little irrational things

[gusl]

inspired by Cecilia:

I've had a little bit of these 3 in my life:

* symmetry: if you scratch one arm, you have to scratch the other at the same spot, etc
* unknot: compulsion to come back the same way you came, to avoid creating knots in spacetime (the earlier you undo them, the easier it will be!)
* fairness: when you start reading a list, you need to continue reading it until the end, so as not to give an unfair advantage to the ones at the top.
...or the Jack Nicholson character in "As Good As It Gets", who avoided the cracks in the sidewalk... I've had that too! But it was like a game for me.

I'm reminded that I used to feel very strongly about some really silly things as a child, like exactly dividing the space between me and my sister in the backseat of the car, what colour my bedsheets were, and what spoon I used. Children can have all kinds of superstitions. I think I had my share too.


This reminds me of something I read about why people develop strict rituals in making their coffee: why do they feel so strongly about how they prepare their morning coffee? (statistics students may know about the t-testing lady, who claimed to notice when the sugar was poured before the tea)

Comments

[radiantsun.livejournal.com]

(or history of science students know about her too)

I don't have any of those things you listed. Nor do I have a specified ritual of preparing anything-- unless you know its mix ingrediants THEN bake.

[perspectivism.livejournal.com]

I've had some of all these too -- more when a child, but still kinda!

[amoken.livejournal.com]

Today I'm being rather compulsive about checking the source code out of the repository. You know, what if someone changed something important in the last 10-15 minutes??

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

Be thankful you're not addicted to checking your email!

Now I'm recovering, thanks to GMail notifier.

[radiantsun.livejournal.com]

I am addicted to checking my e-mail. :/

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

Apparently, you're also addicted to checking my blog for other people's comments.

[amoken.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah! I almost always "reload" my email and LJ in between tasks, even if I have no intent to look at any new items. My email polls every minute or less, so there's no reason for this except keeping my hands busy while my brain prepares for the next task.

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

doh, it's a perfect time to take an RSI-preventing micro-break.

[jbouwens.livejournal.com]

I used to be addicted to checking a whole load of websites throughout the day. Then I discovered RSS feeds, so now I check everything in one go once an hour.

Some sites don't have RSS feeds though, so I still have to check those.

[darkjewelz.livejournal.com]

Hey, that's really weird....I'm only kidding. I think everybody has some weird habit!

How is your sister these days? How are your parents?

I checked out Cecilia's site. Where do you know her from?

Sorry about the interrogation, was just curious!

J.

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

Cecília is best friends with my cousin Flávia.

She's really blunt and "desbocada", and thus a frequent source of amusement. I got to know her and a whole circle of artsy people when I actually *lived* in Brazil for a short while in 2003.

It was interesting to actually live in Brazil for a change... learning all the new slang... having real friendships there... maybe I even felt Brazilian. In any case, I can't remember the feeling anymore.