Today's columnist, Anouchka Santella: I can't help being obsessive
I would never just like a show, I would binge watch it until 4 in the morning and watch whole seasons in less than two days.
My personal record is Entourage, where I managed eight in 10 days.
I wasn’t very busy at the time.
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Hide AdBut TV shows aren’t the only thing I have been addicted to.
As a fervent All Blacks fan I’ve spent the past two Rugby World Cups watching every one of their games, videos on the internet and documentaries on DVDs shipped over from New Zealand.
I made their website my homepage and I dreamed about the games every night, including one where I was on the field and made them lose.
I’ve also always had an obsessive relationship with food.
When I was three I spent months refusing anything else than my Kellogg’s.
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After I got sick of them I moved on to English muffins every morning, then toast, then Cheerios, then Kinder eggs. I have the breakfast habits of a six-year-old.
But obsession doesn’t end here. At 14 I realised that smoking was so much cooler than not smoking, so I jumped on the bandwagon. Every time I went to a gig, I’d buy a pack, every time I went for a coffee with friends, I’d buy a pack, and eventually, every time I’d get out of class, I’d buy a pack.
But a few weeks in, when I realised I was putting money in it that could be used for other very important things like clothes I just stopped.
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Hide AdI never really drank alcohol, but when one of my new friends wouldn’t take no for an answer on buying me whisky sours and shots, I eventually got used to it.
I mean I’d still be drunk after two shots, but I got used to having a drink every night I was out (which to be honest was every night).
My first ever hangover at the age of 21, put paid to that, so now I have the occasional cocktail once every 13 months.
And then there’s betting. I never thought I’d find the casino fun, until I went four times in a week. I even have a Genting’s pen.
Now I don’t like football, but I do love betting on it.
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Hide AdCoincidentally my boyfriend loves both. But this time I know what I’m doing. Or I don’t, but he does, and I listen to him.
He puts one symbolic pound on for me. So far I’ve only made him lose two pounds, but I have faith in this new-found addiction.