Weird, Secret Habits and Quirks
I can read words backwards and upside-down. I use this skill to slow down when reading if I need to concentrate on something boring or technical. I have also used a mirror to do the same thing.
I kill watches, especially if worn on the left wrist. Especially digital watches. Non-digital watches worn on the right wrist fare better. I prefer asymmetry. If I wear a watch on one wrist, the other needs to be bare or have three bangles. If I wear one ring on one hand, the other must have none or two or three. My fingers are so small that I often wear toe rings on my pinky and ring fingers. I own a lot of rings that have gimmicks, like poison rings that have secret compartments or rings with moving parts or that interlock.
I am so repulsed by coconut that I avoid going to the beach or pools because most sunscreens smell like coconut. I once kept smelling coconut in a boyfriend's house and beelined to a teeny, tiny stub of a white coconut-scented candle that a previous tenant had left hidden on top of a doorframe. He'd been living in the same place for more than ten years and had no idea it was there. Yes, despite occasionally smoking clove cigarettes, I have a great sense of smell.
I also avoid going to beaches and pools because I dislike perspiring. A lot. Oddly, though, I don't naturally sweat much, probably because my body temperature is typically slightly below normal.
I have a signature perfume that was last manufactured in the US twenty years ago. I have to buy it online in bulk. In fairness, though, there aren't any other powder-based floriental scents out there.
I prefer shoes that don't need to be laced up. I refuse to wear white socks in public, unless I also have on boots covering them up.
I eat one food item at a time on my plate. When I cook for myself, I tend to make just one thing. A bowl of vegetables. A single pasta dish, no sides. A bowl of oatmeal. Complexity in meals is worth paying for, but not worth bothering to do for myself. One burner on the stove at a time is enough. I also bake much better than I cook.
I also tend to eat things that come in various colours, like M&Ms or jujubes or whatever, one color at a time. Sometimes I count which colour has the fewest, eat the colour that has the most and then the next most so I have the same number in all colours, and then eat them all in order of least to most favourite colour. (I'm getting over this, though.)
My current abode is fairly small (well, the floor I live on is) so I do almost everything on my bed. Eat, work, Intarweebz, read, watch TV (now on computer), you name it. If it doesn't involve bathroom activities, I'm sitting on my bed. I have an extra comforter to cover up the one I actually sleep under.
After I have been sick, I sometimes get the urge to shave and/or exfoliate everything from the neck down. Everything. (On the plus side, smooth skin!)
I like tiny things. When I was little, I made entire houses smaller in width and length than a deck of cards. No roof, or a removable one, but walls, doors, windows, tiny people, furniture. I am fascinated by people who carve things out of grains of rice.
As a kid, I liked Barbie accessories more than the dolls themselves. If the dolls had ornate hairstyles, I never changed them. I typically picked one outfit I liked best and left the dolls dressed in it. I did not like superdeformed dolls with big heads (Little Kiddles or Bratz come to mind), or long limbs (like Rockflowers?), or dolls with glass eyes (Happy Family?) nor did I like any rag dolls or baby dolls. Dawn dolls were even better than Barbies because they were half as tall and had real eyelashes and Mod clothes. Sadly, I could never have any of my own when I was growing up, so I bought some as an adult.
One vivid childhood memory is the neighbor who had a Beatles scrapbook she'd kept as a teenager. I was always talking to adults about music. Other kids were listening to whatever was on the radio, and I was begging to hear more Tom Lehrer / Allan Sherman, Robert Cray, doowop and Patsy Cline. I was a weird kid.
When I lived in a bigger place by myself, I would usually move all my furniture around and do REALLY anal-retentive deep cleaning once a month or so. I finally figured out that this meant my period would start the next day. I had to cut this habit out when I lived with others, though I did occasionally rearrange my own room.
I suffer when it gets cold, which, for me, is below 65oF, but I prefer autumn and winter.
I stockpile food in my pantry and freezer, and toiletries in my bathroom. I suspect this is a behavior left over from when I was dirt poor and always worried about my next meal or running out of toilet paper or something.
I am not grossed out by forensic photographs or images of nasty genetic disorders, something I learned when I worked as a medical librarian. If you've seen one guy who blew half his face off with a shotgun but lived, or a dead baby with cycloplegia, or a paranoid schizophrenic who self-enucleated an eye with a dozen kitchen utensils, or a severe case of vitamin A deficiency or topical cocaine use that made an eye look like a hole with a cylinder of salt in the middle, or a guy who played chicken with a freight train and most of him lost the battle, well, geez, let me tell you, at that point you've seen them all. Also? Yuck.
My manicure is always neutral, like a French tip. My pedicure is usually something bizarre and unnatural. Right now it is fairly normal, just a glittery dark red color. It has been navy blue, powder lavender, metallic gold, etc.
Chocolate espresso beans turn me into a madwoman, prone to surreal flights of fancy. Neither chocolate nor caffeine alone does this. Friends have sent me chocolate espresso beans in the post just to see what happens when I get a hold of them.
I can set a mental alarm and wake up at the desired time. I don't always remember to do it, but when I do, it works.
I frequently look at digital clocks and then find out it is 3:33 or 11:11 or 12:34.
I also have not had a nightmare in twenty years. I got annoyed after a week-long bout of ever-increasingly horrific ones and yelled, out loud, at my subconscious to knock it off and start trying to resolve problems in a more effective manner when I am awake, because I already don't sleep much (not insomnia, just not a long sleeper these days; I often go a day or two without any). My biorhythm is apparently not set in 8 / 8 / 8 cycles like most people (work / play and non-work / sleep), but more like 24 or 30 (work / non-work) and 4 to 6 (sleep). This plays havoc with a normal schedule, as eventually I have to be awake when I should be asleep according to my internal clock, or vice versa.
I can sleep anywhere, at any time. I have slept through fire drills, two hurricanes, a tree coming through the roof, and so on. Lights? Noise? Don't care. When I sleep, I am serious about it. I also wake up in the same position I fell asleep in, and tend to have a lower than normal body temperature, which has led roommates and boyfriends to hold a mirror under my nose to make sure I wasn't actually dead. Only thing that wakes me up is being physically shaken or having someone I don't know or don't trust entering the room I am asleep in, something I discovered in college. A crazy hallmate would occasionally do the "knock and not wait to be asked to come in" entrance deal, or not even bother to knock first, and I would wake up once she was fully inside the room. Other hallmates could have a loud party in the room and if I felt the need to sleep, I'd just sleep blissfully through it all. The downside is that I had to learn to set an internal alarm clock, or learn to acknowledge the beeper of my electric alarm clock, otherwise I'd sleep through the noise, even if it woke up everyone in the room and both rooms on either side. D'oh!
I can roll my tongue three ways. Up, down, sideways.
I find it hard to get rid of useful things, even if they are no longer useful to me. I'd rather give stuff away than sell it. Thus I have given away a stereo, a TV set, action figures ("Spare Paul"), books, dishes, clothes, shoes, and so on.
If I see an ambulance, I pause to wish the person inside well. This beats being annoyed, because I live near three hospitals and ambulances stop traffic a lot.
I can befriend any cat I meet. This holiday, I had all four of my friend's cats following me around and fighting over which would sleep on the foot of my bed at night. My friend was ticked, because none of them will ever sleep on her bed. I also can get ferrets to cuddle, which is not easy. She was agog that mine would come to me seeking lap time. Before I left, I had several of hers wanting cuddles, too. I never rode horses more than once or twice, and never was particularly "horse crazy: like other young girls, but I lived near a stable when I grew up, and had pony and horse buddies I would sneak sugar and carrots to. Later on I found that Old Joe, blind in one eye, had severely bitten or kicked almost everyone else who got near him. (I do not have any particular magic power with dogs.)
For rabidgod:
Me holding Mr Woozle and his girlfriends, Fannie and Jane.
My friend Donna's business of ferrets, enjoying "Duck Soup." (The bald one has adrenal disease.)
I make mnemonics out of car license plates when I am bored in traffic. I make anagrams out of phrases on billboards. I proofread graffiti. Whereas I wouldn't ever write on a bathroom stall wall first, I have been inspired to correct stuff that is already there.
Rhythmic noises like a washing machine often make me hum along or compose rhymes, neither of which I notice immediately.
I have collapsible arches and flexible ankles and have never had a sprain. I have, however, managed to fall on the side of my foot with all my weight several times. Normal people would have a broken ankle. I can also do the kiba dache or whatever (horse stance?) in karate, which basically involves putting your feet as close to your armpits as possible while lying on your back on the floor. I also find it easier to sit frog style (knees together, legs on outside) rather than Indian style (knees out at angles, legs inside).
I will try almost any food once. I have had snake, donkey, rabbit, squirrel, buffalo, eel, squid, octopus, snail, frog, and god knows what else I've forgotten. I also like vegetables most people dislike, such as broccoli, lima beans, zucchini, etc. Despite this omnivorousness, I am also oddly picky and dislike most condiments, even ketchup or gravies, and won't touch mushrooms of any kind. I also go through phases where I won't eat bread, like buns or rolls.
I dislike food with nuts in it, but actually like nuts alone. I don't like most grainy or soggy or lumpy food. I prefer my drinks to be cold and my food to be hot, though I occasionally break the rule and have hot tea. Never coffee.
I dislike beer and wine but am fond of vodka. Despite drinking the hard stuff, I have never had a hangover.
I am extremely resistant to narcotics. This is a bummer when I have to be put under. This was first noticed when I had to have my tonsils out and I was still wide awake and alert on the gurney when being wheeled to the OR. When I got my wisdom teeth out, I repeatedly regained consciousness throughout the procedure, which sucked because they were trying to bash teeth out of my extremely narrow jaw with a chisel or some such, and it took massive doses to put me under in the first place. I then shook off most of the effects after less than 30 minutes in the recovery room, instead of the several hours it was supposed to take. As a bonus, I'm slightly anaemic, so I bled like a stuck pig for hours and hours before it finally began to clot. Fun times! As compensation, I supposedly have a high pain tolerance.
I have always had weird pets. The oddest might have been the mole. Some are just odd personality-wise, doing things they aren't supposed to be able to learn how to do, or being extremely mellow, or having a good sense about the trustworthiness of any new people (which isn't too unusual, actually, especially in dogs). As a child, I'd pick up almost any creature, even poisonous skinks and snakes, crabs, pillbugs and bees. I never got bitten or stung. I picked up wild baby rabbits and birds more than once until someone said it might scare the parents off if my scent was on them. I caught fish by hand in the neighborhood creek. The only creatures I am not keen on and won't pick up are wasps, spiders and roaches, though I did handle a cousin's tarantula. I am more than a little phobic of roaches.
I watch TV with closed captioning, though I am not deaf. I just prefer reading to telly, so that gets me to read. I then proofread the captions. (There are some dumbass captioners out there.)
I am a serial obsessive. Most of my interests only amuse me for a few hours or weeks and then I am bored. When I get a new topic to research, I read entire websites / books about it. This week I read probably ten anti-Scientology websites. Now I'm bored with those loonburgers. I pick up books on subjects I have no interest in if I don't know much about the subject. This also means I know at least a little about a lot of things and topics that I probably have no reason to know.
I occasionally put money in parking meters that are about to expire. I also have been known to pick up other people's litter and discard it, and to restock toilet paper in public restrooms.
I almost failed typing in middle school, but my WPM speed was faster than the teacher's. I just don't use the right fingers to type. Same with piano. I can sight read and play fairly intricate pieces after a brief practice session, but my fingering choices are bizarre. I also hold my pen funny and got my knuckles rapped on a regular basis and had shitty handwriting. (I also hold my cigarettes funny, apparently.) Years later I figured out that I was holding it like a paintbrush or stipple pen, and I also learned calligraphy. I went through a phase where I wrote all my class notes in a modified gothic font. I also went through a "fountain pens only" phase.
I learned handwriting analysis on a lark and then correctly noted that a new classmate had a bad left knee just by looking at his handwriting. Despite that, it is still not something I consider a hard science by any means.
I've also tarot cards since I was 11, and once read "blind" for strangers over IRC, asking them not to tell me anything but their login name (since I couldn't avoid knowing that). Without knowing gender, their question, their age, where they were from, et cetera, out of 60 readings, 59 claimed I was "dead on". Makes you think. (Then again, some people put a lot of stock in newspaper horoscope sections, too.)
I used to try to walk in patterns or on specific coloured tiles. I think I am less OCD or just don't have time to indulge in this sort of thing any more.
I am trained in reiki (second degree) and occasionally can be nagged to do energy work on people.
I've had acupuncture and had no problem bopping around with needles stuck in various parts of my body. (Some smaller ones can be left in, perhaps on the inner curve of the ear, and work themselves out after a while.) I do not, however, have anything pierced but my ears. I would prefer to get another piercing than to ever get a tattoo.
I prefer odd numbers. If I buy a dozen roses, for example, I have to part them out in a group of five and seven or something similar.
I arrange loose bills in my wallet by denomination and orientation. I also used to use a thin metal credit card holder as a wallet.
I have never lost my keys, mobile phone, wallet, expensive pens, umbrellas, gloves, hats, eyeglasses, scarves, or eyeglasses. This, despite having no particular assigned place for them, and despite being prone to collecting large piles of mail, books, you name it. I tend to carry a lot of useful weird crap in my purse. I could probably survive for a few days, or in most emergencies, as long as I had my purse. I used to carry a tiny box of dhoop incense sticks and votives around and use them whenever the mood struck. I usually have something sugary in my purse, thanks to hypoglycaemia, and gum, because I worry about smoker's breath and yellow teeth. If I don't want to carry a purse, I can reduce my needs to a handful of items that can fit in a small pants pocket.
I also carry makeup in my purse, but rarely bother to look in mirrors or touch it up. My skin sees sun so rarely that most foundations and coverups are too dark, even the lightest commercially available. One of my favourite and most often complemented purses is a red Duplo bunny bag, which is what the large-size LEGOs for toddlers came in years ago. I paid a quarter for it at a thrift.
I very rarely wear a skirt, and even more rarely have bare ankles. My legs are not bad--I was a Hanes leg model ages ago and still have more tights than any one human needs--so I don't know why I do this. I also don't like belts, crew-neck sweaters, sweat suit pants with elastic ankles, hoodies, tank tops, ponchos, wooly winter hats, mittens, low-rise pants, tube tops, or capris. I don't like logos on things and only recently would wear patterns or t-shirts with words (band names, mostly) on them. Tags in my clothes bother me so much I tend to cut them out. I tend to wear mostly black clothes with either something sparkly or a bright colour jacket or top. My underwear must match. I will not wear yellow gold or copper or pewter jewelry.
I know ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) and used to know origami. I still know some exotic napkin folds. The Bird of Paradise fold is a favourite. Sometimes I will fold my used napkin into a Bird of Paradise when I am finished with a meal and stuff it into an empty glass. I also stack used dishes in all but the most formal restaurants (to help the server) and try to tip in cash, even if I charge my meal (because of taxes; servers get paid $2.01 an hour and all credit tips are taxed at the maximum rate, but if the server has a slow night, he or she can choose to claim slightly less income to even it out while still being legally in the clear as long as they claim at least a certain percentage of sales). I also overtip slightly or grossly, depending on service.
My idea of labour-saving is other people's idea of weird. I bought black feathered wings in New Orleans weeks before Hallowe'en. They were bulky to carry, so I wore them instead. Everywhere. Even on the trollies. With leopard-print jeans. Then I forgot I had them on and wondered why people were staring at me.
I could easily take a several-hour-long bath, especially if I had a book to read.
I have several friends and acquaintances in the "adult services" business, including a stripper / techno musician, ex-prostitute / performance artist and folk artist, a couple who shoots porn in the woods behind their house (or so I am told), a door guy for the stroke booth section in a sex aid shop / computer guru / photographer, a septuagenarian couple who did "naked poetry" (tandem yoga and spoken word; the wife died recently of breast cancer, which was sad), two drag queens (a doctor and (I think) a tech guy at Earthlink), a mess of swingers, and I've met Dolores French (prostitute advocate in Atlanta) and Annie Sprinkle (ex-prostitute / performance artist / feminist / lecturer). I know several drug dealers, and that is their only full-time job. I also have participated in performance art shows like Nudity, Not Bombs (though I declined to be naked myself, I know what about 80% of my friends and acquaintances look like naked or in body paint). I have more friends that are not into these things, but it is perhaps odd that I know or know of or have met so many people who are. I am also relieved that they don't bug me to join in.
I like stationery, but rarely write snail mail letters anymore. I am never sure what the current price of a postage stamp is. I also like office supplies, even though I do not work in an office.
I am known for my consolidation skills. Whenever someone in my family is about to travel and I am nearby, I get tapped to pack their suitcases for them.
I attempt to be fair, even when it really screws me over personally. When I volunteered for the Democratic party to sign up voters, I was more concerned that people vote than who they voted for.
I like sets of things. If I like a particular author who writes a series, I like their books to be together and with the same art style on the covers. I alphabetize my vinyl albums and CDs, and chronologically arrange my magazines and graphic novels. I used to collect stamps for this reason. Since I can't afford, say, every Red Dwarf DVD, I don't buy any. I'll save up and get them all at once or not at all. I like pinback buttons, even though I rarely wear them.
I have a guitar but do not know how to play it. One day....
I find it difficult to use things that come in exquisite packaging. The health food store sells wrapped scented soaps with an obi-like paper band and a gold foil accent. I have to buy two, one to keep wrapped and one to use. I have a lot of candles, but I like how they look when they are new, so I have to keep duplicates of everything I use. I keep boxes my software came in. If the shrinkwrap on a CD has a promotional sticker, I cut it off the shrinkwrap and stick it inside the liner notes.
Apropos of nothing, I will post a picture of my niece, Johanna. (Otherwise, I am typically unimpressed with babies in general.)
Look. Iz bebe.
What are some of your weird habits and quirks?
BTW, the "Pillage The Village" game I refer to below is here.
I kill watches, especially if worn on the left wrist. Especially digital watches. Non-digital watches worn on the right wrist fare better. I prefer asymmetry. If I wear a watch on one wrist, the other needs to be bare or have three bangles. If I wear one ring on one hand, the other must have none or two or three. My fingers are so small that I often wear toe rings on my pinky and ring fingers. I own a lot of rings that have gimmicks, like poison rings that have secret compartments or rings with moving parts or that interlock.
I am so repulsed by coconut that I avoid going to the beach or pools because most sunscreens smell like coconut. I once kept smelling coconut in a boyfriend's house and beelined to a teeny, tiny stub of a white coconut-scented candle that a previous tenant had left hidden on top of a doorframe. He'd been living in the same place for more than ten years and had no idea it was there. Yes, despite occasionally smoking clove cigarettes, I have a great sense of smell.
I also avoid going to beaches and pools because I dislike perspiring. A lot. Oddly, though, I don't naturally sweat much, probably because my body temperature is typically slightly below normal.
I have a signature perfume that was last manufactured in the US twenty years ago. I have to buy it online in bulk. In fairness, though, there aren't any other powder-based floriental scents out there.
I prefer shoes that don't need to be laced up. I refuse to wear white socks in public, unless I also have on boots covering them up.
I eat one food item at a time on my plate. When I cook for myself, I tend to make just one thing. A bowl of vegetables. A single pasta dish, no sides. A bowl of oatmeal. Complexity in meals is worth paying for, but not worth bothering to do for myself. One burner on the stove at a time is enough. I also bake much better than I cook.
I also tend to eat things that come in various colours, like M&Ms or jujubes or whatever, one color at a time. Sometimes I count which colour has the fewest, eat the colour that has the most and then the next most so I have the same number in all colours, and then eat them all in order of least to most favourite colour. (I'm getting over this, though.)
My current abode is fairly small (well, the floor I live on is) so I do almost everything on my bed. Eat, work, Intarweebz, read, watch TV (now on computer), you name it. If it doesn't involve bathroom activities, I'm sitting on my bed. I have an extra comforter to cover up the one I actually sleep under.
After I have been sick, I sometimes get the urge to shave and/or exfoliate everything from the neck down. Everything. (On the plus side, smooth skin!)
I like tiny things. When I was little, I made entire houses smaller in width and length than a deck of cards. No roof, or a removable one, but walls, doors, windows, tiny people, furniture. I am fascinated by people who carve things out of grains of rice.
As a kid, I liked Barbie accessories more than the dolls themselves. If the dolls had ornate hairstyles, I never changed them. I typically picked one outfit I liked best and left the dolls dressed in it. I did not like superdeformed dolls with big heads (Little Kiddles or Bratz come to mind), or long limbs (like Rockflowers?), or dolls with glass eyes (Happy Family?) nor did I like any rag dolls or baby dolls. Dawn dolls were even better than Barbies because they were half as tall and had real eyelashes and Mod clothes. Sadly, I could never have any of my own when I was growing up, so I bought some as an adult.
One vivid childhood memory is the neighbor who had a Beatles scrapbook she'd kept as a teenager. I was always talking to adults about music. Other kids were listening to whatever was on the radio, and I was begging to hear more Tom Lehrer / Allan Sherman, Robert Cray, doowop and Patsy Cline. I was a weird kid.
When I lived in a bigger place by myself, I would usually move all my furniture around and do REALLY anal-retentive deep cleaning once a month or so. I finally figured out that this meant my period would start the next day. I had to cut this habit out when I lived with others, though I did occasionally rearrange my own room.
I suffer when it gets cold, which, for me, is below 65oF, but I prefer autumn and winter.
I stockpile food in my pantry and freezer, and toiletries in my bathroom. I suspect this is a behavior left over from when I was dirt poor and always worried about my next meal or running out of toilet paper or something.
I am not grossed out by forensic photographs or images of nasty genetic disorders, something I learned when I worked as a medical librarian. If you've seen one guy who blew half his face off with a shotgun but lived, or a dead baby with cycloplegia, or a paranoid schizophrenic who self-enucleated an eye with a dozen kitchen utensils, or a severe case of vitamin A deficiency or topical cocaine use that made an eye look like a hole with a cylinder of salt in the middle, or a guy who played chicken with a freight train and most of him lost the battle, well, geez, let me tell you, at that point you've seen them all. Also? Yuck.
My manicure is always neutral, like a French tip. My pedicure is usually something bizarre and unnatural. Right now it is fairly normal, just a glittery dark red color. It has been navy blue, powder lavender, metallic gold, etc.
Chocolate espresso beans turn me into a madwoman, prone to surreal flights of fancy. Neither chocolate nor caffeine alone does this. Friends have sent me chocolate espresso beans in the post just to see what happens when I get a hold of them.
I can set a mental alarm and wake up at the desired time. I don't always remember to do it, but when I do, it works.
I frequently look at digital clocks and then find out it is 3:33 or 11:11 or 12:34.
I also have not had a nightmare in twenty years. I got annoyed after a week-long bout of ever-increasingly horrific ones and yelled, out loud, at my subconscious to knock it off and start trying to resolve problems in a more effective manner when I am awake, because I already don't sleep much (not insomnia, just not a long sleeper these days; I often go a day or two without any). My biorhythm is apparently not set in 8 / 8 / 8 cycles like most people (work / play and non-work / sleep), but more like 24 or 30 (work / non-work) and 4 to 6 (sleep). This plays havoc with a normal schedule, as eventually I have to be awake when I should be asleep according to my internal clock, or vice versa.
I can sleep anywhere, at any time. I have slept through fire drills, two hurricanes, a tree coming through the roof, and so on. Lights? Noise? Don't care. When I sleep, I am serious about it. I also wake up in the same position I fell asleep in, and tend to have a lower than normal body temperature, which has led roommates and boyfriends to hold a mirror under my nose to make sure I wasn't actually dead. Only thing that wakes me up is being physically shaken or having someone I don't know or don't trust entering the room I am asleep in, something I discovered in college. A crazy hallmate would occasionally do the "knock and not wait to be asked to come in" entrance deal, or not even bother to knock first, and I would wake up once she was fully inside the room. Other hallmates could have a loud party in the room and if I felt the need to sleep, I'd just sleep blissfully through it all. The downside is that I had to learn to set an internal alarm clock, or learn to acknowledge the beeper of my electric alarm clock, otherwise I'd sleep through the noise, even if it woke up everyone in the room and both rooms on either side. D'oh!
I can roll my tongue three ways. Up, down, sideways.
I find it hard to get rid of useful things, even if they are no longer useful to me. I'd rather give stuff away than sell it. Thus I have given away a stereo, a TV set, action figures ("Spare Paul"), books, dishes, clothes, shoes, and so on.
If I see an ambulance, I pause to wish the person inside well. This beats being annoyed, because I live near three hospitals and ambulances stop traffic a lot.
I can befriend any cat I meet. This holiday, I had all four of my friend's cats following me around and fighting over which would sleep on the foot of my bed at night. My friend was ticked, because none of them will ever sleep on her bed. I also can get ferrets to cuddle, which is not easy. She was agog that mine would come to me seeking lap time. Before I left, I had several of hers wanting cuddles, too. I never rode horses more than once or twice, and never was particularly "horse crazy: like other young girls, but I lived near a stable when I grew up, and had pony and horse buddies I would sneak sugar and carrots to. Later on I found that Old Joe, blind in one eye, had severely bitten or kicked almost everyone else who got near him. (I do not have any particular magic power with dogs.)
For rabidgod:
Me holding Mr Woozle and his girlfriends, Fannie and Jane.
My friend Donna's business of ferrets, enjoying "Duck Soup." (The bald one has adrenal disease.)
I make mnemonics out of car license plates when I am bored in traffic. I make anagrams out of phrases on billboards. I proofread graffiti. Whereas I wouldn't ever write on a bathroom stall wall first, I have been inspired to correct stuff that is already there.
Rhythmic noises like a washing machine often make me hum along or compose rhymes, neither of which I notice immediately.
I have collapsible arches and flexible ankles and have never had a sprain. I have, however, managed to fall on the side of my foot with all my weight several times. Normal people would have a broken ankle. I can also do the kiba dache or whatever (horse stance?) in karate, which basically involves putting your feet as close to your armpits as possible while lying on your back on the floor. I also find it easier to sit frog style (knees together, legs on outside) rather than Indian style (knees out at angles, legs inside).
I will try almost any food once. I have had snake, donkey, rabbit, squirrel, buffalo, eel, squid, octopus, snail, frog, and god knows what else I've forgotten. I also like vegetables most people dislike, such as broccoli, lima beans, zucchini, etc. Despite this omnivorousness, I am also oddly picky and dislike most condiments, even ketchup or gravies, and won't touch mushrooms of any kind. I also go through phases where I won't eat bread, like buns or rolls.
I dislike food with nuts in it, but actually like nuts alone. I don't like most grainy or soggy or lumpy food. I prefer my drinks to be cold and my food to be hot, though I occasionally break the rule and have hot tea. Never coffee.
I dislike beer and wine but am fond of vodka. Despite drinking the hard stuff, I have never had a hangover.
I am extremely resistant to narcotics. This is a bummer when I have to be put under. This was first noticed when I had to have my tonsils out and I was still wide awake and alert on the gurney when being wheeled to the OR. When I got my wisdom teeth out, I repeatedly regained consciousness throughout the procedure, which sucked because they were trying to bash teeth out of my extremely narrow jaw with a chisel or some such, and it took massive doses to put me under in the first place. I then shook off most of the effects after less than 30 minutes in the recovery room, instead of the several hours it was supposed to take. As a bonus, I'm slightly anaemic, so I bled like a stuck pig for hours and hours before it finally began to clot. Fun times! As compensation, I supposedly have a high pain tolerance.
I have always had weird pets. The oddest might have been the mole. Some are just odd personality-wise, doing things they aren't supposed to be able to learn how to do, or being extremely mellow, or having a good sense about the trustworthiness of any new people (which isn't too unusual, actually, especially in dogs). As a child, I'd pick up almost any creature, even poisonous skinks and snakes, crabs, pillbugs and bees. I never got bitten or stung. I picked up wild baby rabbits and birds more than once until someone said it might scare the parents off if my scent was on them. I caught fish by hand in the neighborhood creek. The only creatures I am not keen on and won't pick up are wasps, spiders and roaches, though I did handle a cousin's tarantula. I am more than a little phobic of roaches.
I watch TV with closed captioning, though I am not deaf. I just prefer reading to telly, so that gets me to read. I then proofread the captions. (There are some dumbass captioners out there.)
I am a serial obsessive. Most of my interests only amuse me for a few hours or weeks and then I am bored. When I get a new topic to research, I read entire websites / books about it. This week I read probably ten anti-Scientology websites. Now I'm bored with those loonburgers. I pick up books on subjects I have no interest in if I don't know much about the subject. This also means I know at least a little about a lot of things and topics that I probably have no reason to know.
I occasionally put money in parking meters that are about to expire. I also have been known to pick up other people's litter and discard it, and to restock toilet paper in public restrooms.
I almost failed typing in middle school, but my WPM speed was faster than the teacher's. I just don't use the right fingers to type. Same with piano. I can sight read and play fairly intricate pieces after a brief practice session, but my fingering choices are bizarre. I also hold my pen funny and got my knuckles rapped on a regular basis and had shitty handwriting. (I also hold my cigarettes funny, apparently.) Years later I figured out that I was holding it like a paintbrush or stipple pen, and I also learned calligraphy. I went through a phase where I wrote all my class notes in a modified gothic font. I also went through a "fountain pens only" phase.
I learned handwriting analysis on a lark and then correctly noted that a new classmate had a bad left knee just by looking at his handwriting. Despite that, it is still not something I consider a hard science by any means.
I've also tarot cards since I was 11, and once read "blind" for strangers over IRC, asking them not to tell me anything but their login name (since I couldn't avoid knowing that). Without knowing gender, their question, their age, where they were from, et cetera, out of 60 readings, 59 claimed I was "dead on". Makes you think. (Then again, some people put a lot of stock in newspaper horoscope sections, too.)
I used to try to walk in patterns or on specific coloured tiles. I think I am less OCD or just don't have time to indulge in this sort of thing any more.
I am trained in reiki (second degree) and occasionally can be nagged to do energy work on people.
I've had acupuncture and had no problem bopping around with needles stuck in various parts of my body. (Some smaller ones can be left in, perhaps on the inner curve of the ear, and work themselves out after a while.) I do not, however, have anything pierced but my ears. I would prefer to get another piercing than to ever get a tattoo.
I prefer odd numbers. If I buy a dozen roses, for example, I have to part them out in a group of five and seven or something similar.
I arrange loose bills in my wallet by denomination and orientation. I also used to use a thin metal credit card holder as a wallet.
I have never lost my keys, mobile phone, wallet, expensive pens, umbrellas, gloves, hats, eyeglasses, scarves, or eyeglasses. This, despite having no particular assigned place for them, and despite being prone to collecting large piles of mail, books, you name it. I tend to carry a lot of useful weird crap in my purse. I could probably survive for a few days, or in most emergencies, as long as I had my purse. I used to carry a tiny box of dhoop incense sticks and votives around and use them whenever the mood struck. I usually have something sugary in my purse, thanks to hypoglycaemia, and gum, because I worry about smoker's breath and yellow teeth. If I don't want to carry a purse, I can reduce my needs to a handful of items that can fit in a small pants pocket.
I also carry makeup in my purse, but rarely bother to look in mirrors or touch it up. My skin sees sun so rarely that most foundations and coverups are too dark, even the lightest commercially available. One of my favourite and most often complemented purses is a red Duplo bunny bag, which is what the large-size LEGOs for toddlers came in years ago. I paid a quarter for it at a thrift.
I very rarely wear a skirt, and even more rarely have bare ankles. My legs are not bad--I was a Hanes leg model ages ago and still have more tights than any one human needs--so I don't know why I do this. I also don't like belts, crew-neck sweaters, sweat suit pants with elastic ankles, hoodies, tank tops, ponchos, wooly winter hats, mittens, low-rise pants, tube tops, or capris. I don't like logos on things and only recently would wear patterns or t-shirts with words (band names, mostly) on them. Tags in my clothes bother me so much I tend to cut them out. I tend to wear mostly black clothes with either something sparkly or a bright colour jacket or top. My underwear must match. I will not wear yellow gold or copper or pewter jewelry.
I know ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) and used to know origami. I still know some exotic napkin folds. The Bird of Paradise fold is a favourite. Sometimes I will fold my used napkin into a Bird of Paradise when I am finished with a meal and stuff it into an empty glass. I also stack used dishes in all but the most formal restaurants (to help the server) and try to tip in cash, even if I charge my meal (because of taxes; servers get paid $2.01 an hour and all credit tips are taxed at the maximum rate, but if the server has a slow night, he or she can choose to claim slightly less income to even it out while still being legally in the clear as long as they claim at least a certain percentage of sales). I also overtip slightly or grossly, depending on service.
My idea of labour-saving is other people's idea of weird. I bought black feathered wings in New Orleans weeks before Hallowe'en. They were bulky to carry, so I wore them instead. Everywhere. Even on the trollies. With leopard-print jeans. Then I forgot I had them on and wondered why people were staring at me.
I could easily take a several-hour-long bath, especially if I had a book to read.
I have several friends and acquaintances in the "adult services" business, including a stripper / techno musician, ex-prostitute / performance artist and folk artist, a couple who shoots porn in the woods behind their house (or so I am told), a door guy for the stroke booth section in a sex aid shop / computer guru / photographer, a septuagenarian couple who did "naked poetry" (tandem yoga and spoken word; the wife died recently of breast cancer, which was sad), two drag queens (a doctor and (I think) a tech guy at Earthlink), a mess of swingers, and I've met Dolores French (prostitute advocate in Atlanta) and Annie Sprinkle (ex-prostitute / performance artist / feminist / lecturer). I know several drug dealers, and that is their only full-time job. I also have participated in performance art shows like Nudity, Not Bombs (though I declined to be naked myself, I know what about 80% of my friends and acquaintances look like naked or in body paint). I have more friends that are not into these things, but it is perhaps odd that I know or know of or have met so many people who are. I am also relieved that they don't bug me to join in.
I like stationery, but rarely write snail mail letters anymore. I am never sure what the current price of a postage stamp is. I also like office supplies, even though I do not work in an office.
I am known for my consolidation skills. Whenever someone in my family is about to travel and I am nearby, I get tapped to pack their suitcases for them.
I attempt to be fair, even when it really screws me over personally. When I volunteered for the Democratic party to sign up voters, I was more concerned that people vote than who they voted for.
I like sets of things. If I like a particular author who writes a series, I like their books to be together and with the same art style on the covers. I alphabetize my vinyl albums and CDs, and chronologically arrange my magazines and graphic novels. I used to collect stamps for this reason. Since I can't afford, say, every Red Dwarf DVD, I don't buy any. I'll save up and get them all at once or not at all. I like pinback buttons, even though I rarely wear them.
I have a guitar but do not know how to play it. One day....
I find it difficult to use things that come in exquisite packaging. The health food store sells wrapped scented soaps with an obi-like paper band and a gold foil accent. I have to buy two, one to keep wrapped and one to use. I have a lot of candles, but I like how they look when they are new, so I have to keep duplicates of everything I use. I keep boxes my software came in. If the shrinkwrap on a CD has a promotional sticker, I cut it off the shrinkwrap and stick it inside the liner notes.
Apropos of nothing, I will post a picture of my niece, Johanna. (Otherwise, I am typically unimpressed with babies in general.)
Look. Iz bebe.
What are some of your weird habits and quirks?
BTW, the "Pillage The Village" game I refer to below is here.