Last night, over dinner at Outback, my mom and I started talking about "isms", particularly the isms of their dog, the adorable Bodhi.
Isms is a term created by my mother and it is defined as follows
Signature habits that are done unconciously, by animal or human.
Now, Bodhi has two distinct isms. One is that when he hears the word "walk" or even sees people looking like they might be thinking about going for a walk, he instantly goes looking for their socks. When my mom wakes up in the morning, Bodhi is there with her socks in his mouth. If my dad is downstairs getting ready to go o-u-t (and you must spell it, you must never SAY out unless you are going OUT right that instant), then Bodhi will dissapear from the room and return seconds later with socks in this mouth.
His other ism also relates to walking, because let's face it the dog likes his walks. When you go to get his leash, he will instantly start totry to bite his collar. It is the human equivalent of a child chewing on their turtleneck collar and it is PRECIOUS.
So these are Bodhi's isms.
And then I started thinking about my own isms. And I think I have a few. There are two that come to mind though.
1) I never finish my drinks (non alcoholic of course! you know i never let a martini go to waste!). If I get a glass of water though, you better believe there will be an inch or so left when I am "done". I just can't bring myself to drink the last bottom part of a beverage. And I always forget I do this until someone else is like "wtf?".
2) I cover my mouth when I chew. Not all the time, but in restaurants it's a nasty habit I have. My mom will always be like "Cut that out you are GAUCHE" if she is with me, but other people either don't notice or don't say anything to me about it. I think it is leftover from my 5 years of braces and being embarrassed about having food stuck in them. So I would just cover my mouth while I ate until such a time as I could be sure I was in the clear.
I'm sure I have more, but these are my main two. Too bad they are not as cute as Bodhi's. What about you? Who else has a fun "ism" or two?
Oh and be sure and register for the Boston Blog Summit so you can see my mouth-covering, water non-finishing in action! If that isn't a reason to go, I don't know WHAT is.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
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13 comments:
I also have the same problem with finishing the last sip of my drink. Also, I will not eat the last bite of a sandwich, i.e. the part of the sandwich I've been holding on to so I could eat the rest of it. I can't explain it--it's not a germ thing. I just can't do it.
Not that this is really an "ism," but I've found lately that I've modified my speech from the way I was raised--the way my parents talk. And not that my parents are PWT or rednecks or anything. But growing up, we always ate "supper." The toilet was called "the pot." The dishtowel was called "the rag." And now that I'm an adult I never eat supper anymore, I eat "dinner." I clean "the toilet." Hell, the other day I used the word "sofa" in a sentence instead of couch. SOFA! WTF!!?? Next thing you know I'll be calling it "the divan."
haha! it's okay. i tend to call the porch, "the lanai" even though that's not even the correct TERM for a porch. clearly i watch too much golden girls.
The sock thing is the CUTEST thing I've ever heard. Maybe, in his little dog brain, he thinks he's being helpful? Like "I noticed you humans won't go outside until put these tubes on your feet. Here you are. Let's go!"
I want to steal your dog!
he is pretty much the cutest dog ever! speaking of pets..i have still never met your hedgie!! i need to!
It's so funny you just said that. I was just looking at web pages of other hedgehog owners. Baxter is pretty much the love of my life...aside from PJ of course! (o: You'll see him when you come to visit sometime. We'll have you over for fondue. I still have to get around to doing that...
i would love to come and see your "isms".. ;) too bad you will miss out on mine as well... [the ones that i can't think of right now but will tell you about later...]
Sarah - great topic. I think we all have some weird isms. I make an "O" shape with my mouth whenever I put on eye makeup (like the mask from Scream). I can't help it and my friends all think its weird. I am also (as gross as it is) unable to blow my nose with two hands, has to be my right.
~Lori
I tend to cover my chin when I laugh, because it is the size of Monaco. Literally.
picture that.
I'll have to put on my thinkin' cap about my own isms, but my sister's dog has a cute one like Bodhi's. His leash hangs from a hook in the kitchen. If you are anywhere near this hook when he is within eyesight, he will come up, sit down, and intensely look back and forth between you & his leash hook. Very intensely. It's adorable. :)
hey short pants: i do the same thing!! its like a reflex!
Henry has a cute dog-like ism. He's big into going outside on his leash and it's usually when I get home from work. He runs over to me when I come in and will follow me around the house while I get changed and whatnot. He's very patient about everything until I leave the bedroom. If I make eye contact with him then he will book it directly to the back door and start hitting his leash and trying to pry the door open with his paws meowing.
The first ism that comes to mind with me is that when I yawn I put my fingertips covering my nose. It really doesn't even cover my mouth, I just can't yawn without touching my nose...
(I typed all this yesterday and then accidentally closed it.)
I can't eat without a napkin. Can't do it. I've been forced to, once or twice and it makes me all twitchy and weird. I also tend to hand napkins to other people, whether they really want them or not.
jenn: henry is part dog, now i am CONVINCED!
and amanda: that is super cute. i like that your ism is to help other people have good table etiquette. that's my kind of ism!
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