Misty shot up an eyebrow, saying, "You know, I had a friend who did that once."

"You mean I'm not the only one?"

She was highly amused by this. "Nope. Don't think so."

"Damn. There went my claim to originality."See, I keep hearing about this human trait called "normality," and the older I get, the more I suspect I was over getting seconds and thirds from the "quirks" line when I was supposed to be getting my ration of normality with everyone else.

The end results have been quite entertaining. You think you've got quirks? Come over sometime and notice that sure, I keep a folded stadium blanket tossed over the back of the main couch, but I always fold it in such a way that you can never read the entire word (my high school's name) printed on it. It's not out of embarrassment, or lack of pride in the school I attended.

It's the logo. True, I avoid wearing clothing with logos on them, but I think I'm probably the only person whose logo-aversion goes so far that she deliberately folds her high-school blanket sideways to avoid displaying a full word on her couch.

Can't explain it, really. I just find it very odd and very disconcerting to have a word blared at me from my own couch. My couch is supposed to demurely accept the crumbs and cat fur we rub into it as part of its life - not serve as in-house corporate (or school) sponsorship.

There isn't a drug to combat this; I've checked. Still, this wasn't what Misty was referring to.

Ever heard of the photic sneeze reflex? Neither had I. All I knew was that, for as long as I could remember, my body's response to sudden, bright sunlight was an involuntary sneeze. Bizarre, no? I'd walk outside to get the mail on an otherwise-normal afternoon, and as soon as I stepped off the front porch, my eyes would squint and my nose would tighten up and -

achoo! I would greet the world by sneezing on it.

On our way to see one of Cirque du Soleil's Atlanta performances of Varekai, we stopped at the Shrine Of Southern Worship that is Krispy Kreme. After celebrating our excitement about seeing human acrobatics by eating our weight in Regular Glazed Originals, we waddled back out to our cars and headed to the venue.

I rode with Brian, who found a shady spot between an overgrown hedge and a Stupid Useless Vehicle. By the time that we parked and tucked away phones and wallets, our friends were by the car and waiting for us. I got out of the car, walked into the sunlight, and promptly sneezed, to the great amusement of my friends.

After everyone had a good chuckle on my account, Misty said that she was absolutely positive that I was crazy, but just not on this particular issue. She thought it might have something to do with my ultra-pale skin and eye colors. I spent about thirty minutes dazzled by the idea of not being the only human so genetically bizarre that they would sneeze in response to sunlight, and then saw Varekai. All thoughts of silly sneezers left my head, to be replaced with that crashing, booming, heart-pounding theme song.

Took me two weeks to think of the sneeze bits again. A few minutes and a few bits of googlism later, I discovered the term "photic sneeze reflex" and very nearly did a jig in my chair.

I may be insane; not to mention warped on many psychological and genetic levels - but I am not alone.

Somehow, that's comforting.