Perseverations, obsessions, and special interests?

[Angela]

So...what are you fixated on at the moment/long term? I always find it interesting to see what other people are focused on. ^_^ I personally tend to be perpetually deeply interested in a few things which sort of alternate based on availability of materials and inspiration (long term), and then really focus on something else for a short duration. For me:

Long term:
orthography (I love writing systems)
weather, particularly severe weather
infectious diseases (really, microbiology in general)

Recent:
aviation disasters
astrobiology
the transportation of hazardous materials in America

[Mercurygrrl]

Oh, gods... I hope this doesn't classify me as the forum-freak:

My all-time 'favorite' obsession is menstruation (seriously - especially cultural aspects, more specifically, western-cultural aspects of menstruation and menarche). I am, however, not sure if my obsessions are obsessions the way other autistics have them. I mean, I don't read about it or study it 24/7, and I can go long periods without being particularly preoccupied with it, but it's something I fall back on.

During the last year I got very intro crafting. First knitting, then sewing and then into making plushies. I did some jewelry-making as well.

China and the cultural revolution was a BIG interest when I was about 12.

I have a 300gb archive of Home & Away-episodes.

[Angela]

I actually own a book called something like "The Cultural History of Menstruation", so it doesn't seem all that weird to me (though truthfully my attention so far as that topic's concerned is mostly focused on hating it xD)

[Aaryk Noctivagus]

Just call me Movie-Freak - lol.

Since as far back as I can remember I wanted to make movies. My whole thing with music and writing all stem from this obsession with movies and everything about them (except the empty gossip surrounding show biz). My writing and composing started with little cassette taped dramas I would write and Voice Act in (etc)... My family were too poor to have cine cameras or the such like so I coped with what was available. I also started a collection of Original Soundtrack LPs.

Now I'm actually involved in film-making (in a very very small way) because I compose scores for (and sometimes do other things in) Micro-Budget movies. I have a DVD movie collection of over 1,300 feature movies, and an extensive CD Soundtrack collection including some rare titles. The only thing I lack are friends to invite over to share my love of movies with. I have one non-family friend and sometimes we have day-long themed DVD marathons :o)

[Star]

"The only thing I lack are friends to invite over to share my love of movies with."

What is your address I will be right over! *smile* And... I'll bring some of my interesting DVDs, too.

Star

[ghostgurl]

Oh I love movies too. It's one thing I can easily talk about with someone. I'm more of a movie buff than anything. My mom comes to me when she wants info about a particular movie. I love to go on IMDB after I've seen a movie and read up on the trivia, faqs and connections and of course read about what other people think of the movie. It's like I have to know! LOL.

[Aaryk Noctivagus]

I just wish some of you movie-buff guys lived near me. I have a collection of over 1,300 movie DVDs, a 50" widescreen TV and a Dolby 5.1/DTS surround sound system... and yet few friends who can visit... two actually, and they not often.

However, nobody lives in easy visiting distance of me. I'm not lonely or anything... I'm very happy with the company of my wife and children, but we do like to entertain visitors... (or bore them silly with trivia) lol.

[Lori]

long term:
- artificial intelligence. started out as robots when i was younger. changed to computers in high school.
- playing guitar. used to be completely obsessed and play 24/7. don't play so much anymore because of arthritis and no one to play with. i still love it and it still does good things for my brain when i play.
- music. mostly angry white boy music, rock power ballads, and broadway show tunes.
- pinball, then video games. console, atari, text based adventure games, nintendo, pc games, xbox

current: web development, css, web standards, mac computers, world of warcraft

[Star]

I have 3 obsessions that have been there all my life with a few others that were added along the way.
The 3 main ones are:

- Blindness / Deafblindness - learned Braille grade 1 in high school from a book, then in my early 20s learned Dutch sign language and when in the USA picked some ASL. I can fingerspell (do the deafblind sign alphabet of about 5 different languages: British also used in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the American also very similar to several european languages with small variations such as France, Spain, Holland, Greece, the Lorn which is the alphabet used in Germany, Austria and some parts of Belgium, and the Italian. Have done volunteer work as guide/interpreter for the deafblind in both Europe and the USA for about 15 years.

Astrology - Picked up my first astrology book when I was about 10 and have by now a collection of about 45 books on western, chinese and buddhist astrology. Can create and interpret charts and have so with about 200 charts, can read an ephemeris, do progressions, composite and synastry charts for partners. I have specific books about each of the planets, very interested in karmic astrology and the evolution of the soul in general.

Crafts - Knitting is the no. 1, then comes crochetting, and working with beads - I make jewelry such as bracelets, amulets, and many more functional and decorative items.

Interests that I have picked and kept for periods of time include:

Writing short stories, Photography and PhotoShoping, Drawing/painting (am pretty good at it), making theater costumes, making websites, keeping a dream diary, human evolution and psychology, autism and the origine of the autistic mind, travelling, learning foreign languages and studying the origin of alphabets.

Star

[Angela]

Are the different sorts of sign language vastly different, or is it mostly nuance and different fingerspelling alphabets? I've always wondered about that. I'd like to at least learn ASL myself, but so far it's been surprisingly difficult to find evening classes on it where I live. :(

[Star]

Yes, there are several groups of languages that have the same origins and these are similar between thne in the same way as French, Spanish, Italian, Portugese are similar in the spoken form of language. The reason is that the first sign language was created by monks in France in an attempt to educate deaf children who until then were thought ase mentally retarded and placed in mental asylums. This first French sign language became the bases of a family of sign languages that use one hand to form the firgerspelled alphabet and have similarities in grammar and word construction. This family includes the ASL, the French, Spanish, Dutch, Greek, Swedinsh, Danish and some sign languages.
Another distinct family is the British origin sign languages that use both hands to form the fingerspelled alphabet and are used in all the countriues that used to be part of the British commonwealth: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India (when English was the official language) and so on.
Then there are sign languages that have a separate fingerspalling developed for the deafblind that is not the same used by the deaf. Italy is an example of that as the deafblind fingerspelling uses the back on the 'listeners' hand instead of the palm.

Hope this intro helps.

Many local colleges offer ASL courses check with them as some might have evening classes. Also check local deaf social groups as they might offer some classes, too.

Star

[bjorker]

I'm a little short on time at the moment, and will probably come back later to add to this. But the biggest thing for me has always been music. I obsess every single day about music. When I listen to it, it's like.... I can see it, almost. It makes me feel things that nothing else can get me to feel. It excites me more than I could ever explain. Or repulses me, if it's something that sounds bad to me.

I also get lost for hours researching things. It doesn't matter what, really, just whatever sparked my interest that night. I can find information on the internet that most people don't know is even accessible that way. Just the act of hunting for answers or info on a particular topic gives me such a thrill. I don't really know how to describe it.

This probably sounds silly, but rainbows. Does that count? It's completely un-scholarly, but I'll sit for a long period of time looking at all the things on ebay and etsy with rainbows in/on it, particularly if it's surround by/has black in or around it. If I see something in a store with rainbows on it, I have to get it.

Books in general. I'm obsessed with collecting them. I go to thrift stores all the time to hunt for interesting books in good condition. I long for the space and quantity of books to have a giant library of my own. That thought is almost overwhelming to me, but in a good way. Sometimes I find myself just sitting there, staring at my collection and smiling to myself. I think I do this more than I even realise. :\

Okay. Cutting myself off there. Gotta go!

[Angela]

I also get lost for hours researching things. It doesn't matter what, really, just whatever sparked my interest that night. I can find information on the internet that most people don't know is even accessible that way. Just the act of hunting for answers or info on a particular topic gives me such a thrill. I don't really know how to describe it.

...

I long for the space and quantity of books to have a giant library of my own. That thought is almost overwhelming to me, but in a good way. Sometimes I find myself just sitting there, staring at my collection and smiling to myself. I think I do this more than I even realise.

Me too on both of these. xD One of my biggest goals in life is to have a decent library at home one day, and I regularly get lost for just absurd amounts of time researching things online.