Disqus - Latest Comments for auliya

Re: i am neurotic. - i'm following you, but not really, but sort of

Auliya — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:51:37 -0000

I'm with 90% of the people who replied here... The germination of an imaginary relationship with the person(s) with whom you are sharing a route is definitely familiar to me. On long trips, where a long time is spent in a collection of cars going the same general speed on a highway, I find that I develop something like affection for the others who are on such similar trips. I make up stories about them based on their cars or driving habits. And when I find that someone ahead of me is taking the same route as me, as the original poster described, I also laugh and wonder if they think they are being followed. I feel a little silly, a little guilty! :-)

Re: i am neurotic. - eyes closed, lights out

Auliya — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:43:35 -0000

I tried clicking 'me too' but I did not see it work, so I'll just say, "Me too!" I'm also more comfortable not witnessing the light going out. I prefer closing my eyes, then switching the light off.

Re: i am neurotic. - look the other way

Auliya — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:40:24 -0000

My boyfriend does this too. He frowns and rapidly shakes his head, as if to clear the thoughts away.

Re: i am neurotic. - no sleep till closet door is closed

Auliya — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:03:59 -0000

I don't like the empty space created by the closet doors either. If I happen to notice them open before drifting off, I have to close them.

Re: i am neurotic. - urinal flushing

Auliya — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:02:59 -0000

Yeah. I've heard that happening before and I just don't want to think about. Doesn't she know... what... is... Yeah.

Re: i am neurotic. - multiple bumps

Auliya — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:56:27 -0000

Me. Too. Seriously. Take, for example, cheap paper towels. Get it slightly wet and stretch it a little. A thousand tiny holes gape in the fabric, creating exactly this sensation of something excruciatingly... organic and for whatever reason sickening. I also have explained it to myself the way you have, Lisa, that skin will have a "cauliflower" texture (warts, cold sores) or be in some other way perforated like this. Even remembering the imagery is having an effect on me. OMG.

Re: i am neurotic. - clock

Auliya — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:43:40 -0000

After reading these replies I think Stephen Talbott (the author of a neo-Luddite book called "The Future Does not Compute") would be proud of us for unearthing one of the many invisible impacts of going digital.

Re: i am neurotic. - bed bugs

Auliya — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:34:36 -0000

Way back in college I was forced to stay in some pretty depressing digs. In at least one of them I was sleeping on a futon, very low to the ground. I would wake up with a tickly-crawly sensation on my skin. The first time this happened, I slapped at it. That morning, I woke up with a large crushed roach stuck to my upper arm. The next night, you bet I imagined tickly-crawly sensations - but none of them were real. I lost so much sleep. Several weeks later I was recovered from the experience. Then one night I felt a tickly-crawly sensation again. This time, I gently lifted my arm and looked at it in the streetlight coming in from the window. It was a giant roach. This time, I cupped the living roach in my hand, where it struggled against my curled fingers-- and I flung it hard across the room. Then I went back to sleep. This "gently cup and fling" practice came in handy several more times in my life. Once, it was a lizard.

Re: i am neurotic. - bathroom doors

Auliya — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:27:33 -0000

After being educated (or mislead?) about the foul conditions of public restroom surfaces, I've tried to develop this and related "neuroses" as a habit.

Re: i am neurotic. - hand drying

Auliya — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:25:00 -0000

Ditto, me. Same thing. It feels better if both hands are wet. The one-hand-dry feeling is so unpleasant I will rub my hands together, or, if the substance I am drying off is not appropriate to wipe onto my other hand, I will turn on the water and rinse my hands so both of them are wet before drying.

Re: i am neurotic. - stuffed animals

Auliya — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:16:21 -0000

I, too, felt they would resent me (somehow). I was about 8-9 years old. Once, I was on my back holding a stuffed bear above my face and touching noses with it. My fingers slipped and the bear's plastic nose tapped against my lips and teeth, which hurt! I suddenly conceived of this as being "bitten" by the resentful bear, and I quickly made him my "favorite" bear. I still have that bear. (I agree with another comment, which observed that this might be closer to a childhood paranoia than a neurosis.)