i was an only child and then i lived alone for about three years, and now talk to myself all the time, and don't realize that i'm doing it.

the other day i talked to myself at work, when i found a bag full of my old lunch "extras" (cookie, apple and yogurt") in the community frig. i said something like "is that mine? shit, it is mine. when did i leave that in there? and moms cookie too." a co-worker walked up and said "talking to yourself again amber?"

umm... yeah. again? shit.

anyway, when i lived alone it was an almost constant half diaglog, exactly like you're talking about. i used to wish there was someone there with me so i could tell them about what i was talking to myself about.

now sometimes i wish i was alone so i could talk to myself without being heard again.

i think its worse to go an entire day without saying anything at all. i like to live by the notion that I am my own best friend, and who doesn't want to talk to their best friend?

I wish there was an icon ...

Ideas, Brittney?

Yeah, I can sympathize with that. I wish there was an icon for giggling incessantly. I find that IM doesn't express that very well.

...does anyone else talk what they type when messaging?

Not I. But here's where it gets weirder - the actions (and whatnot) that I send in IM are usually a lot more muted as I express them at my keyboard, than if I were doing the same thing in an RL conversation.

...Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. When I laugh, everybody knows it. ::blush::

My old roomie Sarah P. used to talk to herself all the time. I'd hear her in her room just talking away. It was fun.

All the time. As a sidebar, does anyone else talk what they type when messaging?

Funny story. While cleaning the washrooms at work last year, I proceeded to have a conversation with an imaginary coworker who was 40ish, married, and had two kids. We discussed a variety of issues (the bathroom was really blech). Another real coworker walked in, thinking that I was actually speaking to someone and was surprised that no one else was there. Oh, I was providing the female voice of this imaginary coworker. I described the situation to some other coworkers, as I thought it was funny, and they were puzzled, because they didn't know this coworker. This imaginary person.

You think you're crazy? Plus, I live with other people and still chat with myself. Sometimes I think I'm the only one who can stand listening to me for long periods of time.

i live alone for another`month. it is the greatest thing ever. i never talk to myself. what i do that is weird is laugh really hard at shit, like knee-slapping and whatnot. when i notice myself doing it i somehow get self-conscious even though i am by myself.

My dad used to hold long conversations with himself in the bathtub, which, as a kid, sort of freaked me out. But now, I talk to myself constantly. The worst is when I catch myself while walking down the street, in public. Is this kind of thing hereditary?

Edited by author 04-28-2003 09:29 AM
I blanked out after "my tongue and mouth need the action".

There's some horrible sitcom of a movie where Geena Davis and Michael Keaton are speech writers. In one scene Michael Keaton is killing time, pensive in his hotel room by explaining theoretical physics or astronomy or something to himself. He interrupts himself, then scolds himself telling himself that he's "trying to teach you something".

I do that like nine times a day.

No, but I really should start talking to myself, because otherwise I carry silent imaginary conversations with inanimate objects.

I talk to myself all the time, and usually its answering questions to myself! Sometimes, its in the car, but usually its at home...

I stopped talking to myself when I realized that the other voices weren't actually there

...All the time, in much the same way that you describe, near as I can tell. It's the ultimate think-before-speaking exercise. At least, that's what I tell myself.

I used to talk to myself in the morning while getting ready for work. It was a long stream-of-conscious monolouge in which anything that popped into my head came out of my mouth.
I didn't think anything of it until my roommate's girlfriend told me I had her in stiches that morning.
I find talking to myself helps keep me focused. Maybe the same goes for you?