This little beastie just about made it into my camper riding on a Halloween prop while I was packing up to leave from Great Lakes Fright Fest last Sunday. It is a beautiful spider, but I must say it made my skin crawl to think where it might have ended up. Does anyone know what kind of spider this is?
Showing posts with label phobias. Show all posts
Showing posts with label phobias. Show all posts
Monday, June 6, 2011
Almost a stowaway...
This little beastie just about made it into my camper riding on a Halloween prop while I was packing up to leave from Great Lakes Fright Fest last Sunday. It is a beautiful spider, but I must say it made my skin crawl to think where it might have ended up. Does anyone know what kind of spider this is?
Friday, August 6, 2010
Phobias
A while back I posted a few of my irrational fears. metal awnings...emery boards...cuttle bones...I am shuddering just thinking about them. They still make me cringe and want to roll up into a tight little wad in a corner somewhere. As bad as these things are, I have come to realize that I have another fear that presents itself several times a week...tweezers.
Ok, more specifically tweezers on the bathroom floor.
Yes, I know it is silly, but for some reason there always seems to be a pair of tweezers on the floor of my bathroom...and for some reason I KNOW that I am going to step on them, impaling them bone-deep into the end of my big toe. Every single time I see a pair of tweezers on the floor they mock me. I immediately visualize the shiny metal jutting out of my flesh, the searing pain in my foot, and the gushing blood. It has never happened before to me or anyone I know, but I am sure that one day when I have let my guard down it will.
Ok, more specifically tweezers on the bathroom floor.
Yes, I know it is silly, but for some reason there always seems to be a pair of tweezers on the floor of my bathroom...and for some reason I KNOW that I am going to step on them, impaling them bone-deep into the end of my big toe. Every single time I see a pair of tweezers on the floor they mock me. I immediately visualize the shiny metal jutting out of my flesh, the searing pain in my foot, and the gushing blood. It has never happened before to me or anyone I know, but I am sure that one day when I have let my guard down it will.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Phobias
Phobia: an anxiety disorder characterized by extreme and irrational fear of simple things or social situations
Let me stress "irrational". Knowing the phobia is irrational doesn't help a bit. The fear is real. I have never encountered another person with the following set of fears, but was wondering if by chance anyone else out there can relate.
Fear of metal awnings. Not the entire awning, just the scalloped edge that hangs down in the front. They always seem to be some shade of green or white, weathered to a dull powdery finish, streaks of brownish orange running downward to a rusty-sharp terminus. The awning taunts me as I walk along an otherwise welcoming sidewalk, projecting its razor edge downward, waiting for the opportunity to open up a laceration in my forehead. Put me next to the buildings...put me out in the street...I cannot walk under the front edge of a metal awning.
Cuttle bones. These are the internal framework of the alien creature known as a cuttlefish. They are commonly sold as a chew-toy for parakeets. I cannot touch them...they give me the creeps. I know that as soon as would try to pick it up, a splinter will jut out and embed itself deep underneath my fingernail...no, I'm not guessing. I KNOW IT WILL HAPPEN! As I type this, I have actual pain running up my arms just thinking about the evil, evil little torture device known as a cuttle bone.
Emery Boards. A device specifically designed for smoothing one's fingernails. Oh yes, please oh please remove my fingernails by means of the slow arduous torture of repeated abrasion...GAH! I cannot reach into my wife's purse for fear of grabbing one by mistake. Sandpaper? no problem. I can ( and often do) use sandpaper all day long. I have no aversion to sandpaper...but adhere it to a popsicle stick and you can watch me wet myself in fear. Oh God....emery board inside of a popsicle? That would be the end-all torture prank of all time....licking down to the stick of a popsicle to find the abrasive gratings of an emery board hidden within, silently waiting for your teeth.
Ok, so I have bravely exposed my phobias for the world to see and ridicule. It hasn't helped a bit to admit these things. So who else wants to step up to the plate and talk about what truly scares you?
Let me stress "irrational". Knowing the phobia is irrational doesn't help a bit. The fear is real. I have never encountered another person with the following set of fears, but was wondering if by chance anyone else out there can relate.
Fear of metal awnings. Not the entire awning, just the scalloped edge that hangs down in the front. They always seem to be some shade of green or white, weathered to a dull powdery finish, streaks of brownish orange running downward to a rusty-sharp terminus. The awning taunts me as I walk along an otherwise welcoming sidewalk, projecting its razor edge downward, waiting for the opportunity to open up a laceration in my forehead. Put me next to the buildings...put me out in the street...I cannot walk under the front edge of a metal awning.
Cuttle bones. These are the internal framework of the alien creature known as a cuttlefish. They are commonly sold as a chew-toy for parakeets. I cannot touch them...they give me the creeps. I know that as soon as would try to pick it up, a splinter will jut out and embed itself deep underneath my fingernail...no, I'm not guessing. I KNOW IT WILL HAPPEN! As I type this, I have actual pain running up my arms just thinking about the evil, evil little torture device known as a cuttle bone.
Emery Boards. A device specifically designed for smoothing one's fingernails. Oh yes, please oh please remove my fingernails by means of the slow arduous torture of repeated abrasion...GAH! I cannot reach into my wife's purse for fear of grabbing one by mistake. Sandpaper? no problem. I can ( and often do) use sandpaper all day long. I have no aversion to sandpaper...but adhere it to a popsicle stick and you can watch me wet myself in fear. Oh God....emery board inside of a popsicle? That would be the end-all torture prank of all time....licking down to the stick of a popsicle to find the abrasive gratings of an emery board hidden within, silently waiting for your teeth.
Ok, so I have bravely exposed my phobias for the world to see and ridicule. It hasn't helped a bit to admit these things. So who else wants to step up to the plate and talk about what truly scares you?
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