Whenever I run in PE around the track, I always hum the Blackadder theme.
Doo doo dooo do do dooo do do do do-do-doooo…
I pick up all money that I find, even pennies, in the fear that if I don’t, the universe will think I have wealthy enough and stop send me some.
I have that same pacing thing with mobile phones, the longer I have to talk, the faster I pace. When I am at home, I sometimes end up outside, because there is not enough room in the house.
Obsidian Flutterby said something about having to read books in order…
Exact opposite- I can’t read books in a series in order. Plain and simple. I fail. Lord of the Rings? I tried, really I did. I just couldnt read Fellowship. Until I read Two Towers. And then it was so much more exciting. And then Return of was last, you see.
but about those MandMs…I start by sorting them by color, and then I eat parts of the bigger groups to make all the colors have the same number. And heres where it gets fun…I put them into groups of either four or three, depends on what I feel like, with 2 of one color and 1(or two) of another. I set them into small lines, alternating their colors.Then I put the lines in some artistic design. And then I eat one from each group, and then sort all the colors out again. But you see, the colors arent equal. so I make them equal. and then they go into lines of three or four, with two colors in each line, and then the lines are arranged artisticly…
until theyre all gone. I rarely have MnMs, mainly for the time issue. I just cant eat mnms when I dont do this…I feel guilty, as if the poor little candies wont have served their true artistic capabilities if i didnt. Skittles, on the other hand, I can just empty the bag into my mouth…whatever. insanity is good.
Any paperclips in my vicinity must be hooked together into a long chain. No sidebranchings!
And I am another one who has to read books in the proper order. Occasionally I’ll skip one if I know that it’s the only one missing from the library or something, but that’s about it. And I’d rather not do that much.
You all need to buy a Butter Bell. It’s sold by Sur La Table, www.surlatable.com, and it’s a two part china contraption. You must soften a stick of butter and pack it into the cup portion of the bell. You fill the bottom part with cool water up about 1/3 of its height and then you stick the bell into the cup part. The cool water keeps the butter fresh, air tight, and spreadable for several days. Just remember to change the water about every three days. This works for cream cheese as well.
Argh… I must confess my deep, dark secret, in hopes of discovering that I Am Not Alone.
When eating a sandwich, I must eat off all the crust before I can eat the center. Patiently I chomp my way around the circumference. When, and only when, all the crust is gone can I eat the uncrusty part. I will stop to examine the sandwich after every few bites to see where the thickest layer of filling is, rotate it to find the best approach spot, and nip off thinner areas first.
I’m quite sure I’m not the only person who carefully breaks a cupcake in two horizontally, detaching the wide top from the narrower bottom. Then the bottom gets eaten before the top. I do this with muffins, too. The muffin top has to be turned upside-down so as not to lose any crumbs from the sheared-off side.
Have you noticed how many of us have food fetishes?
what? reading books in order is considered insane now?!
i tend to smell my food too, taking in the aroma is part of the fun when eating. this is also the reason why i don’t really like food that tastes good but smells bad.
I separate smarties (American candy) and Sweet tarts by color. I eat the white ones (or cherry sweet tarts) first, then the lemon plus the lime ones together, then the orange ones. The grape ones are last, so that can enter gustatory nirvana.
When I finish showering and before I step out of the shower, I will run my hands over my arms, torso and legs to “squeegee” the water off. Then I towel dry.
It is truly comforting to know that I am not nearly as weird as I or my wife thinks I am.
Vlad/Igor
I read this in the computer room at home, which is also the room that houses my 50+ rats and mice (with a couple of gerbils and a guinea pig thrown in for good measure.)
They seem strangely agitated.
I’ve noticed them stiffing at their doors and chewing on the corners of their cages.
I think they might be planning to escape.
It’s probably a good thing we don’t have our locations poated anymore.
And now we return to the OP…
I have to sort my Smarties too and cookies MUST be eaten in two’s or fours!
If I’m out walking with someone, we can’t walk on opposite sides of a telephone pole or we’ll have a fight before the day is over. If I turn away from the sink or worktable, I have to turn back in the same direction, not in a full circle.
Other than that, I’m mostly all right! 
I can’t mix foods when I eat. If they touch, that’s okay, but I have to finish what I’m working on before I can proceed to the next food, and I always finish with the food that will leave the best lingering flavor. (For my purposes, stew would count as one food, but I can’t eat my bread until last - even though the flavor isn’t as good - because I like to sop up the juice)
I have met a couple of other people who do the same thing, but most of my friends think I’m nuts for this habit. It’s totally subconscious on my part, but I’ve done it my whole life, and the meals I’ve tried to eat any other way are never as satisfying.
Ok, you are sooo not alone on this one. I am sitting here laughing hysterically while reading this because I honestly thought I was the only person crazy enough to do this.
I am also obsessive-compulsive about things being symmetrical - if I have one candle, I have to put a pair of candles (either taller or shorter) on either side of it - usually in a different color than the middle one. Same with picture frames, food, candy, etc. I’m crazy 
What’s so weird about that? I do it too.
Oh. :o
Lessee, I can claim a lot of these “quirks” as mine also:
Book series - I must start at the first book and then read ALL of the series, no matter how bad they may be. The “Wheel of Time” series finally broke me though.
M&Ms - I grab exactly 5 at a time, then eat two, then two more, then the last one. Color is irrelevant. Repeat until the bag is empty.
Counting - I count all the time. Usually while waiting for something to happen. I can tell you exactly the length of 60 seconds after you say “go” without counting in my head I’ve done this so much. I count almost all of my walking and running steps in my head, from the car to the grocery store, my office to the bathroom, up and down stairs, computer room to bedroom, ad nauseum. When walking a long distance I’ll spy a landmark many feet away and take a guess how many steps it will take. I have a margin of error of about 1 step. It takes between 370 - 390 steps for me to mow my lawn. I don’t count physical things though, like Rainman.
Food - Portions can’t touch each other. Eat one food, then start on the next. No mixing a spoonful of peas after a bite of mashed potatoes. My stomach might get confused.
New one: “Poking myself” - Sometimes during the day I get the urge to press something kinda sharp to a point on my skin. Not to break the skin, but just to get the sensation. Usually it’s the middle of my palms but sometimes my elbows or lower arms or knees. I don’t use anything that will draw blood or is as sharp as a needle. Just a pencil or paperclip end. I don’t press down real hard either, just enough to get a little bit of pain from it. I think this is my strangest quirk.
Count me in as a no-food-touching obsessive here. I won’t even put gravies or sauces on my plate for fear of sauce-runnage, they have to be in a little ramekin or bowl on the side and the food gets dipped.
I won’t eat anything that ketchup has tainted or even looked at crosswise, with the exception of a hamburger, and only then when it also has mustard. I don’t even like touching ketchup, if I get any on my hands when making dinner for my fiance and his kids, I have to wash it off immediately or I get all oogy-feeling about it. (Ironically, I love tomato juice, but it has to be ice cold)
I cut the crusts off my sandwiches to this day.
M&M’s are always sorted by color (I’m pretty sure that’s got to be a federal law regarding M&M consumption), and eaten from the most numerous color first working my way to the least…oh, except green, green is ALWAYS the last color eaten.
What?? Don’t tell me you neglect to say “Bread-n-Butter” whenever this happens. That prevents pole-split-induced fighting, you know. Umm… or maybe that’s just my strange quirk. Oh and I got that post-shower personal squeegee thing going on, too. Yippee!
I have to practically break my doorknob to make sure it is locked. First I use my left hand to turn the knob both directions and push on the door with my right. If I am not holding anything I will sometimes switch hands. I will do this up to four or five times, then pat my front pockets to make sure I have my keys and wallet, then try the doorknob once more as described above.
Then I will leave (about 5 steps) look back at the door and picture in my mind that I actually did lock the lock it. Sometimes I go back and turn and push one more time, sometimes I just leave. Very rarely I will make it to my car and suddenly run back to the door to check again. I hate it when I am leaving my place with someone and can only turn the knob both ways twice. I feel off balance for hours.
If I touch money, I immediately have to wash my hands or use sanitizer because I can feel my hands corroding over. Also I cannot touch public restroom doors. If I touch one entering I immediately wash my hands, then do my “business” and wash after.
Exiting the restroom I will use paper towels, my sleeve, shirt or wait for someone else to open the door. If I accidently touch the door handel I have to wash my hands again.
Other that, we’re perfectly sane we are.
I cannot have my alarm set for anything ending with a 0 or a 5. Also, I have have to check it about 5,000 times before I fall asleep. I have tried to stop but I cannot. Then when it wakes me up in the morning I turn it. Lay back down and count to 200, then I get up. Haha… I win the craziness prize.
Okay I will. Here’s a trick I discovered when I was a kid: First, cross your index and middle fingers. Then cross your little and ring fingers. Your little finger will fit over your index and form a nose and upper lip; your middle and ring fingernails will form eyes, and your thumb will make the lower lip.
Right now my hands are singing along (silently) to ELO.
I do a similar thing, except that (with any candy) the cherry and grape flavors are discarded into the trash, on account of being vile.
I also do the M&Ms battles described in the OP. I thought I was the only one!
Also, if something rubs against my skin, I feel as if there were a layer of something (like thicker air) that gets bunched up. Sort of like Moe’s layer of margarine. Anyway, if something scrapes against my skin, I have to then rub my skin down in the opposite direction to smooth it back down.
I also time my blinking and breathing according to telephone poles as I drive past them. For example, I must blink after passing one, and I can’t be exhaling when passing one–I must be inhaling.