Tuesday, January 8, 2008

5 Weird Things About Me

Gee, I never thought I would write a post exclusively about the weird facts concerning me. Thanks to my wife who tagged me, I am now.

  1. I have a neurosis regarding pens. I must know where all of my pens are or I start to get anxious, not a lot but enough that I will exert a good deal of effort to locate the missing pen.
  2. I really don't like the cold, yet I've lived in New England for ten years. Go figure. I'm the first guy to put on the long johns and the last guy to take them off.
  3. Similar to my friend Leslie, I like even numbers and multiples of fives (yes, another neurosis - are they contagious?). Evens are better than fives, but fives are acceptable because they are one of two halves of tens. Unlike her, this does not just apply to the volume but to any number of things. If at all possible, I choose a number that fits this criteria. Thank goodness this post is about FIVE weird things and not three or seven!
  4. As an extension of number three, I like things to get used evenly. For example, I like to try and rotate through my undershirts, making sure each gets worn in turn. If I put up my clean undershirts, which rarely happens as Stephanie will attest to, I will put the clean ones at the bottom of the stack so that the ones on the bottom have their fair chance at being worn. Again, this is not a really strong neurosis, so my laziness overcomes it most of the time in the example given and I don't care enough to take back the laundry duties from my wonderful wife (though, in my defense, I do assist on those occasions that I'm asked or when laundry is being done while I'm at home). It does apply to other areas too.
  5. I can sing "This is the Day that the Lord has Made" in three different languages. With all the people I knew at my university who could speak Spanish fluently, I should have gotten one of them to teach me and I would know it in four.
As a bonus item, number 6 (making it an even number :D), I must be weird to share five personal items of weirdness with anyone who cares to read them. I'm a guy, this is too much personal information being divulged at once. Some of these probably have not even been clearly articulated to my wife of ten years - surprise honey, you married a weird man.

So that I'm not the lone guy on this trail of tagging, I'll tag Mr. E at Thoughts from ME and Scott at Honey, I Fed The Kids!.

7 comments:

Stephanie Kay said...

First of all, I knew you were weird when we married. = )

1. I confess to being amused when you search vigorously for your lost pens.
2. Are any of the other guys really wearing long johns?
3. Agree with you here.
4. I know about your need to rotate. And NOW I know the trick to getting help with the laundry! Thank you very much!!!!
5. Maybe you should start teaching the kids the different versions.
6. You share so many WEIRD things I thought you should share some about you. = )

love, me

Scott said...

So glad to know I'm not the only freak with some OCD behaviors.

I've accepted your tag. Thanks.

Mr. E said...

Thanks for the tag!

I to suffer from OCD. I have my T-shirts hanging in the closet in the following order, 1 Dark t-shirt, 2 light colors, 1 dark, 2 light.

I also rotate my underwear and sleep boxers to make sure they all receive a chance to get worn.

I used to have all my videos (VHS or DVD) in alphabetical order, and I used to have to eat M&M's in even numbers. If someone gave me three I would ask for one more or give the other one away to make it even. Both of these I have overcome!

It's a crazy world we live in, and I'm just doing my share. :o)

Anonymous said...

I lauged out loud when I read this post. You are certainly NOT alone.

I too have a "thing" with pens. Mine is more of an obsession. I might have hundreds, but I continue to buy more. And they cannot be just ordinary Bic pens, they have to be interesting.

I do the rotation thing with certain clothing items, but I also do it with dishes and silverware. I don't really think they can actually "wear out" but I continue with the rotation anyway.

And I do have an issue with things being even or symmetrical. For example, it bugs me that my nativity has 5 animals & I will have to put 3 on one side & 2 on the other. But I LOVE to buy a pack of Starburst candy because there is an even number of each flavor & they are always in the same order (something like Lemon, Orange, Strawberry, Cherry, Lemon, Orange, Strawberry, Cherry...). And on my bulletin board, the papers all have to line up (if they are different sizes, at least the tops have to line up) & I have to use the same color pins on one sheet (all blue on one, all green on another).

I know I am a bit of a wacko, but I have accepted it. : )

Amy said...

Joel, I never knew. What a good sport!

Amy said...

Joel, I never knew. What a good sport!

Tech Daddy said...

Wow. The world is full of weird people and that's normal.