# Do you have any habits so ingrained you've never talked about them with anyone? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 27, 2002, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-habits-so-ingrained-youve-never-talked-about-them-with-anyone/145186 "2002-12-27T17:16:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Creeperfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Creeperfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creeperfan)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2003, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-habits-so-ingrained-youve-never-talked-about-them-with-anyone/145186/221 "2003-08-17T07:31:28Z")
\>About the songs in my head…I can sort of twitch a weird muscle in my head to make a quiet, windy, rustling noise in my right ear only. I do this with the beat sometimes. What the fuck is this? I do it too, but it’s both ears. If you do it while watching television, the picture flips in and out. ---
**Author:** ![Creeperfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Creeperfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creeperfan)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2003, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-habits-so-ingrained-youve-never-talked-about-them-with-anyone/145186/222 "2003-08-17T07:31:38Z")
\>About the songs in my head…I can sort of twitch a weird muscle in my head to make a quiet, windy, rustling noise in my right ear only. I do this with the beat sometimes. What the fuck is this? I do it too, but it’s both ears. If you do it while watching television, the picture flips in and out. ---
**Author:** ![AmericanMaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@AmericanMaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmericanMaid)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-habits-so-ingrained-youve-never-talked-about-them-with-anyone/145186/223 "2003-08-17T14:53:52Z")
> [@](#): > > also, I have this weird calender thing in my head where I can “see” the days of the week. It’s like a block of space with 7 sections…can’t say or think of a day without “seeing” it in my head. **Malita** I do this too! What I see is basically a loop. The first curve in the loop is Monday. I also run my tongue along the back of my teeth. The frequency increases when I’m working out. When I read, I do not mentally sound out words. I basically see letters in patterns and groupings. When I read I know l-i-l-a-c is a flower. But I get really screwed with this reading habit when I have to discuss a book. Like I was talking about a Star Wars book and had no idea how to pronounce Noghri, ditto for Hermione. Also when I read something out loud, I usually have no idea what I just read. ---
**Author:** ![AndLuna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@AndLuna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndLuna)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-habits-so-ingrained-youve-never-talked-about-them-with-anyone/145186/224 "2003-08-17T16:24:10Z")
> [@](#): > > I have this weird calender thing in my head where I can “see” the days of the week. It’s like a block of space with 7 sections…can’t say or think of a day without “seeing” it in my head. I do a similar thing with the months of the year. I “see” them arranged in a circle, like a pie chart. December’s at the top, June is at the bottom. And… they run anticlockwise, so that March is on the left-hand side of the circle and September is on the right. Each month is a different colour, too. ---
**Author:** ![blue\_persuasion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@blue\_persuasion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_persuasion)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-habits-so-ingrained-youve-never-talked-about-them-with-anyone/145186/225 "2003-08-17T17:49:10Z")
I trace words that are eing spoken , or sung with my finger. Like I’ll be talking to someone and when they say a word that catches my attentiong I’ll form the word in the air with my finger. Or I will try to keep up in the spelling of the words in my head as the person is talking. hehe ---
**Author:** ![StanDup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@StanDup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StanDup)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2003, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-habits-so-ingrained-youve-never-talked-about-them-with-anyone/145186/226 "2003-08-17T19:46:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sock Munkey \* > \*\*Perhaps we could all submit sketches of or respective car runners to the site for doper art that Eutychus has. Or create a site devoted to the car runner. \*\* I’d do that, it sounds fun. ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-habits-so-ingrained-youve-never-talked-about-them-with-anyone/145186/227 "2003-08-18T10:40:42Z")
Just from page one: 1 - imaginary bouncing ball thing 2 - gnashing teeth (lightly and side to side) 3 - mouthing words i read/hear, or recently said ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-habits-so-ingrained-youve-never-talked-about-them-with-anyone/145186/228 "2003-08-18T10:50:16Z")
Dunno if this has been posted yet 'cause I’ve only just finished page 2… When I was younger my index finger would twirl around in cursive written words. The words would always come from stuff I heard/seen/said. My mom used to always tell me to stop it because it looked bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-habits-so-ingrained-youve-never-talked-about-them-with-anyone/145186/229 "2003-08-18T11:02:16Z")
I do think I had a mild OCD when I was younger. Here are two things I remember: If I were to tap the floor with my left foot, I’d have to do it with my right. Then I think, this time, the right foot should go first, then left foot. Then, I do right-left-left-right as the opposite of the last four taps. Then I do 8 taps opposite to the last set I just did. I just kept doing this until I got tired. Also, I had this calculator in my pencil case and sometimes in the same night, I’d get up 4 times just to check that I didn’t left it on. I always thought that when I put it back in its place I might’ve mistakenly bumped it and caused it to turn on. What’s weirder is that I was VERY aware that the calculator shuts off automatically after a few minutes of non-use. And I would also get up repeatedly to make sure certain light switches are off, the stove’s off, etc. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-habits-so-ingrained-youve-never-talked-about-them-with-anyone/145186/230 "2003-08-18T11:21:15Z")
OK, when I’m on a journey and I’m bored, I imagine a wire passing through the middle of my chest, that I’m sliding along. It isn’t painful. I too occasionally imagine a person running alongside the car. Also, when I was a kid, I was on a boating holiday, and I could make the noise of the boat’s engine turn into music. I could control it for the most part - like a jukebox - but sometimes it would be there independently. This is why I constantly listen to the radio or read when travelling. ---
**Author:** ![No1spoet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/77aa72/32.png) [@No1spoet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No1spoet)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-habits-so-ingrained-youve-never-talked-about-them-with-anyone/145186/231 "2008-07-23T18:32:32Z")
I’ve talked about this with a couple people before but I didnt realize it was so common. I also had car runners, they changed a lot though, they could be anything from a person to different animals. Sometimes I’d just imagine a ribbon flying alongside the car, wrapping itself around people and things as we went. I do the mini-wheat thing mentioned earlier. where the sugar side has to be facing up. Whenever I pour a bowl of ANY cereal, after the milk is poured I have to immerse every last bit in milk using my spoon - ive known others who do this too If its a bowl of Cherrios, I see shapes in the way the last few spoonfuls clump together. Then theres the daytime ‘daydreams’ although they weren’t really very pleasing things. A lot of times my mind would just make up random scenarios involving random people and i getting into fights or having some other kind of confrontation - even if there was no real animosity between us. also i couldnt stop the movie from playing until it was over, and sometimes it would just restart but play out a little differently & worse. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-habits-so-ingrained-youve-never-talked-about-them-with-anyone/145186/232 "2008-07-23T19:42:16Z")
I think it’s bad luck to check the “Last Posted Date” in a thread. Regards, Shodan 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-habits-so-ingrained-youve-never-talked-about-them-with-anyone/145186/233 "2008-07-23T20:22:14Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] I think it’s bad luck to check the “Last Posted Date” in a thread. Regards, Shodan 😉 [/QUOTE] Thiis is **No1spoet** ’s second resurrected thread. Just a note to you, it’s considered bad form to resurrect dead threads - anything over 3 months old, or so. The other zombie thread I’m aware of is [Here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=121711&page=1&pp=50) ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-habits-so-ingrained-youve-never-talked-about-them-with-anyone/145186/234 "2008-07-23T21:09:55Z")
[QUOTE=Belrix] Thiis is **No1spoet** ’s second resurrected thread. [/QUOTE] He’s up to at least 3, now… Joe ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-habits-so-ingrained-youve-never-talked-about-them-with-anyone/145186/235 "2008-07-23T21:11:34Z")
So he did a search on “strangest”. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-habits-so-ingrained-youve-never-talked-about-them-with-anyone/145186/236 "2008-07-23T21:21:39Z")
Zombie. Closed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-habits-so-ingrained-youve-never-talked-about-them-with-anyone/145186.md?page=11)