quick, quark, quirk... all good for scrabble

This is a rough one after all the great “quirks” others have described. Especially since I share a great many of the ones other family members have listed. The oversensitive smeller, the obsessive compulsive reading, no long sleeves… those are some of my best quirks and now I have to come up with some others!

1- I must peel clementines in one long peel starting with a circle at the top and a circle at the end. I even collected and dried several dozen of them in grad school thinking they might be useful in my cold fusion research.



2- I have many ziplock bags full of my own hairballs. (NOT the coughed up cat kind) For nearly 3 years I obsessively collected and saved hairballs from my brush and after combing out my hair from a shower. It all started not long after my celiac diagnosis when I noticed I was losing larger amounts of hair than normal. Within a couple of weeks I could actually see much thinner hair on the top of my head. This was, of course, from the extreme nutrient loss and resulting hormone mess from the disease, and was supposed to go away as my intestines healed. I began collecting the hairballs thinking they would get smaller as I got better. (which they eventually did) but then I couldn’t seem to stop collecting. I kept thinking of each hairball and its respective size as a harbinger if my health was worse or better. (for you scientist types I actually had quit a specific collection system) I’ve only managed to break this habit this year!! (actually I still really check out the hairball size… I just use all my willpower to throw them away) I know, I know gross. Don’t judge me!


3- And speaking of hair. Not exactly sure of the cause, but at this point I can’t stand to have my hair down (as in out of the hair claw that has caused a permanent divit in my skull…. Really). It is always up because I’m working, or it is hot. But when I can have it down I’m usually just thinking about the moment I can claw it up. I would shave my head if it weren’t for that darn divit…. That and the fat lesbian thing.


4- Not sure if this counts, but it is a trait of constant frustration. Wonky Feet: Most of you are saying , “My feet are hard to fit too”. Yeah, whatever. I have uber wide feet (EEE) with a super narrow heel (AA) a high arch and a super high instep. All this coupled with the Velma “finger toes” with that longer second toe makes for shoe buying hell. I would love to say I have shoes that I pick to fit my style and personality, but in fact I wear whatever shoes I can find that actually come close to fitting my feet. These are usually expensive, ugly, slightly ill fitting men/boys shoes found only after exhausting searches through every store (real and cyber) imaginable.

5- Itchy ears. My ears itch constantly, sometimes to the point I feel like I’m going insane. I don’t travel anywhere with out Q tip brand swabs. Why? Well after a 2am call to the emergency room to remove the cotton tip from a generic brand lodged deeply in my ear, I decided to listen to the nurses advice and stick with Q tip. (Crazy Lady is my back up on this one… she tried to help me get it out and took me to the emergency room.)

6- I collect. I collect stuff most people don’t want. Old hardware, strange bit of metal, odd magazines, pictures of strangers, etc. It is all in the name of cold fusion, but in fact it has gotten out of hand. My full shed in Idaho is proof enough. I have been working on scaling that down the last few years, and have done’ fairly well. Seems I’ve replaced that with other more expensive habits. (see craiglist addiction below)

Ok, thrilling as I know this has been for you, I can’t think of anything more at present. One thing I do know though,……it may be a good thing I’m not continuing my gene pool.