Until I get to LA and get more of that sweet Coffee Bean nectar, I'm having to fulfill my cravings with Starbucks. It's the only coffee shop anywhere near where I work.

It's also down the street from the Diamond Shamrock where I buy cigarettes.

The other week they put a Starbucks into the supermarket down from my house. I danced and sang and scared the pants off that barista.

What are you addicted to? What happens when you can't have it?

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

Answers

Flavigny Violet (and Rose) Pastilles. I have to order them in big batches as they are hard to find.

Drost Chococate/Rum pastilles used to be high on the list, but my supply dried up. They were little coin-shaped chocolates divided into halves, half rum & chocolate and half dark or milk chocolate. They came in other half and half varieties (milk and white, mint and dark, etc) but the rum ones were the most very-est. They were packaged in a vertical hexagonal-shaped tube. Ate the HELL out of those things.

Dr. Chang's Long Life Tea (original blend). I go out of my way to track it down. It's simply the best herbal tea I've ever found; is slightly minty, has no caffeine, needs no sugar and has none added. No evil stuff in it at all. Fabulous, fabulous stuff. You get a "Confucious Say" type fortune with each teabag, too. Anyway, I have a cabinet full of teas, and I keep replacing Dr. Chang's instead of using my old stock. It's that good.

I used to be addicted to certain toys, but I've gotten a hold of myself a bit. I'm still addicted to toys in general, but no longer specific expensive types. I must say, though, that LEGO has it goin' on when you're stressy. I have more LEGO than most kids do. :) We have a LEGO passenger train on a circular track set up on our dining room table as a centerpiece sometimes. During parties, we put non- sticky stuff in there, like a lazy susan set-up. :) Want a glass-top coffee table with a lower shelf big enough to set train up on.

Music. I buy far too many CDs. I have music playing constantly. In the car, in the house, at work. This is less of an addiction than a compulsion. Must have it, like air to breathe. Must not suck. Pretty basic, really.

Other things I indulge in are really habits, as I'm generally not too much of an addictive personality. I find something else to jones on. I'm impulsive and hate delayed gratification, but I'm not addicited to anything per se. Addiction would be easier, I could avoid temptation by avoiding the addicitive substance.

I suppose sugary foods come close. I was very cranky when I cut sugar out of my diet a few years ago. It's ridiculous how EVERYTHING has sugar in it!

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

Caffeine. I know it's a generic answer, because who's not addicted to caffeine, but it's my major vice.

Unless you count sex--but can you be addicted to something you never get? ;)

When I can't have it (caffeine, not sex), I get a dizzy-ing type headache, my nose runs like I'm having cocaine withdrawals, and I drag like a prom dress at 4 AM. It's gotten to the point where if I get home at 10:30 PM and there's no more pop in the house, it pisses me off even though I'm only going to be up for another hour and a half. I wonder if there's a rehab for things like this.

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

Diet Coke. Like, hardcore. It's starting to scare me.

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

Well, chocolae. Duh. There are very few problems that can't be soved by chocolate (except maybe nausea and obesity). I used to work at a chocolate store. You think that would cure me? NO! I need more!

Books. My mother made a crazy decision to teach me to read when I was 2. I haven't put a book down since. I used to work at a book store. You think that would cure me? NO! School did that, for a while, though. When my friends were helping me move, they were a little sick of unloading heavy boxes of books from the back of the tuck. Wendy actually went on book-box strike, and forced me to get them myself. I have more books than shelf space, and yet I still go and buy more.

I don't drink coffee (I know, I'm a heathen), but I do love tea. I also get my caffeine jollies from Coke, Jolt and/or chocolate covered coffee beans.

But just for the record: I am not an internet junkie. Give me time, though.

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

porn

broadband

beautiful girls

coffee, cigarettes, pot, cocaine, beer

basketball

...and talking to myself

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

and songs 4, 5, and 6 on OK Computer.

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

diet coke. virtually any sweet, cakey snack machine concoction. books. air conditioning. Martha Stewart Living magazine. spicy hummus.

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

Tazo Chai Lattes, coconut pancakes with dulce de leche from the cuban bistro up the street, The Real World on MTV, CDs, DVDs, MP3s, The Powerpuff Girls, Kids in the Hall, The Weather Channel, Discovery Channel and its evil twin The Learning Channel, corn on the cob, rice pudding, Squishy, Plaintive Wail, Hissyfit, Tomato Nation, Ted Casablanca's E! gossip column, Jonathan Cainer's daily horoscopes.

I used to be addicted to nicotene, but it's not my daddy no more.

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

Wow, I never would have thought of "books" as an addiction, but I guess it sort of is one. Keith and I have yet again run out of bookshelves, as of last month. We're in that phase where you keep buying more books but you don't have enough shelving, so you start piling books crossways on top of the existing shelves, or piling them on the floor next to the shelves, or stacking them next to the bed or pretty much anywhere you can find space.

My last bookshelf was hand-made by my stepdad, who is a carpenter. Unfortunately he now lives 2000 miles away, so we're just going to have to go to IKEA or something. I haven't counted but my best estimate is that Keith and I combined have over 1000 books. That's not counting the ones that are downstairs in boxes because we had no room for them in the upstairs shelves.

Um, other addictions.. caffeine, obviously. Can't live in Seattle without that one, it's an admission requirement. Also Thai iced tea, high-end erotica (The Story of O, the diaries of Anais Nin, etc.), and last but not least, Squishy.

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

Caffeine. Of course. Latte's are my current vehicle of choice

And dark chocolate. The darker the better. I'm not talking that pansy stuff you get in the grocery store. I'm talking so dark that it coats your tongue and one piece really *will* satisfy you. I'm talking European chocolate, because America seems to be allergic to anything darker than semi-sweet, and that's still too milk for me.

Drool. Sigh.

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

jones soda. seriously, if you haven't had it, you must try it. they have all kinds of flavors and really cool photos on the bottle. the best part is the little fortune they stick on the cap. it's great stuff. kerouac. i'm addicted to jack kerouac and allen ginsberg. they're the best and i just can't get enough. and last but not least, squishy and plaintive wail.

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

Books, in a serious and expensive way. Diet Coke, in a life-long, horrible health consequences way.

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

I forgot about IKEA. I know, I'm crazy, but I am addicted to it. I get the catalogue and I memorize it. Never mind that I can't afford anything, I still have little flags all over the place in the book. And when I go in and see all the stuff, I can't leave without spending vast quantities of moolah. Most of the household stuff I have is from IKEA. My dishes & cutlery. My pots. My stupid futon. I even bought a table there for $75. Gotta love the as-is room on boxing day! My friend gave me furniture that she didn't need, and it's from IKEA too! It's a sickness.

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

i used to be a diet cokehead... until i found the pleasure in the REDBULL... redbull gives you wings you see. i chug one of those babies before work and i am flyin high the whole morning. i start to come down at about 1:30 , then i chug a diet coke. caffine is a beautiful thing.

Caitlyn

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

The list: Coke(the soda), Pizza, Marlboro lights, my DSL connection, Napster, Howard Stern, Ben and Jerrys Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream.....Jg

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

Coffee (Grande dark roast with extra shot). Cigarettes. Good loving, lots. Laughter. Online journals (but only if they make me laugh). Lipgloss. Solving life's problems with Jen. Sunshine. Chardonnay, ice cold. Lush Sympathy for the Skin body cream. Good hair days. Shoes. Money. My garden. Sarcasm. Altoids, 2 at a time.

And rubby my cat's belly when she purrs. Hey - same goes for my man. when he purrs.

Its all good!

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

fresca. french perfume. salt bagels with strawberry cream cheese from duncan donuts.

i've never run out of any of those things, thankfully. god bless america and our big fancy pants malls..

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

I've been drinking coffee every day for more than forty years and I've not gotten addicted yet!

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

I'm as addicted to fresh coffee as the next fool, but Starbucks is evil. The South Island of New Zealand is finally getting a Starbucks. And what do you think it's going to do for the sleepy little city of Christchurch? All my favourite littel coffee shops are going t go under. I don't want a grande latte, I want someone else to decide how much cinnamon I need on my cappucino. I want my beans roasted this morning out in the back of the shop, not six months ago before they were shipped over from the states. Who really wants each coffee to be the same every time? Familiarity breeds contempt you know...

Well. Theres my bitching done. Now I might go and do a bit of anti-capitalistic graffitti-ing.

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2000

oh. And I'm addicted to hummus.

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2000

Backgammon on my Palm IIIx, buying atomic age stuff on eBay, and the internet in general.

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2000

Eastenders is the only addiction I allow myself to give into, for my own sake. The others -- pickles, salads doused in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, Dairy Milk, Tetris and chocolate covered pretzels -- would just kill me if I indulged more than once a month.

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2000

i am addicted to sweet loving from my honey

and puppy dog kisses.

oh, and food of all sorts.

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2000

Fountain drinks... it's like coke, but with a zing. After tests, after plays, after t.v, i will get my lazy butt up and run to Gate station with four quarters in my hand, just to seize those carbonation bubbles that go wild in my mouth. ((running to car))

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2000

MightyBigTV, Fametracker, alt.tv.er (but not in the summer, natch), Squishy, Lisa Carver, Salon comics, and (cough) webcams (cough). In that order. (Sorry, Pamie.) I don't even have a TV, yet I read MBTV recaps of shows I've never seen. I'm such a loser.

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2000

Root beer. And cheese. If I do not have either one or the other (preferably both) at some point during the day, in any form, I go stark raving mad. I often tell my friends that when I move out (which will actually be in a few months), I will drink nothing but root beer and suffer severely due to what happens when you eat too much cheese. I literally have asked for a 10-lb cheese wheel for my next birthday. Or maybe one of those great big blocks of cheese, the kind they sell in delis by the slice, only mine will be whole, and all for me. Mmmm...whole cheese. I'm going to get more cheese.

-- Anonymous, June 25, 2000

Pamie, Stee, and Xeney, Napster, books books and more books, expensive foodstuffs from the healthy and gourmet sections of any grocery store, tea, sushi, People magazine, buying new clothing, Rob Bresney's (sp?) Real Astrology.

-- Anonymous, June 25, 2000

Behind the Music. Iced tea made from the Republic of Tea's "Teddy's Tea Party" flavor. The Foo Fighters. Chocolate butter (you just bet it's good). Black clothes. Air conditioning. My new iBook (which I only stopped touching last night when I was ready to pass out).

I try not to get addicted to things that I can't have. Or I run up my credit card debt until I have everything that I'm addicted to...

-- Anonymous, June 25, 2000

Dawson's Creek, Hypnotic Poison perfume, Mac makeup, Diet Coke, online jcrew shopping, Shoes, Dirty Martinis, and my vibrator (how pathetic i am..................)

-- Anonymous, June 25, 2000

Diet Coke, Being Bored (it's addictive), Acting Insane & Chocolate.

-- Anonymous, June 25, 2000

soda it was coke for so long and then I had my teeth cleaned and discovered I possessed 15 cavities to my 28 teeth. So I had to cut down. I was really bad though. Then I started drinking iced tea everywhere I went to keep from drinking soda at all- but It didn't work and my current obsession is 7-UP. right across the street from my apartment is a little gas station with a whole bank of soda machines. I can't allow myslef to buy whole cases of the stuff, but I will walk to the gas station and buy two every night.

The Croc Hunter. He's an idiot, but I watch it everyday.

-- Anonymous, June 26, 2000

Well heck, Mis, if you'd posted that about the MAC makeup a few days earlier, I would have sent you my whole stash. I went through a thankfully short-lived obsession with makeup, during which I amassed unbelievable amounts of the stuff. I just packed it all up and sent it to a friend, who will get better use out of it than I ever will.

And just to keep this on topic, I forgot to mention before that I am totally addicted to Snapple lemon iced tea. And felt-tip pens. And Power Puff Girls! I love the Power Puff Girls. I gave Keith a Power Puff Girls mousepad for his birthday (he loved it). And... I think that's it (for now).

-- Anonymous, June 26, 2000

Damn it Jan......you almost made a new best friend.

-- Anonymous, June 26, 2000

I love you Jason. Bless your sweet heart. NOBODY watched City of Angels and yet a few choice folks actually read the recaps.

I'm addicted to the Uber Interactive triumvirate of sites, Squishy, Penny-arcade.com, Yahoo Entertainment News (I go to that like six times a day), all of the mondomedia.com animations (except Thugs on Film -- I could never get into that one), Ebay, Radiskull and Devil Doll and The Hunger Site..

In real life, word on OK Computer and all things Radiohead (have you guys downloaded the live versions of the songs from the new album? Go now! "Knives Out" is great.), DVDs, Tiramisu cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory, sex of course, most Sega Dreamcast games, Alpha Centuari, Gauntlet Legends, Eminem, avoiding work...

The list just goes on...

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2000

I'm addicted to frapaccino's, my Palm IIIx, my internet access (rr is wonderful!), and any kind of coffee. Pamie...they put a Starbucks in my grocery store too! Albertson's...I was so happy! Now its pitstops every morning on the way to work! WOO HOO!

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2000

ice cream sharp cheddar and triscuits cds jewelry -- rings with big and unusual stones, silver bangles picture frames glass bottles General Hospital smoothies iced mochas Bath and Body Works lotions... and sprays... and cream... you get it. SHOPPING carbohydrates flea markets movies rain storms mentadent toothpaste

...... i'm beginning to think that I am an all-round addict

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2000

I don't like to describe writing as an addiction, because it somehow belittles what I do, to think of it as compulsive behavior, over which I have no control. After all, I worked very hard to teach myself to write a certain amount, every day. To the point where the rhythm is peristaltic, and if I don't write, I suffer withdrawal.

Edginess, palpitating upper lip, sweat on forehead. Inability to recall familiar words. Joints hurt. Sniffles.

It's no worse than heroin withdrawal, and probably not as bad as doing without coffee.

Oh, yea. Lassitude. Forebodings of doom. Irascible.

And to think, if I'd only taught myself to write something useful, like "How To Get an Even Tan."

Internet addiction sounds like an Oprah Show. But I spend time online I should spend doing other things.

The combination of the two, a writing jones and a computer on my desk, at home and at work, has me writing up a storm, but neglecting things I'm paid to do, or feel like I ought to do, instead.

Of the making of many books there is no end. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2000

AT the moment it is hoodies. I can t get enough of nice warm roomy hooded tops. Liek gearoge and velvet , I could wear a hooded top everywhere/everyday and be quite contetnt. No zippers please , they must be the pull over type.

Buying cd's for the sake of buying cd's.

Juicyfruit.

girls with short hair. That is something which I am going to regret admitting. I dont mean short as in crew/buzz cut , but short as in no longer than hair past the neck short.....or cropped.

Now if i cant get any of these , i usually move on to another addiction (which has a one week change over from the last "hit")

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2000

Damn , my spelling is dba.

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2000

OK, I may be a loser, but even I didn't read the "City of Angels" recaps. ;D

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2000

I used to be a coffee addict. I still love it just as much but I have found a wonderful new wake-up juice: Snapple Sun. If I see it, I must buy it. I nearly flipped my sh*t on the bagel guy when he didn't have any last time I stopped by. Other addictions? Victoria's Secret, though I can't afford it, Nine Inch Nails, karaoke, and melodrama. Sue me, I'm a drama queen.

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2000

Reeces Peanut Butter Cups. They're starting to pop up all over London in various newsagents. I tried on and couldn't quite fit a pair of trousers yesterday morning, a sure sign I've overdone the junk food eating while in NZ recently, so am trying to resist all chocolatey things. But it's hard. I just came back from lunchtime on Oxford Street and walked into a shop to look at the Peanut Butter Cups before my strength of will allowed me to leave, empty-handed.

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2000

I can't live without Buffy, these tiny chewy rasberry sweets called millions and Squishy. I had no internet connection for days and it was not good!

-- Anonymous, June 29, 2000

unsweetend no lemon ice tea made by lipton. i have to have at least two everyday. when i leave town i bring stock,i once had to go a weeks without it because the town i was in didn't have it. i have my corner market specail order for me. its a sad thing. everyone i know says it tastes like dish water but i live for

-- Anonymous, June 30, 2000

Root Beer, A+W Cream Soda(w/vanilla), and there's this place near where I work called the International Bread Company (is it a chain? it's the only one I've ever seen, but it seems like it would have spread, considering that, well, read on...) that makes divine baguettes. Really crispy on the outside(we're talking potentially dangerous to people that have retainers) and softly dense in the middle. Damn...want bread...

-- Anonymous, July 01, 2000

Coffee, Shari's restaurant, MUSIC (Tori rox!), people, masturbation (both of us. Oh GOD), writing, emotional bulimia -accumulating and subsequently purging-, Thai food, MTV's Daria, cigarettes - specifically Nat Sherman's Hint of Mint Queen Size...mmmm... - the internet (we're webwhores), web design, good sex, making fun of stoopid people, each other, and that-sa bout all.

-- Anonymous, July 01, 2000

I like everything, especially "E" (excticy) YUMMIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHROOMS are good too.

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2001