My potential condition

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Greetings and salutations....I'm new here.
As both my profile specification and the title may indicate, I am unsure as to the degree to which I could be diagnosed as having Asperger's Syndrome. I joined this community both to potentially connect with others like me or at least to get your input onto whether or not I do indeed have it. Of course I will also go to see a professional to see what they think but having first hand experience, perhaps you could offer more insight than just that. Either way, If it turns out I'm just a person with some more common set of problems (things like depression, anxiety, OCD) or if I'm normal or if I do have Aspergers, I feel I am prepared to live life without regret of my, if any, condition. Any opinion or personal Diagnosis might be helpful, what I'm looking to do is find an answer to what I am/what I have if anything.
My stats:
I would not call myself neurotypical as I have demonstrated many (at least to me and many around me) abnormal behaviors.
they include:
-Many OCD like compulsions: rituals (though these have died down as time went on, they are still there, in the background), and compulsions to perform certain actions, touching things, felling anxious if they are not performed. I have even (in earlier years) felt mild kleptomaniacal desires but luckily they have not manifested as anything greater then taking some candy occasionally and hey, who doesn't like candy. other rituals involve information collecting.
-Lack of empathy at times, I don't always laugh with other people, am not as moved by their plights though I am willing to help, I sometimes find it difficult to be engaged in stories that are character based because I have trouble empathiesing with them (this is something I want to work on as I envy my friends who can get very engaged)(this put me off reading fro a good while but I am trying to get back into it, any good book recommendations?, I like science fiction, fantasy and theoretical science books). I often do laugh at very dark jokes that some people might find to grim to be funny.
-I joined Facebook but only on friends requests for me to do so.
-A bit of a perfectionist (this was added on the 5th edit of this post so as you can see, I like to make sure what I do is really quite encompassing and thorough)
-Had allot of trouble at spelling and making friends in elementary school.
-I seem inept in some social situations and though now I can quite easily strike up a conversation with a new person, I remember I used to be very shy. I can sometimes make people mad at me without intending to and annoyed without trying. I seem to ask more questions then give answers as I am a very curious person (though curiosity in itself is not indicative of anything as most every person alive has it), and some people find my constant questions annoying. In class my teachers gave me a question limit sometimes.
-I am prone to cycles of obsession, sometimes with another person in comparison to me ( I put them on a pedestal when comparing them to myself), sometimes with a particular topic: computers, space, competing with someone else, a philosophy, robots, writing and stories, psychology (an example being that I sometimes psycho analyze my friends), or perhaps a specific story universe, a specific art style or a certain skill.
-I seem to view the world, my social interactions and indeed most situations in a more mechanical way. Where others seem to accept it I seek the cause and effect, I have at times tried to reduce the emotions and actions of others to equations and going with the above mentioned social ineptitude, have at times had such unfavorable interactions (mainly with my family) as to cause me to try and limit my conversation to what was only the bear minimum.
-However among many of my friends I find it very easy to interact, I can even just meet people sometimes and have good dealings.
-My friends call me Google, Spock, the calculator and some other things related to a somewhat encyclopedic tendency of information presenting and collecting and reliance on logic.
-At times I don't know weather to show or not show my emotions, rather then go with the flow I am prone to try and calculate what will get the best result in a social situation (am I being thoughtful or just manipulative...I try to never to do things that are immoral).
-Prone to massive amounts of self doubt, anxiety, elaborately constructing mental scenarios that play out how bad at things I am.
-This condition first came to my attention when my mother told me that when I was young I exhibited many traits of Aspergers and she considered the possibility of me having it. (hmm.... is it possible to only have a mild case of Aspergers?)
If you have read all this then thank you. I recognize that on their own or even together, many of these things are indicative of nothing and are common across a whole swath of the earths population. I am not really working toward convincing myself or anyone else of any condition, and feel I could be content with any number of outcomes, even ones that simply state I have a wide array or common personal problems. Any opinion as to whether or not these are consistent with any conditions you are familiar with would be appreciated.

Sounds like you have a lot of traits that are very common to those with Asperger's and you may indeed have it. As most folks will say, though, it's difficult to say from just text on a screen and the information you've given us. We are also not able to give you an official diagnosis, only opinions.

What you'll want to ask yourself soon, is if you feel that getting an official diagnosis is worth it for you at this stage in your life. For some people, it is. They can finally get services or the help that they need. For others, just knowing that they aren't alone is enough. Regardless, I'd suggest buying a few books about autism and Asperger's and doing more research into the subject. I'm sure you'll learn a lot.

thank you for responding so quickly. As I said I will see an official practitioner if it becomes important enough to me and recognize that this community cannot bestow onto others official diagnosis (nor am I asking it to). I appreciate your opinions and have and will continue to do research on this and other such conditions. BTW I like your avatar...Its a kitty! (and a colorful one to).

OK, glad that you understand that.

The most helpful advice I've heard is just that autism and Asperger's are not conditions that need to be "medicated" or treated by themselves. They are simply different modes of interacting with the world. They aren't wrong. That said, they can sometimes cause problems because the world simply isn't made for people who are "different" or "from a wrong planet", and that can cause issues such as depression and anxiety to appear. As I already mentioned, be your own advocate and learn as much as you can. I'm still not sure if I'm on the spectrum or not, but relate to enough of the posts here that it's been extremely helpful to me. I hope you enjoy your stay!

And thank you! I rather like my icon too. I love bright colors and cats, so it was "love at first sight" when I found this image.