I count syllables. From song lyrics, conversation, tv, my brain will select a sentence, count the syllables, and then organize them into 6 and 8. Example:
“You know, I wish I knew how to explain this to you in a reasonable way”
20 is 6, 6, 8. Then I count them out in my head in the exact cadence they were said, but instead of words it would be, “One TWO, threefourfivesixonetwothreeFOURfivesixone two three four five sixsev* eight”
Now repeat, except as 8, 6, 6. And occasionally I’ll break my own rules and do 8, 8, 4
*Obviously, I have code words for the multi syllabic numbers, as it would mess up my count
ETA- As if it’s not nutty enough, I also fudge syllables if the sentences don’t have a number that I like. (world becomes wor-uld, for example)
I have been doing this since childhood, and I’ve only told a minute handful of people about it because it’s completely in my head, it doesn’t mess with anything, and it seems totally batshit. But! BrainAge 2 for the DS has a syllable counting level, and I smoked everyone in my house. Wheee internet!
I was reading this thread, and debating whether or not to comment on the apparent epidemic of OCD among dopers, when I came across this. I’m with you. I will do anything practical to avoid hearing that song, and bear it with gritted teeth if I cannot flee or make it stop.
My first love asked me to drive us to a remote beach to talk, and broke up with me there. Free Bird was the song that was playing on the radio on the very long drive back. I hate that song.
I count things, steps, snacks, paces, sometimes breaths or seconds.
I sort my food by colors [if it is stuff like M&M/skittles]
I eat one type of food off my plate before starting on a different one, the only exception is poached eggs on torn up buttered toast, each bite of toast has to be gently tossed with the egg yolk goop and eaten with a bit of the cooked white.
When I shower, I wash stuff from top to bottom [rational is that you wash and rinse the hair, the dirt goes down, so if you wash from bottom to top, you are rinsing the dirt onto the already cleaned parts of the body]
I have certain websites and blogs I read every day.
My wow character that is an herbalist/alchemist has to have 1 full stack of every herb in the bank. I auction stuff off in full stacks, not partial ones.
I have to hang the white and pastel colored clothes on the white hangers and the dark clothes on the black hangers. And the world would come to an end if I put a can of vegetables in the cupboard upside down.
I will get jumpy at the possibility of the weirdest things. Cooking something on the stove? I’m afraid it’ll explode in my face. Working on my computer? I’m afraid it’ll either explode in my face (again) or that something will come flying out of it. It hasn’t negatively affected my life or anything…I just pause a moment, get jumpy and nervous, and then shake myself and get over it. Still weird, though.
Oh my goodness. For no associative reason whatsoever, I loathe this song. It jams my one last good nerve. All I have to hear is the first note and I’m gone. What the hell? I’ve never met anyone aside from you, my interwebs friend, that hates it too! I feel vindicated!
As a barely related aside, whenever we play rock band, my dogs get really excited and like to do a mosh pit thing. I always tell Marley (the most jubilant), “No dude. I will not play Freebird! I wouldn’t even if it was on the list!”
How large are these pancakes where you can have an outer crust of 1.5" all the way around? I’m also not sure I understand your explanation. Are you saying that there are no blueberries in the ring you left? That would be the fault of the cook. You can make them pretty much even, and not waste so much food.
Incidentally, my answer to the OP is that I can’t stand to waste food. Unfortunately, my waistline shows it.
Finally, most of you guys seem to be posting OCD symptoms. It’s not unexplainable at all if you study the root cause for that disorder.
No matter what I’m doing, I always save the best for last.
Especially food. I eat a sandwich around the edges first, then the middle. I eat pizza crust-end first. I eat cake first, then the frosting. I eat the ends of a hot dog first, then the middle. I go crazy with a salad, picking out and eating all the “bad” things first.
My partner, who is quite used to this, will sit across from me and deliberately eat everything in the opposite order, just to drive me crazy.
Same here. It seems like there will be better cleaning action if the items are spaced out as much as possible.
I make a game of eating my M&Ms. I pour the little bag onto a clean piece of paper and without rearranging any of them, I eat them in the order that reduces their randomness. If there’s a little cluster of reds with a single green one, I eat the green. The ideal situation would be to be left with discreet (although much reduced) clusters of each color.
I like to read words backwards. Especially if the result is pronouncable and silly sounding. Evans Ave. near my last apartment was always Eva Snave.
If I accidently brush against something softly, I have to press against it firmly with the same spot of my body. Otherwise, it feels like a combination of leaving something undone and an unscratched itch. This makes for weird mannerisms at the gym.
If eating a combination of two items (ie, bread and cheese) I do my best to maintain an even ratio of each item. I’d hate to be left with some cheese without any bread to go with it or vice versa.
When I hear a new song I pretty much memorize the lyrics right away. Then for the rest of the day in the back of my mind I’m testing the lyrics against various melodies to see which ones are interchangeable. . .
another toe-flosser here. Floss with the ‘opening’ of the sock prior to putting it on, and again after taking it off w/the whole sock at the end of the day…
Speaking of personal hygeine ones, I have to feel like I swiped the exact same amount of deodorant on each pit, rubbed the same amount of cream on each side of my face, brushed the same numbers of times on each side of my teeth. At some point I have to tell myself “enough” just to get out of the house!
I am constantly chewing the top layer of skin off of my lips. Most of the time I don’t realize I’m doing it. It’s gotten to the point that my lips seem to have somehow gotten dependant on this habit. I once made an effort to quit doing it. After just one day, my lips were covered with dry, almost plasticky skin. It was like having my lips covered with saran wrap. Then I started chewing it off again and all was well.
I thought I didn’t have a strange and unexplainable habit. It’s become such a part of me that I don’t even notice it until my kids point it out. Every time I get a small piece of paper in my hands I’ll roll it up. Straw coverings, receipts, pieces of scotch tape, I’m always rolling, rolling, rolling… No idea why.
Oh, I totally do this! Then do you start getting a little nervous toward the end, because you’re worried that someone will notice that you have all the good stuff left and steal it from you? "Aren’t you going to eat that bacon?
Except the pizza crust is the best. I save that for last.
I sort my M&M’s by color, and eat all of one color first. I don’t care much for Skittles, so I don’t have that issue there.
Right sock, left sock. Right shoe, left shoe - always.
When brushing my teeth, I must spit 3 times - once to get rid of the toothpaste (without extra water) and twice more with water.
I always shower in the same order - hair washed first, then body. I also dry my body parts in a certain order every time and step out of the tub in the same order.
My biggest one that I notice day-in/day-out is that, at work, my IE windows on my taskbar must be in the “correct” order, left to right. If something happens, and one of them shuts down unexpectedly, and that window is in the middle, I have to shut down all the ones to the right of it before I can reopen it, then I’ll reopen the ones I shut down to “get” to the one that closed.
Wow, I never thought about exactly how OCD I am. Hm…
