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06/18/2007: New ToyFare gig, plus QUIRKY SURVEY!

I’m hearing loads of “mehs” and “blehs” in response to the new Transformers flick, but I dunno…you’ve gotta go into it without the expectation that this was made for Transfans, because it simply wasn’t. There are millions of Transformers fans, certainly, but there’s a big difference between someone who remembers those cooool transforming cars and someone who remembers that Autobot Seaspray talked funny and once had a human girlfriend. The movie was NOT made for the latter type of fan, because there are not enough of those fans to support a gigantic motion picture.

My take: With or without the Transformers ties, a big budget summer flick featuring robot cars pounding the shit out of robot airplanes is probably more worth seeing than debating. The fact that it has those ties is just gravy for those of us who care. Not saying it’ll be great, but unlike the Star Wars prequels, I’m not going to walk into the theater feeling like I’m owed what I wished for.

This is how I help myself hedge expectations when people tell me that it’s less a movie about Transformers and more a movie about John Turturro making balloon animals.


It’s with that perfect segue that I inform you of my latest ToyFare gig — I’m in issue #120, which is an all Transformers blowout, with a page-long feature about Transformers: The Movie. Not the new one. The old one. The one that’s animated. The one with a reverbing Wheelie. Read about the five best moments in the movie, along with sidebars on “Scramble City” and the age old dream battle of Unicron versus the Death Star. Looks like they had to chop out some copy to make space, but so long as the byline stands and the check clears, I’ll head into tomorrow just as convictionless as before.

I have to admit, I’m pretty pumped about the Summer Megaparty. (See the previous entry if you don’t know what in the fuck I’m talking about.) I’ve spent most of the night spinning in my chair, looking around my junkyard office for different things to write about. Then I thought about how I could hop in my car with my laptop, drive down the street and review the neighbor’s weird lawn ornaments. X-E became whatever it became, but it was built on the freedom to turn anything into content. I’m psyched.

I’ll probably let tomorrow slide without a new entry so we can enter the Megaparty cleanly, and knowing that, maybe it’s a good time for a survey.

In the comments, list five of your weirdest quirks. Don’t fake it. Think about the weird stuff you do, whether it paints you gold or black, and tell the world. Or at least, tell the small part of the world that sifts through comments on my blog. Here’s five of mine:

  • I love V8 juice, but I hate drinking it whenever someone else is in the room. When I’m alone, I have visions of the Juiceman and of beautiful beds of tomatoes and parsley. When my concentration breaks, all I can think about is how there must be bits of soil and worms somewhere in the juice.
  • I can write just as quickly upside-down and backwards as I can the standard way. Hard to explain, but picture me leaning across the table and writing you a note. You wouldn’t have to flip the paper over to read it. I’m very proud of this.
  • I cannot tie shoelaces. I never learned how. I have trouble with most knots, but shoelaces especially. I rarely buy sneakers for this reason.
  • I have absolutely no appreciation for music. I’ve listened to the same dozen or so artists/groups for the last decade. Nothing else can get in the rotation and I have no idea why.
  • I’m left-handed, but unlike most left-handers, I’ve never been able to learn how to use scissors with my right hand. It makes me feel contorted. Thus, I’m very poor at cutting things out with scissors. Perhaps I should invest in a specialty scissor.

Your turn!


Posted by Matt. E-mail me!

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Discussion Thread: 381 comments

1) I eat fat free Triscuits because I swear they are better than the originals.
2) I cry everytime I see ‘Big Fish’.
3) I believe God will reverse gravity when I am next to a skyscraper.
4)I’m a sleep farter.
5) I destress by swimming in the ocean at night. nobody knows that so shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Ghosted by Bill @ 06/19/2007 2:34 AM EDT

Letsee

1- My longest relationship was my absolute worst, while my shortest was my absolute best.

2- I Talk in my sleep. The things I talk about have absolutely nothing to do with what I am dreaming about.

3- I have no desire to have kids of my own, but I love kids and plan to be a child psychologist.

4- When I was a kid I was ashamed to be a nerd… nowadays being a nerd is my pride and joy (Next to being born in and living through a majority of the 80’s)

5- As serious as I am… I am, and always will be, a nintendo fanboy

Ghosted by SerialPsychosis @ 06/19/2007 2:59 AM EDT

I’m a long time lurker, so what better first comment than sharing my quirks?

1. I do this weird thing when I’m riding in a car that’s really hard to explain. It’s like I make imaginary loops around intrances to driveways and the little lines in the middle of the road. I do realize that that doesn’t make any sense.

2. I apparently have freakishly long eyelashes. I don’t see how they’re so long, but everyone always comments on them. They’re pretty, but they can be annoying, like when I’m trying to put my contacts lenses in.

3. I don’t curse a lot, but if I do it’s usually to myself because I can’t bring myself to curse out loud. The only time I will is if there is absolutely no one else around, and it’s still almost a whisper. I was too much of a goody-goody as a kid and that’s yet another product of it.

4. If someone is watching me do something that requires concentration, I either completely freeze or mess up what I’m doing. Like when teachers would walk around the room during tests, as soon one around around me I’d just stop for fear that I’d get a wrong answer or something.

5. I get obsessed with things very easily and quickly. For instance, I randomly ran across the IMDB page for the new Hairspray movie last Tuesday, and now I’m completely obsessed, downloading songs and watching clips. I’ve been this way as long as I can remember, my first obsession was Full House when I was two.

Ghosted by Nikki @ 06/19/2007 3:10 AM EDT

I walk on my tiptoes unless I am wearing shoes.

Hey me too.

I’m that way, too. And I only tie my sneakers like once a month and just slip into them all the time.

I do the same thing, except I double knot them so I only tie mine like every four months.

I’m unnecessarily courageous about dangerous things but frightened of casual things. I’ll be the first to check out the scary old haunted warehouse where people have been murdered but I’ll run from the car to the house late at night.

In all fairness, that warehouse is probably pretty safe, whereas you could easily get mugged or something hanging around outside at night. Especially if you don’t live in the best neighborhood.

Ghosted by Jeff @ 06/19/2007 3:17 AM EDT

Welcome newbies!

My five:

1) When I hear or read negative responses to some movie or tv show or whatever that I liked I have to try really hard to not let it bother me, either by affecting my own enjoyment of it or in by getting offended on whoever’s behalf.

2) Whenever I read an old article, if it has a blog entry attached I always have to check through the thread to see if I commented on it. Sometimes I can remember it exactly, sometimes not at all and sometimes I can’t figure out why I didn’t.

3) Ever since I stopped being a vegetarian, I’ve liked meat cooked totally rare; I can’t stand it well-done. I still feel like eating meat is probably pretty immoral in the long run but I can’t help myself.

4) I always imagine the worst possible case scenario.

5) I provide running commentary from the household pets, complete with voices and the occasional song number.

Ghosted by squee4242 @ 06/19/2007 3:18 AM EDT

1. I have never drank an alcoholic beverage. I am legal to do so but I just don’t feel the desire to feel the effects.

2. I give everyone I see online on a regular basis different voices based on how they write and imagine that’s how they talk. If I ever find out how they really talk, and it’s not like how I imagine, I get very disappointed. Don’t ever record your voice for us Matt!

3. I watch lots of comedy on television but rarely ever laugh, even though I find things funny. The slightest humorous written word can send me rolling.

4. I grab a lot of stuff with my feet. You’d be surprised how much weight a couple of toes can grasp.

5. I seem to take the side of “the man” more than the underdog who tries to bring him down.

Ghosted by dohopoki @ 06/19/2007 3:32 AM EDT

A few more from me.

6. In Star Wars I tend to sympathize with the Empire more than the rebellion. This is largely because I played the hell out of the game Tie Fighter before I ever really saw the movies. Also, Luke Skywalker is a whiny little bitch who does not deserve super powers.

7. I tend to watch the entire run of TV shows at once. For example, before about two weeks ago I had never seen an episode of The West Wing. I am currently on the last disk of the fifth season.

8. I always put two spaces after periods. I get annoyed when WYSIWYG text editors don’t let me do this.

9. Speaking of being annoyed by WYSIWYG text editors, any time one turns straight quotes or apostrophes into the curly ones it makes me want to kill people. There is no place in my writing for curly quotes.

Ghosted by Jeff @ 06/19/2007 4:31 AM EDT

Cool- I am not the only one who obsessively takes off, twirls and replaces rings on their fingers!

Also, I HATE tying my shoes as well- especially winter boots. The laces get all gross with salt and dirt. I make one insane triple knot in my shoes then slip them on and off like slippers for months, until the knot finally comes undone.

I get on “kicks”, especially with breakfast. I will eat the same thing for breakfast for like 3 months, then I am so sick of it I don’t eat it for another 3 months. My current kick is Oatmeal Crisp with cut-up banana in it. My last kick was Eggo waffles.

Ghosted by Muppet Baby @ 06/19/2007 7:27 AM EDT

OK here it goes:

1. I can pee upside down.(not a quirk, just a stupid talent)

1a. Before I go to work I have pluck a armpit hair out of each arm, and the right one(hair) has to be longer than the left one, if not I have to keep pulling till I get it right. I’m late to work a lot, a lot.

2. Before I go to bed and close my eyes,I have to thing of a sexy girl..i.e…Jessica Simpson, Jessica Alba..so I can trick my mind about dreaming of them. Naked. Sometimes it doesn’t work.

3. I pretend to chew gum when I nervous.

4. I also grab my crotch when I’m mad at someone.

5. When the Simpson’s are on TV, I have to be in my underwear, If not, I am in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

I might need help, I think? Na, I’m normal.

Ghosted by Mufu @ 06/19/2007 7:49 AM EDT

1) I make it a point to visit the drive-in once per summer. Because of this, I make sure it’s some stupid sci-fi-ish action flick. I’m hoping they get Transformers.

2) I love a big breakfast. It’s my favorite meal.

3) I may stop watching wrestling for weeks, months, or longer, but I always come back to it.

4) The 4th of July is my second favorite holiday. Thanksgiving is number one. Christmas has become so colossal that it’s no longer just a holiday for me.

5) I love clothes from the USSR era from Russia. I have quite a few. Rocky IV is my favorite Rocky because of Ivan Drago.

Ghosted by Jeff Mack @ 06/19/2007 7:54 AM EDT

Hmmm, lets set:

1) My favorite food is uncooked oatmeal (non-instant) in cold milk

2) I’ve picked up a funny habit when in a car of imagining myself with a big sephiroth-like sword cutting things like guard rails and power lines as we drive by

3) I can’t stand the number six, not really sure why but it has always bothered me

4) I have an odd fear of crustaceans, they just creep me out

5) I often dream of various apocalypse scenarios, though I’m still waiting on a kickass zombie attack dream

Ghosted by Ryle @ 06/19/2007 8:38 AM EDT

What an amazing thread!!

1. I love to write stories, but I rarely finish them.

2. I can wiggle my ears one ear at a time.

3. I am scared to death of huge, winged bugs.

4. Like Mystie I’ve also never done drugs…Not even weed. People don’t believe me when I tell them this.

5. I’ve never been able to burp. I don’t know how to do it…

Ghosted by Mary Mary @ 06/19/2007 9:09 AM EDT

Right, so I’m going to make my list without reading what you guys put, so that your sheer oddness doesn’t corrupt my uniqueness. So if it looks like I stole yours, it just means that we’re inextricably linked by destiny.

1. Whenever I’m introduced to someone new and they say “Hello,” I’m usually filled with a strong urge to reply “How’s tricks?” as we shake hands, despite the fact that I’ve never been in a situation where implying that someone’s a prostitute would be a good social move.

2. My pinky toes are tragically bent upwards and inwards, to the point where I leave four-toed footprints at waterparks. Pictures available for a nominal fee.

3. I truly enjoy both Waterworld and Outpost, widely heralded as the worst big-budget movie and computer game, respectively.

4. I prefer winter to summer, rain to sun, and Scotland to Australia. I have been told that this makes me a defective human being.

5. I entered kindergarten fully ambidextrous, but a long line of teachers thought that this would make me psychotic, and snatched the pencil out of my hands every time I switched from right to left. As a result, I write with my right hand, but with that weird crabbed left-handed grip. I can still play pool, shoot, eat, and bowl with either hand equally.

Ghosted by Jedoc @ 06/19/2007 9:17 AM EDT

asdfnick

1. I have concerts in my head. Its kind of confusing, but i can hear the music in my head and i play the drums with my teeth.

You are the only other person I’ve known to do this. I do it too, I’ll wiggle my jaw side to side to the beat of whatever song is in my head, and since I listen to a lot of heavy metal and hardcore metal my jaw gets really sore at times.

I share atleast one quirk with atleast half of you here.

Mine are:

1. When I walk, as I’m taking steps, I will never step on a crack, and I will always try to make the best of the space given before a crack. For example, if I’m walking at an angle and I’m coming up to a crack from the left side, obviously my right foot will touch ground closest to the crack before my left, well I absolutely refuse to step over the crack with my right foot, I will put my left foot down right before the crack and step over with my right. Sure, it might make you imagine me as some guy constantly staring at the ground stopping and taking funny steps, but I’ve done this since I was about 8 and I’ve learned to watch cracks while looking forward and how to step accordingly without missing a beat.

2. I will not put my left sock or my left shoe on before the right. If I do so, I’ve convinced myself the rest of my day will be bad, even if it’s 10 PM and I’m just putting my shoes on to take the trash can to the curb. The thing I find weird about this, is I have no proof nor even the slightest reason to believe this to be true, yet I’m too scared to take the risk of putting my left shoe or sock on before the right.

3. Speaking of socks. I hate feet. I hate looking at them, I hate when they touch me, I hate when people touch mine, and I hate touching them, including my own. I will close my eyes in the shower when I’m washing my feet and play a song clip in my head or whistle to take my mind off of what I’m doing. After the shower, when I’m putting on my socks, I will only have half my thumbs inserted inside my sock (on both sides) and I will stretch my socks out on the sides far enough where the back of my thumbs will not come in contact with my feet, and I’ll put my socks on so quick to lessen the whole sensation and thought of something sliding over my foot. I will never sleep without socks on because I hate the feeling of my sheets and feet coming in contact with eachother. Even during uhh.. intimate moments, I have socks on most of the time. If my feet have socks on or someone else is wearing socks, I have no problems with feet touching me.

4. Vegetables… I love raw tomatos, raw brocolli, raw carrots, raw cucumbers, and I love salad. Yet I HATE cooked tomatos, cooked brocolli, and cooked carrots and can’t stand burgers and sandwiches with lettuce and tomato on them, though I love pickles, onions (white, yellow, or red), and cucumbers on them. I don’t eat a lot of soups and stews for this reason, most cooked veggies lose flavor or become a disgusting flavor once cooked and the texture sickens me. I can’t eat chunky spaghetti sauce (or any pasta sauce) with chunky veggies, though I’m fine with chunks of meat, and one of my favorite snacks is chips and chunky salsa… I know, it doesn’t make sense. I loved cooked okra but can’t stand raw or pickled okra, yet I love pickles.

5. Since I can remember, when sitting, standing, or walking, I’ve always had this thought about invisible lasers coming out of the tips of my feet. At times I will shoot these laser beams and make them ricochet off of walls, curbs, etc.. in attempts to try to make them bounce of as many walls as possible to hit a desired location, yet they can’t cross eachothers path.

Hi, I’m Ricky, and I’m a weirdo.

citygirl Just read your post from yesterday in the previous blog… Thank you :D

Ghosted by fistpittingnork @ 06/19/2007 9:30 AM EDT

LONG time reader, first time poster.

1. I can’t live without Chinese Food(almost any type), Sweet Potato(prepared almost any way), and Broccoli(steamed).
2. I hate Sour Cream, and I HATE Onions, but I love Sour Cream and Onion potato chips.
3. I prefer to drink Coffee ice cold.
4. For reasons unbeknownst to myself, i often wake up with a pillow between my knees/calves.
5. My smile when I think of a wisecrack and my smile for genuine happiness look almost identical, which gets me into trouble quite frequently. My father’s side of the family has the same problem.

I’ve been sending Matt’s original 5 quirks and mine to various office employees, and it has made for quite a wonderful experience…just like Jones Soda holiday packs.

I love things that create unity between seemingly different people! ^_^

Ghosted by IAmSeekingTheWay @ 06/19/2007 9:33 AM EDT

1. Shoeaholic! I am the modern day Imelda Marcos. I have 55+ pairs of shoes, and 90% of them are Nike. Yes, I am a slave to the Swooshtika of Emperor Phil Knight. Then again my cousin is the head equipment man at Portland State Univ. and friends with workers at Nike right next door in Beaverton.
2. MUSTARD!!! I bleed yellow. If it elbow deep in the yellow gold, it aint worthy. The first part is MUST (I MUST have) the second part is TARD (I’m sure everyone on X-E is convinced I am one)
3. I don’t watch TV, ever. I rented a room in a house full of hippies 7 years ago, and they had not a single tv in a 6 bedroom house. I actually learned to live without the boob tube, and have not watched it since. (The only exception is when the University of Oregon Ducks have a football or basketball game on that I am not in attendance at; I am an alum and and a Duck sports fanatic!)
4. Being a UO Duck fan, I cannot wear or own ANYTHING that is orange. That is the color of the evil empire of livestock-raping hillbillies, Oregon State.
5. Wrote almost every writing assignment in college in reverse order (Final draft first, rough draft second with key points deleted and punctuation errors added, and outline last generalizing detailed points from the final draft. I majored in History and minored in journalism). I was always able to nail my best ideas on paper immediately, and only did the other two steps because they were required steps for most assignments. It worked out OK, I finished with a 2.9 GPA and finished in 5 years.

Ghosted by the politically correct concerned citizen Josh Ednoff @ 06/19/2007 9:39 AM EDT

Hah, awesome. I can honestly say that I share better than fifty percent of the quirks everyone listed. Crazy how that works out, innit?

I use the alarm on my phone to wake me in the morning. Before I go to sleep I check the alarm at least 5 times, if I wake up during the night I check to make sure the alarm is ok

Okay, so does anyone else have the opposite of this? If I set an alarm, no matter how tired I am, I always wake up five minutes before it goes off, disable it, and get up. In college I set my alarm almost every night, but only actually heard it twice. If I don’t have an alarm, I just have to “stamp” the time I need to get up into my brain (like when you’re trying to remember somebody’s phone number, so you do that instant of intense concentration that makes your brain feel like it pulses) and it works just as well. I haven’t found any of my friends who can do the same, but I read Steinbeck’s The Winter of Our Discontent this year, and the main character seemed to be able to do the same thing, and I was just wondering how common it was.

Ghosted by Jedoc @ 06/19/2007 9:44 AM EDT

Mary Mary

3. I am scared to death of huge, winged bugs.

I, myself, have a HUGE fear of katydids, not cicadas, not locusts, but katydids… those bright green leaf look-a-like bugs. I once physically snapped on a best friend because he thought I was exaggerating my “fear”. I remember him holding one between his fingers, and holding it out with the legs squiggling and coming at me, and next thing I know my brother is pulling me off of my best friend. I’m not a violent person and I love my friends and family, but at that moment my body literally had this feeling flush over it that my life was in danger and I reacted without thinking, just the same as you would if someone was coming at you with a knife. I know katydids are harmless, I see people pick them up and play with them all the time (they’re thick in numbers here in Oklahoma) and I don’t really know what it is I’m scared of, it might just be bright green color, or the fact that it looks like something it’s not (a leaf), though if it were that, I would be equally frightened of walking sticks. It’s a weird fear because I was always the kid chasing down snakes, who had and constantly handled 2 pet tarantulas as a kid, all without second thought.

Ghosted by fistpittingnork @ 06/19/2007 9:48 AM EDT

Man, we’re all nuts. :) Nice to know we all have so much weirdness in common! I really had to think hard about all the weird little stupid things I do…

1. I twist my hair around my finger when I’m tired, usually unconsciously. I’ve done this since I was a little kid. My hair is really fine, too, so a lot of times it gets tangled up and I end up with a big knot in my hair. Usually that’s the only time I notice I’ve been doing it.

2. I’m very much a creature of habit and routine. I get up and do the exact same things every morning in the exact same order. I always do laundry every two weeks on Sunday. Routine is very comforting to me and when my routine gets thrown off even by a little bit, I get anxious and spastic.

3. To tie into that a little, I’ve always been an obsessive planner. I’ve always made these huge grand plans for things that won’t even happen for months or even years, and I depend heavily on these plans, and then when things don’t work out like I planned, I hate it. Like, birthday parties when I was a kid, I’d plan out every activity we were going to do and when, or running errands on the weekends, I have to make a list of what I’m going to do in the order I’m going to do it. I guess I have quite a lot of anxiety, huh.

4. I don’t being wet. At all. Like, if I could find a way to get clean every day without needing to take a shower, I would never shower again. I hate getting caught in the rain, I hate swimming, and I have a paralyzing fear of being out on the water in a boat not because I’m afraid of drowning, but because I’m afraid the boat will capsize and I’ll get all wet in nasty lake/pond/whatever water with fish and seaweed touching me.

5. Bet a lot of you, especially Matt, can relate to this one: I’m a hoarder. I like to think of it as “collecting”, but I almost never throw anything away. I’ve gotten better about it over the years, as I’ve moved back and forth to college and out into my own apartment, but I seriously have shit I haven’t unpacked in the almost two years I’ve been living on my own that I refuse to throw away in the off chance I may want to use it someday. I have stationery I haven’t looked at since I was five, lotions and perfumes that are six years old and have never been opened, various craft supplies that I buy when I’m gung-ho about a certain project that I never end up completing and refuse to get rid of…I’m going to be one of those people who has stacks of newspaper all over their house and dies when one of the stacks crushes them.

Ghosted by Nicole @ 06/19/2007 10:20 AM EDT

Nork: I know that feeling. For me, the worst is moths…Big brown moths with enormous wings…I panic a little just thinking about them. Certain members of my family and some of my friends think it’s hilarious when I freak out at the sight of one… :-(

Ghosted by Mary Mary @ 06/19/2007 10:21 AM EDT

1)Bugs. I’m not afraid of them, they just affect me strangely. Just the mention of lice makes me start itching all over, and I wake up in the middle of the night quite regularly thinking there are bugs (or other vermin) on me or in my bed. I have serious sleep issues…
2)I’m not a picky eater, but I have psychological barriers. I can’t deal with expired food even one day past the date, even if it’s fine. Similarly, even if a food tastes good, I can’t eat it if the idea of it grosses me out. I’ve eaten/loved Caeser dressing for years, but I recently found out it has anchovies in it (much like Worcestershire sauce) and now I can’t go near it, not even the few brands that DON’T have anchovies listed as an ingredient.
3)I’m a completist. For music, if I’m really into an artist, I have to find EVERYTHING by them, even if it means the song is just going to sit on a hard drive and I never listen to it, otherwise my collection feels like it has a hole in it. I’m this way about my toy collection, too. I somehow feel I have to get everything even if it just sits in a box in another room and I don’t see it for years.
4)I can remember the birthdays of people from the earlier half of my life very easily, but I cannot retain that knowledge for anyone new I meet to save my life, even after I’ve known them for 5+ years and celebrated their birthdays every year.
5)I’ll drive like an hour out of the way to save a buck on something, or if I find an item a few bucks cheaper than I originally paid for it, I’ll purchase it again at the lower price and return it with the old receipt from when I first bought it at a higher price, yet I’m terrible at budgeting and saving money.

Ghosted by petrie @ 06/19/2007 10:30 AM EDT

IAmSeekingTheWay: I like coffee both hot and ice cold…but why is it that coffee that originally started off as hot but then became room temperature (which always feels strangely colder than just room temperature) is absolutely disgusting?

Ghosted by petrie @ 06/19/2007 10:33 AM EDT

hmm been a lurker here for years, this topic proved too intriguing to pass up.

1] Like someone before, I love the raw veggies… Broccoli, carrots, asparagus, etc… But I cannot stomach any veggies cooked ever. I have never eaten a cooked veggie in my life, the very idea makes me want to vomit.

2] I have never once eaten mayonaise, ketchup, mustard, salad dressing, bbq sauce, tobasco, hot sauce, worsteshire, or any condiment for that matter other than spices. Again, the notion of consuming any of these substances causes me to gag just thinking about them.

3] I can’t really eat any food that isn’t at least a little crunchy. Mashed potatoes, Bananas, pudding, soups, bleh. Can’t do it.

4] I am a compulsive tv show watcher, I get on one show and watch every episode in order until im done with the series… Even non-linear shows… I wont watch another show until Im done with the last… Sometimes watching 5 or 6 episodes of a show in a row in one sitting (lately its been Happy Days…. the Fonz rules!).

5] I sometimes sit at my desk with 4 computers going at once doing different things, and freak out if my wife asks to use one of them despite the fact I cannot possibly be reading 4 different web sites at once.

Ghosted by djspaceace @ 06/19/2007 10:37 AM EDT

1) I like cartoons and am unafraid to admit it.
2) I’m left handed too.
3) I often watch American movies in other languages with subtitles on.
4) I’ve written a 32 page story with Danny Phantom.
5) I listen to MST3K songs.

Ghosted by Ronnie @ 06/19/2007 10:41 AM EDT

Petrie: Hahaha! I dunno. When stuff sits out for a while, i think of the pudding/jello skin/film that…just grows on top of it from being out too long. That automatically removes all deliciousness from any substance. Is that a quirk too? Hahaha. For the record, i like hot coffee sometimes. But cold is always the #1. :)

Ghosted by IAmSeekingTheWay @ 06/19/2007 10:48 AM EDT

Wrote almost every writing assignment in college in reverse order (Final draft first, rough draft second with key points deleted and punctuation errors added, and outline last generalizing detailed points from the final draft.  I majored in History and minored in journalism).  I was always able to nail my best ideas on paper immediately, and only did the other two steps because they were required steps for most assignments.  It worked out OK, I finished with a 2.9 GPA and finished in 5 years.

I do the same thing, minus the additional drafting. I turn in my first shot on EVERYTHING, written the night before it is due. This saves me an amazing amount of time and leaves all but about 20 hours of my semester free and open for video games, movies, and music. You guys HAVE TO TRY THIS.

For reference, I finished my undergrad in 5 years but with a 3.9, so you can be successful at it!!

Ghosted by K- @ 06/19/2007 10:51 AM EDT

Another thing about me, that I’ve recently built up the courage to start sharing with people, is I think I’m a sexsomniac, I suffer from sleep sex. It’s not official as I haven’t been able to find a doctor who knows anything about it yet to officially classify me as such.

How can anyone suffer from sex you ask? I’ll explain. Doesn’t it sound cool to have sleep sex? Sounds cool, is it cool? No.

There were several times when my ex would tell me stories the next morning about how I was feeling her up or sticking my hand inside her underwear and even sometimes I’ve woke up and I’m in the middle of passionate business. It’s been going on for about 4 years now and there have been 2 other girls who have told me about it. These things happen in middle of the night and I remember nothing the next day.

Luckily, I’m an easy going person, I love sarcasm and I’m a huge pervert (not peeping through your windows pervert, but “HAHA! THAT POTATO LOOKS LIKE MY JOHN!” pervert). The 3 girls, including my ex, know me really well and we’re all close so it doesn’t bother them and they thought little of it.

But it bothers me… big time… For the longest time, actually from when it started until less than a year ago, I could find nothing on the subject online. I wasn’t sexually assaulted or abused as a child, so I knew that wasn’t the cause of it, but then I started stressing myself out hardcore thinking well maybe I’m a pervert, what if I grow up to be a rapist or something?! So it quickly went from being funny and hearing “haha you touched my boobies in your sleep last night” to me losing 10 lbs, feeling like I’m two steps away from a mental breakdown, too scared to tell anybody, too scared to meet a new girl, all because I thought I was turning into a rapist pervert and I couldn’t help it and had no idea how to stop it.

Finally I found an article in a mag about 8 months back that discussed it and gave some helpful links and information. It explained that less than 1% of the American population suffers from this, and even less percentage suffers from “sleep sex” like me rather than most of the people just masturbate in their sleep. It explained that it isn’t a pre-cursor to being a sexual predator, but a pre-cursor to muscle deterioration as odd as that sounds. It explains that it mostly happens in the first 2 hours of sleep, REM sleep, and has nothing to do with sex, that mentally, I’m asleep, which is why I have no obvious thought process or recollection, but my muscles are still wide awake.

I’ve been trying to find a Dr in Oklahoma who knows something about this but it’s lead to constant dead ends. I even saw the Montel Show was looking for sexsomniacs a few months back but couldn’t find enough patients to do a show about it so they ditched the idea.

I’m basiaclly using you guys as a test audience, sorry, I know it isn’t appropriate, my apologies go to Matt and X-E readers who might be offended, but I’ve only recently built up enough courage to talk about it and I’m yet to tell my parents. So far, only my brother, 3 friends, and you guys know… I’m scared my friends and family might not fully believe me. I’m a confident person and I’m for the most part happy with who I am, but when it comes to that, I can’t handle the people I’m close with judging me.

So, again, sorry to spew, but I appreciate anybody who actually took the time to read that.

Nicole

The ex I mentioned in this post twirls her hair around her finger constantly, and supposedly it’s related somehow to trichotillomania, which is where you literally pull your hair out, but obviously in the case with you and her, it’s not that extreme.

Ghosted by fistpittingnork @ 06/19/2007 10:56 AM EDT

fistpittingnork, I just looked up trichotillomania on Wikipedia and it makes a lot of sense to me. I’ve been discovering lately just how much anxiety I’ve dealt with my whole life and this seems like just another piece of the puzzle. Thankfully I don’t yank out my hair, though…ouch! And, thank you for sharing something so personal with us all…it sounds scary and I can understand why you’d be so upset. I’m glad you’re discovering something about what it is, though, and that it’s easing your mind about it some. My ex had a bad habit of whacking me in the face, arm, leg, whatever body part he could reach, in his sleep as he was flailing about. Once I honestly thought he broke my nose, and all I could think in my pained half-sleep state was that I was going to have to go to the hospital and then explain to my dad that my boyfriend hit me in his sleep…yeah right, he’d say. Lol. :)

Ghosted by Nicole @ 06/19/2007 11:16 AM EDT

1) If there are tomatoes in a sandwich I’m eating and they fall out, I won’t touch them. I hate tomatoes, and will only eat them in something that masks their taste (or lack thereof).
2) I can’t blow bubbles with gum.
3) I have written two chapters of a Watership Down/Star Wars crossover (and done artwork to coincide with it).
4) I smell EVERYTHING I touch. I’ll be in a store and pick up a shirt, a pencil, a book, anything, and smell it.
5) I can’t look at guys in shorts, regardless of how wonderful their legs are.

Ghosted by nina @ 06/19/2007 11:33 AM EDT

1.Trichotillomania(under control, I ain’t bald yet)
2.I can’t stand to look at people with lazy or glass eyes. I need symmetry if I’m gonna make eye contact
3.I make a really wierd noise when I yawn, like burping in.
4.I can burp louder longer and deeper than anyone I’ve met or seen on TV, was a point of pride till I was 15 or 16 then I realized this was not going to get me laid.
5.I remember names REALLY easily, so people I met once 5 years ago tend to think I’m a creepy stalker when I bump into them again years later.

Ghosted by vanbilderass @ 06/19/2007 11:37 AM EDT

There are some good ones on here. I’ll try not to repeat any.

1) Can’t pee if anyone else is in the room. This is particularly troublesome at sporting events.

2) Terrified of heights. When my friends moved into a sixth floor apt, I had to literally crawl out onto the balcony the first couple of weeks.

3) I’ll shuffle a deck of cards, put them in order, and repeat. No deck of cards of mine is ever put away out of order.

4) I can name every principle character and the actor that played them in pretty much every show I’ve ever watched. I won a trivia contest for naming the seven actors on Gilligan’s Island off the top of my head.

5) High pitched tones drive me absolutely batshit. A fork across a plate can bring me to my knees in agony.

I too loved the Robot Chicken Star Wars Special. The finale was just awesome.

Ghosted by Chris Martin @ 06/19/2007 11:39 AM EDT

“the opposite of scottish is irish” – DarthPez

I am Scottish AND Irish! Gaaaa – (Evaporates in a puff of logic.)

Ghosted by Ness @ 06/19/2007 11:39 AM EDT

K-

I don’t do ice either. The only time I do ice is at home and I’m making a glass of freshly made kool-aid that hasn’t had time to cool in the fridge. Other than that, fountains drinks are always cold enough so I never get/need ice and always ask for no ice in drive-throughs. Most of the time they’ll fill it to the brim too so I get an extra gulp or two over the fans of ice…. suckers!

When it comes to frost in a freezer, or on the body/windshield of a car, I can’t touch it. I can’t watch or hear other people touch it either. It sends chills through my body just like nails on a chalkboard do to most other people, but nails on a chalkboard don’t bother me.

I can’t stand to have dried out hands or chapped lips. I’m probably the reason Burt’s Bees stays in business. I always have Burt’s Bees chapstick, almond milk hand creme, and carrot lotion on hand. The chapstick never leaves my pocket except at night when it set it on my nightstand. My house has both hand creme and lotion, my truck has it’s own travel size carrot lotion, and my work also has both hand cremes and lotions. For that reason, I never wash my hands after using a public bathroom because that neon pink smells-like-shit soap dries my hands out and I can’t stand it. I always have hand sanitizer gel and I use it instead, and then apply lotion. I deal with a lot of paperwork, and the one thing that is worse than the feeling of my dry hands touching any cloth or denim is my dry hands touching paper.

I’m not afraid of the dark, yet when I’m leaving a room a night, I put my hand on the light switch and I will wait to turn the light off until my finger can no longer stay in contact with the switch. I hate having my back turned to a dark, empty room.

spaz307

I, too, can’t stand mayo, but can’t get enough Miracle Whip.

Ghosted by fistpittingnork @ 06/19/2007 11:47 AM EDT

Aw man I left out good ones!

I am terrified of airplanes, rollercoasters, some bugs, heights in general, being buried alive/locked in a closet, I HATE riding in cars when I’m not driving(maybe everyone I know drives like an idiot) I don’t like talking to people I don’t know as such I don’t meet alot of people, I’ve never lived more than 8 miles from the hospital I was born in… and I’m fucking weird.

Ghosted by vanbilderass @ 06/19/2007 11:49 AM EDT

OH and I can’t touch cardboard. ever

Ghosted by vanbilderass @ 06/19/2007 11:50 AM EDT

My quirk is that I write “ad libs” on newspaper pictures. Like for example, they have pictures of that DA Nifong who got disbarred on the front page of every newspaper so I “add” a little thought balloon next to his picture & put something like, “Gee I wonder if McDonalds is hiring.” or “I am SO royally screwed!”

Ghosted by Larry @ 06/19/2007 12:00 PM EDT

I’m going to start getting charged for posting if I don’t slow down.

But,…

I shower in the dark.

I brush my teeth for 5 minutes, never any less. If I run out of toothpaste during that session, I’ll rinse off my toothbrush, rinse my mouth out, and apply more toothpaste and brush for the remainder of the 5-minute session.

Fox and the Hound (where Todd is left in the woods) and Terry Jacks “Seasons in the Sun” made me cry as a child.

I have to have a certain craving for chocolate. Very rarely will I ever eat plain chocolate, once a year maybe. Other than that, my chocolate has to have caramel, peanuts, walnuts, pecans, almonds, and/or peanut butter in it, but I don’t like Milky Ways or 3 Musketeers… too plain even though it’s more than just chocolate. I can’t stand plain chocolate cake or chocolate ice cream, but I fucking LOVE chocolate milk.

Ghosted by fistpittingnork @ 06/19/2007 12:02 PM EDT

Best. Thread. Ever.

Ghosted by Mystie @ 06/19/2007 12:12 PM EDT

1) I’m a huge animation buff, so that’s about all I watch.

2) I constantly have cool ideas but don’t follow through on them.

3) I never had a pet until last summer (I’m 21)

4) I don’t like to drink water through a straw.

5) I appreciate the Muppets on a much deeper level than you do.

Ghosted by Tommy Day (not tommy) @ 06/19/2007 12:35 PM EDT

I’m looking forward to the transformer movie a lot. I am concerned that they will preview the movie to death though. I seen way to many of them that have different content. As such I refuse to watch any more of them. Despite the fact that I have read the book.

Quirks:
As mentioned, I read the movie adaption to a lot of movies, many times before seeing the movie. It does not ruin it for me but I keep my mouth shut to others.

I pace when I talk on the phone. Room to room, it drives my wife crazy.

The only things that I will eat that are green are salad, green beans and pees. the last two only if they are canned. If the food is normally not green and food coloring is added I won’t eat that either.

Ghosted by Wenthral @ 06/19/2007 12:36 PM EDT

So many of yours reminded me of some of mine. I guess I now have to narrow it down and be ever so thankful that none of you actually know me personally so I don’t have to look you in the eye after admitting these things.

1) This is probably the biggest (and longest.) When I was a kid I spent a lot of time alone and I had a vast imaginary world. It ran the gamut from imagining a hidden country where I was a TV/pop star to imagining that the Christmas lights were living entities that hibernated in the attic and woke up for the holidays to imagining that my body was actually a little factory and that it was run by tiny little people. I spent countless hours imagining these things in astonishing detail. The thing is, they became so ingrained in me that I haven’t been able to fully let them go. I don’t spend the time on it I did when I was a kid, but, for example, every Christmas I still think of my “friends” and do the math to think of how old their kids would be now, or I sometimes walk around the house imagining myself giving in an interview about my career. And if a thought crosses my mind about any of these worlds that doesn’t quite make sense to me, I’ll sit down and write it out until it does (my pretend worlds have to have some sort of logic) and I keep all these papers hidden in the garage with all my crap that my husband doesn’t go near. It’s embarrassing to me to still think about this stuff, but I honestly can’t help it. I’m so afraid I’m going to die unexpectedly and my family’s going to go through my stuff and find my secret shame.

2) I have to buy “Your Prom” every year. The first issue came out in 1992 and I loved looking at all the sparkly dresses so I convinced my mom to get it for me. I about wore it out looking at it so much, so imagine my excitement when they did it again the next year (and the next, and the next…) Now I’m almost 28 and when I see the new issue at the checkout, I can’t help it. I feel 13 again and I just have to have it. Oh yeah, and I have to keep them all.

3)When I look at a word, I like to dissect it. It started when I was in middle school and took to reading everything backwards, now I just see what words (real or imaginary-but-cool-sounding) I can make out of any given word.

4)I like the feeling of rubbing the tip of my pinky nail across the ridges of my thumb and do it all the time. I hate it when my nails are freshly cut and the nail doesn’t extend far enough past my finger tip to do that.

5)When I’m thinking intensely, I tend to chew my tongue. I don’t even realize I’m doing it. Teachers always thought I had gum.

Ghosted by Lori @ 06/19/2007 12:38 PM EDT

1) I didn’t learn how to drive until I was 19.
2) I love soundtrack music, including Disney songs.
3) I sleep with a certain pillow that I use to put over my face or just hold it and I can’t sleep without it. I’ve even smuggled it into a carry-on bag on a plane.
4) My food can’t touch each other on the plate or I won’t eat it.
5) I can’t stand to have dry hands it actually hurts! I carry a bottle of lotion with me wherever I go and have to put it on whenever I wash my hands.

Ghosted by Jen @ 06/19/2007 12:50 PM EDT

I love this thread sooo much. Here’s five more of mine…

6.- Joining the “no mayo” club. I cannot eat if I’m sitting across from someone who uses mayonnaise. I hate it that much. If I order something and it comes with mayo, it’s either sent back or thrown away. There is no room for discussion or debate on this subject. Similarly, if I order a platter that comes with that little paper cup full of coleslaw, and the coleslaw spills over even slightly onto anything else on the platter…it’s buhbye platter.

7.- I put on Friday the 13th movies at night much for the same reason people put on CDs full of white noise and ocean sound effects.

8.- I am extremely polite to toll booth operators, probably more so than to any other group of people on the planet. And this is for absolutely no real reason. I feel no kinship.

9.- When I think about what animals I’m obsessed with — sharks, squids, spiders and whatnot — I realize that they’re animals that I’m deathly afraid of, without exception. I don’t give a shit about lions or tigers or bears or whatever…is it because I have no rational fear of them?

10.- I’ve been a webmaster for nearly a decade, and yet, I don’t know how Bit Torrent works, don’t know what an RSS feed really is, and can barely change the html for font sizes without blowing up half the servers in Kentucky. Speaking of which, I’m not really sure what a server is. I kind of consider it as a gigantic external hard drive.

Ghosted by Matt @ 06/19/2007 12:51 PM EDT

* I Talk in my sleep. Loud, apparently.
* I can’t sleep unless I do a Sudoku or play with a Transformer first. Otherwise I have terrible insomnia.
* I absorb trivia like a sponge- particularly of the completely useless variety.
* I will pick up random things and play with them (pens, straws, batteries)
* I will buy stuff I don’t need or even want if it’s at a reasonable price, my room is full to bursting with useless junk that I got for less than a buck apiece.

Ghosted by Nightboomfer @ 06/19/2007 1:06 PM EDT

“I am extremely polite to toll booth operators”

Me too!! Why? I also have no idea…

Ghosted by Mary Mary @ 06/19/2007 1:07 PM EDT

Man, this thread is better than therapy!

1. I’m right handed, but when I eat, I usually just keep the fork in my left hand. That way, I can keep shoveling without having to put down my knife.

2. A dog in pain is my worst nightmare. I cannot tolerate the squeaking noise, the whimpering, anything. If I flip past Animal Precinct on Animal Planet and see one sad looking dog, I cry.

3. I constantly find myself lining up the objects at my cube so they are straight/parallel with each other.

4. I drink everything through a straw. Coffee, tea, milk, beer, alcohol, soda, you name it. The Starbucks in my building automatically gives me a straw in my grande coffee each morning.

5. I refuse to step on manholes and grates on the sidewalk and street.

However, like Stuart Smalley I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me! :)

Ghosted by eliza @ 06/19/2007 1:20 PM EDT

I had to add this because i’m surprised no one has posted it yet.

After using the bathroom, i was my hands thoroughly, then roll down the paper towel with my elbow, dry off my hands, then open the door with aforementioned paper towel to make sure my clean hands never come in contact all the accumulation of things in the restroom (i’m sure you can imagine). If there is no trash can for me to dispose of the towel near the vicinity of the door, i just drop it on the floor. It’s terrible, but they should put a trashcan near the door for people who don’t want pee hands.

Ghosted by IAmSeekingTheWay @ 06/19/2007 1:20 PM EDT

I….
-Don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t drug, what do I do?
-Have relatively few movies on DVD and video, due to….
-My ability to absorb and retain information in large chunks, but the downside is I replay the info back in large chunks, making me seem like a bigger nerd/geek than I usually am.
-Anything beyond simple addition/subtraction makes my brain bleed.
-MELTING GRIMACE!

*Bonus Quirk* If I ever get the courage to get a tattoo, it will be a Green Lantern symbol on my right ring finger, even if I get a real replica Power Ring. I even have my own oath made up.

Ghosted by kingklash @ 06/19/2007 1:25 PM EDT

I was half asleep when I posted my quirks and I don’t feel like I was totally honest. Here’s some more…
- I always introduce myself to people who wear name tags.
- When I take my shoes off, they have to face the same way as if they were on my feet.
- If I turn in a complete circle I feel it necessary to reverse it by spinning in the opposite direction.
- I go insane when other people chew their ice.
- When I am sick I watch “What about Bob”
- I fly for a living but i can not drive stick shift. very embarrassing.

Ghosted by Bill @ 06/19/2007 1:27 PM EDT

1- obsessed with ‘The Joker’ from Batman. He has been my ‘power animal’ ever since I was little.

2- I talk to myself sometimes

3- After getting out of the shower I dry my hair by putting a hat on for an hour or so.

4- Come October I suddenly love Apple Cider more than any other drink. The rest of the year, ‘meh’

5- Sometimes I impulsively cut my hair, just a snip.

Ghosted by Joker @ 06/19/2007 1:30 PM EDT

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