There is an amusing theory that all people have a super power of their very own. Many do not know what it is. For example, perhaps every time you drop a coin it comes up tails. Perhaps you can break up couples with mere words. Or can read children's minds. I read an amusing story last year about a guy who believed he could destroy coffee shops, because every time he worked at one, it either went out of business, or was bought out by a big corporation that came in and fired everyone.
I didn't think I had such a power, but recently I may have figured out what it is.
Last night, I was reading Bob Woodward's Bush At War. I'm about 2/3rds through. Currently, I'm also a few chapters into Stephen Schwartz' The Two Faces of Islam, and am about six chapters into J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I'm also reading a couple of magazines. I will probably finish all of these items from cover to cover--I usually do. This on top of whatever I do on the internet, and schoolwork.
The funny bit is that I read very slowly, more slowly than most people. Seriously. Some people laugh at how slow I read. On the other hand, I seem to have stronger retention than normal mortals. I don't have an eidetic memory (God I wish) but once something's in my brain it usually sticks for good.
But I have always read like this: 2, 3, 4, even five books at a time. I have no trouble moving between them and rarely lose my place. In fact, sometimes I have a hard time finishing one book if I haven't started another one first.
I suppose there may be a few other mortals gifted with such strange and extraordinary powers. If so, chime in, and you can be sidekicks in my new superhero squad.
I have always read about a half dozen books at a time. I have one I read during my commute (non-fiction), one in the bedroom (fiction), one in the bathroom (usually short fiction or non-fiction that can be read in short pieces), one in the basement when I am there sitting with my daughters while they play and one in the family room. I not sure it counts as a superpower though.
Well done -- I agree with this theory! My wife's "super power" is that of Identification -- show her a picture of a celebrity when he/she was a child or infant, and she's 100% accurate. Similarly, when tabloids or websites display "warped" pictures of celebrities with the caption "WHO IS THIS?", my wife's aim is deadly.
My talent: near-perfect knowledge of useless trivia.
SEE ALSO: "The Magic of Xanth" series by Piers Anthony, and sustitute "magic" for "super power."
Dude,
I thought I was already your sidekick.
(I have 6 books in progress right now.)
I always read in mass quantities. I usually have a fiction, a non-fiction and a children's book at hand, in addition to a million articles I should read.
I do have a superpower, also. If you go out to eat with me, you are guaranteed bad service. I have "treat this customer like crap" written all over me.
My superpower is the ability to vanish into a "fugue state" for hours or even days at a time.
When I'm working on a project, I sometimes become so focused on it, that I forget to eat or even sleep. In grad school, when I was researching and writing, I would sometimes go into a fugue state like this for four or five days straight, nonstop. Stopping to eat randomly on no known schedule, maybe once a day on average. Stopping to collapse into bed for two or three hours, every 20 or 30 or 36 hours, without reference to whether it was day or night. The rest of the time, totally zeroed in and focused on my work.
I remember sometimes coming out of a fugue state, having no idea what day of the week it was. Not being able to tell in hindsight whether I'd vanished down the rabbit hole starting Monday or Tuesday.
But I must be showing my age. Nowadays I go into a fugue state for no more than 10 or 12 hours at a time, on an occasional day off.
I can look at a blank piece of paper and see a picture.
Then all I have to do is "trace" the image and I get a picture that is usually suitable for framing.
Heh. Does that qualify?
Not exactly "Mystery Men" material, but there you go.
My superpower is the ability to make cash registers run out of paper tape just by getting in line.
My power it to annoy the crap of everyone in the vicinity. :)
If you think that's bad, you should hear my origin. Every superhero has to have an origin, right?
And, as Keenan Wayans said: "...Theme song: every good hero should have one!"
My superpower is to identify - with absolutely unerring accuracy - certifiably crazy women. If I'm attracted to them....
Dean,
I too read as many as five or six books at a time. I've done this for a long time. I was told by a teacher in school, if you are reading something you are not enjoying, put it down. Never force yourself to struggle through a book that you are reading for pleasure. Never feel as if you must finish a book you have started. This will keep you reading, and make you more intelligent. And reading will never become a chore you try to avoid.
Mind you, this didn't apply to books I had to read for class.
I remember my senior year in high school, I was reading Catch-22 while the rest of my English class was learning how to use the word processor. That was something I'd learned to do in sixth grade. One of the students, the salutatorian, in fact, called me out in front of the teacher. "Mr Teacher, why does Brian get to sit there reading why we have to do this?" Mr. Teacher looks at me inquiringly, "Brian?" I reply, "I'm reading this book, it's really interesting and thought-provoking and I want to see what happens next." The teacher looks at the student and said "There you go."
God, he was a great teacher.
how do i now if i got an azmaing power
hi im mat i think i have a power how do i know
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