# Weird stuff you do habitually for no reason (sequel) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 13, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579 "2010-07-13T19:38:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579/21 "2010-07-15T14:24:10Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > My husband says I move my mouth around funny when I play the piano. There must be a reason but I can’t think of one. Maybe my fingers don’t work right unless I move my mouth? > > I see guitarists do this also. I play trombone, and I raise my eyebrows whenever I hit a high note. Also, I blow on my forkful of salad before I eat it. I don’t know why. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579/22 "2010-07-15T14:50:26Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > My brother and I both move our bodies, from the hips up, in small circles when we play the piano. I always thought it was to keep time, he says its to more “feel” the music. His teacher in college said we are both full of shit - it helps prevent shoulder cramping. I must be preventing lip cramps. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579/23 "2010-07-15T14:50:58Z")
I realized one day that I had been humming or whistling the tune to “Under Pressure” by Bowie/Mercury every day while leaving the office. Eventually I discovered it was because when I shut down my computer, the 4-note “shutdown tune” sounded just like a riff in that song (near the end, right before the snapping), and it would put the song in my head. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579/24 "2010-07-15T14:53:12Z")
I do the wave thing before I go through an automatic door, also but there’s a reason for it. I once encountered one which was malfunctioning and bumped into it. It also makes small children think you’re “magic!” ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579/25 "2010-07-15T15:12:36Z")
I buy canned cat food in pairs: one pair of the different flavors. I only feed one can a night, but they have to be purchased in pairs. I also stack the cans in pairs, no matter how jumbled they got on the way home from the store, and even though I try not to feed the same flavor twice in a row. I doubt my cat cares about that last part, but I do. Why? No idea. I also stack them with the labels facing out, and this is probably the one neat spot in our house. Nothing else about our current clutter really bothers me, but the cat food cans? They make me all kinds of bizarre-o OCD. ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579/26 "2010-07-15T15:26:24Z")
When I eat meals that have separate food groups (steak with a baked potato and vegetables, etc. - not say, a hamburger or a plate of pasta), the different foods can’t come into contact with each other on the plate, and I eat one food group until it’s gone, then move on to the next, turning the plate so the food I’m currently working on is directly in front of me. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579/27 "2010-07-15T15:26:38Z")
My accent changes depending on the person I am talking to or the subject I am talking about. I don’t mean to do it - it just happens. My ex used to laugh when I answered the phone because he knew in a minute if I was talking to one of my southern SILs or one of my northern cousins. ---
**Author:** ![drillrod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@drillrod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drillrod)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579/28 "2010-07-15T15:30:58Z")
I’m left handed, but this is only with my right hand. I trace out a little cloverleaf-type pattern with my thumb. If I’m not holding anything, it’s on the pad of my middle finger. If I’m holding a remote control, it’s on the buttons. I even do this on the side of a computer mouse. I even do it when I’m holding my wife’s hand and she hates it. I really have to focus to not do it when we’re holding hands. Yes, my wife and I hold hands quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Looey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ee7513/32.png) [@Looey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Looey)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579/29 "2010-07-15T15:38:49Z")
I’ve often blown on cold food, but it’s not a habit. I have a stack of cheap plastic cups in my kitchen cupboard. They come in red, white, and blue. As I empty the diswasher, I must always stack them in a repeating pattern of all 3 colors. If all 3 colors are not available, there are never 2 of the same color together. > [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > I play trombone, and I raise my eyebrows whenever I hit a high note. As a singer, I’ve seen many directors/instructors coach people to raise their eyebrows when hitting high notes, or during any part of the music where there is a tendency to go flat. I know it’s intended as a visualization-type tool, but it’s almost as if the eyebrow muscles are somehow connected to the soft palate. Raise the soft palate, and you have more room for air to make those high notes. Hold your mouth open and raise your eyebrows, and see if it isn’t sorta true.🆒 ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579/30 "2010-07-15T15:43:11Z")
Even if the button has been pushed to call the elevator, I just have to push it to make sure it comes for ME. If I’m walking by myself, I count steps. Don’t know why. Another member of the “wet, spread toothpaste, wet again, then brush” gang. ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579/31 "2010-07-15T15:53:24Z")
> [@Shark\_Sandwich](#): > > When I eat meals that have separate food groups (steak with a baked potato and vegetables, etc. - not say, a hamburger or a plate of pasta), the different foods can’t come into contact with each other on the plate, and I eat one food group until it’s gone, then move on to the next, turning the plate so the food I’m currently working on is directly in front of me. Sis? ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579/32 "2010-07-15T16:12:45Z")
> [@DragonAsh](#): > > Sis? Could be. Is your sister a married male living in Tennessee? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579/33 "2010-07-15T16:26:11Z")
I grow my pinky fingernails long, for no other reason than my own amusement. I bring my Cthulhu plushies (and a cute owl from “Hooters”) to and from work and home every weekday; they will be either on my bed, or my desk at work. Fantasize about scantily-clad superheroines, especially my own character, “Panther Girl”, getting kncocked out and captured by villains. You can see her here : [http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=439338&GSub=38079](http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=439338&GSub=38079) Hoard paper napkins from restaurants. Count steps as I go up/down the stairs. I can think of other silly quirks, given time, but these immediately come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579/34 "2010-07-15T16:56:56Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Whenever I go through an an automatic door I do this little wave with my hand like I’m a Jedi and I’m opening it with the Force. It’s gotten to the point where I barely notice myself doing it anymore. I would like to see that. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579/35 "2010-07-15T17:08:59Z")
> [@gytalf2000](#): > > I grow my pinky fingernails long, for no other reason than my own amusement. In the 80’s that would have been your coke nail. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579/36 "2010-07-15T17:22:44Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > In the 80’s that would have been your coke nail. Yeah, one of my friends told me about this phenomenon, the long fingernail as “coke spoon”, after I had grown them out. I had no idea! (I don’t even know what alcohol tastes like, and I have no experience with illegal drugs.) If I had known about it before, I would not have let them get long in the first place. But once they were there, I figured, hey, they look nice and silly, so I am keeping them. I even concocted an odd supervillain, the “Dastardly Disruptor”, who can fire blasts of various types of disruptive energy from his bizarrely-long pinky fingernails, for use in my “superheroines-in-KO-peril” scenarios! Weird, wild stuff! [http://picasaweb.google.com/davidhughettkanab986756/DisruptorPics02#](http://picasaweb.google.com/davidhughettkanab986756/DisruptorPics02#) (Hey, everyone needs a hobby! Ha!) ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579/37 "2010-07-15T17:27:42Z")
> [@drillrod](#): > > I trace out a little cloverleaf-type pattern with my thumb. Sometimes I trace a pattern with my eyes when I have them closed. Usually it’s like a triangle except one corner is a gentle curve, one is a loop, and one is a sharp point. ---
**Author:** ![trapezoidal\_jellyfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6f9a4e/32.png) [@trapezoidal\_jellyfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trapezoidal_jellyfish)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579/38 "2010-07-15T17:38:08Z")
I pace when I brush my teeth. Doesn’t matter where I am- even in the teeniest space I will walk in circles. No one else in my family does this, and I have no idea why I do it. I didn’t even notice it until a roommate pointed it out. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579/39 "2010-07-15T19:33:18Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > In the 80’s that would have been your coke nail. I was told by this guy I know, who had a long nail on his little finger (but only that one), that it was for guitar playing. Was that BS? > [@gytalf2000](#): > > I even concocted an odd supervillain, the “Dastardly Disruptor”, who can fire blasts of various types of disruptive energy from his bizarrely-long pinky fingernails, for use in my “superheroines-in-KO-peril” scenarios! Weird, wild stuff! > [http://picasaweb.google.com/davidhughettkanab986756/DisruptorPics02#](http://picasaweb.google.com/davidhughettkanab986756/DisruptorPics02#) Don’t your superheroines ever get cold in those skimpy outfits? ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579/40 "2010-07-15T19:51:21Z")
> [@Shark\_Sandwich](#): > > When I eat meals that have separate food groups (steak with a baked potato and vegetables, etc. - not say, a hamburger or a plate of pasta), the different foods can’t come into contact with each other on the plate, and I eat one food group until it’s gone, then move on to the next, turning the plate so the food I’m currently working on is directly in front of me. Admit it. You are a Romulan spy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason-sequel/546579.md?page=3)