hmm, thanks for replying, everyone. I'm glad I'm not the only one like this.

psychee, I don't think my family is negativity-addicted, but I haven't been looking for that, so I don't know. I'm an only child, so they pay a lot of attention to me. I guess I learned that it's better to think about what you want to say before saying it, and that people will pay attention when you eventually get around to opening your mouth. But the rest of the world doesn't work like that.

SarahL, I'm definitely an introvert, and I used to think I was a writer...heh. I'm okay with needing more alone time and more processing time. But I don't think that being introverted should mean feeling uncomfortable around people most of the time, and thinking so slowly that people think I just don't ever talk.