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i used to be much less sensitive to noise. then i moved into this godforsaken building with a schoolyard full of shrieking hellions directly behind it, walls made of cigarette paper, and a never-ending stream of inconsiderate / unselfconscious neighbors and irascible babies, and my tolerance has been steadily eroded. now i frequently wear ear-plugs to sleep (even though they hurt my ears) and dj earphones all day long to work (although they also are uncomfortable after a while).
from time to time, on a weekend, the whole building will be miraculously silent all day, and i find myself making an unconscious effort to move very gently not to disrupt it, and listening to the silence as if it were music, appreciating it with a sort of desperate gratitude.
when i'm working, i prefer quiet, especially if i have to concentrate on code or something, or else music that i've chosen (so, not the radio). i've found that radiohead is excellent for concentration. i've also found that if i start a project with a particular music, and i'm in the zone, then i have to keep listening to the same music until i want to stop working, or the spell will be broken.
i definitely could not concentrate with the television on. since i didn't grow up with it i am now rather fascinated by it, in the sense, "fascinated like a rabbit by a snake" ; if it's in front of me i often can't take my eyes off it.
i'm mostly glad that i didn't have television as a child, because i do think i did more interesting things instead of watch it, however on the other hand it means there is a whole set of cultural references common to my generation that i don't have at all, and as we've established people think i'm strange enough as it is.
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