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Multiple Obsessions/Hobbies/Interests

/googles joseph campbell
/runs away from the plethora of books

I have not. right now I am on Alien lore. I feel that way about soaps and stuff. for a short while i almost really got into lotions and then i remembered, you cant just spread yourself so thin

while browsing the internet, i have come across terrariums, and i am fighting the urge to make my own.
OMG... stop! Now I want to do terrariums especially the closed eco-systems one that last for years!

That may have to wait until after I grow magic mushrooms... I live in Oregon :)
 
Hmm, some spiked intense interests until they've burned out, a few abiding special interests, and several hobbies.

Short-lived but intense interests:

  • veganism
  • keto
  • functional exercise
  • capoeira
  • kung fu
  • jewelry making
  • acrylic painting
  • palmistry
  • creative nonfiction

Abiding special interests:

  • Psychological astrology (in therapeutic practice -- there are licensed therapists who practice astrology and therapy together with their clients)
  • Continental philosophy, particularly Michel Foucault and Martin Heidegger
  • Self-development, through an archetypal lens/story
  • Slow food, home cooking, textures & smells, atmosphere (hygge?)
  • Trail running
  • Frugality that feels cozy and luxurious
  • Planning & budgeting

Hobbies

  • Journaling
  • Tarot
  • Hiking
  • Yoga
  • Meditation
  • Political philosophy
  • Travel (road trips mostly)
  • Listening to music
 
Your Right! I don't see much cosplay at Sci-Fi/Fantasy cons anymore. But go to an anime con and you'll see tons of it. I think the reason why you don't see much cosplay at Sci-Fi/Fantasy cons is because they all moved to Anime ones.

Well, when I think about it, the reason why you dont see it much at sci-fi/fantasy ones is that, as far as I can tell, it often just seems to be alot more expensive.

Think about it: Anime characters are, well, animations, so no matter how cool they look they're still flat, 2D characters, and their outfits can only have so much detail to them, otherwise they become nigh-impossible to draw (and they lose that proper anime "look" if they're too detailed).

But characters out of sci-fi and fantasy TV/movie series though are basing their outfits often on those used by actual actors, which are *way* more complex in terms of detail. And any cosplayer wants to look as accurate as possible regardless of if they're the ones making the costume or if they're having someone else make it for them.

I can say from experience that even relatively "simple" costumes cost a lot of money. Seriously they're freaking expensive.

And just going to a convention at all is notoriously pricey. The blasted hotels know full well they can jack up the room prices and get away with it, so they ALL do that. I remember a lot of my early convention experiences involved rooming up with like 4 or 5 friends in the same blasted room, because it was costly and everyone needed to pool their money together. These days I can just go entirely by myself without worrying about that nonsense, but for a great many con-goers, they crowd together like that just because of how horribly expensive it is to even go.

So yeah, that's my theory. High detail in certain specific types of costumes takes an already very expensive hobby and makes it cost even more.
 
Ohhhh sooooo cool! I love mechanical things. What kind of machines do you work on? I have old tractors that I love working on :) Especially my track crawler (IH340) from the late 50's.

I worked for Caterpillar for almost 30 years, so I am a little more familiar with them than Internationals. After Cat I worked for myself. I am also interested in vintage machinery. Check out my avatar. That was built in the early fifties. I spent several hours circling that machine. I probably could have spent the day studying that machine if I could have gotten inside of that fence.
 
Hmm, some spiked intense interests until they've burned out, a few abiding special interests, and several hobbies.

Short-lived but intense interests:

  • veganism
  • keto
  • functional exercise
  • capoeira
  • kung fu
  • jewelry making
  • acrylic painting
  • palmistry
  • creative nonfiction

Abiding special interests:

  • Psychological astrology (in therapeutic practice -- there are licensed therapists who practice astrology and therapy together with their clients)
  • Continental philosophy, particularly Michel Foucault and Martin Heidegger
  • Self-development, through an archetypal lens/story
  • Slow food, home cooking, textures & smells, atmosphere (hygge?)
  • Trail running
  • Frugality that feels cozy and luxurious
  • Planning & budgeting

Hobbies

  • Journaling
  • Tarot
  • Hiking
  • Yoga
  • Meditation
  • Political philosophy
  • Travel (road trips mostly)
  • Listening to music
Keto... just did that. I lost quite a bit of weight. It was totally an obsession with nightmares of accidentally eating carbs!

Meditation is one of the only things that keeps me sane.

Trail Running... I did that in preparation for the 2011 Chicago marathon. That was tough! Here in PDX we have Lief Erickson trail. I had a friend who used to run it. Her Husband's name is Eric. He badgered her for years to have a kid... so she named her son "Lief". Pretty funny, although none of our mutual friends seemed to get the joke.

Heidegger... Dasein. So do you feel that a symptom of "throwness" for us is wearing "the mask"? I don't like his politics but he had interesting ideas. I will read some Focault tonight :) I also wonder if the title of Jerzy Kosinski's book "Being There" is an homage to Dasein or maybe making fun of it... The basic theme is about something like "throwness" and it mocks American culture.
 
Well, when I think about it, the reason why you dont see it much at sci-fi/fantasy ones is that, as far as I can tell, it often just seems to be alot more expensive.

Think about it: Anime characters are, well, animations, so no matter how cool they look they're still flat, 2D characters, and their outfits can only have so much detail to them, otherwise they become nigh-impossible to draw (and they lose that proper anime "look" if they're too detailed).

But characters out of sci-fi and fantasy TV/movie series though are basing their outfits often on those used by actual actors, which are *way* more complex in terms of detail. And any cosplayer wants to look as accurate as possible regardless of if they're the ones making the costume or if they're having someone else make it for them.

I can say from experience that even relatively "simple" costumes cost a lot of money. Seriously they're freaking expensive.

And just going to a convention at all is notoriously pricey. The blasted hotels know full well they can jack up the room prices and get away with it, so they ALL do that. I remember a lot of my early convention experiences involved rooming up with like 4 or 5 friends in the same blasted room, because it was costly and everyone needed to pool their money together. These days I can just go entirely by myself without worrying about that nonsense, but for a great many con-goers, they crowd together like that just because of how horribly expensive it is to even go.

So yeah, that's my theory. High detail in certain specific types of costumes takes an already very expensive hobby and makes it cost even more.


I have seen some amazing costumes made with 3d printers :)
 
I worked for Caterpillar for almost 30 years, so I am a little more familiar with them than Internationals. After Cat I worked for myself. I am also interested in vintage machinery. Check out my avatar. That was built in the early fifties. I spent several hours circling that machine. I probably could have spent the day studying that machine if I could have gotten inside of that fence.

Oh do I want an old Cat! A proper dozer would be a great addition to my mechanical family! My grandfather was Jack Westfall. He and his brother built wheeled skid steers in the 1950's... the Westfall Performer. He actually found one rotting in a field in the 90's and rebuilt the whole thing... what an amazing machine! I probably could have had it when he passed (or at least stored it) but I am estranged from my family at this point.

I would probably climb the fence... but I am not particularly known for my impulse control...
 
Do you have a favorite Jazz musician? I was always a bit envious of women with fashion. Men have such boring clothing choices!

What do you like cooking most?
Chailie Parker
Men i feel have less opportunities to explore looks and fashion ideals than ladies.
I try new recipes often as i love to explore, with amazing and not so great results!
 
Oh man! I started off with those things... then I discovered a local chemical supply store that would sell anything to anybody (this was the early 80's). So I made gun cotton (nitrated cotton socks), mercury fulminate and lead azide... oh and ammonium nitrate prills (how the heck am I still alive? I am sure in an infinite number of universes in the multiverse, I am not).

The pièce de résistance was... they sold us 1 liter of butyric acid. Honestly... these guys knew nothing of chemistry. I got sick of being called "tard" and being pushed into lockers by the jocks at school. So many Chevy Novas ended up too stinky to drive and the football players stunk so badly, they had to cancel the game. One of them was taken to the ER because he smelled so bad.

Anyway... sodium azide did wonders on windshields and body panels. They left me alone after that. Everyone knew it was me and my friend. After an overdose of butyric acid in the nose... one really cannot smell anything. Not the same for everyone around me.

Oh... and eyebrows... who needs 'em? Who needs hands that are not yellow from acid burns? Don't even get me started on what I used to do to computers. I was a bad spawn!

I think I would have ended up in GITMO if I had been a teen post 9/11.
We w
Yep... running around naked is (before covid) one of my hobbies as well. We have a really nice wellness center here in PDX (actually 2) that I go to for relaxation.

I recently started adding bushcraft on to my list.
Bushcraft has been on my list for what...50 years. Didn't put it on my list because I consider it part of hiking/backpacking. Some of my old faded away interests are shooting sports and hunting. Even survivalism at one time.

Shooting went away because when my kids grew up and left home, there was no longer anyone interesting to go shooting with. I don't do well in clubs.

It wasn't COVID that put a damper on my running around, it was a period of depression. The mountains didn't go away. That was augmented by a muscle relaxant that Dr. prescribed that left me tired 24/7 and the Gabapentin that was prescribed for pain that left me dizzy. Neither is conducive to heading out to the backcountry.

Now it is finally cold here and that puts a kibosh on it too.
 
Languages
Comic books
Reference works

They shift around, but the part of the stereotype that's true is the intensity, but I have no idea where allistic doctors get the idea that we're only interested in one thing each.

No, actually, I have one theory. Much of the early research was done on kids in like the forties, back when access to learning materials was limited compared to today. It's not that surprising that a 40s kid found maybe one book or topic that interested them and clung to that. Plus, they were kids, and those tend to be kinda one-track regardless of neurotype, don't they.

And they still believe it because Tradition. Tradition is huge with neurotypicals.
 
Here in PDX we have Lief Erickson trail. I had a friend who used to run it. Her Husband's name is Eric. He badgered her for years to have a kid... so she named her son "Lief". Pretty funny, although none of our mutual friends seemed to get the joke.

It took me a second to get the joke but that story is hilarious.

Heidegger... Dasein. So do you feel that a symptom of "throwness" for us is wearing "the mask"? I don't like his politics but he had interesting ideas. I will read some Focault tonight :) I also wonder if the title of Jerzy Kosinski's book "Being There" is an homage to Dasein or maybe making fun of it... The basic theme is about something like "throwness" and it mocks American culture.

It's an interesting thought, a symptom of "thrownness" as masking for autists.

***

Quick definition: Thrownness is basically being born into the world and all of its features beyond a person's control--including an immutable past--but still being free to make choices despite these fixed features. Heidegger was big on paradox, so it's a sense of being captive and liberated at the same time.

More or less.

***

For Heidegger (at least however much I understand him), there is not really a clearcut beginning or end of when something (like masking occurs). I'd like to think that we can delineate when we are masking and when we are not, at least for the most part. Some might argue that, since Heidegger's claim is that being thrown into the world is not a choice but nonetheless opens an opportunity for freedom, likewise masking is not a choice and offers the same opportunity.

I'm not sure how I feel about that. And I, too, disagree with Heidegger's politics. One of my favorite interpretations of Heidegger is The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. Not the movie. It is such a beautiful interpretation of Dasein, very human.
 
It took me a second to get the joke but that story is hilarious.



It's an interesting thought, a symptom of "thrownness" as masking for autists.

***

Quick definition: Thrownness is basically being born into the world and all of its features beyond a person's control--including an immutable past--but still being free to make choices despite these fixed features. Heidegger was big on paradox, so it's a sense of being captive and liberated at the same time.

More or less.

***

For Heidegger (at least however much I understand him), there is not really a clearcut beginning or end of when something (like masking occurs). I'd like to think that we can delineate when we are masking and when we are not, at least for the most part. Some might argue that, since Heidegger's claim is that being thrown into the world is not a choice but nonetheless opens an opportunity for freedom, likewise masking is not a choice and offers the same opportunity.

I'm not sure how I feel about that. And I, too, disagree with Heidegger's politics. One of my favorite interpretations of Heidegger is The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. Not the movie. It is such a beautiful interpretation of Dasein, very human.


Thanks for that excellent explanation :) I have a much better picture of Dasein and Throwness!

I swear most philosophers are probably on the spectrum, lol.

I will check out The Neverending Story.
 
Tradition is huge with neurotypicals.

It really is. I am fortunate to have an aspie wife. We have our own traditions and everyday should be like a holiday (we do not celebrate any specific day outside of birthdays.. but that is just an excuse to eat poorly and drink too much). NTs are generally not "think outside the box" people (although they love this phrase). NTs ARE the box. It is for us non NTs to be outside the box. See how they react when they see REAL outside the box thinkers :eek:
 
I am fascinated by a lot of things- too many to list honestly, but topics and hobbies that are obsessions that I actively research, or engage with in some way on a nearly daily basis are:

Mythology
Symbology
Etymology (I love words!)
Languages (currently trying to learn Cree, Japanese, and French)
Painting (mostly acrylic)
Sewing
Philosophy
Anime (its become a problem :tearsofjoy:)
 
I have a few interests and most have been with me for most of my life, though a new one will sneak in once in awhile and they include:
Drawing
Doll collecting
Animals
Mythology (especially Greek, Celtic and Norse)
Anime
Star Wars
Lord of the Rings
Lego
Chernobyl
Makeup
Comic books.
 
Too many to count/name over the course of my lifetime.

Some current ones are:

History (specifically history of electrical engineering)
Vintage quack medical devices
Radiation detection equipment
Uranium glass and glazed pottery
Fluorescent minerals
Antique radios
Short wave radio
Psychology
Rock climbing
Classic cars
 
Most of my interests have stayed constant since I was a little girl. There are times when I spend time thinking about/pursuing some topics more than others. They are:
- Pretty much all science. My favorite topics in science are geology, astronomy, anthropology/human evolution, genetics, and nuclear physics/chemistry/radioactivity. Quantum physics is fascinating too but I don't understand all the math.
- The paranormal and anything unexplained
- Geography/maps
- Languages/linguistics/the origins of languages
- Words/vocabulary
- History
- Psychology
- Making up stories in my head to entertain myself. I would write down my stories, but if someone else read them I'd be mortified. I'm too insecure for that.
 
  • Programming in many different languages (but mostly java/c#)
  • Learning japanese and watching mystery or adventure anime
  • Doing a task over extended periods of time and getting really good at it
  • Solving everyday mathematical/logical problems by writing short programs (I like to call them scripts)
  • Watching scientific youtube videos on a daily basis (holy moly is my subscription box filled with edutainment channels)
  • Testing the limits of how far I can get under sleep deprivation (lol)
  • Inventing somewhat cheap jokes on the spot to hide the fact I suck at communication
  • Trying to find a middle ground between being scientifically & grammatically accurate thus unmisunderstandable, and not sounding too much of a nerd
  • Listening to relaxing, inspiring music, including asmr, ambient, trance, touhou (it feels like a genre if you ask me). Not only these types of music ofc
  • Everything touhou related, it became a part of me after I learned about it. You like touhou? - I like you as a person:tongueclosed:
  • Learning bottom-up (every. single. detail. first, then broaden the scope). I freakin' love interesting details and edge cases
 
Everything touhou related,...
full
(Touhou? It's "to whom..."
full
)
 

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