I'm weird.
Oh wait, you already knew that? Silly me, thinking this was some big revelation!
Well, in short, it's always been kind of obvious that I'm a little different. Recently, however, I've been spending some time thinking about how exactly I am a little different. I believe that it may boil down down to just one major point - I'm a die-hard intellectual.
Basically, I am book smart. I am very intelligent in a research paper kind of way. I learn new things quickly and can extend my knowledge easily. I tend to leap to an abstract level of thinking. Like that time I went for extra help in Calculus 1 in college.
Professor: And then the limit approaches infinity.
Me: I have a question.
Professor: Yes?
Me: Since a limit can approach positive or negative infinity, can there be different sizes of infinity?
Professor: Um... this is freshman Calc. Are you sure you're in the right section?
Of course, my booksmarts really do zilch for me in real life. What's the good of developing new theories of urbanization if you're too socially awkward to really express those theories? And reading about extrusion technologies in the production of snack foods unfortunately does not actually make dinner and put it on the table. In fact, having a bookish bent is usually much more of a pain than it should be. It makes it almost impossibly to experience anything for the experience itself without jumping immediately to thinking about the experience.
Everybody else: I just bought the newest Chobani - it's apricot and so good!!!
Me: Even with the new plant expansion into Idaho, I wonder if Chobani can really keep its market share in the next few years. When Pepsi branches out in dairy offerings, your brand might really be in trouble. Maybe they should sell out now?
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| Yep, this is Pepsi's collaborative yogurt brand. Trust me on this one. |
Needless to say, it's very hard for me to stop and smell the roses because I'm too busy measuring the rose stems For Science.
At any rate, I've been trying to do more Normal People Things as of late. Things like going to the pool and not analyzing the demographics of the pool's attendees. Things like watching a movie and ignoring historical anachronisms. You know, Normal People Things.
So last weekend, we decided to do a Normal People Thing. We decided to go to the beach - and enjoy it. We decided to go to Point Pleasant for the day.
The morning started out rocky enough. If I'm stressed about something, I tend to get upset easily, and I was stressed over going to the beach and forcing myself to do nothing all day. So I gave Dan an earful about sleeping in until 730 AM instead of 7 AM. What was he, the king or something? We had to beat crowds, seriously!
Then we realized we didn't have things like beach towels. So after we ate breakfast, we had to go on over to Target and get beach towels. By the time we left Bethlehem, it was already around 10 AM.
Traffic happened.
When all was said and done and the car was parked half a mile away from the actual boardwalk and I had finished changing into my swimsuit in the free public bathrooms (never again, if I can help it; I've learned my lesson well), we finally walked onto the beach about 2 PM. Yeah. So much for spending the day.
But once I actually got on the beach and down to the water, I actually forgot everything and... relaxed.
I spent the next two hours on the beach in utter bliss, collecting stones and shells, burying my legs in the sand, eating incredibly overpriced fish and chips, drinking incredibly overpriced lemonade, and watching this absolutely adorable Hispanic family with five kids who were hanging out to our right. It was beautiful, and nary a thought of the development of leisure culture in America passed through my mind for the entire afternoon.
I am rarely able to relax like that. My brain never stops moving from morning until night. I'm always thinking or figuring out something. Even when I "relax" at home, I'm usually playing Civilization... because it's a game that's fun but I still need to be thinking. (Watching TV, by comparison, can actually be very stressful for me because it's a much more passive way to relax.) Part of the reason for my hyperactive brain is the ADHD, I'm sure. The other part of the reason for my major brain waves is my difficulty not overanalyzing everything I see or experience. But relaxing... it was wonderful. Maybe all the normal people lying on their beach chairs listening to music and getting sunburned a few feet away from me had a point about the beach, after all.
Unfortunately for my relaxing revelation, however, Dan was not huge on the beach, because:
1. If you went with your high school band to Hawaii for a week when you were sixteen, all beaches kind of pale in comparison.
2. There might be trash on the beach.
3. There might be trash in the water.
4. Sand irritates eczema.
5. Point Pleasant seems to attract mostly families, not hot babes in bikinis.
So he mostly stayed on the blanket and read historical novels on the Nook.
But I had fun, at least. Dan says he'll be glad to take me back... when he works up the stamina. In his defense, he did drive both ways.
I took all the stones that I collected at the beach and put them into a cute little candle holder I had lying around. It's sitting on my desk right next to our wedding picture. A reminder of relaxation... right next to a reminder of stress! I kid, I kid.
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| It smells a little funny, too. Just like the guy in the wedding picture. |
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