I need to sleep with some sort of even background noise. A fan, the wind, music, my computer…all of those things will work.
When I eat MMs, I have to end up with one of each color.
I will sit on the floor whenever possible, preferably in a corner, but always against the wall. This drives my boyfriend crazy.
If I’m waiting for someone to IM me, I’ll either hide the toolbar, put on an away message, or play a full-screen game of pinball so that I don’t obsess about it.
I can’t STAND having organic/food stains anywhere. I have to clean them up right away. Ink/dust, however, I don’t mind.
If I go to a fast food restuarant, I have to eat ALL the fries before I eat the sandwich/nuggets. If I find a fry afterwards, in the bag or something, I won’t eat it.
If I’m walking outside, and there’s a raised surface (ledge, parking thing, bench, etc), I have to walk on it.
Oy. That is my comment, here are my wierd things. Specifically one wierd habit and one wierd phobia.
I will inadvertantly wiggle my ears when I am nervous, on the spot, or bored. You know the muscle, those of you who can do it…it feels like that eyebrow lifting muscle except in a different direction and kinda tickle-y.It feels kinda good if you have been worrying a lot.
I have sought to repress this habit since I caught one of my male companions staring at my active ears with a detatched fascination and mild revulsion. Eeep. :o
The other one is that I’m paranoid about reading in public. Hell, everyone hates reading in public cause you can’t concentrate, but I’m paranoid that I’ll be reading and someone carrying on a conversation within earshot will utter the same word (or, gasp! sentance)I happen to be reading in that exact second. It happened once when I was little and it scared me, and it’s bothered me ever since…not just intruiged me but really scared me on some level. Ugh.
Ever since I learned to type as a freshman in high school, whenever i see a movie I “type” out the dialogue with my fingers. I’m cutting down on this though, because my husband once mentioned to me (while I was holding his hand at the movies), “why are your fingers moving?” When I told him why, he was like “that’s weird, man”
I also whistle songs that come on the radio, even if I know the words. I’ll whistle along to the music. Sometimes I even break out into whistling a tune when there’s no music on, for no reason. And i won’t realize I’m doing it. Someone also pointed this out to me, and I try not to do it, but it’s one of those unconscious habits that i can hardly control.
I also lick my lips a lot because I don’t wanna be “one of those people” with the icky white stuff in the corners of his/her mouth…you know, the person everyone talks about but to whom no one tells he/she has that problem (did that make sense??) That habit has led to my addiction to lip balm. i ALWAYS have to have lip balm with me or I feel like thing aren’t going right and my lips always feel dry. Of course, they’re always dry because i lick my lips a lot. It’s a viscious (sp?) circle, that lip-licking.
When I end my shower, I have to dry my body parts in a certain order. My face first, then my hair, then from neck to feet. And I have to dry mostly off in the shower, except for my feet. And when drying my feet, I lift one foot, shake the excess water off (like a cat does after having a dreaded bath), dry the foot, then step out with that foot…lift the other foot, shake it off, dry it with a towel, then step out with that foot. i HATE having a wet body when I get out of the shower, because I hate water in the bathroom floor. Also it’s warmer drying off in the shower with a closed shower curtain.
Gawd, that was a long post. Sorry folks!
Would NEVER eat my sandwich without first finishing my fries.
I am obsessed with my dog’s eye boogies. If I notice one I immediately must wipe it clean.
I also cannot stand when someones eyebrows are messed up.
My boyfriend and I are both unable to sleep without the sound of a fan. We have a small fan we take away with us when we travel.
I can only write in either my phone book or calendar with pencil. If I only have a pen available, I will write the number or appointment on a scrap piece of paper and add it in later when I have a pencil.
I have a ritual in the shower…first let the water run on my teeth, then wet my hair, then wash my face, then apply shampoo, then shave my underarms, wash out shampoo, shampoo again, shave one leg, wash out shampoo, apply conditioner, shave second leg, lather up and wash body, rinse conditioner, rinse body. Always have my towel on the bar in the shower (it doesn’t get wet) to wipe my eyes dry throughout shower. Dry off with curtain closed (warmer that way). The days that I don’t have time to shave my legs I skip straight to lathering.
Before I shut off my car I have to put the radio on preset #1 (101.7 WFNX, Boston).
I could go on forever…
Add another person to the list of those who must have the fan on in order to fall asleep.
I have separate toothbrushes in various places (at work, in the car) that I chew on. It is satisfying. The one that I use at home is perfect–the bristles are all smashed down just right.
I used to do this too - I know how bad it probably is for me. I have now stopped ripping my books and moved on to tiny sized post-it notes. But I chew paper. (I don’t actually eat it, just chew it.) It’s compulsive.
I also do the fingerspelling thing - but not as much anymore…
And my food can’t touch. One of the lovely things about living by myself is that I can use 3 plates for dinner just to make sure that it doesn’t, and no one else has to know.
I never eat the edges of a sandwich unless it’s made with a bun.
When I’m washing dishes or folding laundry, I count them. But each item does not equal one, for instance socks can only be counted when I have a pair, and it takes a handful of forks & spoons to count as one.
I will never finish the last three or four swallow of soda left in the can. Never. Usually by thta time it’s flat and warm. Doesn’t seem to bother my hubby though.
If I know I’m going to be talking to somebody later that day, (ie, “Oh, I need to tell Chris about the HW assignment!”) I will plan the whole conversation. Not just in my head. I’ll actually talk it out, playing both sides. I do this all the time, at school, at home, in the car, at work. It’s real embarrassing when people notice me having an animated conversation with myself.
When I first started dating my hubby, I noticed that he always, always eats his fries first. So, I started eating my fries first too.I don’t know why he does it, but I’ve noticed that if you leave the fries, they get cold and soggy.
Aaahhh, this is kind of like therapy. I can get this out in the open without looking like (too much of a) freak!
I spell things in my head, sometimes even phantom typing them with my hands. If someone says a long or unusual word, I have to spell it or I can’t rest until I figure out how it is spelled AND how I would type it. Especially if someone says the name of a medication or a disease (I’m a medical transcriptionist, so that is probably the reason).
I, too, have to have the fan on to go to sleep, even if it is 30 degrees.
My radio station programming system!!! DH screws with it all the time!! #1 has to have a one in it, like 91.1 or 101.something; #2 has to have a 2 in it, like 92.3, and #3 is 93.3., et cetera. If it doesn’t have a corresponding number it can go to 5 or 6, but my main radio stations are 1,2, and 3 anyway. There has to be a reason it’s #1 or #2 or #3, get it? So when I think I want to listen to 92, I can think okay, 92=2! Now I’m explaining too much. My husband does not understand this system at all. Ugh. I’m also a compulsive flipper and have to change stations at a commercial or a bad song.
Have to have the dishes in the dishwasher arranged a specific way - I will even rearrange stuff if DH has already filled it - and the eating part of the utensils goes DOWN so that I do not have to touch that part (and therefore get them dirty) when pulling them out to put them away.
Symmetry in touching things and thinking out complete conversations beforehand, both of which I can admit now that they have been admitted by others. Aaahh, I feel better.
I catch myself air-typing people’s names to see how balanced they are. If someone’s name has too many “right” letters in it, or too many “left” letters, it just seems wrong to me.
I used to have races between the letters “a” and “e”, reading cereal boxes or toothpaste tubes. I rooted for the underdog “a”, who seldom won.
If I’m in a boring meeting, I’ll multiply numbers in my head, then write the answer down and check my math. That one’s fun but I know the people sitting on either side of me are wondering what the heck I’m doing.
I have 9 bedpillows. I like three vertical ones behind me, then my down pillow atop those, and two horizontal ones on the left and three horizontal ones on the right. Sometimes they almost crowd me out of bed. Mmm, makes me feel so decadent.