One of my biggest obsessions is in the way that I eat food. If I have a bowl of something maliable in front of me, like oatmeal, I can't resist eating a circle in the middle before eating the rest. I do the same thing with cereal, but my process differs if the pieces are different colors or textures- I have to eat them in a certain order. Like Lucky Charms. I eat the non-mallow pieces first, then eat the mallows in a certain order based on color or texture. If I'm eating regular food with portions, I have to have them arranged in a certain manner... this is hard to explain... its not order really, but I do like to keep the portions separate and in a semi-circle pattern. Usually I'll push it up against the edge of the plate when I do this. I have no clue why I do this, but I've done it my whole life. The only exclusions are things that are solid, like chicken, that can't be arranged like this. Its also worth noting that I prefer silverware and bowls of certain size. For whatever reason, small spoons and bowls drive my bonkers, especially if I'm eating cereal.

I also have certain seats that I like to sit in and I get very annoyed when someone takes my spot. There is a cushion on my couch that has a permanent groove in it because I always sit there.

I compulsively clip my fingernails. I used to bite them as a kid, but because people always nagged me about it, I discovered nail clippers and have kept them short ever since. I still do bite on them though... but mostly its at loose skin on my hands. I keep my nails short enough that I can't really bite them. If I see extra white, I cut it off. I can't stand long nails. Also, I cannot stand my fingernails being dirty.

I am picky with clothing. Sleeves have to be a certain length, and clothes have to be a certain fit, certain fabrics... and absolutely no tags can touch my skin, lest I cut them off. I also tend to stick to brands, when I find something I like, I want to buy the same thing next time. I also do this with shoes. I just bought a new pair of the same shoes I've had for 3 years online. Did that the last time I bought shoes too; it was the same pair.

When I was a kid, it was worse. I did all of the above things(there's more, I'm sure), plus some extras. I used to constantly mess with my shoe laces and shirt. I would untie my shoes, then re-tie them for no real reason. Theyhad to be a certain tightness and look a certain way. I constantly made sure that my shirt was tucked in no matter where I was, even in public. Its funny, because now I can't stand my shirt being tucked in. I also liked my pants waistband to be at a certain place on my waist. I always wanted to be third in everything; in line, etc. The only reason I know this is because I read it in an old teacher's note. I don't do that any more and don't know why I did back then. I don't really remember doing that either. I also went through phases. There was a time where I wouldn't wear anything but shorts, then I had one where I wanted to only wear rubber boots. I remember getting mad because the school wouldn't let me wear them to school. The got madder when I saw a kid wear a pair to school one day. I also had a strong obsession with animals, especially reptiles and particularly turtles. I would imitate them, it was that bad... (in fact, I imitated all sorts of animals- still do, to an extent)it was all I ever talked about, and if you didn't want to hear about it, too bad... I'm still like that to an extent, but I've learned to back off a bit, and the topics are different now. I'm sure you've seen a lot of nerdy posts from me, talking about accretion and gravity and evolutionary theories and whatnot.. but this is because Cosmetology and anything else space related is one of my special interests. Look at my name: Quasar. Google that and read up on it a bit if you want to know what that is, its a little hard to understand and explain. My biggest interests in that area are quasars, blackholes(the two are related- read up, kids, knowledge is power), galaxy- particularly galactic mergers and creation(Big bang ties in with this as well), magnetars and star formations- especially open and globular clusters and constellations. I used to spend hours gazing at stars- Arcturus in the constellation Bootes, or Antares in Scorpio. I loved finding clusters and nebulae clouds and plotting them... until my telescope broke. : I need a new one... badly... but I need money first.

This is a little something I started for an argument a while back(don't ask), but the thread was closed before I finished it. This is just a part of it, and was as far as I got with the "essay" before it was locked. Warning: I am about to shove probably unwanted information into your brain: http://pastebin.com/f7d4c93be

My other special interest is in computers, but I am tired of typing now... so I will just say that I have been using then since age 4, and direct you to the computer section on this forum to give you an idea of what my experience, etc, is.

Now.. enough about me... what about you? What are you obsessive traits?

Well, I haven't done the even numbers thing since I was about 13 or 14... I guess the only thing I get obsessive over now is cleanliness...I don't mean being a neat freak, I mean I get neurotic thinking about germs. If I'm washing dishes I wash my hands afterwards with soap. If I think there's a chance of any kind bodily fluid being on something I'll wash it. If I think ANYTHING has been tainted in any way I'll either wash it or throw it away. Someone took a sip out of my drink once without asking me and I throw it away.

I despise sharing any kind of food or drink with people. The only person I really don't mind sharing drinks/food with is my niece. I dunno, why; it just simply doesn't feel gross sharing stuff with her (it has something to do with her being so young and pure I guess ) . If anyone else shares something with me (a soft-drink, beer, etc.), I get grossed out. I often share things with my sister since sharing food/drinks/cigarettes/beer doesn't seem to bother her at all. It kind of bothers me, but I just don't show it.

Something I bloody despise - when people drink out a two-litre pop-bottles when the pop is to be consumed by more than just the person who drank out of the bottle! One time a friend of mine in elementary school casually asked me for a sip of my Coke, so I let him have one (even though I didn't want to). When I received the bottle back, there was a chunk of food in my drink.

OK, I will admit this - sharing alcohol does not bother me so much since I'm usually too damn drunk to give a shit.

I thought everyone was like this, preferring to do things the same way each time in their own little routine because it s comforting. It probably affects every part of my life, mostly without me realising it.

The one that stands out the most is ties. I don t have to wear them anymore, but i hated when i did. This was because it would take ages, if it didn t look exactly the same to how i always wear it, i would have to redo it and start again, even if it looked perfectly acceptable and i was already late.

I can somewhat understand that.

I have a couple rituals. I always use the second to the last stall whenever i go to the bathroom at college or any public place. Only go on the right line when i go to the cafeteria, never the left one even if no ones in that one. If there's a tile pattern on the ground and one square in the pattern stands out i can only step on that one.

GROSS!!
Even when I was a kid I didn't share drinks, not even with my parents. I remember telling my stepdad I was thirsty (I think I was about 6 at the time), and I turned down the sip of soda he offered because I didn't want his germs.

Wanna know something that instantly ruins food for me? When I find a hair in something I am eating! Right away, my appetite becomes non-existent....

Ohmygosh. I was eating a packaged cookie once and I found a hair baked INTO it. I thought I was going to vomit.

This would have been me ---------->

You gave me an excuse to install a puking emoticon Estranged.

Lmao, I was looking for one when I quoted your post!

You can use it next time you mention puking.

Thanks

I also have strong expostulations against sharing food or drinks. I've always felt like this, even as a preschooler. I knew nothing about germs at that age, I just thought the idea sickening. There have only been 2 occasions when I have shared. The first time I was 11, and at a birthday party for a girl in my class. We were sitting at the table eating when the boy next to me managed to take a sip of my bottle of Cola instead of his own. He then gave me his as compensation. I found it gross, but I was thirsty, so I took a sip. Some of the others started laughing and asked me if the subs in the soda were tasty. I almost all over him! I didn't find any subs, though. (Shiver). Neither did I finish the soda!
The next time it happened I was 14, and coming in from the recess, a boy in my class gave me the rest of his Cola. I took it mostly because he was always so kind and nice to me.

Don't get me started on hair in foods... (Fighting down the nausea.)
I can't even stand finding bone pieces, veins, blood marks (mostly in chicken) or fat in meat. Nor lumps in bread or mashed potatoes, nor thin coating coagulating in sauce, or the stringy cheese on pizza when it's not sufficiently roasted. (Yeah, I know most people like it like that, but I need it more cremated.)

Problems with food is very common for Aspies, and it's obviously an OCD issue as well. Has anyone read Brenda Legge's "Can't eat, won't eat" ?

I think the only person I'd feel fine about sharing a drink with would be a girlfriend or my niece (although, she's always sick and I'd risk getting a cold or something).

I used to do the same thing with the Lucky Charms! It drove my mother crazy, she would say, "OMG, just EAT it." And I have always been compulsive with the nail clipping..if they even get a little bit of growth, I feel like they're catching on stuff, like my keyboard. Forget about dirty nails, too..that makes me sick.

When I had my first apartment alone, I went through a phase of being antiseptically clean. You would not find a crumb or a hair anyplace. I would wash the floors and vacuum every day, practically. I'm not that anal anymore, although I am still quite tidy. My big thing now is checking door locks. I must do it several times before going to bed, even though I know they are locked.

Part of the reason I like my nails short is so its harder for them to get dirty. And yeah, my eating habits annoyed my mom too.

I've never been what you would call a "clean" person though- I fail at organization. But, there are ways that I like to keep things and if they get moved, I get annoyed.

I cut my nails once a week since I can't stand them longer than that. Not because of cleanliness but because I find it uncomfortable and icky. No white showing here.

Ah I thought I was the only one bothered by this. I pick at my food so much trying to avoid these parts. That's why I prefer to only eat boneless meat (all white pieces of chicken, etc.). As far as sharing food, ehh.. growing up in my family we always kind of shared our food so I don't exactly mind. But I mean that as far as trading pieces of food off a plate, not sharing drinks/utensils or whatever. I'm only ok doing that with certain people. (I know that doesn't make sense because I would be exchanging germs equally from anyone, lol.) But I'm less grossed out if it's a close friend or my immediate family members (as long as no one is sick at the time).

I actually really like my nails long, i find them creepy when i ve cut them (i mean, i ve just cut off the tips of my fingers, that s quite an unsettling feeling). I m much happier and more comfortable when they re long, as long as they re clean, i can t stand dirty nails.

Right now it's the ever popular hand washing. Couldn't survive the day
without my hand sanitizer. Forget it if someone comes over and touches
MY computer. I probably scrub my hands 20 times a day.

One obsession that I'm glad has long passed was the fear that I had accidentally hit
somebody or something while driving. A small bump in the road if the mood hit me
right would be a reason for me to circle the block endlessly to check to make sure that
I hadn't accidentally flattened a small child or someone's dog. With OCD, you KNOW,
you just have to make SURE. What a pain in the ass.

My OCD is checking my e-mail, I can't wait 10 minutes without checking it, almost always empty though.

A lot of that sounds like sensory defensiveness. I don't have OCD, but I'm the most sensory defensive person I've ever known; it's incredibly annoying. I'm so picky about food. *shudders* With a few rare and very occasional exceptions, I absolutely cannot eat fruit. The texture makes my throat close so much that it won't even go down. Skilpadde, you're not the only one who can't stand fat or other things in meat and lumps in mashed potatoes. Bleh. I can't eat jelly or jam because of the lumps, too. Thank goodness for fruit juice, or I'd probably have vitamin deficiencies. I can't eat anything too mushy or too stringy or too strong-tasting, and I can't tolerate anything too cold or especially too hot. Apparently, the heat-intolerance is pretty common in Japan; there's even a word for it, nekojita! It literally means "cat tongue."

Certain words drive me insane to the point that I beg my parents not to use them, and I can't wear rough fabrics, especially lace. Why, oh why, do all bras in my ridiculous size have lace? Ugh. I have to wear the only one I could find without it every single day, even though the band is stretched out enough to fit two of me. I don't like to wear baggy clothing, either; it makes me feel like I'm not even wearing clothes.

...I have no problem with sharing food, though; I was the garbage disposal of my lunch table in school. xD