quirks — creative writing — hobbies — preferences — home last changed 11 January 2006

quirks

we all have them. some people always back into a parking place, even at a restaurant, like they're anticipating the need for a fast getaway. some people actually step over cracks in the sidewalk. some people always skip the thirteenth step on a set of stairs.

the point is that most of us do stuff that looks funny to someone else. and there's generally a reason behind it. and the reason is generally funny, too. and we justify it to ourselves, even if we secretly know that everybody else is right.

i'm not talking about one–time occurrences. i dropped a root beer on the floor at taco bell in eighth grade. that was funny, at least for everybody else, but it's not a quirk. i'm talking about habitual behavior. smoking isn't quirky either; that's just dumb.

let me paint an example. i sometimes carry a die in my pocket. you know, the little plastic things you roll around when you're playing monopoly.

of course there's a reason why i do this, and it has nothing to do with a pick–up monopoly league. and of course the justification will look silly on paper; that's the nature of justifications.

i like to remind myself that life is unpredictable. come to think of it, maybe i should start the pick–up monopoly league... might be less silly. but i still do it, in spite of the silly.

when i think i have everything figured out, and i smugly put my hands in my pockets and wait for everything to work out according to plan, my fingers wrap around the familiar contours of chaos. it's a reality check; a reminder that in spite of whatever i think, i'm not actually in control.

my die has twenty sides, instead of the usual six. this serves to remind me that there are many ways to look at any given subject. this often makes situations much more complicated than they first appear.

the die is painted several shades of blue, which points out that very few things in life are black–and–white. i think our ability to successfully navigate life depends on having a polychromatic perspective.

i didn't put all this thought into dice before deciding to carry one around with me. it was an entirely organic action, born of instinct and pursued by a certain satisfaction. it wasn't until somebody saw me pull it out of my pocket that i was forced to rationalize a clever explanation.

laugh if ya like, the fact remains that it works for me.

and that's the way of quirks. they feel so natural that we don't question them until they're brought to our attention, and then we persist anyway. what are some of your quirks?