Am I really the only one who eats her M&Ms by color until each color group has the same number of members, and then makes little patterns and attractive color combinations in the chosen mouthfuls?
Well, um... I can't say it's anything I've ever tried, no. Though I have been known to count the number of M&M's in a package to make sure I wasn't shortchanged.
I have a somewhat complicated algorithm for M&M eating.
First, I sort them into groups by color.
At all times, I eat from the group with the largest number of M&Ms.
If at any point there are multiple groups with the same number, then I eat an M&M of the color that I have eaten least recently.
I feel, somehow, that this maintains maximum diversity, and is therefore important not just for political reasons, but in case the M&Ms have to reproduce - I don't want to eliminate genetic diversity prematurely.
Is it a scary thing that this makes *perfect* sense to me?
It's pretty much what I do, too. Except with Skittles, now, because I can't eat M&M's because of the dairy. Except that once I have all the color groups down to the same size, I'll usually eat from them in order of how much I like them (least to best).
I eat them randomly until I'm down to, oh, twenty or thirty, and then I sort them into colors. And then, yes, if I have room, I'll arrange them into patterns - usually flowers or triangles. :)
When I was younger, I used to play "cull the herd" with M&M's - I'd weed out the ones that there were the least of, the way predators will pick out unusually colored individuals in a herd (one reason you rarely see albino critters in the wild). I'm not sure why I don't do that anymore, but it's always in the back of my mind when I play with my M&M's.
Hmm. I've always done the total opposite - started with the ones there are the most of. Mind you, I'm not a big fan of M&Ms. They always taste of peanut - even the ones that aren't actually peanut ones.
In the UK there are sweets called Smarties and these are much nicer. Now you can get normal, tiny and Giant Smarties - the giant ones are something like 3/4 inch across! Mmmmm. Orange Smarties are actually made of orange-flavoured chocolate, and almost everyone I know likes them the best of all. So we all tend to save the orange ones 'till last.
Well, I don't do that. Buyt the red ones are always the first to be eaten. ('Cause I don't like them, and that gets themm out of the way. Green is the last, because I like them the best. But if I have time, the ones in between get played with.
Hrm. All these comments, and no one mentions technique, just selection. I tend to let the candy shell dissolve, trying to maximize the time before the chocolate layer is breeched. Color's not so important, although I tend to cluster...3 or four of one cloro, then the next...but it's that ephemeral non-choco experience that drives me.
Does that make me weird, or is it too late for that? :)
I do this if I have more than a few in my hand at once, but often I'm just shaking them out of the package and eating them as they come out. Ditto Reese's Pieces.
With Skittles, I'm much pickier. I first sort out the purple- and orange-flavored ones and discard them, and then take the rest in same-color groups of 3 or 4. But that's a flavor thing more than a color thing. I also do Skittle genetic testing, which doesn't work nearly as well with other small candies: Take two between thumb and first finger, and squeeze. The first one that crumbles is inferior and must be consumed. The one that survives is matched against the next Skittle. Continue until there is only one SuperDuperSkittle left, which you then eat to symbolize your higher position in the food chain.
I suddenly wonder what people in Skittle-free cultures do that's similar to this sort of ridiculous timewasting. *)
... but I do have a weird algorithm for Froot Loops.
It's so complicated I can't actually describe it, except to say that the overall goal is roughly to consume the colors in as close to one-at-a-time order as you can; you score "points" for eating more homogenous spoonfuls, larger spoonfuls, points for "runs" of color if you manage to get on a good streak, and points for eating more quickly so that the little O's don't get all soggy in the milk.
elynne claims that someday, statistically speaking, I will get the Perfect Bowl of Froot Loops. Every single one of the colors will cluster together with their own. I will achieve maximum possible "points," however it is that points actually score, because there will not be a spoonful I can eat that will have a bite out of place.
This will, of course, ruin the fascination of it for me forever.
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:)
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First, I sort them into groups by color.
At all times, I eat from the group with the largest number of M&Ms.
If at any point there are multiple groups with the same number, then I eat an M&M of the color that I have eaten least recently.
I feel, somehow, that this maintains maximum diversity, and is therefore important not just for political reasons, but in case the M&Ms have to reproduce - I don't want to eliminate genetic diversity prematurely.
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It's pretty much what I do, too. Except with Skittles, now, because I can't eat M&M's because of the dairy. Except that once I have all the color groups down to the same size, I'll usually eat from them in order of how much I like them (least to best).
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When I was younger, I used to play "cull the herd" with M&M's - I'd weed out the ones that there were the least of, the way predators will pick out unusually colored individuals in a herd (one reason you rarely see albino critters in the wild). I'm not sure why I don't do that anymore, but it's always in the back of my mind when I play with my M&M's.
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In the UK there are sweets called Smarties and these are much nicer. Now you can get normal, tiny and Giant Smarties - the giant ones are something like 3/4 inch across! Mmmmm. Orange Smarties are actually made of orange-flavoured chocolate, and almost everyone I know likes them the best of all. So we all tend to save the orange ones 'till last.
i do that!
And, besides, you knew that about some of us since you were there for the grand sorting.
BIG image of pretty M&Ms (http://www.rubricity.com/chelan/images/DCP_0008.JPG)
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Does that make me weird, or is it too late for that? :)
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With Skittles, I'm much pickier. I first sort out the purple- and orange-flavored ones and discard them, and then take the rest in same-color groups of 3 or 4. But that's a flavor thing more than a color thing. I also do Skittle genetic testing, which doesn't work nearly as well with other small candies: Take two between thumb and first finger, and squeeze. The first one that crumbles is inferior and must be consumed. The one that survives is matched against the next Skittle. Continue until there is only one SuperDuperSkittle left, which you then eat to symbolize your higher position in the food chain.
I suddenly wonder what people in Skittle-free cultures do that's similar to this sort of ridiculous timewasting. *)
I don't eat M&Ms ...
It's so complicated I can't actually describe it, except to say that the overall goal is roughly to consume the colors in as close to one-at-a-time order as you can; you score "points" for eating more homogenous spoonfuls, larger spoonfuls, points for "runs" of color if you manage to get on a good streak, and points for eating more quickly so that the little O's don't get all soggy in the milk.
Yes, I know how fucked up this is.
Re: I don't eat M&Ms ...
I like the idea of getting points while eating Fruit Loops. Of course, then you have to keep trying to get the high score...
Re: I don't eat M&Ms ...
This will, of course, ruin the fascination of it for me forever.
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