Quirkyalone
Who are the quirkyalones? There are many definitions, but we’ll start with this one. Quirkyalones are romantics who resist the tyranny of coupledom. Whether by birth (womb quirkyalones) or through life experience (born-again quirkyalones), we are independent-thinking people who would prefer to be open to finding that magical click (and the myriad possibilities that life has to offer) rather than exist in a stifling or unsatisfying romantic relationship.
I remember reading about quirkyalones some time ago, and decided to visit the site tonight.The definition above is interesting to me, because I’ve always thought of myself as a hopeless romantic. I took the quiz to determine if I meet the qualifications of a quirkyalone. The results:
Your score was 121. Very quirkyalone: Relatives may give you quizzical looks, and so may friends, but you know in your heart of hearts that you are following your inner voice. Though you may not be romancing a single person, you are romancing the world. Celebrate your freedom on National Quirkyalone Day, February 14th!
I’m not sure that knowing I am romancing the world is much comfort.
There is also a glossary page:
Deeply single: A state of perceiving the benefits of aloneness and being single—of traveling, going out, going to movies alone.
Perkytogethers: Ahhh, the perkytogethers—the quirkyalone’s natural opposite. While there are many people whom quirkyalones can respectfully recognize as not sharing their worldview, perkytogethers impose coupledom on everyone. They are the tyranny of coupledom.
Pseudo-quirky: One who tries to cultivate an air of difference for a charm factor.
Quirky: Goofy, zany, offbeat; unintentionally different, without artifice; possessing the courage to be yourself whether it’s popular or not.
Quirkyslut:
One who maintains high standards for a romantic relationship, but becomes more flexible for the Saturday (or even Tuesday) night encounter.Quirkytogether: The state of being that results when a quirkyalone enters a long-term romantic relationship.
Q-A-dar: The uncanny ability to spot other quirkyalones in a crowd.
Spinster: A term which once described every unmarried woman, regardless of age, “spinster” gradually the label came to describe only ladies who never married (women who continued to spin). Those who would like to reclaim this term should buy them selves a really nice set of high-count sheets.
Too-quirky-for-their-own-good: People who feel that they are too distinctive to adopt a label.
Tyranny-of-coupledom: The prevailing brainwash that one should constantly be or aspire to be in a long-term relationship, that being single is always inferior to being in a relationship, and that romantic relationships provide the key to happiness
From the definitions, I would choose deeply single as an accurate description of my life at the moment (hell, since 1988, who the eff am I kidding?) But I’m not sure it’s because I chose that lifestyle. As for the QAs, I’m not sure what to make of this…”movement”, if that’s what it can be termed. Are quirkyalones losers, who are using this definition as a crutch to lean on because they can’t get a date? Or is it for real – people who like to be alone most of the time, and that’s just the way it is.
May 26th, 2004 at 10:00
Hmm. My score was 110, lower than yours, but I was still rated as “very quirkyalone.”
May 26th, 2004 at 10:31
hmmmmm from me too. I am a 96, apparently, but also “very quirkyalone.” Starting to wonder why they don’t show the whole rating scale yet?
Maybe you’re not quirky, but choosy instead. Selective about who you decide to invest your time with. Not a bad trait at all, really. Being more picky certainly would have saved me from a couple of relationships that were, in hindsight, a total waste of time.
May 26th, 2004 at 11:46
Those questions are too general to get a good handle on what you might be. I got an 81, which I take to mean that I probably need someone like me. I have to admit that I do like my single life style and might find it hard to change for someone. I certainly would not want to be in a relationship where I was the only one who had to change. Of course I am older now and more set in my ways. I also like a fair measure of fairness.
I was talking to my mom the other day and she was going on about some of the ladies that live in her serior building and her sister in Regina, all of whom sit at home and never go out. My mom goes out all the time when the weather is good, taking the bus all over Winnipeg. I was telling her I overheard some “gramma’s” at the Old Country Buffet (a chain buffet here in Minneapolis) who were talking about the same thing then one of the ladies switched over to talking about a gentleman at one of the places they lived at. She was interested in dating him and was trying to get one of the other ladies to hook her up. She said she sometimes feels like she’s 17 inside.
My mother said she didn’t want “to wash any more men’s gauche,” and that they “don’t aim very well in the bathrooom.”
I hadn’t heard anyone say the word gauche in years. Was it something others have heard. It was what we called underwear in the 60’s. I did hear Bruce McCulloch of the Kids in the Hall use it but he pronounced it gaunche. He’s probably not from the Winnipeg area.
May 27th, 2004 at 09:06
I got 92 on the first run, although I couldn’t visualize myself as a woman with a vibrator. How does a guy do that?
I fiddled the answers to see how the questions scored. The difference between somewhat quirkyalone and very quirkyalone seems to be under or over 85.
What’s the deal with this? It’s ok not to be in a relationship, even if I really long for true love, because I’m quirky? I guess it’s a cute self-empowerment idea. What’s wrong with saying that I’m alone because I have not made the choices necessary to get or stay in a relationship with a person I want to be with?
May 27th, 2004 at 15:48
Tony – don’t think of your self as a woman with a vibrator, think of yourself as a man with a porno mag and a fistful of empowerment.
Really this is someone who has too much alone time with a strong need for self justification for same.
Take question #2 – Has anyone ever called you quirky? What has that got to do with being alone. Most of the people I know are quirky and most of them are in relationships. Obviously too quirky and it’s harder to find someone who might be able to put up with it over the long haul.
And the movie question – how can you answer that – it’s too restricting…somedays I want an all out balls to the walls action flick and sometimes I want a romantic comedy. I guess I don’t much want a indie film about some family. What I would like to see are more romantic action comedys, more smooching and blowing things up. Kind of like True Lies. “It blowed up good. “Real good.” “And there was some smoochin.”
May 27th, 2004 at 21:17
My score was also 121 which is lower then I would have predicted.
May 29th, 2004 at 09:56
What’s wrong with seeing a movie alone? I go to see the movie, not to socialize….