lauralh | my bad habits (aka "addictions") (Reply)

web surfing
This one started in, um, 1994, I guess. Anytime I'm near a machine with 'net access, I gotta check email, gotta check my daily links, even if there's nothing I want to read I gotta read something, anything. In college it didn't really matter, as I had plenty of free time (well, technically paying dearly for it), but corporations aren't so crazy about it. It's very hard for me just to check one site and then close the browser - I tend to surf the depths of an interesting site till three hours have passed.
boys
This one didn't get too bad till I started college, and it's only bad in cycles. Basically I'll flirt with every guy I can, and if they respond, I just keep going. Otherwise I pull back and just stay a good girl. But it doesn't matter if I have a boyfriend or not, I just want to see what happens, if I have an effect on them at all. It's sort of a power play, but it's also often simply hormones. The scent of testosterone gets me going or something.
snacks
This one I've got more or less under control, but every now and again I'll eat a whole bag of [insert snack here]. Four Twinkies, three ice cream sandwiches, a can of Pringles, six Airheads, a pack of fruit Mentos, a bag of Doves - you name it, I devour it. Basically I let myself buy something like this once a month, indulge, then forget about it till the next month.
IM chat/email
This gets pretty bad too; I'll talk to anyone just for the thrill of being on the computer chatting. I also reply to all email immediately (unless I don't like you, or I have nothing further to add to your email). I should be doing anything but chatting or responding to email usually, but I do it anyway. If no one's online I just stare at my Buddy List, as though I can will people to log on. If that doesn't work, well, see bad habit #1.

I think that's all I have though. I have other things I do or don't do consistently which aren't great, but they can't really be qualified as addictions.