Five addictions

Among all the other interesting posts on the wonderful blog The Unsung Psalm, I read one about the author's five main addictions. At the end was a list of five bloggers whom he invited to each write a similar post. My name was among these, so here I go.

1. Anything sweet

It's a miracle that I'm not fat, because I just love candy, ice cream, and deserts. I used to eat warm at dinner time and because I prefer to cook with fresh ingredients, I'd go straight to the supermarket after work. There's this rule though: never visit a supermarket with an empty stomach. And indeed, beside the fresh meat and vegetables, I'd usually buy things like chocolate coated hazelnuts as well. For that reason -- and because I don't like cooking for only myself -- I decided to eat warm lunches at work and have bread in the evening since I broke up with my boyfriend. That way I'd only need to go to the supermarket once a week.

I cannot eat much chocolate because it gives me pimples (see Eating chicken, eating pork). Hence, I usually revert to other sweets and I always find an excuse to buy some. Yesterday, for example, I walked past a candy machine at work and noticed one pack of banana flavoured candy teetering inside: if I'd buy one, I'd get two. That's still too expensive for something I shouldn't really eat, but as soon as I found the excuse I just stopped thinking.


2. Masturbation

"No not sex again," I hear you think, "Can't he write about anything else?" Oh, yes I can. And it's not as if I think of sex a lot. However, when I tried not to masturbate for a week once, I discovered that I found it very hard -- partly because something else was often very hard as well. It's like sleeping on a chocolate bed and not being allowed to taste a bit.

I guess you want stats: I masturbate about twelve times a week. Almost every night before going to sleep, and often in the morning before I get up. Usually I do it once or twice extra in the weekend. Note that at the moment I barely have sex beside this.


3. Puzzles, games, and language

I love puzzles, preferably mathematical and logical ones. I love the process of solving problems, and usually I try to improve or generalize them. With a good puzzle, a child could understand the problem but it takes a genius insight to solve it. Usually, I choose a very childish context to emphasize the seeming simplicity of the problem.

Once during lunch at a conference a fellow PhD student came up with a puzzle. I solved it and came up with a few good ones myself. Even some self-proclaimed puzzle haters at the table thought these were interesting and fun.

That evening I was sitting at the bar with a few colleagues when suddenly a Nobel prize winning scientist walked up to me and said, "Good evening, Jack." I was surprised that he knew my name, and then I realized he had been sitting next to me during lunch. I started feeling embarrassed by my childish puzzles and was afraid of what he'd have to say. He continued, "I worked a bit on your Smurf problem in my hotel room. Did you know that if you add one extra hat colour, the problem has a unique solution for every multiple of seven Smurfs? Oh, and the solution to your wonderful duckling problem: is it eight?" You should have seen the looks on my colleagues' faces -- and the look on mine for that matter.

I also love strategic board and card games of the 'takes a minute to learn but a lifetime to master' kind, and I'm always playing with language.


4. The internet

There is so much interesting stuff to read on the internet. I like trivia, but my memory is not very good. There's also the news, MSN, Youtube, Wikipedia, and don't forget the many interesting blogs. I recently had a discussion with someone about non-social behaviour and spending time on the internet. In my opinion chatting with friends over MSN is a social activity. What do you think?


5. Design

I love designer stuff. People always tell me they love the interior of my apartment, but I'm always looking for improvements. It's simply impossible for me to walk past a designer shop without having a look inside. The only reason why I don't buy too much is that I'm a minimalist. By the by, I don't care much about designer clothes, in case you might wonder.


Fellow bloggers

I'm very curious about the addictions of some bloggers whose blogs I frequent. I hope the following five will spend a post on their five strongest addictions and each appoint five others to do the same.

Sam is the blogger I know best, but this guy often surprises me still. I'm curious, Sam, what do Irishmen do beside cursing, drinking, and chasing leprechauns?

Vlad lives in the same city as Sam, but that's as far as the comparison goes. I suspect he thinks 'hadron' when he reads 'hardon'. Try and read his readers' comments: that's a real challenge!

Jeff's new post is always a surprise. It can be a personal story, a sad observation, or a funny thought. I wonder what the addictions are of someone who celebrates Halloween as a chocolate-flavoured scat pig (see Jeff's Halloween costume dilemma).

Dustin... Talking about Halloween: have you seen his garden (see Dustin's Lights out!) or didn't you dare have a look? Horror is obviously one of his addictions; I wonder what he can tell about his other ones.

J-code started blogging only two months ago, but through his many well-written personal posts I feel I already know him quite well. His blog is another contribution to my internet addictions. Oh, and he's going to cook for me; I only need to travel halfway around the globe first -- all that for instant noodles (see J-code's I love instant noodles).

Click the bloggers' names to read about their five addictions.