This would be a more interesting post if it really was about quarks, as the image would indicate, but it's really about what the title reads - quirks.
I do find quantum physics to be very interesting - sometimes spending hours engrossed in articles on physics sites. That was a while back - when I could still manage to retain more than a few sentences of information in my brain. All that has changed now. Anyway, I put this particular image up here because it's close enough to quirks - and quarks
are kind of quirky little things, along with those who study them. All my physics profs were pretty eccentric kind of guys, same with most of my math profs.
Back to the subject of quirks. Just a while ago I was driving back from the grocery store and engaged in one of my recently acquired quirks. When I turn off the main street onto my street, the road slopes downhill. I'll put my car in neutral and see if I can coast all the way to my house, along the driveway and right into the garage. I'm trying to get it just perfect so the car will come to a stop inside the garage but so far I haven't been to able to do that. I've pooped out in the driveway, or had too much momentum, needing to apply the brakes. I will do this in other places like in sloping parking lots or when I'm approaching a stoplight. Of course I'll only play my little coasting game when there's no traffic around and I'm not in a hurry.
I'm also a counter. If I have to sit and wait somewhere I'll inevitably count any repeating geometric shapes, like window panes or tiles or whatever. It's not an obsession, just something I'll notice...and count. Obligated to attend Mass every morning in Catholic grade school, you can imagine what a counting fool I was - every single light fixture high overhead, every pew, every person, every rail, everything. I even created categories within a group, like all the blond girls, brunettes, etc.
Then there's the impromptu race against an event. Like if I'm casually peeling an orange, I'll suddenly get it into my head that if I completely finish peeling the orange before the commercial on television is finished, I'll win. Then I start peeling like crazy, racing against the commercial. Sometimes I win these contests, sometimes I don't. And I will actually feel a twinge of a sense of failure whenever I lose. I will usually select events whose time frame is unknown to me, so I can't know how much time I have to complete my task. This makes the contest more interesting, adding a gambling aspect to it. And if I finish too soon, I'll add further requirements to my task and continue the race/gamble.
That's about all the quirks or little games that I can think of at the moment. I'm not obsessive about anything really, not in an OCD way. My behavior is quite normal from all outward appearances. And, of course, I will only indulge in these oddities when I'm alone.
Yeah, well, I'm sure you've got your quirks too. Come on, I know you do.
There are many televangelists around today. I sometimes will watch these con artists for a while like I'd briefly watch a freak show, out of morbid curiosity. The camera will scan over a huge audience and it amazes me that so many can be so gullible. God help those poor people.
At one time I would have considered those in the audience to be total idiots, deserving of being conned. I don't think this way anymore. These people are searching for help, answers, anything that will help them get through their lives. Life can be so overwhelming at times that I can see how some will grab onto anything or anyone who promise some relief, comfort and hope.
In the wee hours of Sunday morning, I stumbled onto one televangelist whose sermons have kept me interested. Dr. Charles Stanley appears to be a rarity among the others. There is a sincerity, humility and simplicity in his sermons, spoken in his Southern drawl, that make Dr. Stanley come across as the real thing. I like this man. I like what he says. I like his face. There are some faces that shout SOB, sleazy bastard and many of the televangelists are prime examples of this.
Here are the video archives of Dr. Stanley's sermons. If you happen to listen to any of them, let me know what you think. I've only listened to the most recent ones.
Dr. Stanley's ministry is called In Touch Ministries. I will be catching his sermons every Sunday if I'm up at that time or I'll download his sermon sometime afterwards. Have I said that I like this guy? I do.
I'm also looking around for a Bible Church to attend - it's time for me to get back into the real world with real humans. You guys have been good company but God didn't create us to be hermits - unfortunately...
