Support NeoGAF

[Greenpanda]

I'm sure there are entire web sites devoted to this, but what are some of the weird little habits that you have that you can't explain? Mine:

- When setting any kind of timer, I refuse to set it to any kind of round number. Instead of putting something in the microwave for, say, 15 seconds, I'll do 17. I set my alarm of numbers like 7:03 or 6:57 instead of 7:00. Whenever I set it to a round number, I feel like I'm not being precise enough and am just picking round numbers for the sake of round numbers, so I try to "fine tune" the timing.

- When choosing things from a vertical menu on a computer or in a game (e.g., on the menu screen of a RPG), I NEVER scroll top-to-bottom down the menu. Instead, I press "up" first to go to the BOTTOM option, and then contine advancing upwards from the bottom to the option I want. I do even if it would be quicker to scroll downwards from the top. I can't explain why I do this except that I just don't like scrolling downwards.

 

[teh_pwn]

I click way too much in pc games. Like in WoW, I'll keep clicking something I'm already attacking. In WarcraftIII/AgeofEmpires/RiseofNations I'll reenter commands and needlessly click on buildings and stuff. At the end of a Rise of Nations game, a friend of mine would look at the mouse click statistics, and I was easily three times the clicks he had.

 

[AntoneM]

if I buy a bottle of water, drink it, and then fill that bottle up again I absolutley have to take the label off. I can't take a sip of that water until the label is off.

 

[demi]

When I have to let off a fart in a public place, I sneakily spread my cheeks with my hands then let it go. Not a peep is heard.


The quirk? I smell my fingers afterwards.


Or like, when you totally have to scratch your nads, and you have this irresistable urge to sniff afterwards?


Or is that just me?

 

[aoi tsuki]

When I have to let off a fart in a public place, I sneakily spread my cheeks with my hands then let it go. Not a peep is heard.


The quirk? I smell my fingers afterwards.


Or like, when you totally have to scratch your nads, and you have this irresistable urge to sniff afterwards?


Or is that just me?

i've heard about that somewhere. i used to do that when i was a kid, but it wasn't habitual. i do smell a lot of things that i come in contact with, especially at work. People think it's odd, but it's just another way of gathering information about something.

 

[demi]

btw i was lying i don't do that.

THAT'S FUCKING DISGUSTING




*sniff*

 

[hooded pitohui]

If I'm using a paper cup, I always have to hold it so that the tips of my fingers are on the part of the cup that overlaps.

 

[ToxicAdam]

Digging ear wax out of my ear and sniffing my fingers (it smells good).

I refuse to carry my car keys near a sewer grate, in fear that I will drop them down.


-

 

[Greenpanda]

I thought of another one of mine:

- My LiveJournal picture fixation: I used to have a LiveJournal. When I was browsing, I would always open a tab in Firefox and load up the "User Pictures" page (with all of my LJ avatars) of my journal. I would then scroll the window down so that the avatars were lined up in the browser window, with none of the pictures cut off at the top or the bottom of the window. Then I would just leave the that tab that way and go back to my browsing. Every so often, I would switch back to the User Pictures tab, look briefly at the pictures (making sure I was scrolled so that none of them were cut off at the top or bottom), and then go back to my browsing. It's not that I particularly liked or cared about the avatars; it was just a weird habit I had for some reason.

 

[Zensetsu]

- When setting any kind of timer, I refuse to set it to any kind of round number. Instead of putting something in the microwave for, say, 15 seconds, I'll do 17. I set my alarm of numbers like 7:03 or 6:57 instead of 7:00. Whenever I set it to a round number, I feel like I'm not being precise enough and am just picking round numbers for the sake of round numbers, so I try to "fine tune" the timing.

:lol I do this too.....don't know why.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

If I get scratched (be it purposefully or not), I scratch myself there on the other half of my body. Keep things feeling symmetrical.

When people ask what I'm listening too, I tell them "No, I'm not."

 

[GG-Duo]

I'm sure there are entire web sites devoted to this, but what are some of the weird little habits that you have that you can't explain? Mine:

- When setting any kind of timer, I refuse to set it to any kind of round number. Instead of putting something in the microwave for, say, 15 seconds, I'll do 17. I set my alarm of numbers like 7:03 or 6:57 instead of 7:00. Whenever I set it to a round number, I feel like I'm not being precise enough and am just picking round numbers for the sake of round numbers, so I try to "fine tune" the timing.

Hey, I do that too! We can be prime number buddies.

 

[Triumph]

I drink till I pass out sometimes. Does that count?

 

[android]

I find I sometimes chew my lip or inner cheek when thinking.

 

[Dead]

If im walking down stairs, if I touch one ramp, I HAVE to touch the other.....

 

[Catapult Beetle]

Sometimes I read threads on message boards backwards. Meaning I'll start at the last post and work back to the first. I have no idea why I do this. It's like a text version of Memento.

 

[Tarazet]

I only shave in the shower. Anywhere else is unacceptable.

I do the opposite of the original poster: everything is round numbers with me. If I'm selling it on Amazon, it's $49.95. If I have to go lower because someone undercut me, then it's going to be $44.95. I've tried setting my alarm for times not on the 15, 30, 45 or hour, but they feel unnatural somehow.

This is a bit more esoteric, but when I play the piano, no matter what I'm playing, I use the una corda pedal in varying shades to use the velvet for softness. It's an entirely visceral, nervous habit; I don't think about it whatsoever. I've been told that as a result, my playing can have an uncanny purity.

I get very neurotic about food. Usually, at any random time I'll be craving something, and it'll be totally unpredictable. It might be Jack in the Box, Subway, McDonalds, steak, pasta (like tonight)... and I have to have it. And I feel very satisfied when I finally get it. Some other things, like music, also fit into this irresistible-craving pattern.

 

[aoi tsuki]

Sometimes I read threads on message boards backwards. Meaning I'll start at the last post and work back to the first. I have no idea why I do this. It's like a text version of Memento.

Similarly, i usually read magazines from the last page to the front, in the same fashion as you do posts.

 

[bjork]

I bite my nails in the shower. For like an hour at a time, when the day allows for it.

I keep everything (cds, books, etc) in alphabetic order, and then in chronologic order within the letter/artist/title.

I *always* eat fries before the burger if I go to a burger joint.

Not sure what else...

 

[Joe]

- When setting any kind of timer, I refuse to set it to any kind of round number. Instead of putting something in the microwave for, say, 15 seconds, I'll do 17. I set my alarm of numbers like 7:03 or 6:57 instead of 7:00. Whenever I set it to a round number, I feel like I'm not being precise enough and am just picking round numbers for the sake of round numbers, so I try to "fine tune" the timing.

i would FREAK out. i wouldnt be able to sleep knowing the alarm wasnt set to a round number.

Similarly, i usually read magazines from the last page to the front, in the same fashion as you do posts.

are you lefty? im a lefty and i do that, and i know another lefty that does the same thing.



one of the first quirks that springs to mind is when im laying down to go to sleep i have to close both eyes at the same exact time. if i close one eye even a fraction of a second faster than the other i have to open both eyes and try again. some times it takes a few tries just to make it feel "right".

 

[Teknopathetic]

I have a niggling habit not to step on any cracks as I'm walking on a sidewalk. I don't *have* to not step on a crack, as much as it is like a game I play during walks.

Yeah, fuck you.

 

[karasu]

hmm quirks are my ability to come up with fighting analogies for EVERYTHING, my love of green women, i don't talk when im eating or watching a fight, turning on the shower when taking a shit, and my cellibacy(apparently it is "SO weird omg")

 

[speedpop]

I constantly highlight random text whilst reading it. It annoys the shit out of everyone but I love it for some reason.

I crack my fingers, toes, ankles, back, chest sternum, neck, wrist, middle of my hand, neck and knees constantly. Starting to stop it lately which is good. I crack my thumbs 3 times each in different ways as well.

Also need to constantly have wind blowing on me; whether it's natural, by fan or air conditioner.

 

[goodcow]

- When setting any kind of timer, I refuse to set it to any kind of round number. Instead of putting something in the microwave for, say, 15 seconds, I'll do 17. I set my alarm of numbers like 7:03 or 6:57 instead of 7:00. Whenever I set it to a round number, I feel like I'm not being precise enough and am just picking round numbers for the sake of round numbers, so I try to "fine tune" the timing.

I do this as well, but they have to end in a multiple of 11.

11, 22, 33, 44, 55...

Heating tea for me is 3:33! OHHH I CAN RHYME YO.

 

[Rlan]

I highlight text as well, usually so I can tell where I'm up to if I leave.

My brother will, before doing an action [like writing in MSN Messenger, click the mouse a bundle of times, maybe 10 times, before writing. He clicks absolutely nothing, just space.

 

[Drozmight]

I can't have a routine... routines annoy the hell out of me.

 

[Ecrofirt]

You ever see Monk? He ain't got SHIT on me!

 

[Vicious]

.

 

[Boogie9IGN]

I do the timer thing (also for TV volume and such), but I do it to numbers ending in 5 or 0 ;D

And, kinda like Tre, I play a game with myself when Im going on a sidewalk to try and take equal steps to always end up on that concrete block's crack. Or if the floor is checkered, I try to get to my destination by always skipping one tile

I just forgot the other one, if I remember I'll post again

 

[beerbelly]

When I have to search for things organized in alphabetical order I sing the alphabet song in my mind to pinpoint what I need :lol

 

[AntoneM]

oh, I forgot one.

Before I fal asleep I have to read something (or pass out drunk). It can be just about anything but I have to do it. I can even be reading for hours just before I go to bed, but once I'm lying there I still need to read something before I can fall asleep. Due to this I've become accustom to sleeping with the lights on and now I actually sleep better when I have a light on.

 

[Litigation Manuel]

When I'm bored, or even when I'm not, I'll pretend I have really long fingernails, and there's a bunch of peanut butter stuck on the underside of the nails. I'll then begin scraping the pretend peanut butter off in real life, and I always have to finish the whole hand before I do anything else.

Also, I have a nervous habit of just shredding little bits of paper or grass. I guess I just like to have something to do with my hands.

 

[Lil' Dice]

I have an obsession with counting letters in random words. I could probably tell you in an instant how many letters there are in whatever word you spit out.....

I also never learned my times tables in English, i still recite them in Italian.

 

[Deleted member 1159]

I lost my ability to blow the covers off straws. You know, you open one end, then blow and it goes flying at someone? Yeah, I can't do that anymore. I don't know why. It just bends or a hole gets blow in it. I am scum.

 

[thomaser]

I'm a cracker too. I crack every joint in my body to great effect. I used to have a super-efficient routine for cracking every joint in my two hands incredibly fast and with style, impressing and at the same time grossing out bystanders, but I can't do it any longer. I'm mostly about cracking my back or chest now... the best crack is in the ankles, by the way.

I often cover my ears. Four or eight times, quickly. In the car too, so I'm often driving with my hands covering my ears rapidly instead of having them on the wheel.

I can only sleep when all radios, tvs and computers in the room are turned on. The tv is usually on MTV, the radios can be on whatever, and the computer is just turned on for the hiss. Open windows complete the set-up. I also read something before I go to sleep. Usually one chapter in one book, then one chapter in another. Sometimes I finish with some GBA-time.

When finally going to sleep, I turn the lights on and off 11 times, then touch the wall 12 times, then turn the alarm-clock off and on 11 times. Only in my room, though, not in other bedrooms.

I count all steps on all stairs I walk on. Touching both sides of the railing is good, but only required in specific stairs. Likewise, touching both walls in narrow corridors feels good... I mostly do it four or eight times, or sometimes sixteen.

I bite my lower lip unconsciously or when I sleep, so it's always dotted with hard bits of scar-tissue. I then rip them off, making way for more scar-tissue.

I can walk miles in order to get a good cup of coffee. If I'm in a big city, and there's supposed to be an excellent coffee-bar 7 kilometers away, I walk to that one instead of using faster ways of transport, or instead of going across the street to Starbucks. This also applies to cakes and sandwiches. When I'm out travelling, I also fill my backpack up with bread from a good baker before travelling home. Preferrably really huge loafs of the stuff. When I get home, I eat the super-large slices of bread with some jam.

Strangely, I can also NOT do these things. If I don't feel like it, I don't do them, and I have far fewer quirks now than before. But I do them most of the time anyway out of tradition or nostalgia or something, in refined, stealthy ways so that other people really can't see them.

 

[Kebric]

If I sit for more than ten minutes at a time I start rocking back and forth.

When I eat, I have to seperate the corn from the steak from the rice. Nothing can touch anything else or it bothers me like hell. Also, my fork and knife have to be placed beside each other on top of the napkin before I eat, after I start eating it really doesn't matter where they are. The cup has to be either to my right or left, and an inch or so above my napkin.

 

[Lathentar]

I don't listen to music. I own 0 CDs and have basically 0 MP3s on my computer.

 

[Tarazet]

I just got reminded of another one: I can sit at my window and watch deer all day. I swear, the entire reason why I got a laptop was so I could sit anywhere in the house and admire them between browsing the Internet. I never get tired of this. Doesn't matter if they're resting, grazing, fighting... I'm magnetically drawn to them.

 

[Maxwell House]

When I get excited about something, I put my hands between my legs and rub them against each other vigorously. I don't know why I do this. I have done that since I was a little kid. After I do it, I feel energized, invigorated. I feel alive. When doing this, I also usually put my head down and close my eyes.

 

[Particle Physicist]

I constantly highlight random text whilst reading it. It annoys the shit out of everyone but I love it for some reason.

:lol i highlighted this sentence before reading it.

so, yeah.. i do the same.

i also read things backwards as other have stated.. threads.. magazines,. i dont always do this.. but i catch myself doing it every once in a while..

numbers have to be even with me.

im sure i have other quirks as well.. but i cant think at the moment.

 

[Brendonia]

I have a few weird things I know of, I'm sure my roommates know of more that they could tell you.

I always take the straw wrappers after I open them up and twist them so they are like long thin pieces of paper. Then I tie them into knots until they become like one big ball. I do it constantly, whenever I'm at a restaurant.

I can't sleep unless all lights and tv are off and it's as quiet as it can be. I frequently wear ear plugs to bed, and have issues with the fact that my apartment is on like the busiest street at my school. The car noises don't really bother me but if I hear like coherent conversation I start to pay attention to it and it drives me insane.

Whenever I drink I almost invariably have to have a mixed drink before I drink beer. Like a rum and coke or vodka and tonic, and I get really weird if I don't have it, like I can't get drunk. It's strange.

 

[ralphwiggum]

My idiosyncrasy - i find it incredibly funny when someone gets hurt, small children in particular. A kid falls over, and i just cant help it. laugh, giggle, chuckle whatever. i get so many stares and frowns. meh.

 

[Folder]

Having OCD is radical.
And most people have it.
We are soooo fucked up!

 

[Memles]

I constantly highlight random text whilst reading it. It annoys the shit out of everyone but I love it for some reason..

That's my most prevalent...although I don't do it to see what I've read. I just highlight, unclick, and then go on my merry way.

I have serious sleep issues. Recently, it's been waking up every hour for a period of three hours before I intended to get up, but mostly it's the situation of my dorm room. There's lights constantly on in the hallway, and a door that really doesn't shut all the way. Then, there's a light out in the quad that shines directly into my window.

The result? There is paper in the space between the door and the door frame where light gets in, a blanket over the window to keep the light from shining in, and a book in front of the backlight on my phone. I was given a pair of Blinders for Christmas as a joke. I deserved that one.

Otherwise, I have this annoying habit of randomly thinking to myself "If I bounced something off of that thing at this angle, where would it go afterwards? I also tend to try and, while in a car, decide when the beginning of my window will meet up with the next telephone pole.

My eating habits are sort of habits...essentially, I should be dead by now, let's put it that way.

 

[RonaldoSan]

I wash my hands all the time. My skin is now all fucked up. Though the most annoying habit I ever had to witness, was this kid from my class, who always had to smell everything. If he had a bag of candy, he would put every fucking piece up his nose before it went into his mouth. If I borrowed him a pen, he would smell it. Ever since I found out, I would always watch him. Ohh shit... I also remember this kid from class who ate his buggers. I hated that. It gave me chills.

 

[speedpop]

Hahaha

I also constantly shake my leg, well.. bounce it on the spot whilst I am sitting down somewhere. Used to do it quite a lot as a kid and I guess it stayed put. My friend also had this as well so I'm not alone.

 

[Lucky Forward]

Sometimes whe I'm reading a long paragraph in a book, I'll notice how the space in between two words on one line will line up with the space between two words on the next line, on and on, to form a long meandering line of blanks down through the paragraph.

 

[Tarazet]

Otherwise, I have this annoying habit of randomly thinking to myself "If I bounced something off of that thing at this angle, where would it go afterwards?

I used to think of how I could get Lemmings across the room. :lol

I also constantly shake my leg, well.. bounce it on the spot whilst I am sitting down somewhere. Used to do it quite a lot as a kid and I guess it stayed put. My friend also had this as well so I'm not alone.

STOP! I hate this. If there's one habit that could break my mild-mannered ways and turn me into a rampaging monster, it would be this one. I can't concentrate if I can see anyone doing this anywhere in my field of vision, which is far too often. The fact that my grades stay up is a testament to how little coming to class matters in college.

 

[spliced]

I walk between the cracks, or on the cracks on sidewalks. Or in malls and stores I will walk on certian color tiles.

When I watch tv or am using my computer I like to turn my body to the right and turn my head to the left.

When I concentrate on a tv show I have to sit up I can't lay down.

I think of the ABC song when thinking what is before or after certian letters.

The way I remember which way is left and right is when I was younger someone told me I was a lefty in hockey because I hold my left hand lower on my stick.

I shower from bottom to top, I think it feels good to have the shampoo rinse over me as the last thing before getting out.

I am constantly doing things with my hands like rubbing them, picking my ears etc.

I write things down a lot on whimsy without proper order or organization. Like sometimes if I'm watching TV and the make a reference that I don't understand I'll write it down then look it up on my comp later. I just write it on and scrap piece of paper I can find.

 

[Chipopo]

I'm guilty of the previously mentioned text highlighting and the leg bouncing

A particularly dorky habit that I used to have; during conversations I would flick my fingers around according to which finger I use to type that letter on a keyboard. So if I said "hello" to someone, I would flick my right pointer finger, my left middle finger, my right middle finger twice, and my right ring finger really fast. I've overcome it for the most part, but I still catch myself every once in a while.

I never go to the bathroom without reading material

I'm also frequently checking to see if two letters are less then two spaces away from each other. For instance; purple peanut. I'm not really sure what goes on in my head when I've found a match...part of me must be amused...I really wish I understood what that's all about.

Those sewer/subway grates that litter New York...I almost always walk over them despite the overwhelming dread that it will give way and kill me. It's so perverse.