Just a bunch of nonsense...

In an effort to help everyone get to know me better, I thought I’d talk about some of my weird randomness – you know, all of those quirks and qualities and possible personality disorders that make me “me.” I think I promised, in one of my older posts, to talk about some of my strange food aversions, so I’ll start there.

Let’s see… first of all, I hate seeds. Well, that’s not completely true – some seeds are okay. Like sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds are big enough to actually chew, so they’re acceptable as little pieces of food. But all of those little itty bitty tiny seeds – poppy seeds, sesame seeds, the miniscule seeds in strawberries and raspberries – I absolutely can NOT stand those things. They’re too small to chew completely, and too big to ignore, so most of them end up getting stuck between your teeth. Or even worse, they make disturbing little crunching noises that cause a split second of “did I just crack a tooth or lose a filling?” panic before the realization of “it’s just a stupid tiny seed” sets in. What’s sad is that I really like the TASTE of strawberries and raspberries, but I can’t bring myself to eat them when they’re in their original form. But give me seedless jelly or jam, or some kind of juice, and I’m there. Good stuff. Bad seeds.

And then there’s meat. I’d have to say I’m one of the pickiest meat eaters on the planet, and if I’d been born in ancient, Neanderthal, kill-the-antelope-and-drag-it-back-to-the-cave times, I probably wouldn’t have survived very long. I’d have been munching on leaves while the other cave-dwellers devoured the antelope, and then I’d timidly ask if I could have a few bites of tenderloin. But no fat! I’d have to use my sharpened rock to trim off the parts of antelope I deemed unacceptable, and when I was done, I’d probably be left with about an ounce of edible meat. And that’s pretty much the way I am in my own kitchen. (Except I use knives, not sharpened rocks…) It’s not my fault, though – Eric is the same way, so this is obviously some kind of genetic occurrence. I’d say it was a “disorder,” except I really feel that if Eric and I were in charge of the meat industry, everyone in the country would be eating THE highest quality meat possible. I mean, yeah, the industry would probably also be bankrupt… but sometimes you have to make sacrifices for decent food.

And while I’m on the subject of meat – I also have a problem with any kind of meat that’s been ground up and squished back together. Hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages, chicken nuggets – I can’t eat them. I used to be able to stomach a hamburger now and then, or a hot dog if I happened to be at a Yankee game. But now it seems my palate is completely anti-processed meat. Thank goodness McDonald’s has those fruit and yogurt parfaits… except that they’re full of strawberries… evil seeds. It’s so hard to find truly edible food sometimes.

I think that’s about it in the food category (although I could also get into how I think carrots taste like dirt, and I don’t like it when certain types of food touch other types of food, etc…). So now for the “borderline OCD” category:

-- When I wash dishes in the sink, I have to dry them with paper towels – NOT cloth towels. I feel like cloth towels hold onto all kinds of crazy germs, and if you dry off your clean dishes with a towel full of germs, how clean can the dishes actually BE? Of course, as a consequence, I end up using a ton of paper towels and I’m probably personally responsible for the destruction of many, many trees. Thank you, trees, for keeping my dishes germ-free.

-- I have to double check page numbers when I read a book. Like every single page. When I turn a page, I have to check the page number I’m on, and then check the next page, and make sure they are, in fact, in sequential order. I also have to read EVERY single word in book. If I skip a word – even if I know what it is – I have to go back and re-read everything I’ve already read, making sure to include the neglected word.

-- I wash my hands about a zillion times a day. Okay, that’s not true – I’m really not “obsessive” about the hand washing. But I do tend to wash my hands if I have even the slightest suspicion that I may have touched something super-germy. Like when somebody makes me hold a baby. Ha ha! That’s a joke! :) (No it’s not…) But I will mention that they say the best way to avoid illness is to wash your hands a lot – and another weird fact about me is that I hardly ever get sick. Coincidence? Maybe not…

-- I’m addicted to lip balm. No explanation for this. I really, really am. It’s the one thing I can not EVER be without.

Well, that’s probably enough weird stuff for one day. Check it out, Eric – two new posts in less than 24 hours! Don’t pretend like you’re not impressed…

P.S. Allegro says hi!