# Non-serious Addictions



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Missing out the 'serious' addictions of sex, drugs, and rocknroll, also alcohol & tobacco, which of the 'everyday innocent' activities do you find most addictive? And how do you distract yourself, and/or tear yourself away? 
Is there something that obsesses you that we haven't mentioned, like playing ludo late into the night? This is the place to share. We won't tell anyone ... much. 
Thanks in advance for any replies, and particularly the witty ones.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

You've missed out some very important options - getting the spoons lined up correctly in the drawer, or all the plates in order. Not to mention playing with worry beads


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Symmetric kicking of table legs.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

M&Ms - peanut.....................


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

None of them are addictive.

Merriam-Webster:

1. a strong and harmful need to regularly have something (such as a drug) or do something (such as gamble)
2. an unusually great interest in something or a need to do or have something

They are hobbies, pastimes, routines, etc.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Counting the slow and inexorable increase of the number of grey hairs in my eyebrows (the rest are accepted, but these... bug me 

ADD P.s. This is more a part-time obsession than an addiction.


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## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

Playing golf? Why do I feel like this is a setup? Who else was in on this?


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

scratchgolf said:


> Playing golf? Why do I feel like this is a setup? Who else was in on this?


The C.I.A. and forty-two corporate makers of product getting a free demographic survey via our answering. I'm certain an easy to use foolproof dye/mascara "for men" which will cover up the grey in my eyebrows will be on the store shelves within a few weeks from now; they're just wondering what color to make the packaging so I will not think it too feminine or metrosexual


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## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

PetrB said:


> The C.I.A. and forty-two corporate makers of product getting a free demographic survey via our answering. I'm certain an easy to use foolproof dye/mascara "for men" which will cover up the grey in my eyebrows will be on the store shelves within a few weeks from now; they're just wondering what color to make the packaging so I will not think it too feminine or metrosexual


I should have known. I could have known. I would have known. Wait....what? I didn't vote yet. Is playing golf an option?


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

scratchgolf said:


> I should have known. I could have known. I would have known. Wait....what? I didn't vote yet. Is playing golf an option?


Yessssss, Virginia, playing golf is one of the poll's options.

Easy to use foolproof dye/mascara "for men" which covers up grey in eyebrows is not a poll option. (Damn! I might have to wait longer for that product than I had first hoped.)


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Internet, TV, Music, and Food. What else is there to do? lol I need all those.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

I might as well face it, I'm addicted to love.


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## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

GreenMamba said:


> I might as well face it, I'm addicted to love.


Easy for you to say. You're simply irresistible.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

I'm actually addicted to the internet. Computer or phone, in whatever way I can access the internet, I will, and maybe a dozen times in one day.


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## Masada (Feb 9, 2014)

Chess, definitely being one of them, though time has bested my efforts as of late.






​
"It's a great huge game of chess that's being played - all over the world --- if this is the world at all, you know. Oh, what fun it is! How I wish I was one of them! I wouldn't mind being a Pawn, if only I might join - though of course I should like to be a Queen, best."

She glanced rather shyly at the real Queen as she said this, but her companion only smiled pleasantly, and said "That's easily managed. You can be the White Queen's Pawn, if you like, as Lily's too young to play; and you're in the Second Square to begin with: when you get to the Eighth Square, you'll be a Queen..." - _Through the Looking-Glass_, 2.61-62


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

Music for me will always be the most serious addiction - it does not let me do anything else, sometimes not even eat and sleep!


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I look at the computer far too often - especially, I spend far too much time on this site. And why wouldn't I - not only is there fabulous music, but there is a fabulous community of wits, raconteurs and generally nice people to consort with.

Today it is exactly one year since I joined TalkClassical. Let's hear it for The Forum! :cheers::cheers::cheers:


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

Sometimes when I look at those beer smileys, I worry they will spill some froth and spoil the floor!


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

it got a bit worrying that I wouldn't go to sleep last night because Barbican tickets to Alcina and Poppea went on general sale today. I hate waking up early at the best of times but I sprang out of bed as soon as the alarm went off (yes, I set an alarm, seeing as how I only fell asleep around 6am) and was online 15min before the sale opened at 10am. After purchase I was too excited to get back to sleep but I will in half an hour or so. Luckily the next show(s? still making up my mind about that) I'm interested in goes on sale next month to the day. Unless, of course, I find out about something else in the meanwhile. I think I should take up yoga or something.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I look in the mirror too much, and just spent 20 minutes adjusting my Facebook profile photo - dragging it here & there and the pesky thing ends up with half your face showing and the rest is curtain. 
I'd be more shamefaced about this except that I think I am not vain so much as a 'normal female': women are - or maybe were - brought up to think all the time about their appearance. How many times have you been behind woman drivers or passengers and seen them adjust their make up in the mirror over their seat? When I was studying drama on my teacher training course, the lecturer (male) said that women were 'always acting' - always thinking about the way they were perceived. I denied this indignantly, but I think now that maybe he had a point.
Mind you, it's not only women who look in mirrors. In the mid-twentieth century there was a high-rise office building where the lifts (elevators) were abysmally slow. There were tons of complaints, but when they looked into it, it was a structural problem that they could do nothing about. So they lined the corridors near the lifts with mirrors, and the complaints dropped dramatically. People were happy if they could look at themselves while they were waiting.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Facebook is the most boring thing I've ever seen. Looking in the mirror is more like it.


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

1. being late to dates, appointments, etc

its very often, so it must be an addiction


2. worry beads 

it can be very expensive addiction


3. eating chocolate

a sinful addiction


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

My most serious addiction is good strong, black coffee/espresso. I'm trying to cut down a bit, but it's difficult.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I"m probably "addicted" to collecting music and books. Of course I enjoy listening and reading, but the act of collecting itself is pleasurable. And since I'm rattling around in a house probably too big for me, my collections are fairly harmless. So that came under Other and Arranging your CDs

For a long time I was heavily into virtual worlds, especially Second Life® because its content is created by the people who use it. It is not a game, unless you want it to be. Anything and everything can and does happen. It used to be an amazing surreal wasteland of pop culture confusion and interesting creative virtual places, but now is too big (about the size of a real life small nation / state) and it is difficult to find people - or beagles like me, or dragons or robots or cyclops or large hairy spiders or kangaroos -- to interact with. It's a lonely place. And my computer's graphic card fried. I can no longer log in, which is why I haven't changed my avatar lately.

I also voted for posting on TC, usually also harmless, but that is intertwined with rearranging my CDs / collecting music.

Of the other possible harmless vices I can say I do not watch TV. Nothing virtuous in not watching TV, I just kind of hate it. I hate people yelling at me about a "*NEW FORD PICK-UP only 9999.99 down and 999.95 a month!!!!!*" _Click._

I watch older shows and movies on Netflix.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Just recently kicked an addiction to Dristan (Afrin). The warning to not use it longer than 3 days needs to be taken seriously. I had been using it several times a day for over a year, with bottles in my night-stand, car, office, etc. Could not breathe without it, was getting really ridiculous. Went cold turkey and after about 3 days of hell I was much better, really getting back to normal now (2 weeks later). Works really really but I'm never touching the stuff again.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I didn't know about Dristan but I see from googling that you were not alone with this. It's so easy to take something to help with a medical issue, and then it becomes a problem. Glad you got the better of it, Couchie.


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## Gilberto (Sep 12, 2013)

My recent harmless addiction is "binge viewing" on Netflix. It is my slow time of the year for business and my spouse considers it good enough for "quality bonding time", so I'm not gonna protest. In the last 2 months we have watched series after series; Orange Is The New Black, Lillyhammer, The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, Scandal, House Of Cards, The Killing, Revolution and now The 4400. Plus a few movies and documentaries.

A serious change of pace for me. Frankly, it has been a nice break from all of the pointing, clicking, typing on the computer, which had become, um....unrewarding. Even my music listening came grinding to a halt. I can only think of 4 or 5 albums I've listened to in the last month.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

For me the addiction is caffeine. Love strong black coffee and espresso.

My worst fear is having to undergo surgery and being deprived of coffee for a long time resulting in a serious migraine withdrawal headache.


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## lupinix (Jan 9, 2014)

I do talk to my pet a lot 
and use my mobile phone too often 
but using internet on the computer is worse I guess, and Im rehabbing a bit
also I listen to music a lot, or play a lot, sometimes a bit too much, especially if I can't compose anymore
I usually postpone everything because "first I have to listen to this =o"


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

lupinix said:


> I usually postpone everything because "first I have to listen to this =o"


Exactly! Important things get relegated to 6 hours later, or worse, never.


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## jani (Jun 15, 2012)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> I'm actually addicted to the internet. Computer or phone, in whatever way I can access the internet, I will, and maybe a dozen times in one day.


For me its mostly Facebook, i close it and five minutes later almost automatically i open facebook.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

One man said you're an addict when you can give up something any time, as long as it's next Tuesday.

That means I have a mild addiction to my local used book/CD store. This week I made it to Wednesday without stopping in.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

jani said:


> For me its mostly Facebook, i close it and five minutes later almost automatically i open facebook.


No, no, that's not addiction, that's the new user interface!


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I've given up my other mild addictions to wine, chocolate and refined carbs in an attempt to lose weight (5 kilos down since the beginning of the year!) but I WILL NOT GIVE UP COFFEE!



PetrB said:


> I'm certain an easy to use foolproof dye/mascara "for men" which will cover up the grey in my eyebrows will be on the store shelves within a few weeks from now; they're just wondering what color to make the packaging so I will not think it too feminine or metrosexual


Nice to know I'm not the only one. I pluck mine out these days, but the problem is that with advancing age comes deteriorating eyesight so I need glasses to actually see the pesky things but the frames get in the way of the eyebrows %$#(*&$!:lol:.


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## jani (Jun 15, 2012)

mamascarlatti said:


> I've given up my other mild addictions to wine, chocolate and refined carbs in an attempt to lose weight (5 kilos down since the beginning of the year!) but I WILL NOT GIVE UP COFFEE!
> 
> Nice to know I'm not the only one. I pluck mine out these days, but the problem is that with advancing age comes deteriorating eyesight so I need glasses to actually see the pesky things but the frames get in the way of the eyebrows %$#(*&$!:lol:.


Coffee is good, it has loads of health effects also it boosts your metabolism.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

jani said:


> Coffee is good, it has loads of health effects also it boosts your metabolism.


I think you build up a tolerance though, so it won't work long if you are a regular drinker.


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

My 2nd love is playing music ... as a professional classical organist I truly enjoy all the time I can spend at the console. 

My 1st love is my wife, of course :angel:.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Listening to music, hunting for bargains, and of course posting here/doing polls at TC!


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

mamascarlatti said:


> Nice to know I'm not the only one. I pluck mine out these days, but the problem is that with advancing age comes deteriorating eyesight so I need glasses to actually see the pesky things but the frames get in the way of the eyebrows %$#(*&$!:lol:.


Try these - the lens fold down individually.


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

Has anybody mentioned reading? It used to be a big addiction with me - I enjoyed mostly mostly crime novels like those by Agatha Christie, but then my interest waned and I moved to music. Also, driving is a bit of an addiction with me - nothing like going around alone in your car on a slow, rainy morning.


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## Count (Jan 11, 2013)

Hats. I can't help looking for and buying hats.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

GreenMamba said:


> I might as well face it, I'm addicted to love.


You and Cherubino.


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## presto (Jun 17, 2011)

Working out, absolutely love it!
I try to do some form of exercise every day, mostly weights, if I don't I actually miss it.
I've been doing it 14 years and it really gives me a buzz and feel good factor, I cant imagine ever giving it up!


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

You know you are a good gardener when you start taking cuttings even though you know you've got no space left for more plants.


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

I just remembered


enjoying fast driving


is it a serious addiction?


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

clara s said:


> I just remembered
> 
> enjoying fast driving
> 
> is it a serious addiction?


Could be _very_ serious...


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

clara s said:


> I just remembered
> 
> enjoying fast driving
> 
> is it a serious addiction?


Which car do you have?


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

shangoyal said:


> Which car do you have?


fast i suppose

AUDI A3


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## stevenski (Oct 19, 2011)

Michael Ponti; ANY recording, Vox orchestras or not!


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## Berlioznestpasmort (Jan 24, 2014)

shangoyal said:


> - I enjoyed mostly mostly crime novels like those by Agatha Christie, but then my interest waned


On _Red Dwarf _, the British sci-fi comedy series, the shipboard computer loved Agatha Christie so much he read them all, then had to wipe-out his drive so that he could read them again all new. You might consider this, but BE CAREFUL!


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

I could not list music as an addiction, because as much as I listen to it, I always feel it's not enough.
Chocolate is my oldest, biggest, wonderful sweet addiction.


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

My cellphone crashed completely 5 days ago, and I am enjoying my life without it. I am realizing it's a good way of giving yourself more time with everything.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

I've got so many, that none hinder.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

The closest thing to an addiction would be my music indulgences. There have been times where buying music has been very compulsive for me, but I'm working on reigning it in. I love having a large music collection, but I'm trying to tell myself to "Savor" instead of "consume". Not just in music but in all areas of my life. Sometimes I'm successful sometimes I'm not. I'm trying to focus on enjoying and learning my existing collection for the time being.

I've been very hooked on intellectual pursuits lately: listening to my medical lectures on MP3, and reading medical articles. Learning feels fun for me now and I don't recall the last time I could say that. And reading, I've been reading a lot, and haven't spent nearly as much time online in recent months, and I'm ok with that.


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