I can imagine it feels awkward being that way towards everyone though. Since they may assume you're not listening or something. @.@ I hate assumptions like that, lol.
Sounds like you have some pretty believable characters then.
I like having wildly colored hair, but unless I can give them a reason for it(style, rebellious etc etc) I can't stand to do that anymore. I've got this nagging in the back of my head "You can't do that! Its not real!" It works much better when drawing than it does just writing I figure. Especially if you're just drawing kind of randomly.
I like to sit down and ask myself questions about my characters to do development. Like, "this character is so angry all the time, why?" and tack on "Is this just his personality? Or did something happen awhile back to make him seem so grumpy towards people?" It takes awhile, but its fun...for me I guess lol.
It irritates me when people do some things though and don't think about it at all. Of course, I never say anything since its none of my business, but I hate it when someone goes "My character was raised by wolves!" Oh yeah? Tell me about it. How long did it take for your character to learn to speak? What about the rest of the education? Lots of feral children don't even make it well in the real world, especially education-wise, and yours had no problem at all?
Some things....you just need to research.
sweatdrop