Are you really that weird ? What do you do?

[Rebecka]

So in recent weeks, burrowing  myself in all things bee keeping I've discovered that beekeepers are an interesting lot. My close friends and family were not the least bit surprised we are taking up bee keeping. However, people that don't know us so well seem to think we are an odd lot. This got me to thinking. I know my husband and I both do rather unconventional things. What do the rest of you do ?

To get it started, My husband and I both spin fire ( Poi ) , make mead ( not all that weird for this bunch) , my husband builds hydrogen conversions for vehicles and is working on one for our home and I spin my own yarn and sewing thread.

What about you? How weird are you ?

[iddee]

I'm not weird. Folks that don't catch and play with snakes are weird. Folks that don't do bee removals without a shirt on are weird. Folks that don't jump in the water and catch fish with their bare hands are weird.

But not me, I'm perfectly normal..........

[Bee Happy]

I'm really that weird.
  I meditate and believe in funny energies.
My pets think I'm normal, but they haven't been to school so their judgement may be off.

[annette]

I meditate, but I think I am perfectly normal

[reinbeau]

I know I'm considered odd, that's just fine with me.  I'm a nature girl, I love my garden, I'd rather be face first in the dirt than shopping or any other 'girly' things.  I camp, I love the paddling sports, but don't do either enough anymore.  We've got chickens, we've got bees, my friends have always thought I was nuts - my motto is '¿Why be normal¿"

[Geoff]

           I'm normal. Just another procrastinator who has discovered that a lot of things did not need doing anyway.

[JP]

I'm not weird, I'm eccentric! So they say, who is they anyway? Snake keeper, lizard keeper, turtle keeper, frog keeper, dog keeper, chicken keeper, pig keeper, fisherman, Bowfisherman, spearfisherman, hunter, bug catcher, beekeeper.

When something weird happens, I'm called. I get 911 dispatch calls for swarms of bees, I catch with my bare hands. I hear the snickers and the oohs and ahhs but hey, I'm just doing what comes normal.

What is normal anyway? 


...JP

[CVBees]

Yes my wifes whole family is a bunch of tree hugging hippies who think rocks heal, they are Reiki masters, I love being in my garden weeding and pruning my roses, this beekeeping thing has me spun up big time.  I am most unconventional.  Oh yeah and my best friend here in PA summon spirits into their bodies after imbibing purified alcoholic beverages.  Screw normal

[Michael Bush]

No one ever accused me of being normal...

[JP]

Yes my wifes whole family is a bunch of tree hugging hippies who think rocks heal, they are Reiki masters, I love being in my garden weeding and pruning my roses, this beekeeping thing has me spun up big time.  I am most unconventional.  Oh yeah and my best friend here in PA summon spirits into their bodies after imbibing purified alcoholic beverages.  Screw normal

What do they, throw rocks at each other?  Healing rocks of course! 


...JP

[Jerrymac]

I was going to say if someone is giving you problems.... rocks can fix that.

[G3farms]

I breed cattle, by artificial insemination, so its not unlikely to see me standing around with my arm up a cows butt 

now add to that playing with boxes of stinging bugs and liking it

But I am more normal that most of all of the city people that have moved into the subdivisions around me!!

G3

[Highlandsfreedom]

I have been called a granola eating tofu farting hippie before. Does that count?  We strive to live self sustainably in an urban environment.  I make beer kombucha honey mead our own food and clothes to an extent.  My family thinks we fell off the deep end but I really enjoy not having to live paycheck to paycheck.  Because of all the things we can do, use or barter.  We also follow the ayurvedic lifestyle, but that's normal in some parts of the world.  I think America has a VERY jaded view of normal.  We are urban homesteaders who homeschool our kids!!!!!

[johnnybigfish]

I compulsively pull weeds from around the bottoms of my trees.(thousands of trees, 4 acres)
I sleep with a Cpap machine.
I live with an atheist artist( my wife) and a Socialist atheist( my son)
I use a rasp to grind the fungus off of my left big toenail.
I color my mustache and beard.
I started using grecian formula for my hair( whats left of it!)
I throw fish heads over the fence down the road.
I contemplate what to do about 2012.
I run around in my underwear during the summer.
Hmmm...I bet yall all do this stuff too, huh?
 
your friend,
john

 

[Bee Happy]

who are you offering fish-heads to, and what's 'underwear'?

[bassman1977]

Hmmm...I dunno.  I have a lot of interests that I can actually participate in based off the amount of land I have and the area I live in.  I think that gives me a lot of opportunity that many don't have.  A lot of people in the city might think flying RC airplanes is a kiddie activity, bee keeping is for weirdos, etc.  I know a lot of people that I talk to at work and also family, think it's neat that I take care of bees and they always find my "lectures" interesting.

[lenape13]

I am perfectly normal, for a white guy adopted by indians, who follows the old ways and disdains most things in modern society, respects nature in all of its forms, and plays with boxes full of stinging insects!   

[JP]

Got a new African Bullfrog this evening, I think its a male this time! Wish me luck!

Is it weird for a grown man to get excited over purcahsing a new frog to add to his pet collection?

And BTW he eats mice!


...JP

[annette]

Got a new African Bullfrog this evening, I think its a male this time! Wish me luck!

Is it weird for a grown man to get excited over purcahsing a new frog to add to his pet collection?

And BTW he eats mice!


...JP

Who eats the mice???  The bullfrog or the grown man??

[JP]

Ha, ha Annette! 


...JP

[Rebecka]

How wonderful its been to find you are all a bunch of freaks, like us

[iddee]

Annette,  BOTH!!!

[JP]

Iddee, I ain't ever tried a mouse just yet, how about you? 

BTW, the new frog is blind in one eye, we calling him One Eye Willy. He has quite the voracious appetite. I fed him one of my Dubia roaches (another weird thing I keep) and he ate at least seven super worms in a row. He's gonna be a biggin'!


...JP

[Irwin]

Got a new African Bullfrog this evening, I think its a male this time! Wish me luck!

Is it weird for a grown man to get excited over purcahsing a new frog to add to his pet collection?

And BTW he eats mice!


...JP

What no pic's of the new frog what's up with that

[JP]

Got a new African Bullfrog this evening, I think its a male this time! Wish me luck!

Is it weird for a grown man to get excited over purcahsing a new frog to add to his pet collection?

And BTW he eats mice!


...JP

What no pic's of the new frog what's up with that

Irwin, you know they're comin', just didn't wanna bust this thread all up.


...JP

[iddee]

Frogs, yes. Mice, no.

So when is the frog leg supper scheduled?

[Irwin]

Frogs, yes. Mice, no.

So when is the frog leg supper scheduled?

About the same time he cooks up his lizard man what a feast

[bassman1977]

So when is the frog leg supper scheduled?

Now we're talkin...mmm...good eats.

[BeeHopper]

I'll have to ask around to see if I'm labeled " Weird " 

Passions:

Beekeeping
Firearms
Mountain Biking ( more or less just flatland trails now )

Former Passions:

Kayaking
Hiking/Backpacking
Photography
Gardening
Drinking and Chasing Skirts
Softball
Spelunking

I turned 50 not too long ago and suddenly my body can't take the abuse anymore. 

BH

[Bee Happy]

Hopper, I remember some "joke" thing about "when I die I dont want to be laid quietly to rest, I want to skid into the grave sideways with a bottle in one hand and a smoke in the other - screaming 'wooo-hooo! what a ride!'" I wouldn't say you're as worn out as maybe properly applied. I sure don't want to spend my last days wondering if I lived enough in the first place.

[BeeHopper]

Hopper, I remember some "joke" thing about "when I die I don't want to be laid quietly to rest, I want to skid into the grave sideways with a bottle in one hand and a smoke in the other - screaming 'wooo-hooo! what a ride!'" I wouldn't say you're as worn out as maybe properly applied. I sure don't want to spend my last days wondering if I lived enough in the first place.

I hear ya !  I still have a lot of Fire and Curiosity in me, when I am feeling less pain, I jump right into the ruff stuff for a day or two, but I know I will pay for it. Maybe it is high time to look into doing "Weird Stuff" for fun.
Hmmm, what can I do that most people think is "Weird" 

[bassman1977]

Hmmm, what can I do that most people think is "Weird"  huh

Walk around town talking to yourself and replying back?   

[iddee]

Driving around town with a lit smoker on the back of your truck.

[David LaFerney]

I know I'm considered odd, that's just fine with me.  I'm a nature girl, I love my garden, I'd rather be face first in the dirt than shopping or any other 'girly' things.  I camp, I love the paddling sports, but don't do either enough anymore.  We've got chickens, we've got bees, my friends have always thought I was nuts - my motto is '¿Why be normal¿"

You aren't odd.  Just not boringly average.

[David LaFerney]

I have been called a granola eating tofu farting hippie before. Does that count?  We strive to live self sustainably in an urban environment.  I make beer kombucha honey mead our own food and clothes to an extent.  My family thinks we fell off the deep end but I really enjoy not having to live paycheck to paycheck.  Because of all the things we can do, use or barter.  We also follow the ayurvedic lifestyle, but that's normal in some parts of the world.  I think America has a VERY jaded view of normal.  We are urban homesteaders who homeschool our kids!!!!!

That may not be normal, but it should be.

[BeeHopper]

Hmmm, what can I do that most people think is "Weird"  huh

Walk around town talking to yourself and replying back?  

I tried that, it makes people laugh  

Anyways, I used to support Merlin Tuttle and his Bat Conservation International Organization and had an interest in their World ( the Bats ) some of my friends thought that was weird. Bats are cool to watch at dusk and they are quite beneficial to us, unfortunately, they're taking a beating right now with the powdered nose syndrome or something like that.

[JP]

Frogs, yes. Mice, no.

So when is the frog leg supper scheduled?

Had to pay for the frog, and males are hard to come by. If you want to eat him, you must ante up some dough.

People always say, "You have a bee on your neck, your arm, your face!" So?


...JP

[joker1656]

Hunt and eat a growing variety of fungi.

Hunt and eat whatever plants I can find in the woods. 

Hunt and eat fuzzy, cute, and sometimes cuddly woodland creatures.

Have a daily job that makes juggling boxes and frames of thousands of stinging and potentially dangerous insects soothing and enjoyable....so I can eat their honey.

Prefer being/eating outdoors on any day over being inside any day. 

I like to eat, so how is that weird?

[Brian D. Bray]

Had to call the Vet over the other day for a still birth goat.

He looked at my racing pigeons, the bee hives in  the corner of the orchard, the 2m/70cm ham radiio in my pocket and the 38 pistol on my hip and stated that I had the wierdest collection of hobbies of anyone he's ever met.  Must mean he's not well traveled.  I open carry at home and only polite society would call it concealed at other times.  I believe in using my constitutional rights and in the state of Washington we have a constitutional right to open carry.  To hide it you need a CCP.

[mabuzzbee]

I believe I am very "normal" but I am glad that not everyone is, if they were the world would be a very boring place.

[luvin honey]

Hunt and eat a growing variety of fungi.

Hunt and eat whatever plants I can find in the woods. 

Hunt and eat fuzzy, cute, and sometimes cuddly woodland creatures.

Prefer being/eating outdoors on any day over being inside any day. 

I like to eat, so how is that weird?

Hah! You just described me to a "T."

I don't think I'm weird, but a lot of my husband's family does.  We grow, hunt, forage, barter for most of our food.

I think the coolest things on earth are found in nature. For example, hunting morels is seriously fun, and I would rather do that than "go out" any night of the week.

I weave baskets, make our own soap, lip balm, body balm, and use all liberally from all the trashing that my skin takes from being outside constantly, thrashing through blackberry thickets and getting bee stings

We raise our own chicken for eggs and meat, turkeys for eggs and meat; grow most of our own veggies and fruit, can/freeze/dry all of it, sell a lot at market.

Our car is 15+ years old and pretty sad looking, but I love that thing! Buy most of our things used and seriously detest shopping. Would MUCH rather spend $ on more vegetable seeds than clothing.

Plus, I think being a female beek is pretty uncommon, at least in my area, but it's awesome to see how many there are on this forum!

I don't think anyone sounds weird--just very, very interesting. "Normal" looks fairly boring to me.