We had a thread like this long ago on the BML that Saudade posted, and it was way fun, so I thought I'd revive the subject.
Do any of you guys have knacks? Are knacks real?
For instance, Grisha has the ability to summon people. It really works. I've seen it happen over and over that we will be talking and he'll mention someone and next thing you know they pop up on AIM. It's a very handy knack.
A guy I used to work with had the knack of always getting a great parking place at a restaurant. No matter how crowded it was, one just by the door would open up when he arrived. We laughed because it happened over and over again, after we first started noticing it.
Somebody on the old thread claimed she never ever got a fortune in her cookie at Chinese restaurants. Like even if they swapped at the last moment, the one she opened would be empty. <laughs>
What knacks do you people have? Are they hereditary or what? Are they lifelong things, or can they be acquired or lost?
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
I have the ability to force a lane or line to slow down. All I have to do is get in that lane or line.
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
Wow, Porter! That's a handy one to have! Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
I don't know if I'd call it a knack, but my husband has an extreme affinity with dogs. We have pictures of him as a kid laying in the middle of a pack of dogs he didn't know. Dogs, in general, aren't extremely difficult to get along with, but even guard dogs and stray dogs won't bark at him. There's a crazy dog named Bob nearby that barks at/attacks everyone, but when Jes went over there once, Bob just put his paws on Jesse and looked at him. It's kinda weird. The animals at the zoo always come up to him.
Posted by Pixie (Member # 4043) on :
The "stop washing the Ickymobile" thread reminded me that whenever one of my Aunts goes on vacation, there's a hurricane. Like this week LOL. I'm not sure if that's more of a knack or a curse, though.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
Got a knack for feeling what people feel and reading people if my own mind doesn't get in the way.
Posted by MaydayDesiax (Member # 5012) on :
I have a knack for finding people--my roommate and I call it "People Dowsing". I concentrate on what the person looks like, and I can feel my body being pulled into the direction they're in. I've done it ever since I was a child, which is why I've never worried when I get separated from my parents/group.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
That is the coolest thing ever.
Posted by Promethius (Member # 2468) on :
I dont know whether this is luck or a knack or what, but it seems that no matter how bad things seem they inevitably fall into place for me. For instance, when I was living in Europe last semester, I missed my train. Not so good right? But then the next train I got on I made friends with the couple sitting in my compartment. It turned out that they were transferring onto all the same trains I was transferring to, they told me to follow them and I didnt miss another train that trip. I emailed them a couple weeks later to say I would be going through their country. They picked me up at the station toured me around their whole country(Liechtenstein, its very small) and even made a traditional swiss dinner in their home. A missed train turned into a good story and a great friendship. This sort of thing always seems to happen to me.
Posted by NdRa (Member # 2295) on :
As weird as it sounds, I have a knack for making connections. This is going to sound like me bragging that I'm Ms. Popular, but crap, it's all I've got. In person, I have a very open and inviting personality. I also treat females and males the exact same way and I give off the vibe that I love people and I'm sincerely interested in them. Men get the impression I am in love with them, and chicks get the impression they have a new best friend. It's nice having so many people eager to hang out and being invited to a ton of parties and events in town, but there are two major downsides. Firstly, I am lazy and often hate doing stuff, so people's feelings get hurt when I become anti-social for a couple weeks. The second is that people often tend to become quite possesive and demand a ton of my attention. This has led to some nasty hate letters.
I feel it's a knack though, cause people are often pointing out to me this quality I seem to have. Really, I don't try to lead people on, or reel them in for a killing. I just am genuinely interested in people when I first meet them.
[ August 16, 2004, 12:49 AM: Message edited by: NdRa ]
Posted by Toretha (Member # 2233) on :
i have a knack for putting pieces of things together in different ways. crafts, words, whatever.
And my fathers family has a curse of always choosing the worst line. its quite impressive
Posted by fallow (Member # 6268) on :
I can bring friends together over decades of time.
fallow
Posted by Jaiden (Member # 2099) on :
Hope you read this AK, sorry bout that! I was disconnected because this network doesn't like me. Didn't mean to be rude...
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
I have a friend who says she's knacky, but I haven't had a chance to see it.
My mother can turn electronics on and off when she's mad or upset, and I know that there have been times, mostly when I'm upset, that streetlights turn off around me.
Posted by fallow (Member # 6268) on :
I can run 'round the corner for whatever purpose.
Posted by Speed 2: Cruise Control (Member # 6765) on :
My friend Sharona has a knack.
Posted by fallow (Member # 6268) on :
bev,
so much material. neh?
fallow
Posted by Lost Ashes (Member # 6745) on :
I have a knack for running into people from my hometown whenever I travel. It drives my wife crazy.
[ August 16, 2004, 08:25 AM: Message edited by: Lost Ashes ]
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
I have a knack for getting people to tell me personal, intimate things. And for knowing what to say to help them. I call it "being Persephone", because she was the maiden who fell into darkness and then became Queen of the Underworld. I had my Dark Maiden time as a girl, and now that I am a woman, I find myself helping others find their way through the Underworld.
I don't fear hearing people tell me of their problems, because I uncannily find myself saying exactly what they need to hear. Even if it makes them cry or get angry, they keep talking to me until they are ready to take some sort of positive action. (examples - breaking up with an abusive boyfriend, seeking help dealing with depression and poor body image after a long-ago rape, learning how to make a marriage better, finding a way through religious issues...)
It's a strange knack to have, but I am thankful for this gift. Also, feel free to contact me if you need to use it. I cannot promise miracles, but I can certainly offer a listening ear, unconditional love and care, and all the wisdom that comes from experience and inspiration.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
My wife might as well be named Cassandra. She's an incredible combination of brilliant and intuitive, and as a result can almost always see things coming. She always calls them correctly, but people never listen to her. As you can imagine, she finds this fairly frustrating.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
I am afraid that my son has a knack for controlling the weather.
We adopted him from Astrakhan Russia, which used to have a desert hot climate, but has had "several straight years of mild and cool weather."
While we were there the weather was perfect.
Since coming home with him, the weather has been great. The record Hail hit before we were back. The big wind storm came through only after he fell asleep.
He fell asleep, and slept through, the worst thunderstorm of the year.
St. Louis is famous for its swamp like August humidity and heat. We were hitting 90's to 100+ on a steady basis.
Then I told Sasha it was too hot for us to go outside and play.
Ever since we've experienced record low temps.
I've had to wear a jacket in August.
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
Dan, I think your son needs to come live in Phoenix. Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Like Promethius, I have a knack for always landing on my feet, no matter what. Then, one day, everything starts going wrong... Just ignore me and carry on...
Posted by romanylass (Member # 6306) on :
I can find anything, as long as it's not mine.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
I used to think I had a knack for finding metal objects. But I'm starting to lose faith in that one. Can't remember why, exactly. Maybe I need to boost my iron supplements.
I have a lot of queer dreams.
Posted by Danzig (Member # 4704) on :
I am very good at taking tests. Any type of test, be it essay, math, multiple choice, etc. I never get anxiety of any kind. Perhaps related to this, I usually know about how well I am going to do.
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
Jaiden, no problem, dear! I figured it was something like that!
[ August 16, 2004, 07:54 PM: Message edited by: ak ]
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
quote:I have a lot of queer dreams.
Isn't that less of a knack and more of a sexual orientation?
Posted by Jess N (Member # 6744) on :
I have a knack for sensing when I am about to meet old friends again after a long period of time. I usually start dreaming about them months in advance. If there is a span of a month or more between dreams, it will be a while before we meet. When the dreams begin to recurr or concurr (night after night), I know that I will be seeing them very soon.
My dreams never fail to be accurate. They don't tell me the circumstances, only that I will see the particular person or persons in the near future.
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Most wives can do that Noeman - we're just not used to them being right.
-Trevor
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
My daughter (Ivygirl) seems to have the knack that PSI says her husband has (above) although more-so with cats, but with all animals. They just gravitate to her no matter where we are, and when she volunteered for awhile with an animal shelter, the most-scared and untrusting animals would calm for her when they wouldn't for anyone else. Even when she was a toddler, she had this way with animals that I've never seen -- never afraid of them in the slightest.
Good thing she plans to be a vet.
Farmgirl
[ August 17, 2004, 11:14 AM: Message edited by: Farmgirl ]
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
It might be just that, Farmgirl. No fear.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
I can deal with spiders. I think a lot of knacks are things you don't know you have until you meet someone like my husband.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
I have a knack for losing things.
AJ
Posted by Anti-Christ (Member # 5714) on :
quote: Ooh my little pretty one, pretty one. When you gonna give me some time, Sharona? Ooh you make my motor run, my motor run. Gun it comin' off of the line Sharona Never gonna stop, give it up. Such a dirty mind. I always get it up for the touch of the younger kind. My my my i yi woo. M M M My Sharona...
Wait, that's The Knack... nevermind.
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
AJ! I also have that knack. I think I've finally figured it out. Since the mind is a quantum computing device, the presence of some minds in a particular vicinity can cause nearby objects spontaneously to tunnel in and out of their particular locations in the spacetime continuum. That's why I can search all over for my screwdriver, for instance, that I just had a second ago, and find it nowhere, then an hour later it's sitting again in plain view on the table where I already looked. It's got to be a quantum field effect of some sort.
My older sister has the opposite knack. When things are in a superposition of states, there/not there, she can cause the probability wave to collapse, producing the object. Like when she went off to college (the first time I was without her help in finding my stuff) I'd call her up in Chapel Hill and say "Laurie, where are my tennis shoes?" She'd say "in the downstairs bathroom, under the sink", and even though I just looked there and they weren't there, I'd go back down and look and there they were. It's obviously an offshoot of quantum electrodynamics that's not well understood at this time due to the complexity of the systems (tennis shoes contain so many particles) involved, and our complete lack of knowledge about the quantum nature of the brain/mind.
Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
I have a knack for running into people I know. I've pretty much always had it, at that. I was in kindergarten and flying to Florida with my family. We were delayed in Detroit for four hours (come to think of it, I've got a knack for being delayed on flights...) and I saw a kid from my class. I can't leave a building in Madison without seeing someone I know (I ran to the bookstore for work - literally a three-minute walk - and I saw two people I know). I see people overseas, I see people in different states, I see people when I take out the trash. I swear, I'm cursed.
At least I don't see dead people. Yet.
Posted by beverly (Member # 6246) on :
I come from a long line of women who can talk to animals. My great-grandmother who came over from Scotland loved animals far more than she loved people, and she had this "voice" she used with them. A voice that can hold animals entranced, trusting. It was amazing to behold.
She had only one daughter who had only one daughter (my mother) and this knack was passed on to each. Me and my sister don't particularly have it, though.
Porter and I have a knack for making it rain here in the middle of the desert in the thick of a 6 year drought. All we have to do is wash our car. Obviously, we don't wash our car very often.
Posted by Brinestone (Member # 5755) on :
I have left my purse in dozens of places, including gas stations, restaurants, taxi cabs, school classrooms, and bathrooms, and I have always gotten it back with everything in it.
Is that a knack?
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
either that, or a very bad habit, Brinestone.
FG
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
quote: I'd call her up in Chapel Hill and say "Laurie, where are my tennis shoes?" She'd say "in the downstairs bathroom, under the sink", and even though I just looked there and they weren't there, I'd go back down and look and there they were.
This happens with me and my husband all the time. It usually goes
"Wheres ____" "it's [preposition] _____" "I just looked... oh, thanks!"
Posted by Anthro (Member # 6087) on :
I have a knack for traveling--moving through crowdsm finding stuff in hotels, et cetera. When I go to conventions with groups, they rely on me.
Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
I haven't discovered my knack yet, but my dad has a pretty cool one. He always knows when the oven timer is about to go off. He'll put something in the oven and set the timer, then go off and do something else, like watch TV or use his flight simulator, or whatever. Then after a while, once he feels that enough time has passed that the food is probably about done, he'll get up and start walking toward the kitchen. And sure enough, the timer will beep as he's on the way in. He pays no attention to the clock, mind you. You might think he simply looks at what time it is when he puts the food in and glances at the clock periodically to see if the right amount of time has passed. But he doesn't look at the clock at all. He just knows.
Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
I don't know if this is a knack, but when i rent a movie, it's almost always played on TV while I'm watching it in my VCR or DVD player (unless it's a new release).
Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
I have a knack...or it could be a bad habit. I am able to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. oh and I am also able to get away with arguing with officers......and win.
Posted by MEC (Member # 2968) on :
I have a few different knacks:
1: I can manipulate chance at whatever game I am playing so that I have a huge disadvantage.
2: I have a knack for finding things.
3: Same as Danzig's, except the huge amount of anxiety I get when giving a talk/speach makes up for it.
4: Same as PSI's husband / Farmgirl's Daughter
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
My boss has finally discovered my knacks, and they're good ones for a scrivener to have....
1. I'm a walking dictionary. They haven't been able to stump me yet, and in fact I've called them on it when they try to spell a word for me thinking I won't know it. LOL
2. I seem to know my boss' clients better than him at times. Today was the second time in a month that I caught a potential problem before it became a real problem - this time because he didn't realize that a client had completely restated a trust before doing his most recent amendment. Seems that the restatement changes the naming conventions of future amendments, so now we get to redo the amendment before we send everything out. At least I found it BEFORE the client signed (or else he'd have to go back to the client with his tail between his legs for missing it).
Oh, and the boss was quite tickled when I told him what I use as my nickname here!
Goody (edited for hit send too soon)
[ August 26, 2004, 04:02 PM: Message edited by: Goody Scrivener ]
Posted by Tammy (Member # 4119) on :
<<<----- Jealous of Goody's knack!
Posted by Phanto (Member # 5897) on :
I have no knacks that I can think of, though I do have a lot of talents.
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
I seem to have a small knack for diagnosing car problems. I remember one time when a group of people I as with decided it would be fun to test me. Of all the (real life) scenarios they gave me, I only missed one (it was a problem with a diesel engine and I have no experience at all with diesels).
Posted by Altįriėl of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
I have a knack for learning languages. For instance, whenever I hear french being spoken, I understand what is being said. Same goes for portuguese and italian. Maybe its because they're latin languages, and I speak spanish, but the same thing happens with german its a germanic language... Maybe its because I actually enjoy learning languages that makes it so easy for me.
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
What a cool thread!
My family's knack is bringing weird weather. Both times we've been in Seattle, it was sunny and clear. All the locals in the restaurants and stuff were talking about how randomly weird the weather was. Same thing when my mom went to Arizona on Easter... it snowed. But usually, we bring rain
My biggest knack seems to be attracting kids like I was some giant kid-magnet or something O_O
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
In person, I have a very open and inviting personality. I also treat females and males the exact same way and I give off the vibe that I love people and I'm sincerely interested in them. Men get the impression I am in love with them, and chicks get the impression they have a new best friend. It's nice having so many people eager to hang out and being invited to a ton of parties and events in town, but there are two major downsides. Firstly, I am lazy and often hate doing stuff, so people's feelings get hurt when I become anti-social for a couple weeks. The second is that people often tend to become quite possesive and demand a ton of my attention. This has led to some nasty hate letters.![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)