quote:

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Originally posted by rw:
By the way, the word for that style of writing is "boustrophedon" -- honest. There are -- or at least there have been -- writing systems for which that is the norm.

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wow, that's really amazing--thanks, rw. I was just looking it up, and it literally means 'as the ox plows'it doesn't seem nearly so freakish to me now.

I eat peanut butter in cereal. Cold cereal or oatmeal. I never put milk in oatmeal.

I use Macs and Windows machines everyday and support both, but always default to the Mac for everyday use, even though it's more unstable than Win2K.

I try very had to have only my computer stuff on my desk, and nothing else except my autograph of Bjork.

I like having all my dishes washed before I go to bed so the kitchen looks clean when I go to get coffee in the morning (and so I don't have to smell stuff that's been sitting in the sink overnight).

I am easily distracted by cute girls.

I can carry on ten conversations onscreen, but I can't listen to more than one person at a time.

I don't shop at WalMart. I shop at K-Mart.

I don't think there's such a thing as "too many computers."

I believe that most movies, tv shows, books, and almost anything else that's a bestseller is crap.

I am an active misanthrope.

I'll buy wine or beer if the bottle or label strikes my aesthetic fancy.

I prefer earthquakes to tornados.

Christianity and communism (along with socialism) are the same thing to me.
"No communist in my car! ...and no Christians either!" - Repo Man

quote:

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Originally posted by smallerdemon:
I don't shop at WalMart. I shop at K-Mart.

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quote:

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Originally posted by ARJ:
I shop smart at S-Mart.

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That's right. Shop smart. Shop S-Mart.

quote:

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Originally posted by smallerdemon:
I am easily distracted by cute girls.

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Hmmm, I'm still trying to decide whether this is an odd quirk for a geek or an odd quirk for a San Franciscan.
Either is heavily flameworthy.

Eh, I'll just leave my comments at this and restrict my jabs for Canadians and Minnesotans.

quote:

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Originally posted by CuriousGene:
That's right. Shop smart. Shop S-Mart

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And then there's the entire cadre of cute girls that inhabit this city. It's absolutely abnormal how many cute girls, lesbian an otherwise (and there's plenty of otherwise) there are here. I've seen girls so cute I've been amazed that time and space has not imploded the city due to the high concentration.

And they are distracting. Very distracting. I am easily distracted by them too, thus I spend a LOT of time distracted.

i think that the milk at the very bottom of the carton tastes better than the rest of the milk in the carton

i only eat ice cream with a fork in a cup...

i love to cook...?

i can cook, well(have been cooking since i was eight)

------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------

``To win a hundred victories in a hundred battles is not the
highest excellence; the highest excellence is to subdue the
enemy's army without fighting at all.''

-- Sun-Tzu

quote:

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Originally posted by mephisto:
i only eat ice cream with a fork in a cup...

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i actually read an article once in which an ice cream gourmand said this was the 'correct' way to eat it. a fork apparently interferes with the taste less than a spoon does (less metal.)

quote:

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Originally posted by alexandria:
i actually read an article once in which an ice cream gourmand said this was the 'correct' way to eat it. a fork apparently interferes with the taste less than a spoon does (less metal.)

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quote:

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Originally posted by rw:
Precisely. That's why I eat ice cream with chop sticks.

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i should think the melt/slippage factor would make that difficult, to say the least. it's probably a great dieting technique.

I give away Lego as "staff gifts" when projects come in on time. I own a lot of
Lego from projects that didn't.

I wear my greying hair in a thigh-length ponytail, but my beard is really light.

My house is mostly unfurnished because I keep thinking I'll build the furniture rather than buy it.

I don't wear watches, but I do wear a pager, a cell phone, and a palm pilot.

I take well organized notes and _never_ read them unless I have to write the minutes for a meeting.

I throw balls with my left hand, but frisbees with my right. I golf and bat baseballs
right handed, but play tennis and pingpong left handed.

I lose sunglasses in time inversely proportional to their cost. I still own some $2.50 ones.

I always know exactly how many paper bags I have above the refrigerator, and how many I'll need to use to recycle this week's trash.

quote:

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Originally posted by cobbr2:
I take well organized notes and _never_ read them unless I have to write the minutes for a meeting.

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quote:

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Originally posted by alexandria:
i should think the melt/slippage factor would make that difficult, to say the least. it's probably a great dieting technique.

---

Let's see..

I used to eat only one thing at a time, and everything separated (except two certain meals which I would mash all together). Now I eat things together and make sure everything lasts till the end.

Except pizza. If there is pizza, it is eaten until it is gone or I am full. If there's a salad, it only gets eaten if there's not enough pizza.

I let my living areas get more cluttered and messy until they reach a certain undefined point and I spend a couple hours at 2 AM cleaning them up. This applies to everywhere, desks, bedroom, etc.

When I'm working (especially coding) I am always fidgeting with random objects around my desk. Like twistie ties, elastics, clothespins, etc. If I run out of things like that I'll use a pen, but it's probably scary to come up to my desk and see a pen hanging nonchalantly off my mouth from the cap like it's a reverse pocket protector.

I like to take my time in the morning, I don't like to rush. I can if I have to but I'll trade sleep to have an hour to get ready.

Speaking of sleep, I usually sleep less on the weekdays and more on weekends, but on weekends I go to bed when the sun comes up and get up when it goes down (this varies).

I wear a watch whose band has been replaced 2 times (Timex is good about keeping stuff like that around for sale). It's a leather band so it eventually gets skanky after a few years. I wear it on my left wrist, face up so I can see it with minimal movement. I like to answer people when they ask the time, and I give them the actual time (like 12:59 instead of 1).

I like to edit other people's writing. I try to remember to warn them that it's not personal, but sometimes people get mad at me when I point out all the mistakes, even though they asked me to. When I write my own stuff it requires very minimal editing afterward (unless I'm going for zero grammatical errors of any kind, then it might take a few minutes). I can see errors and fix them even if I don't know what they're called.

I always use capitalization and punctuation. When I have to use handwriting I print, and the only thing I know how to write is my signature (even though in Gr. 6 they made me learn cursive writing twice). When I take notes I never date them. If it's near the end of the lecture I sometimes write progressively smaller and smaller so I don't have to start a new page.

How I spend my personal time is drastically different on school terms vs. work terms. I watch almost zero TV on school terms and read (not just school stuff) a lot more.

Sometimes when I sleep or relax I hold my neck with my hand. It looks like I'm strangling myself, but it's comfy for me. In the first ever picture taken of me as a baby in the hospital, I'm doing this.

I never write in books or highlight stuff, and I don't need bookmarks. but I still love them, Alexandria =)

I used to draw little war scenes all over my notes (more in high school and before), US/Canada versus Russia.

I'm right handed but I swing a bat or a hockey stick lefthanded.

Bathroom time..

I have never understood why people read stuff in the bathroom, because I never have the time.. and I read fairly fast. Hardly worth opening a magazine for.

I avoid using urinals, especially if there's more than one. Psychoanalyze away!

End bathroom time.

I'm always adjusting my glasses or my watch (I don't like my watch being tight on my wrist, so it's a bit loose). If they're not there I still do it and get confused.

I run windows as a desktop (at work it's required and at home for playing games some) but I go out of my way to turn off all the pretty flashy crap (animated windows, gradient title bars, etc).

My desktop at work always has a picture and my desktop at home always is plain black. I have no idea why but it seems wrong otherwise.

People printing email and web pages out usually annoy me incredibly, *especially* if they print them out to give to me. On rare occasions I'll print something but only if it's needed.

*pause*

I complain when a complex game/O.S.
dosen't have a command line

quote:

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Originally posted by rw:
(Mind if I call you "Lex"? You didn't seem to have enough nicknames.)

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i've got lots of nicknames (xanadu, xandria, xandie, sally,) but sure, "lex" works, even if it does bring lex luther to mind. i seem to have a bit of a reputation on this board for being evil. wonder why that is...

i'm innocent... innocent, i tell you!

------------------
... not just a city in egypt.

I carry a wristwatch--in my coat pocket.

I comment my assembly language code in C.

I believe I have strange powers that allow me to (randomly) affect the laws of probability.

I like to do my math assignments backwards (last problem first).

The amount of goldfish crackers that I consume for lunch will usually exceed the combined amounts of every other course.

I still read Dr. Seuss whenever I get the chance.

I don't like talking to people in organised business situations (tiers of secretaries and departments), and if I must, I either spurt chains of keywords or manage to say precisely what I mean in an easy-to-understand, succinct manner, as in NOT how my writing is.

I prefer inversion to normal order for more complex things.

I fidget. Constantly.

Sometimes I make noises, too. Belching during any type of exam is fun, especially if there's nothing to lose.

I refuse to have anything to do with code that is not indented.

I HEAVILY critique others' code and writing to the point of extreme rudeness (apparently), and it seems perfectly normal to me.

I love the smell of cigarette smoke. I never have and never will smoke. I don't want to choke and die. If I asphyxiate, I want it to be under water.

'Good Morning' is my standard greeting. It disturbs people, at first; then, they get used to it; then, they begin to say it by accident; then, they say it often; eventually, I convert them completely.

If it goes on a hanger, I will hang it backwards. Everyone does it hat one way, I do it the other.

I can't stand using a phone on my right side - as in, with the reciever not on my left cheek. It feels very odd and I can barely hear anything; my hearing is the same in both ears.

Coffee calms me down.

I don't care how long it takes, I will continue tying the damn tie until it is the perfect length - tip in the middle of the belt-buckle. Unless I'm *VERY* late, and I will pull at my too-short tie constantly.

I hyphenate words that I think ought to get closer together.

If one I'm talking to ('net, that is) uses only lowercase, that is how I converse, unless a really important proper noun comes up. Posts - perfect grammar (as far as I have learned), with the odd typo that my fingers really can't help.

All the bills must be upright in the wallet. No questions. I'll pull a fifty out in a dark alley in the middle of the night if it's upside-down.

Not that that's ever happened to me. Before. Yet.

I, too, will sit on John until I am finished reading the newest (or oldest) Reader's Digest from the stack.

I don't wear black shirts. I own a ton of them.

I will exercise with dark shorts and a white t-shirt; if it's cold, add a black sweatshirt and blue pants. No questions.

I will NOT mark in a book unless explicitly instructed by someone I deem to be higher than I.

Once it's technically 'morning' - the later it becomes, the less tired I become, regardless of sleep.

Fries, then cheeseburgers, then drink, unless I'm parched.

I will wipe sweat and oil from my face, roll it in my figers (left hand only) until it becomes a little black pellet, and flick it.

Flick.

quote:

---

Originally posted by MrMachineCode:

I still read Dr. Seuss whenever I get the chance.

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i'm convinced that the butter battle book should be required reading for all heads of state (insert whatever joke you want about george w.'s reading level here.)

that said, whenever i go to barnes & noble with at least one friend i invariably drag the friend into the children's section and hold an impromtu storyhour with the butter battle book. usually we'll get one or two curious glances, and then the children will start to come and sit around us as they get their courage up. it's incredibly fun, a very pied piper-ish feeling, and i like to think i'm doing a bit to help out the overburdened new york city school system, which surely doesn't have time to teach political subversion.

I think it's tacky when people quote lines from TV comedies too often, even TV comedies that I really like.

...'Too often' is defined as 'more often than I quote said lines from said TV comedies'. I couldn't explain why so much is OK but more is tacky.

I keep my wallet in my left front pocket, never in a back pocket. (right front is for keys, right back for coins and paper tissue.)

I always wear boots, not shoes, if I can get away with it.

...which is why I never feel truly comfortable in a suit.

The 'cocktail party effect' doesn't work for me. Background conversation - or music - distracts me from the conversation I'm having.

...Actually, I only really notice this at parties or in pubs, so maybe it's alcohol-related.

I have immense disdain for adverts that I think are aimed at me and scrupulously avoid buying those products.

...I probably buy, and think myself really cool for possessing, lots of things that are equally targeted but I just haven't noticed.

I don't like proportional scroll thumbs.

!. I am Canadian 'nuff said.

@. Because I have four lesbian mothers I am deathly afraid of loosing my girlfriends to lesbianism. Happened once already. How's that for Freud fuckin' with my head.

#. I hate clowns.

$. Mimes too.

%. My grammar sucks

^. I always place nutritional yeast on my popcorn. And at theatrs that have popcorn flavourings I fill a napking with them and sprinkle it on later in the movie. And I mix all the flavours into one.

&. I love women. It's a fault.

*> I like Jesus but cannot stomache most Christians (not you Amy! You rock.)

(> I honour and Colour my draughts of writing always in british spelling.

)> I speak french. Somthin' to do.

I always pop my gum, even if it's not bubble gum, and annoy most of the people around me to no end.

quote:

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Originally posted by Doc Holliday:
I never really noticed it but when I get hungry I quote Starscream from the origional Transformers I yell out "Megatron, we need more energon cubes!" in what I consider to be a near perfect imitation of his voice.

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quote:

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Originally posted by ARJ:
If I let myself get too hungry, I get really emotional when I finally eat. Sometimes even have an impulse to cry. I think this probably has more to do with blood sugar levels than a genuine psychological disorder, though.

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quote:

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Originally posted by ARJ:
Sometimes, when I'm really stressed out, I still suck my thumb. It's very soothing. Especially when I wrap my forefinger around my nose.

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I collect Turtles.

I've been awake since Wednesday, just about 53 hours now.... make it stop
I'll post more later when I get my coherant thoght back: )

psychotic villains always appealed to me more than heroes. dilandau, seifer, lecter...much cooler than van, squall, or starling. hah.

there is always a breath mint in my mouth. even when i'm eating meals. usually a wintergreen altoid, but i like penguin mints too. and i never, ever chew them.

i buy all my pants at least two sizes too big for me. if they're falling off my waist, i'll throw a belt on 'em, but otherwise, i prefer having the extra room in my jeans.

i quote people in different languages and don't bother to translate. i've gone off in russian, japanese, and british underground slang.

tight clothing drives me up a wall. i'll sit there and constantly fiddle with the fabric if i have to wear anything skin-tight.

i pepper my speech with british/scottish slang. wankers, blokes, bairn, shunkie...

i like to draw barcodes on the backs of my hands when i'm bored in class. i'll randomly whip out a ruler and a black marker and get to it.

When going to sleep I have to read something/anything so I can sleep. When I've run out of new books to read, I've once resorted to reading the pillow tags.

When I was a child, I had this insatiable need to take everything apart: watches, clocks, flashlights, radios, etc.
Of course not everything to make it back to it original state. :P

Nowadays I attempt to repair anything of mine when it breaks, even if I don't know what I'm doing.
I think its guilt from breaking so many things as a child.
I've got an ancient top loading VCR my friends named Lazarus, because I refuse to let it die.

When reading a textbook or technical manual, I'll turn on the radio and TV to occupy my hearing so I can concentrate on reading.

I collect sand from where I traveled, or ask friends to bring me some if they are going someplace I have not been.

I love the bed head look, all kinky and going off in different directions.
Unfortunately my hair doesn't do that anymore since I've let it grown it below shoulder length.
I'm considering shaving my head, but I'm worried that my co-workers will think I've flipped.

I too, remove the dust jackets on books until I'm done reading them, also when loaning them to friends.
Turn out to be an easy way to know what books I had loan out.

I read paperbacks in a manner such that I don't put a crease in the binding.

Went through a minimalist period where I gave almost everything away to friends or charity. Everything left would fit in two 2x2x1 boxes, except my computer, of course. I could be packed and gone in 30 minutes.

hmm, I think I went beyond geek into wierd....oh well

quote:

---

Originally posted by Doc Holliday:

Does anyone run hot water over your Catsup bottle to make it drain out faster? I do.

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I learned that from a Hooters Girl, who also showed me that putting a dash of salt on a beverage napkin keeps it from sticking to the bottom of the glass.

quote:

---

Originally posted by supaboy:
For ketchup, I hit the Heinz bottle right on one of the markings on the sticker. I forget which mark, though, but I usually figure it out within two or three whacks.

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i've always been told that you're supposed to kit the 57. last night, though, i encountered a ketchup bottle without any identifiable markings. egads. i hit it for a few minutes in vain, and then was forced to resort to the knife method... at which point a huge blob of ketchup fell out and drowned my veggie burger. sigh.