When the gods ordain... who is man to abstain?
Allrighty, so I've been ordered to list five of my idiosyncrasies. Hmm, first off I'd like to clarify that it's difficult to think of ones that aren't merely bad habits... oh well, perhaps alot of our idiosyncrasies are bad habits that we never got around to fixing? Then again, I guess like everyone else, I have alot of idiosyncrasies that I'm quite blind to, in which case, it would almost be better for other people to chirp up and start rattling them off for me.
Anyway, I'll see what I can do.
1. I Love Multitasking
I can't stand doing only one thing at once. I have to force myself to do one thing sometimes for the sake of sanity. If I'm watching TV, then I'm also doing something with my hands like eating or practicing my pen spinning. If I'm doing homework, I'm listening to music. If I'm eating, I'm reading a book. In class I write notes and play freecell. If I'm riding in a car with my family, I bring along some Hebrew flashcards. Right now I'm writing this post, and I have a load of clothes in the wash, and my laptop is ripping a CD, and I'm listening to music, and I'm downloading some episodes of a TV show, and I have four windows open on the computer for each of my email accounts, and I have drudge report and the national weather service running in the background. It's a sickness - if I'm not doing two things at least any given moment, I have to think of something else to do. The thing I probably fear most during a day is wasting time.
2. I don't listen in conversations.
Unless I am highly motivated, I don't listen during most conversations I have. I'll look the person in the eyes, and even voice affirmation to what they are saying, but I'm in a completely different place mentally. I know it causes annoyance in other people because apparently I give the impression that I am paying attention, then I won't remember the conversation. I guess in general I feel it's more rude to leave the conversation physically than mentally. I don't listen to my class lectures either if the professor starts to wander, I'll sometimes just switch into an auto mode where I type what the prof is saying on my laptop but cease really paying attention.
3. I need a certain enviroment to sleep.
I need perfect dark, with white noise (normally a very loud/large fan) and preferably very cold with lots of blankets to sleep well. If I don't, it can take hours for me to go to sleep. Giving up the day is just the hardest thing to do. It doesn't matter what I try - praying rosaries, counting sheep, it doesn't matter what I've done that day - amount of exercise, food, events of the day... it's impossible. In California in the fall I would sleep under a sheet, a blanket, two sleeping bags, a comforter and a fake goose blanket. It was great!
4. I'm particular about using cups.
I'm a stickler for using cups. I hate sharing anything with people, and will always try to find some cups instead of sharing a bottle. If I have had orange juice in a cup, I'll find a new one before pouring tea in it. I won't clean it either - that takes time and leaves a soapy taste most the time - new cup always. I'll sometimes amass 5 or 6 around my laptop on a study night.
5. I'm OCD in my interests and in my homework... also cleaning.
I think I'm kind of running out of ideas and just getting into my bad habits at this point. Anyway, I'm fairly OCD in my homework - I either do it in a marathon or don't do it at all. Neither do I clean until a point where I start and then I can't stop until everything is done. I go through interests fairly quickly, mostly because in general I'll get interested in something, try to find out everything I can about it quickly, and in so doing overwhelm myself with the scope of the endeavor or subject, and lose interest because, in my mind, if I can't do it well there isn't much point in doing it so-so.
Whew, enough about me. My clothes are clean and it's time to study. :-)
Anyway, I'll see what I can do.
1. I Love Multitasking
I can't stand doing only one thing at once. I have to force myself to do one thing sometimes for the sake of sanity. If I'm watching TV, then I'm also doing something with my hands like eating or practicing my pen spinning. If I'm doing homework, I'm listening to music. If I'm eating, I'm reading a book. In class I write notes and play freecell. If I'm riding in a car with my family, I bring along some Hebrew flashcards. Right now I'm writing this post, and I have a load of clothes in the wash, and my laptop is ripping a CD, and I'm listening to music, and I'm downloading some episodes of a TV show, and I have four windows open on the computer for each of my email accounts, and I have drudge report and the national weather service running in the background. It's a sickness - if I'm not doing two things at least any given moment, I have to think of something else to do. The thing I probably fear most during a day is wasting time.
2. I don't listen in conversations.
Unless I am highly motivated, I don't listen during most conversations I have. I'll look the person in the eyes, and even voice affirmation to what they are saying, but I'm in a completely different place mentally. I know it causes annoyance in other people because apparently I give the impression that I am paying attention, then I won't remember the conversation. I guess in general I feel it's more rude to leave the conversation physically than mentally. I don't listen to my class lectures either if the professor starts to wander, I'll sometimes just switch into an auto mode where I type what the prof is saying on my laptop but cease really paying attention.
3. I need a certain enviroment to sleep.
I need perfect dark, with white noise (normally a very loud/large fan) and preferably very cold with lots of blankets to sleep well. If I don't, it can take hours for me to go to sleep. Giving up the day is just the hardest thing to do. It doesn't matter what I try - praying rosaries, counting sheep, it doesn't matter what I've done that day - amount of exercise, food, events of the day... it's impossible. In California in the fall I would sleep under a sheet, a blanket, two sleeping bags, a comforter and a fake goose blanket. It was great!
4. I'm particular about using cups.
I'm a stickler for using cups. I hate sharing anything with people, and will always try to find some cups instead of sharing a bottle. If I have had orange juice in a cup, I'll find a new one before pouring tea in it. I won't clean it either - that takes time and leaves a soapy taste most the time - new cup always. I'll sometimes amass 5 or 6 around my laptop on a study night.
5. I'm OCD in my interests and in my homework... also cleaning.
I think I'm kind of running out of ideas and just getting into my bad habits at this point. Anyway, I'm fairly OCD in my homework - I either do it in a marathon or don't do it at all. Neither do I clean until a point where I start and then I can't stop until everything is done. I go through interests fairly quickly, mostly because in general I'll get interested in something, try to find out everything I can about it quickly, and in so doing overwhelm myself with the scope of the endeavor or subject, and lose interest because, in my mind, if I can't do it well there isn't much point in doing it so-so.
Whew, enough about me. My clothes are clean and it's time to study. :-)
posted by Thomas Peters at 11:36 PM
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home