my two teenaged sons) and am enjoying watching mine turn silvery. I haven’t worn makeup (except in plays) and haven’t shaved any body hair since age 19.
[<em>]I am happiest when I am enabling others to enjoy life, and host very comfortable parties (TAKE NOTE, all of you who are applying to parties this summer… 
)
[</em>]I have absolutely no fear about speaking in public.[/ul]</p>
<p>Hard act to follow Mootmom…might have to hit the Bay Area this summer (though it sounds to me like you’d like Bali…) though I hear invites are tight. You are an inspiration to those of us nearing 50, I should say, but I might not jump…</p>
<p>For me:
- I have retained nearly encyclopedic knowledge of the Red Sox from 1965-1978; I have less encyclopedic (read random) knowledge of the Celtics, Bruins, Patsies during that time frame. I was embroiled in a dispute with my parents, I wanted to be the first woman sportscaster…the passion of the moment resulted in especially tight long term memory, I believe…
- I only have children with drugs (prescribed)
- I used to be a good cook and fair driver, now I heat and hope for the best(some skills are lost if not practiced)
- I often find myself in unusual situations where babies need to be delivered and people need to be resucitated and have done both on airplanes
- I also have absolutely no fear of speaking in public and do it very often
- I often laminate to control a need to optimize details…it helps, otherwise, I have no control issues…absolutely!</p>
<p>Okay sensing a theme here-- Diversity!!</p>
<p>Berurah, I have noticed your skill in post after post!!</p>
<p>Curmudgeon, having so much in common explains why we communicate so well. :)</p>
<p>Mootmom, I can cook well enough to bring a great dish to your party. </p>
<p>Robyrm, If per chance you are a neat freak, you are my husband’s definition of the ideal woman. ;)</p>
<p>(with a ‘thank you’ to Robyrm for that lead-in…)</p>
<ul>
<li><p>I’m an adequate mathematician/ good algorithm designer who loves to develop practical solution methods to real-life problems; hey, they pay me to do this.</p></li>
<li><p>Used to be a good competitive weightlifter/ field<em>events athlete all the way through high school & undergrad years, as an in</em>your_face response to people who thought that smart kids couldn’t do anything but study. (Yes, I know - not a terribly mature reason to get into athletics, but I was young back then.)</p></li>
<li><p>Very good cook (esp. Indian dishes) as long as I have a recipe book in front of me, lousy otherwise.</p></li>
<li><p>Addicted science fiction reader, and in<em>the</em>shower singer.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Hey Curmudgeon,</p>
<p>This is beginning to sound like a separated at birth kind of deal. You’ve got an inch on me but I have you by a few pounds. Ditto the long hair and jeans, but add a full beard. Picture Rubeus Hagrid’s younger brother. I’m also dangerous on skis, having damaged a tree that got in the way my only time out. </p>
<p>Besides that, I’m an electrical engineer from the wilds of suburban New Jersey who appears in 20 to 30 concerts per year ranging from operatic roles to a Celtic band by way of an early music ensemble. Oh, and we have a bunch of musical instruments scattered about the house, many played by various family members but some just hanging on the wall. We stopped counting at 150 but I don’t think we’re quite up to 200 yet (instruments that is, not family members.)</p>
<p>Well, my “hook” is that I know a lot about colleges. :)</p>
<p>But others:
I’m the founder and executive director of a world-wide non profit organization for people affected by paraneoplastic disorders, a rare cancer related neurological disease that my mother died from. I’ve worked with medical experts and scientists from around the world doing research on this disorder, and have had my name included as a contributor on two published medical journal articles.</p>
<p>I have a pot-belly pig and know how to give him medical injections and provide basic emergency vet care when necessary. Same with my daughter’s horse. You haven’t lived until you’ve taken the rectal temperature of an ornery pig on a rainy night. :)</p>
<p>I’ve ghostwritten 8 college level business textbooks, published nearly 1,000 magazine articles, and write poetry (have had a few poems published in small literary magazines).</p>
<p>I’m very good at and love internet research. Give me a topic and I can probably track down what you need to know as well as experts to interview for more information.</p>
<p>I’ve been a voracious reader since I was a child - read 6-8 magazines and 4-5 books in the average week. And then there’s the internet and college confidential…</p>
<p>Both my babies were delivered by C-section with lots and lots of drugs! They were both over 9 pounds at birth. My 14 year old son is now six foot four and still growing, while my daughter has topped out at 5 foot 3. They are both good kids. (This is probably my biggest accomplishment in life)</p>
<p>Sports? What are those?</p>
<p>Yep, BassDad, if there ever was a CC reunion and a group picture is taken my memory of physics suggests that we should be on opposite ends of the teeter-totter. </p>
<p>P.S. BTW BassDad, it has been warm and the whites have started running up the creeks a little this week. Get the BIG ice chest ready.</p>
<p>You want the plain styrofoam one, or the fancy one with the drain on one end?</p>
<ul>
<li>I often find myself in unusual situations where babies need to be delivered and people need to be resucitated and have done both on airplanes
>></li>
</ul>
<p>Robrym, my pig doctoring skills pale in comparison.</p>
<p>Well BassDad, I use an igloo brand “Cool Roller” model, the one with wheels and a handle. Like airplane luggage. I believe it is the 96 qt. version. I’ve got it sitting on top of the big-screen airing out. I’ll check…Yep. 96 quarts. Just twelve more payments to Rent-a-Center and that baby is mine.</p>
<p>I keep expecting to find out that curmudgeon actually lives on the Avenue C in New York and weighs 155lb and wears rimless spectacles.</p>
<p>I guess my hook would be that I am an ardent community volunteer. I help in my daughters school every week as a reading tutor and in the counseling office as well as last minute driver for field trips when needed. I also have been advocating for the needs of special education students in the district and at the state level even though my daughter is no longer in SPED. Parents whose children are in SPED are often too exhausted/overwhelmed to do anything but care for their children, and I feel like I am making a difference- even though I feel pretty outnumbered at board meetings.
I also have been an advocate for the district to pay more attention to thinking “outside of the box” they brag about schools with high test scores , but then you see that their poverty rate is 8% and they are being compared with schools where 60% are on free lunch.
Wow- I am about other stuff too- but right now mostly education, and probably will continue to be so even after my daughter graduates.</p>
<p>My little babies were born without medication! One took a long time to get here, the other, only about 45 minutes! (Also have a stepson, so I am a momofthree.)</p>
<p>My happiest times are leading a prayer group at my church involved in Centering Prayer, a practice that leads over time to the ancient practice of contemplation. I think the natural childbirth techniques have made Centering Prayer “easier” for me. Surely this practice has helped me stay calm and a bit detached from the anxiety that can accompany college admissions. And makes me a more joyful person! And helped bring me together with my much cherished husband, father of my stepson.</p>
<p>Sorry folks, but most of the things listed as “hooks” are merely hobbies or personality quirks, not true “hooks” as in, things that really set you apart from the crowd. Remember, merely playing the flute is not a hook. You have to be first chair in the national youth symphony! (Personally, I can make a baby without drugs! 
) You are mostly just BWROP (Bright, well rounded old people) and due to the strength of our applicant pool this year… well, you know the rest!! </p>
<p>My “hooks” would be… not my meager athletic accomplishments in HS, that would be ancient history… nor my marathon running 25 years ago - more ancient history, not overseas experience - almost ancient history. Current hooks would be that I work at night; people in town that don’t know my schedule think I am retired, and those that do know my schedule think I am crazy. Gives me time to volunteer at the local HS much to the chagrin of my kids (“Does you Dad work in the library?”) and the other hook is my old corvette that I work on and occasionally take to the dragstrip.</p>
<p>As far as I’m aware, I’m the only person I know is a member of both Science Fiction Writers of America (Active) and National Association of Realtors. To my surprise, I find that I’ve become something of a leadership person among volunteers in support of the arts, e.g., ballet and orchestra.</p>