My Strange Phobia

All my life I have suffered from a very strange fear. I have a fear of certain textures. After a short internet search, I have discovered that this strange and rare fear is known as "cluster phobia." Some of my first memories of my fear of textures date back to when I was very very young, probably 5 years old. I would close my eyes at night and see textures, and it was nightmarish. I would be so scared I would run to my parents room and cry at the door. I couldn't stop picturing the textures and I would basically bawl myself to sleep many times. As I got older, those nightmares of textures have lessened but I still see them. They seem to be associated with bad memories and negative thoughts: I think something negative as I am drifting off to sleep and when I close my eyes, a scary texture flashes and wakes me up. Weird, huh. That's why I am blogging at 12:30 a.m. instead of sleeping. Luckily only 1 or 2 people read this blog so most of you don't have to know how truly strange I am :)
I am usually reminded of my fear of textures by things I see around me. Some people on cluster phobia internet forums can't stand looking at holes (like beehives for example), ducks flying together, fish scales. It seems as though this phobia is also genetic, and I am pretty sure my mom and sister hate certain textures too.
Anyhoo, below are some textures that make my stomach churn. Enjoy...

Noses with very deep blackheads


Certain TV static
Leaves with embedded insect eggs. I remember my mom and sisters and I freaking out over some embedded leaves one of us had received in flowers from somebody. We were all screaming and flipping out until my dad finally threw them outside.


Peeling roofs... I see this everywhere. It literally makes me nauseated and I panic just a little bit.


Strawberries with deep seeds. Very scary, not to mention they look like blackheads on a nose. (I usually just try to eat them without looking at them).

Most Embarrasing Moments: Part III

Just a short. This is probably not one of my most embarrassing moments, because this type of thing happens to me on almost a daily basis. It was my last day of work in Las Vegas, and I had been pondering the fact that since I had worked their for only a year, no one would really care that I was leaving. I was retrieving some medications when two of my co-workers approached me with a box of cookies in their hands. I was overjoyed that they would actually care enough to bring me these tasty morsel's to bid me farewell. When they reached me, they said, "Today's your last day! You have fun back in Utah, okay?" I said, "I sure will," and while grabbing the box of cookies I said, "Thanks for the cookies." But for some reason they wouldn't let go of those cookies. There was a small struggle and finally they said, "um, these aren't for you." I turned red (I think I am red more than white), released the cookies and turned back around while they walked away. I'm sure they laughed until they couldn't breathe as soon as they got out of earshot. Ha, jokes on them, I don't even like cookies!

Sarah Palin

I usually avoid political issues when blogging because I know politics are so controversial, especially right now. And I know that when I read blogs about political views it makes me uncomfortable because I know that feelings on one side or the other are so strong that it can break apart friendships. But I couldn't resist posting this picture and the story behind it. I think y'all know where I stand anyway:>)

September 9, 2008

((( BEGIN PHONE TRANSCRIPT WITH RUSH LIMBAUGH )))

RUSH: Kurt in Pittsburgh , hello, sir. Nice to have you on the EIB Network, and how about the Steelers defense?

CALLER: How about those Steelers, huh?

RUSH: How about that?

CALLER: Hey, listen, Rush, longtime listener, first-time caller, one of those Bible, family, gun clingers from western Pennsylvania .

RUSH: Thank you.

CALLER: And I wanted to share a story with you. A week ago last Saturday we went to the Palin-McCain rally in Washington , Pennsylvania , was the day after he announced her, and we have a five-year-old daughter with Down syndrome, and we made a sign that said: "We Love Kids with Down Syndrome." So when they pulled in their bus, the sign did catch their eye (McCain and Palin and the rest of their family) it caught their eye, we could tell, they gave us a thumbs-up from the bus, so we were all excited just by that --

RUSH: Wait, wait, wait. Who gave you the thumbs up, McCain and Palin?

CALLER: McCain, Palin, Cindy McCain, we could see them from the bus. We were in a position where we had eye contact with them --

RUSH: Oh, cool!

CALLER: My wife was holding our daughter.

RUSH: Very, very, very cool.

CALLER: It was really cool, Rush. I was like, "Wow, that's awesome," because I love Governor Palin and so I thought that's really neat. So then we moved around as the bus was getting ready to pull out, we kind of positioned ourselves so we could just wave them on and a Secret Service agent came up to us and said, "Hey, can you come with us?" I was like, "Do we have a choice?"

RUSH: (laughing) You shouldn't have worried. It's not the Clinton administration.

CALLER: Right. So we accompanied them up the hill, we went right to the bus, where it was, and Governor Palin, Senator McCain, Cindy, Todd Palin, they're all standing there. We're in this inner circle with just us and them, and the Secret Service agent, and they came right up to us and thanked us for coming out, said they loved our sign, and Governor Palin immediately said, "May I hold your daughter?" and our daughter Chloe, who's five, went right to her, and I have some pictures I'd love to send you maybe when I'm done here, but Governor Palin was hugging Chloe, and then her little daughter brought their baby Trig who has Down syndrome from the bus, he was napping, and Chloe went right over and kissed him on the cheek, and my son Nolan who's nine, he thanked her.

RUSH: This is amazing.

CALLER: I will send you all the stuff, Senator McCain was talking to my son, and we thanked him for his service, and he asked my son if he wanted to see the bus, and we were hanging out and it was very surreal. I felt like we could have had a pizza and a beer with them, they were so warm.

RUSH: You know what? I want to put you on hold. I want Snerdley to give you our super-secret, known-only-to-three-people here, e-mail address.

CALLER: I will send you everything, Rush.

RUSH: And then could you send us these pictures? Would you mind if we put them on the website?

CALLER: I would be honored, and my main thing is they are warm, kind, genuine people, and they represent the best of this country.

RUSH: That's right. And when you send these pictures, make sure you identify them. I mean, we'll know Palin and McCain, of course. Identify yourselves.

CALLER: I will, I will identify everybody in the picture, Rush, and God bless you for being a beacon of hope and truth in this country.

RUSH: Oh, no, no. It's nothing, it's nothing. You're doing the Lord's work.

CALLER: Well, we're very blessed and I want people to know what a blessing it is to have a child with Down syndrome. These kids, they're angels.

RUSH: That's the thing. There's always good to be found in everything that happens. It may be a while before it reveals itself.

CALLER: Absolutely.

RUSH: Right, and when she hugged my daughter I said, here's the difference, this candidate embraces life and all its limitless possibilities.

RUSH: All right.

CALLER: That's what she is.

RUSH: Terrific, okay, I gotta run here, but I'm going to put you on hold.

CALLER: Thank you, Rush.

RUSH: Thank you, Kurt. I really appreciate it.

((( END TRANSCRIPT )))