What 's your phobia?

[IzaSparrow]

I have a fear of dementia, and a fear of heights.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. None, really; but I could be developing a fear of GD:P.

[IzaSparrow]

3. Everyone has GD:P phobia!

:P

[purodemocrata]

158. Same here

They are vicious there.

[SallyMander]

2. Fireworks, tornados and tumbleweeds

Series.

[IzaSparrow]

7. I would recommend you not live in OK then.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. Why tumbleweeds?

Come to think of it, there is something kind of creepy about an ambulatory plant.

[SallyMander]

18. Exactly! And also, for some nonsensical reason

I associate them with tornadoes. Probably because i grew up in a place with neither... :shrug:

My sister and i were driving across TX and realized that we BOTH have this irrational fear of tumbleweeds... right before an ENORMOUS one came bouncing down the road straight at us!

Sis was driving -- she freaked out, screamed, and pulled the car over. We watched the tumbleweed bounce towards us as if in slow motion... until it eventually hit the car. I bet she had a good 30 seconds to move (and 10 feet either way would have done it!)... FAIL! :rofl:

The funniest parts were (a) the Texans cruising by us in their pickups giving us quizzical looks, and (b) the photo i have of my sister chasing the tumbleweed once it passed, trying to get a picture of it!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

23. LOL! There might be some good horror movie material there.

[Lasher]

76. You mean like this?

Be afraid, be very afraid!

[SallyMander]

80. Eep!

:scared:


Actually that's kind of adorable... :D

[Lasher]

81. Heh heh.

I sometimes use that one when I say something and all I hear is crickets.

http://www.cosgan.de/smilie.php?wahl=15&ziel=verschiedene

[Cabcere]

4. Spiders

(to some extent, anyway...little ones I can handle, but the big hairy ones completely freak me out!) :scared:

Also: heights, crowds, and vomiting (I know, that's a weird one, but I really really really hate throwing up - haven't done it in over ten years, and I have no desire to ever again if I can help it!) :scared:

[IzaSparrow]

8. vomiting...that's interesting.

I wonder what Freud would have to say about that!

[Cabcere]

9. I'm sure he'd have a field day with me.

:crazy: :rofl: Sometimes I think that I have so many issues, I need a magazine rack! :hi:

[LynzM]

46. Me too, Cabcere

Throwing up... :scared: Are you on any of the emet boards? I gave that a try but have a hard time reading there, since... they talk about it too much. Ah, the irony. :hug:

[Cabcere]

53. I am unaware of these boards

but if there is a lot of talk about it...ugh, I'm not sure I could handle that. :scared: :hug: Peace.

[TZ]

65. Interesting

I hate big hairy spiders too. And heights
The vomiting thing..wow. Well you definitely would not want to be me...That seems to be away my body reacts to stress....x(

[Cabcere]

78. Yeah, it's pretty crazy.

:shrug: My body reacts to stress by going into "panic attack" mode, and generally shutting down (well, my mind does, anyway). x( It sucks. :hug:

[Lasher]

79. Arachnophobia, Acrophobia, Enochlophobia, & Emetophobia

Gosh, you really can find about anything with The Google.

http://www.phobialist.com/reverse.html

[Omphaloskepsis]

5. Heights.. Without a doubt. Claustrophobia too..

I had a spider walk across my pizza the other night (I had set it aside for a little while) and I still ate it.

[IzaSparrow]

10. nice work!

You should have seen Dirty Jobs last night! That guy was cleaning the inside of a boiler on a steam yacht! wow

[DS1]

181. what was in it?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

6. Yellowjackets...

[IzaSparrow]

14. I'm not fearful of them...

but goddamn their sting hurts!

[DarkTirade]

149. ... so you had to go and find the BIGGEST PICTURE of one you could?

:P

[leeroysphitz]

11. I have reverse vertigo...

It's weird, I know, but I can't stand at the base of a very tall structure or geographical feature and look up to the top without freaking out a little. I get dizzy and it takes all my effort to keep looking even briefly. It's weird because i was a paratrooper in the army and have no problem looking back DOWN from a great height. In fact I love the view from 1500 feet.

[IzaSparrow]

19. I almost fell over looking up at Union Terminal in Cincinnati

[leeroysphitz]

21. Yep. That would do it for me too.

What is that?

[IzaSparrow]

27. an old train station, now museum in Cincy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Museum_Center_at_Union_Terminal

[leeroysphitz]

36. OMG! I see that building from the I-75 bridge everytime I drive down to Kentucky.

It's actually a very beautiful building. I really need to schedule some extra time on my next trip to check out Cinci...

[IzaSparrow]

37. Yes you do!

and you also see the Quicksand Jesus and the Anatomically-correct horse at Trader's World


It's a lovely museum and they have an OmniMax theatre there; however, that might get your reverse vertigo going.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

72. Someone else knows touchdown Jesus!

that makes me smile :)

[TZ]

64. It's a lovely museum

And I've seen several movies in the Omnimax theatre. Love it.
Well worth a visit.

[rockymountaindem]

124. I've always wondered if I was the only person who felt that way

It's weird, isn't it? I used to go to ballgames at Skydome and that was a double-edged sword as far as I was concerned. On the one hand, if the dome was closed, I was creeped out by looking up at the roof. On the other hand, if it was open, you had this towering right over your seat, as it were:



That was really unsettling for me.

[momophile]

13. centipedes

a totally natural and healthy fear

[IzaSparrow]

20. those are pretty creepy

[BreweryYardRat]

77. Be grateful oxygen levels in the atmosphere are relatively low.

Otherwise, you'd have very valid reasons for your phobia. More oxygen = larger arthropods. Like this.



Yes, that's a life-size model.

[Thirtieschild]

103. The biggest centipedes I've seen were in Oklahoma

We have them out here but they don't seem to grow as long or as fat in the desert.

[quip]

187. Bingo. It's something about all of those legs running, plus they are surprisingly quick.

And if you don't kill them the first time, you know that they are there, somewhere-- possibly crawling across your face in bed at night while you sleep.... :scared:

[momophile]

189. that, and it's hard as shit to kill the bastards

you can cut them in half and they still run around! and insect spray alone doesn't work either, but it does slow them down for a moment.

[Oeditpus Rex]

15. The marketplace

[LeftyMom]

25. You forgot 24 hour pharmacies.

:P

[Oeditpus Rex]

34. They didn't have those then

:P



I understand some young Greeks, though, were putting hydraulics and banks of subwoofers in their chariots.

[BlueDissenter]

16. My phobias are.....

heights, hospitals and needles.

[IzaSparrow]

28. I'm not fearful of hospitals just paranoid while I'm in there.

[RevolutionaryActs]

17. Snakes and Spiders.

:scared:

[IzaSparrow]

29. both arguably evolutionary reasonable fears...

when considering our arboreal past.

[Deja Q]

22. Hoffing

[IzaSparrow]

30. that should be banned!

ahhhhhhh! my eyes!!

[billyoc]

42. AAAAAHHHHGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!

[LeftyMom]

24. Heights and getting killed at Walgreens. Maybe not in that order. nt

[IzaSparrow]

32. hahahah

:rofl:

[LeftyMom]

38. There's a story there. Oedi and I were helping MaryBear move

and she realized she needed a refill on some medication, so we got in my car and went to Walgreens, pretty late on a Saturday. Apparently in this town there's nothing else going on and that's where the little 'bangers hang out on Saturday nights, they're all cruising the parking lot with their bass going real loud, and wandering around in the store doing nothing, giving everybody hard looks. I've never seen so many crispy bangs and bad tattoos in my life.

I swear, it took so long to get her pills I figured they were back there compounding them from scratch. Or maybe it only felt that way.

Weirdest damn thing ever.

[Skittles]

26. when I get lost while driving

I get such a panicked feeling even though I have plenty of gas, money, etc - as soon as I don't know where I am I feel extremely panicked. :(

[LeftyMom]

33. I had a panic attack trying to drive out to La Guardia to fly home from Lost and Haruka's wedding.

I kept missing my turn and winding up back in Manhattan somehow, and once I wound up way the hell out in Queens. Eventually I managed to find the car rental office in Manhattan and left the car there and managed to catch a cab, and somehow I barely caught my plane.

I think I need to get myself one of those GPS dealies for traveling. I can get anyplace in NorCal and Nevada okay, but once I'm out of my area I'm worse than useless for finding my way around, and I don't handle it well since I'm so used to knowing my way perfectly in the areas I know.

[Genevieve]

52. LaGuardia is in Queens -- way the hell out on the edge of Queens. nt

[IzaSparrow]

35. You should get a GPS!

[Skittles]

41. it's just that I don't drive much

I've put a compass in my car - I have found that just knowing the direction I'm going helps a great deal

[Gonzo Gardener]

31. I have a terrible case of Chiraptophobia

Hold me! :hug:

I mean, um.... er, DON'T hold me!!! :scared:

[IzaSparrow]

39. do you really!?!

what about lilMeanie?

[Gonzo Gardener]

45. We're the (((((huggiest))))) people you can imagine.

I wuz pullin yer leg :P

:hi:

I'm not sure if this is a phobia, but it creeps me out to watch drowning scenes in movies.

[SallyMander]

40. At first i thought this meant fear of Chiropterans

But they're so cute! :D

[Gonzo Gardener]

47. I'm batty for bats!!!

:hi:

[DarkTirade]

112. Awww... so cute.

I want one! :)

I always found interesting animals in the little niche where my friends and I would hang out before classes started in middle school... but without fail, EVERY single time I found an interesting animal there, somehow EVERY SINGLE ONE of my friends' buses were late. Black widow? Sat next to it for about 15 minutes waiting for my friends to arrive until I finally noticed it. Cute little lost bat, slumbering away, clinging with its little hind legs onto the brick wall? I was the only one who saw it. If it hadn't been a wild animal I totally would have taken it home. It was sooooo cute. Like a little fuzzy mouse with wings.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

43. Two major phobias

One is of a home invasion. This affects me to the extent that I am quite often very tense when I am home alone and will NOT answer the doorbell under any circumstances. Even when someone else is in the house, I will never answer the doorbell and will wait for someone else to answer the door. When I'm home alone -especially during the day -I am on heightened alert when I hear noises.

Curiously enough, though, I also love being home alone. Which makes no sense given what I've just said but there you go.

My fears were heightened when my cousin was the victim of a home invasion last year. That really creeped me out because I've stayed in her home numerous times and have felt perfectly safe there.

My second fear is of being trapped in a submerged car. Another totally irrational fear that sometimes causes me to feel a feeling of immense fear whenever we pass a river or sometimes when we cross a bridge. Sometimes I can sit in a car and I can suddenly find myself imagining what it would be like if this car was underwater. I've had that phobia for the longest time

[IzaSparrow]

126. very interesting.

Especially the liking being alone at home, but really afraid of a break-in.

[graywarrior]

44. Going blind

[IzaSparrow]

85. That fear

is wrapped up in being afraid of losing my physical abilities! It makes me nervous quite frequently.

[fizzgig]

48. wind, including tornadoes

sharks, having to stick my hand into the shade over the front light...i HATE putting my hand in there :scared:

the first two are weird because i live in a place where there are neither

[laylah]

73. ...

yet another thing to "thank" me for :P I tried to make our little ventures to the "hidey hole" into an adventure but from what I hear from your sister, and now you, I failed miserably. I guess raising you as a mole the first 6 months of your life wasn't a good thing. :silly: :loveya:

Wind is at the top of my list. My mom would stand at the bottom of the stairs, no matter what time of night, and shriek "get to the basement, there's a tornado coming". The only time I don't fear wind is in the winter. Oh, and I do live in a "tornado alley".

[Fox Mulder]

49. I'll never tell.

I don't want it used against me. :)

[Generic Brad]

50. Snakes on a plane!

Mother fuck!

[IzaSparrow]

87. HAHAH

:rofl:

[nemo137]

51. Bats.

I hate those fluttery, rabies-carrying, leathery-winged motherfrakers, with a burning passion. I have nothing good to say about them. I would rather get malaria than have another run in with a bat.

[Mad_Dem_X]

180. OMG!

Bats are on my list, too, along with heights and deep water.

[ThomCat]

54. I have a few fears, but I don't think I have any phobias.

:shrug:

[IzaSparrow]

88. A guy like you, ThomCat, would not have any phobias.

You laugh at The Fates, the phrase "Bring it on!" was coined after someone observed your courage, "Danger" is your middle name!!

:hug:

[RushIsRot]

55. I am not particularly fond of flying, stinging insects. I am trying to

overcome this irrational fear by allowing such insects to alight on me occasionally. So far, they have been polite, as have I. I do NOT make a habit of the practice, however.

[DarkTirade]

115. I'm a bit jittery around them

but I don't really consider it a phobia... just a side effect of being there when my brother stepped on a bees' nest as a child. And he's older than me, so at the time he could run faster.

He, the one who got them riled up, got away with 2 or 3 stings. Me, the poor little kid who happened to be tagging along, got away with 12 or 13 stings. Including one that couldn't detach its butt from its stinger, so the thing was still stuck in my arm, trying to pull itself off. And another that pierced my ear.

[chknltl]

56. Cool nobody here is afraid of clowns!

Good thing too, huh?




























dumb de dumb de dumb :hide: (beware of clowns hiding in chimneys)

[IzaSparrow]

89. are you a clown by occupation or hobby, chknltl?

[chknltl]

147. Purely a hobbyist

This will come as a shock to most folks here but I have had no real professional training! I confess to many many years of happy practice though.

[IzaSparrow]

150. can we see your eggshell?

[chknltl]

152. Egads!!!! Was it showing?

:blush:

[IzaSparrow]

154. If you're a clown, don't you have to register your face...

on an eggshell? :shrug:

[chknltl]

156. I did not know that!

Good thing I am not a professional clown. And here I thought you were trying to say that my "undershorts" were showing or some-such. (I had no idea what you were referring to.) The things one learns in the lounge! :hi:

[IzaSparrow]

157. Maybe it's for professional clowns...

I don't know. I think it was in one of my daily trivia books. I'll have to go look!:hi:

[Inchworm]

57. Aint scared of nuttin

lies!

:hi:

[pokerfan]

58. Just the usual ones

Odontophobia
Emetophobia
Erythrophobia
Glossophobia
Coulrophobia

[IzaSparrow]

90. Is fear of clowns that usual?

I've heard it is common in kids, but adults?

[KitchenWitch]

59. Acrophobia, Clausterphobia and a bit of Agoraphobia.

[Thirtieschild]

60. Spiders, heights, flying, car wreck

[IzaSparrow]

91. minor fender-benders or massive totalled car wreck?

[Thirtieschild]

99. Massive total car wreck. The kind you can't forget after you see it.

One of my first memories is praying in Sunday School, "Please, don't let me be killed in a car wreck." I must have been about three at the time.

[last_texas_dem]

61. Public speaking

I have issues with social anxiety in general, but nothing brings it out more than having several eyes all focused on me at the same time and being expected to say something to them. Although what's odd is that I can deal with being on a stage talking in front of hundreds of people much more easily than having to give a class presentation in front of ten or fifteen people. It has something to do with the people's proximity to me and being able to see their reactions more easily, I guess. What has been disappointing to me is that practice hasn't made this any easier for me, and is partly why I have become pretty certain that I will never be able to handle being a teacher, which is something I've always wanted to do on some level.

A couple of weirder fears of mine include being freaked out by mirrors in dark rooms (I try to avoid looking into a bathroom if I'm going to be facing a mirror before I've been able to turn the light on) and I can get creeped out by porcelain dolls as well. It's the eyes! It's not that extreme- I mean, I don't mind hanging around in a room with porcelain dolls in it, but I'd rather not sleep in that same room if there's enough light in there that I'll be seeing their faces!

[DarkTirade]

62. Roaches.

No clue why. But it's one of the many reasons I was damn happy to get out of Florida.

[stuntcat]

97. me too, roaches

:puke: I can take a lot of sick stuff, especially with animals, every maggot & parasite has it's place! But roaches actually scare me.

[DarkTirade]

114. I really don't know why either.

I killed a black widow with practically my bare hands once without thinking twice. But roaches just creep me the hell out.
:shrug: Makes little sense, but then, most phobias don't.

[Crabby Appleton]

63. Agoraphobia ...and Kryptonite

[IzaSparrow]

92. kryptonite...hahahah

:rofl:

[Tyler Durden]

66. Two of them: death, and the dark.

Not "night time dark" but alone in the basement with no lights on kind of dark.

Death; sort of the contemplation of which. Gives me full blown panic attacks.

Thank God for CELEXA.

[IzaSparrow]

93. I will be disappointed when death comes,

but I don't mind talking about it at all.

[Tyler Durden]

111. Scares the f-ing CREAM CHEESE out of me....

Full bore panic attacks in the dark of night (double whammy) leave you feeling like maybe an EKG is in order, right away.

[IzaSparrow]

120. Your body dispenses cream cheese!?!

That's an amazing talent to have!

If you eat a lot of vegetables can you make vegetable cream cheese?

[harmonicon]

164. what is celexa?

My girlfriend has those same two phobias - I imagine they may somehow be combined. She sleeps with christmas lights or a nightlight on at all times - it drives me nuts and makes it really hard to get to sleep. I don't have words to describe the frustration of turning off the reading light to go to bed and having it still be light in the room.... ahh!

[WritingIsMyReligion]

67. Failure.

:scared:

[livetohike]

68. I'm claustrophobic - despite that, I managed to get

certified in Scuba diving. I can't even put a blanket over my face, so that was a real achievement.

[IzaSparrow]

94. kudos to you

:toast:

[lizziegrace]

69. Heights and water

so bridges over rivers are killers for me...

[TZ]

70. Thats a new one.

Never heard that combo before. I am terrified of heights but LOVE water.
You should be happy you don't live here...The Chesapeake Bay Bridge would really get to you...:)

[lizziegrace]

71. Boats scare me to death

and I'm claustrophobic...

[1gobluedem]

82. That Chesapeake Bay Bridge would scare anyone...

It scared the daylights out of me. Do they have drivers that will take your car over for you like they do on the Mackinac Bridge? It freaks people out too.

[TZ]

83. They do.

It scares me alot the first few times I drove over it, but I am getting used to it. The last time I drove over it, it was really foggy and you couldn't see anything..It was like driving in the sky....

[1gobluedem]

74. Birds

They terrify me.

[BreweryYardRat]

75. Large cockroaches. I live in Florida. Fate has a sense of humor.

A real nasty one.

Also, becoming senile or being stuck in a vegetative state.

[LeftyMom]

100. I think South Carolina is worse for the Giant Roaches of Doom.

I saw one crawl out from under a washing machine there once and I swear on my life, the washing machine moved a bit.

[Thirtieschild]

102. So we can blame South Carolina for all those Palmetto bugs in Georgia.

Even though your intellect knows they can't hurt you, your body reacts with disgust.

[BreweryYardRat]

106. Yeesh. Wouldn't surprise me. Sadly, that's possible down here, too.

Once had a palm-sized one (so about 5"x4") scuttle out from under a towel as I stepped into the shower and turned the water on. Never in my life, before or since, have I moved as fast as I did getting the hell out of there.

[DarkTirade]

116. Had that happened to me, I would be unable to set foot in that room

for at least several days without being scared as hell, and checking everywhere before I sat down or anything like that.

I would also probably have made a point to hunt the mother fucker down and make sure it was dead. But that's just after years of being afraid, and then turning that fear into anger. And that anger into hate. And that hate into suffering. I'll give the little fucker a bath in bug spray if I have to. I wanna make them suffer. :evilgrin:

[amitten]

165. Yes...yes. Kill kill kill them all. I HATE THEM. n/t

[Gidney N Cloyd]

84. I'm slowed down by a few fears but generally not incapacitated.

Windy days make me feel really edgy, even when I'm indoors.
I'm told I seem to brace myself when getting hugged and I'm not crazy about people stepping inside my 'personal space' (the typical western arms length).

Most odd:
I really have to psych up to make phone calls. I'm not nearly as bad about answering calls, though. On the whole I'd much rather talk in person or do email.

[Thirtieschild]

101. I know what you mean about personal space

People who don't recognize personal space can make it hard to stand in line. They stand too close and it doesn't do any good to step forward. They step forward too.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

104. How 'bout when you're talking to one and they keep moving closer and

you keep stepping back?

[redqueen]

86. Cramped spaces... bit of claustrophobia...

also large groups like big parties. If it's a concert or a fair, I'm not so bad... but put me in a big party where I'm expected to "mingle" and I freeze up and want to hide.

[radfringe]

95. ferris wheels - hate the damn things

but it's not related to fear of heights or amusement park rides -- I'll go on roller coasters and other rides, climb trees, ladders, get up on the roof of the house

just hate ferris wheels...

[Fire Walk With Me]

96. Phobia threads.

[Initech]

98. Needles

I hate needles. I'll never get piercings or tattoos because I cant stand them. Hell, even when I get shots I have to look the other way.

[IzaSparrow]

123. I've got a friend who's a nurse...

she doesn't mind giving shots, but she is scared to get 'em, b/c of the needles. :shrug:

[Broken_Hero]

105. Sharks, nt

[BreweryYardRat]

108. Really? Never heard that one before.

I get nervous swimming in murky water -- favored by sharks -- but not to the point of phobia. It helps a lot to have a mask -- sort of an "if I can see what's around me, I'll be calmer" deal.

[Broken_Hero]

109. Jaws, it messed with me big time...

I don't swim in "any" ocean anymore...I only go out, about knee deep....

[IzaSparrow]

125. Jaws would have to swim in at least chest high water...

you could go out to waist deep.

[Broken_Hero]

159. nope, can't do it...

those Discovery Channel folks, have stated that sharks can get ya, in 3 ft of water....

Last time I went out in the water...I went out knee deep...and some seaweed brushed against my leg...

Needless to say, I beat the shit outta that seaweed...I put it back in its place....

:D

[LeftyMom]

113. Your neighbor's scared to death of sharks and spiders.

I keep telling him that's like living in Russia and being afraid of snow, vodka and toilet paper shortages, but nobody listens to me.

[IzaSparrow]

128. HAHAHAHA

:rofl:

[SallyMander]

131. ...

:spray:

[lightningandsnow]

107. A few things

Needles, getting ALS, cancer or dementia, being institutionalized or incarcerated.

[IzaSparrow]

121. are you talking about wrongly incarcerated or

what if it was justified to put you in jail?

[lightningandsnow]

137. Both, kind of.

Although I'd probably never do something to actually get myself justly in prison.

[Perry Logan]

110. Thread too scary. Must hide.

[BrotherBuzz]

117. Muddy bottoms

Lake, river, or bay, my feet never touch the bottom if it's mud. Phobias live in mud. I'm fine with sandy or rocky bottoms.

[IzaSparrow]

127. what if all the water goes away, but the bed is still muddy?

[BrotherBuzz]

144. I grew up around tidal mudflats...

Phobias are still in the mud when it's low tide, that's why I would choose to traipse over the pickle weed or on the gravel and shell banks, or stay in the channels in the boats. I avoid the damn mud at all costs because there are phobias in it! Phobias scare me, seriously!

[IntravenousDemilo]

161. Isn't he Timothy Bottoms's not-very-well-known blues-playing uncle? n/m

[BrotherBuzz]

163. Timothy Bottoms has no phobias

he was raised in Santa Barbara, a place rich in white sand (albeit a little oil tainted), and very little mud, hence no phobias. The harbor has some mud, but is is well dredged and mud is down deep where it belongs. Phobias breed well in deep mud!

I believe you are confusing Muddy Bottoms with Muddy Waters from the Delta. Muddy waters is not the same as wet mud, not by a long shot. Phobias cannot survive in muddy water, alone, they need the solid mud to thrive. Phobias are evil. Muddy Waters was cool. RIP, brother, I really loved "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man", and "Got My Mojo Working".

[IntravenousDemilo]

169. His brother Sam sure does, though... homophobia.

No, I'm a musician, and I love Muddy Waters. I was making a joke, because Muddy Bottoms sounds like a bluesman's name, kinda like Bleeding Gums Murphy.

[BrotherBuzz]

184. Bleeding Gums Murphy was Lisa's mentor, but you being a musician....

do you know any of the sax players that have been heard on the opening credits of the Simpsons? I've been told that the licks Lisa plays as she exits the band room are all done by different sax players, some quite famous.

A quick Google™ search didn't turn up anything messy on Sam Bottoms. What's the dirt mud on Sam?

[IntravenousDemilo]

185. I'm sure someone has compiled a list somewhere, but you know...

...I never thought about who was playing tenor sax. The licks are all great. Have YOU heard anything about who all played them?

As far as Sam Bottoms goes, back in the late '80s he kind of acquired Stephen Baldwin Disease even before Stephen Baldwin caught it. In a TV interview, he said something to the effect that gays give him the creeps, and that if one tried to come on to him -- which, being really cute then, as well as an actor, he might have expected! -- he'd pound the shit out of him, rather than being flattered (as he should be). I don't remember how the subject came up in the conversation, as it was almost 20 years ago, but I do remember that I was very disappointed in young Sam.

[BrotherBuzz]

186. Robert Armstrong, a fellow cartoonist and musician, told me that years ago...

He mentioned a few artists, but my pea-brain refuses to cough up the names.

Bob was really happy to see his friend, Matt, make the big time, especially after he cautioned him about copyright protection (back in the Tracey Ullman days).

Bob was one to dissect every little bit of the program to catch all the layered cryptic messages (easter eggs?), innuendos, double entendres, lampoons, and Americana kitsch.

On edit: Wikipedia says: Several versions of a saxophone solo riff, ostensibly played by Lisa Simpson in the animated sequence, has been re-recorded with many different riffs over the course of the series. (doesn't sound like individual artists are given credit :shrug:)

[New Earth]

118. bees/wasps/hornets or anything similar

some heights. but most of all, going UP escalators :scared:

I have no problem going down, but can't go up. Especially by myself. If I have someone with me, I need them to stand behind me.

:cry:

[IzaSparrow]

132. escalators?

any bad past experiences?

[New Earth]

136. no

so I really don't understand why I hate going up them. I mean it's really ridiculous how scared I am of them. A few time I just stood at the bottom and cried because I didn't want to get on. It's so embarassing. Sometimes I'll just ask a complete stranger to stand behind me, or just make sure I stand in front of someone. I feel like I'm going to fall if there is no one behind me :scared:

[Sweet Freedom]

146. I was terrified of them as a kid

but only because my babysitter told me that if I fell on one and got my hair caught in the stairs, it would rip my scalp off.

Thanks. Thanks a lot.

[adabfree]

119. ARACHNOPHOBIA!!!!!!!

ARACHNOPHOBIA!!!!!!!

[Jamastiene]

122. Tornadoes...Strong Winds...

bad storms....:scared:

Look at this shit...
Average climate in Rockingham, North Carolina

Based on data reported by over 4,000 weather stations

Rockingham-area historical tornado activity is slightly above North Carolina state average. It is 31% greater than the overall U.S. average.

On 3/28/1984, a category 4 (max. wind speeds 207-260 mph) tornado 20.0 miles away from the Rockingham city center killed 7 people and injured 100 people and caused between $5,000,000 and $50,000,000 in damages.

On 3/28/1984, a category 4 tornado 22.5 miles away from the city center injured 24 people and caused between $5,000,000 and $50,000,000 in damages.

Source: http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/cities/North-Carolina/Rockingham.html
">USA Election Polls

:scared:

[IzaSparrow]

133. just listen for the freight train coming through

then run and hide. sorry about your luck. you can get with some friends and hide like this :grouphug: then it won't be so bad.

[Ramsey]

129. Large flying bugs

It may not really be a phobia, I just can't stand the damn things! Ick.

[leftofthedial]

130. fear

I'm deathly afraid of being afraid. It's called phobiaphobia.

[Mike03]

134. That is really fascinating: Dementia used to be my fear too

My phobia now is cancer.

But Alzheimer's was my greatest fear, because I love reading, thinking and using my memory.

To be honest, I would say a great deal of my time and money is spent on my health (chemoprevention and prevention of chronic disease in general)--more than most normal, healthy people would devote to it.


:scared:

[IzaSparrow]

171. Chemoprevention?

I've never heard of this. Is it preventative chemotherapy?

[Vinca]

135. Thunder and lightning. Is there a name for that? nt

[adabfree]

138. Yes...Astraphobia or Astrapophobia- Fear of thunder and lightning

[angeldreamer]

139. Speaking to crowds

It terrifies me. Speaking to more than 1 person other than me makes me shy.

[LiberalEsto]

140. Republicans and fundie religious nuts

:scared:

They scare the bejesus out of me.

[stuntcat]

148. I feel..

I feel instant HATE for them. And I try not to feel hate for anyone, it's an emotion that I think drains me, but I want to projectile vomit on them. I want to hold one on the ground and.. no I better not tell the things I've imagined.
If they weren't automatically anti-Environmentalist then I might hate them a degree less but as it is I wish God would fucking smite the lot of them.

[IzaSparrow]

172. hahah

:rofl:

[NaturalHigh]

141. I hate spiders.

Through, the years, I've learned to deal with my fear of them, but I'll never completely get over it.

[pink-o]

142. I'm very afraid of a catastrophic accident that leaves me quadapeligic

...but I've always been fiercely independent, so I think it's an obvious fear as you grow older and face the idea of losing your physical strength. A phobia is defined as an irrational fear, and I noticed no one mentioned this one:

Rats. Yuck, bleahh, creepy-dirty-disgusting-plague-carrying vermin!

I hate their sneaky, sidling, scuttling gait, their long icky tails, their hissing at you when you corner them, (my dog had one against a city wall one time) and the fact that they're the size of my Bombay cat!! I think reading "The Pit and the Pendulum" at age 11 did me in for rats.

I happen to like snakes, and don't find spiders creepy at all--but rodents of all kind make me uncomfortable (rabbits are pointless, except to feed animals higher on the food chain) and rats are just plain hideous.

That said, the most dangerous animal on this planet is the mosquito. We should all be phobic against that one!

[Spirochete]

143. Heights, going blind n/t

[Lady President]

145. Rodents and Band-Aids

I hate, hate, hate rodents of all kinds, and I completely believe that they will somehow kill me. I also hate when people don't believe me and show me a picture of their pet hamster. It scares me every single time and it is never funny. I completely clicked out of DU and almost started crying because someone posted that mole rat.

I really don't like band-aids. I would rather risk an infection. The worst part of donating blood is the giant bandage-- and I've never kept it on more than 2-3 minutes. YUCK!

[IzaSparrow]

173. This might upset you (about bandaids), maybe don't read...

What if you had surgery? Do you take the bandages off? I'm curious. I'm sorry if this upsets you? If it does, I owe you a drink at the Surly Girl.

[Lady President]

188. A Surly Temple Cures Everything

Fortunately, I've only had minor surgeries, but the band-aid thing does pose a problem. I have this "genetic oops" that has left me vulnerable to skin cancer, so every year I have a few moles removed and a handful of stitches. I can manage, if I can't see them. I had one spot removed on my hand and I was only able to look down at the band-aid for a day until I had to give up on it. I hope no one I knew had a fear of seeing stitches....

However, enough red pop and vodka would take care of any phobia! This month's Ladies' Night is at the much more sedate Marcella's. :P

[femmocrat]

151. Heights, including...

bridges, railings, balconies, open-back steps, overlooks, plate glass windows, terraces, glass elevators, etc.

I get weak-kneed and short of breath just thinking about it!

Also, smashed bugs. I will capture and release them instead of swatting or squishing them... :puke:

[UncleSepp]

153. Underground rooms with square doorways that smell of mildew.

Exposed concrete is a plus!

[zingaro]

155. well reading the rest, mine is sort of silly but

it's grasshoppers, crickets, cicadas and anything generally leggy and hoppy. (unless it was Uma Thurman on a trampoline)

[IzaSparrow]

174. wow...bad experience in the past?

or just the noises they make. The chirps keep me up all night in the summer!

[zingaro]

182. Exactly - bad experience.

I came home from camp as a kid and dumped out my camp laundry and not one, not two, but THREE giant grasshoppers hopped out right at me. One landed ON me. In my kitchen. And over the years, it's bled out into the crickets and other icky hoppy things categories.

*shudder* Yeah, they're one of the few things that can pull a genuine scream from me.

[IntravenousDemilo]

160. This phobia of mine may sound a bit odd (like most phobias), but...

...I have had a strong aversion to pie-chart maps since I was in grade school, because they look as if atomic bombs have gone off all over the place.



Maps like this give me genuine creeps. It's even worse when the circles are big and empty, and worse still if it's a map of the entire world, because that means the ICBMs have got through.

Silly, I know...

[IzaSparrow]

175. I'm sorry about your phobia,

but that is quite funny!

[IntravenousDemilo]

183. Isn't it, though!

I have no definite answer as to why these maps cause a kind of sick feeling in the back of my neck. Maybe it's rooted in fear of global nuclear conflagration. Luckily my phobia is about something perfectly avoidable, though I'm not so sure lately about the avoidability of global nuclear conflagration.

Other than pie-chart maps, I really don't like spiders and snakes, just like in the song, but I'm not phobic. I just don't want them biting me, and I'll even touch them if they're not poisonous, but if I don't know if they are, I keep a healthy distance.

[Kali]

162. larvae

especially lepidoptera larvae

:yoiks:

[enigmatic]

166. Bridges

Suspension Bridges, specifically; the swaying in bad weather of the Mackinac Bridge whenever my family would cross it as a child really did a number on me; I was a basket-case most times when we would cross..

[Roon]

167. I am scared of Belly Dancers...

I have no idea why.

[IzaSparrow]

176. their movements don't seem possible.

or is it the glitz and glam of the costume?

edit for spelling

[harmonicon]

168. snakes and heights

and don't even think of posting a picture of a snake, because I will find out where you live, come to your house and do whatever it is you're scared of to you! yes, even if it's cancer or death you're scared of, I'll do it!!

Seriously, I can't even stand pictures of snakes or seeing them on TV. I don't really know when it started, because it wasn't this bad when I was a kid. I didn't like them and play with them like other kids did, but I did like going to the reptile house at the zoo and stuff. I think maybe it's because there were loads of little ones by the house where my parents lived, and I didn't like that they could just be all over - something about their ability to hide creeps me out. I saw a giant (ok, not giant but 3 - 4 feet long) snake when I was house sitting for my girlfriend a few years ago and screamed like a little girl. This phobia sucks because I like to do things like walk in the woods, but I don't do much of that anymore, because the phobia has just gotten worse and worse. The thing is, I'm not afraid of snakes biting me or hurting me - that has nothing to do with it. They just scare the shit out of me.

As for heights, it's not that bad. I like things like being in an airplanes. I really like going to the grand canyon, but I can't lean over the edge. I'm mostly afraid of falling from heights, which I guess is pretty reasonable. I went in a hot air balloon once, and that was great, but I don't know if I could handle it any more. This phobia has also become far worse with age.

[annonymous]

170. Public speaking

[momophile]

191. I'll second this one

I hate public speaking!

[ordinaryaveragegirl]

177. Claustrophobia, and acrophobia

Not so much heights, but falling from them. Driving up Pikes Peak a few years ago was a huge personal accomplishment, and helped a little with the latter phobia.

[Lyric]

178. I have some weird ones

My most "normal" ones are an intense fear of flying insects, especially bees/wasps/hornets/yellowjackets, and fear of death.

My strangest one is an intense of fear becoming unexpectedly upset. The unexpected part is key, because it's very specific--it doesn't have to be a total surprise, but it *does* have to have some aspect of the unknown. This odd phobia leads to many smaller phobias, like fear of using the telephone (but only under certain circumstances, like when I have to talk to someone who has the power to completely upset my life, like a landlord or a utility company), fear of answering the door if I can't see who's there without giving away my presence, and fear of situations where I'm being "judged" (like a job interview). I also can't bring myself to open an e-mail if I suspect it contains something that's going to upset me--even when know that it's important. I avoid even my closest friends and relatives if I suspect they might be upset with me over something. I'm fine with conflict if I feel "safe"--in essence, if I feel like nothing serious is going to happen. But if there are more potentially serious consequences (like getting evicted, having the power shut off, having a car repo'ed, failing a class, being chastised or criticized by someone whose opinion really matters to me, etc.) then I become phobic and avoidant. :(

[IzaSparrow]

190. very interesting!

[asdjrocky]

179. My ex-wives. All but one.

[IzaSparrow]

192. and are you just slightly scared of her? nt