Crankypants

I am so relieved to find that I am not the only one that (apparently) gets cranky without my daily dose of fiber.

(I am not going there with that joke, just so you know.)

I feel, well, vindicated. If it was just me, I might laugh nervously, change the subject to something else, and dash off as soon as I thought I might not be noticed. But that it is you guys, too? Dude. I'm normal. (Immediatly followed by: So that's what its like. Who knew normal would have fiber?)

So, being the budding Librarian (note the capital L) that I am, I took it upon myself to do a little research. (Yes, I was supposed to be doing homework instead. What of it?)

A quote from here, which seems like a reasonable enough source for our purposes.

One of the papers presented to the Psychology Postgraduate Affairs Group annual conference in Derby this week argued that there is a tendency to describe relatively harmless hobbies as obsessions or even addictions. The researchers, Michael Larkin and Richard Wood of Nottingham University, suggested that the word has become "a scapegoat for the nineties," a moral label for what society feels isn't acceptable. Lots of people are being called addicts when they're just engaging in unusual behaviour.

Hmmmm...we're quite post-nineties, now, aren't we? And frankly, we need to define what's "harmless" and what isn't. I do have the pointy sticks, you know.

Oh, and could you be a little more specific on the unusual behavio(u)r for me?

The English word addict to start with had the sense of being obligated or formally bound to someone else.

I would say that those doing the Amazing Lace might agree.

He continues:

Pretty soon, though, it took on a reflected meaning of being attached to something through one's own inclination, or of being devoted to some practice. Examples in the OED down to 1790 refer to gluttony, lust, and "superstitious ceremonies".

Oh, that's rich. "Superstitious ceremonies!"

I was going to create a quiz, a sort of modified "Are you addicted to..." type, and have the best results or a random result number get a prize. (I even have the prize all picked out) I thought, perhaps, that you would laugh just as much as I did to questions like:

• Do you spend more time than you think you should knitting (spinning)?"
• Have any of your friends or family members complained about the time you spend knitting (spinning)"
• Do you have troubling controlling your impulses to purchase items, products, or services related to knitting? (spinning)
• Do you derive much of your pleasure and satisfaction in life from knitting (spinning)?

Yeah, I knew the answers without having to quiz ya. (Really, I just didn't want to take all that time. I have knitting (spinning) to do, you know.)

Now, I just need to address my addiction to parenthesis.