talk about your interests, uncensored

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I am really interested in other people's interests, so I decided to create a thread for us to discuss whatever we want about our interests.
You dont have to worry about monologuing here, go ahead let it all out

Here is mine,

Right now I am interested in fiber art. Fiber art is like spinning, weaving, knitting, basketweaving..etc etc
I learned how to weave a few weeks ago, and wove me a purse on a lap loom. I love it...it tuned out beautifully.
Mom is going to take me to the other part of the state to learn to spin on my new spinner, cant seem to figure out this new spinner on my own. Anyway spinning is awesome...it has prehistoric orgins starting withthe spindle which is a funky top on a long stick that I cant seem to use because I dont have 3 hands. I like the spinning wheel much better...I see why it was invented.
Anyway, fiber art is very repetive and has a meditative quality to it. It is also like stimming while making something.
Weaving was fun...I am thinking about learning to weave patterns now or pictures.
I am also working on needle felting picture which is like painting with fibers. basicly you take roaving (loose dyed fiber) and poke it through fabric with a special barbed needle and you can use all kind of colors and designs creating a 2D fiber art.
Its orgins begin with matress making, of all things.

Any way tell me more about your interests, no hold bars

Jojo

No holds barred, eh...well aren't you in for a treat!
My interest is traffic cones, and I've been doing a lot of research about cones in different countries, so I compiled a satirical report!

Not-so-Complete Guide to Cones

1. The British Cone
Typically red, spotted in many places - commonly together in groups alongside dual carriageways, or alone at bus stops, telephone boxes, or upside-down wedged between central reservation crash barriers.
Green alien cones are rare, and in the human world usually mark access points for road works vehicles.
Blue cones are commonly found at multi-storey car parks, and their role is unknown. It is believed they are responsible for finding lost cones, and lost cone property.
Some cones have lost their reflective band, and are effectively naked. Nudist cones are not uncommon on British roads.
Baby cones also exist - they are usually found near their parents, but any lone baby cones should be reported, particularly if out after dark.

2. The French Cone
Slightly less industrial looking than the British cone, a little more orange.
Favourite hideouts are under Autoroute overpasses, and along the A1 underneath the taxiways at Charles de Gaulle Airport.

3. The Spanish Cone
Smaller than the French and British cones, but with a more clean finish. With temperatures exceeding 40 Celsius in some places, it is believed the clean finish is due to the application of conical sun lotion.

4. The Italian Cone
The three white stripes on the Italian cone makes it the flashiest of the nationalities. Some of these cones wear afros and have jobs in the manufacturing industry.

5. The Greek Cone
Fairly cheap, fairly plastic. Orange, and some not built to withstand the hot summers. Cones run rampant in Greece due to poor road maintenance and road law enforcement.

6. The American Cone
Not too much is known about cones in north America currently, but they are certainly common in more than one form. They are typically much less industrial than the British cone, but are more resilient than many other European cones, notably the Spanish. The American stronghold for cones is at Anchorage, Alaska.

7. The Australian Cone
Little is known about Australian Cones - it is believed that they are not common but do exist in numbers. It is unknown whether the cones carry reflective bands or not, but it is known that they stand between two and three feet tall, and are typically a dark orange colour.

I could also write an essay about weather, or about my life, which I have a degree in, but anything else, you're on your own!

I think it's neat that you like hearing about other people's interests. That makes life easier for those of us who prefer to talk rather than listen.


My primary special interest is anime. I have been obsessed with anime since I was 8 years old. It's my longest-running interest at 12 years and counting. I used to obsess over only one or two specific anime at a time, but now I like watching and enjoying all different kinds. The fact that several websites stream anime free and legally certainly helps this, because when I was younger, the only anime I knew about were the ones that were broadcast on television.

Starting in July, I have watched 3 anime in their entirety: Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Steins;Gate and Tiger & Bunny. Madoka Magica was 12 episodes long, Steins;Gate was 24 and Tiger & Bunny was 25. That's 61 episodes (and that's not even counting all of the anime I watched for 2 - 5 episodes and decided to quit!) So that means that I have spent roughly around 30 hours watching anime this summer - which averages to 10 hours per month. Right now I am watching The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Baka and Test. I plan on watching more anime than this as well.

I keep track of the anime I watch using a website called MyAnimeList. It allows you to list which anime you are watching, which ones you have completed, which ones you plan to watch, which you quit watching and which you put on hold. I only list the ones I am currently watching and which ones I have completed, because I feel embarrassed by the large quantity of anime I start watching and then stop after several episodes. I guess I don't want to seem like I'm picky - or worse, a quitter - to other people.

My secondary interest is Tim Burton movies - specifically, Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sweeney Todd and Edward Scissorhands. I used to like Beetlejuice and The Nightmare Before Christmas when I was a child, but Tim Burton's other movies didn't become an obsession until January of last year. I first got into this interest because I was feeling bored of anime. All throughout last year, I was really happy with this special interest, but then when I decided to get back into anime in July of this year, I started having conflicting feelings about it. I felt torn between my love of these movies and my loyalty towards anime. I have tried many, many times to force myself to quit obsessing over Tim Burton movies, but ultimately I can't because I love them too much.

Last night I came to the realization that I have been taking my special interests way too seriously, and that I have been creating problems for myself where there were none to begin with. Many people on the spectrum have co-existing special interests, so why should I force myself to have only one or the other? Why not both?

It's worth noting that I have an imaginary world based on my special interests. It's called "Aspergeria" (pronounced As-sper-JEER-ee-uh) because I feel that if I didn't have Asperger's Syndrome, I would have stopped having an imaginary world a long time ago. The inhabitants of Aspergeria are my favorite characters from anime and Tim Burton's movies. I consider them to be my imaginary friends. They help to quell my loneliness without demanding too much from me like real friends would.

I like to picture Aspergeria as one gigantic house where they all live - basically just like Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, only instead of imaginary friends being up for adoption, they all belong to one person (me). It's kind of funny that I like to imagine them all living under one roof, because in real life I have had to live with many people under one roof, and it drove me insane with stress and irritation. But I guess the fact that I really disliked the people I lived with had something to do with that, whereas in Aspergeria, I love all of my imaginary friends and actually enjoy "spending time" with them.

Wow, I love this thread. I tend to go on and on once I start, so here goes:

The main thing I'm into at the moment is puzzles. I've always loved doing puzzles as far as I remember: my Dad and I would work through an orange book of '1000 puzzles', and we both did well in a quiz against other high-achievers and their parents. Other times I'd do the puzzles and brainteasers on my own - when I didn't know the answer, I'd look it up and learn a new trick or piece of trivia, one of my favourites being a picture of a frog saying:
"There is a lot of M/E at my pond",
meaning that there is a lot of anemone at the pond ('M' on 'E').
I'd do the puzzles in my mum's magazines before she had a chance to read the articles (we never won anything when sending the puzzles in, but still) - they were too easy for me to be entertained for long, though (I could do all of the puzzles without needing to write anything down, which I can't generally do for things such as crosswords and cryptograms. Cryptograms were my favourite.) I used to enjoy wordsearches, but I got tired of them when I was about 9. I'd occasionally do logic puzzles, those amused me. When I got a little older and started travelling to school by bus on my own, I'd do the puzzles in the Metro, often finishing before the 20-minute bus ride was over. In Latin class when I was 14, my desk-partner Mandy showed me how to do SuDoku, and I've been hooked on those since. My psychology teacher in 6th form briefly showed me the crossword in the Times and tried to explain it to me, but I still don't understand them. Nowadays I buy a logic puzzle book every month, and a friend recently showed me how to do killer SuDoku. I'm not very good at those yet, though. I'm getting better at Hanji and Kakuro - I tend to take my Kakuro book when I travel, lately it's been with me on coach journeys and short underground journeys. I recently bought a book of Slitherlink - a friend at uni showed me the puzzle on his computer, I later downloaded it and started playing. One day in town I had a few hours to spare and the library was closed, so I bought the slitherlink book. Now I work my way through these everyday, although I imagine I'll slow down once term begins again (my holidays last another two weeks).

My other main interest that I can think of is creating characters. I tend to say story-writing is my interest, but character creation/development would be more accurate. I have basic plotlines and have tried to develop those, but I'm far more interested in my characters and their backstories, traits, appearance, families etc. For example, one of my stories is about two sisters who live in an abandoned cellar: I have an idea what happens to them, but when writing I tend to focus more on them themselves, and the other characters. The eldest sister, Yvanni, is 12 and of average height. She's always been a thin child, and being a street-child has given her a gaunt look, with slight circles under her pale blue eyes. She has delicate dirty-blonde hair: she tries to wash it under a tap, but it never loses its straggly look. You can see her collarbone clearly, its never occurred to her to wear anything other than t-shirts so her thin arms are always visible (aside from when she wears her large blue hoodie - it's worn thin in places, though). She cares deeply for her sister, but wishes that she'd stop being so annoying and ungrateful. She misses warm carpet beneath her feet, and her father's singing as he'd take the girls to the beach. She wakes up in the middle of the night from nightmares of her mother's arrest, and checks on her sister before falling asleep again. She used to have a toy snake called Willow, she lost it when she and her sister were forced to flee from their last 'home'. I could go on for a fair while: these things have nothing to do with the story, and when I write I don't mention most of these, but it still matters to me to know everything that there is to know about each character.

I do have other interests, but at the moment these are what I'm most passionate about.

those are really kewl....I loved the cone one great description of cultural differences through the lives of cones

I have a friend of mine equaly dedicatedto anime. She says she loves how unpredictable the plots are and the japanese sence of inpermanance is felt thoughout. When a character dies...they are gone and dont return in the next episode, which I hear causes much disress when a favorate character is eleminated.
I love tim burton movies too, indeed it is good to have more than one special interests...I have many. most are art based, but with muliple special interests, you dont get depressed when interest wanes from one because you are too involved in the other.
My longest running special interest is poetry...20 years ago it began and I am still with it. I find there are primary and secondary special interests...primary are the ones that stay with you for a very long time, secondary ones come and go.


My dad and I used to do logic puzzles and trick questions...it was one of the few good memories I had of him.

Here is one,
what is weightless, can be seen with the naked eye, and you put it in a barrel and it makes it lighter?
think about it,and I will give an answer upon your reply

here is one more...you may have heard of this one, but I will give it to you anyway

A rooster is sitting on a barn and the roof is slanted at a 45 degree angle on the left and a 40 degree angle on the right, but the wind is 10 mph from the right to the left. ...if it lays an egg, which side of the roof will it roll down??

Jojo

keep them coming folks...this a great!

A hole?



I do know the answer, but I'll let someone else who doesn't try to answer

I've been waiting for this morality booster, after two weeks.

The Kinks have always been my favourite rock n roll band. They started out as The Ravens in 1963. Mick Avory joined the lineup in the January of 1964. The perfect way to start off the new year. They made their first television appearance in the February of 1964 with their greenish brown stage outfits and their caps. There was one night that their manager decided to spruce them up and give them a bold, new look.

After that show where they screwed up royally, The Kinks were taken backstage and shown the new outfits that they were going to wear. They were shown red jackets, white frilly shirts and black trousers. They tried out their new look and they looked like The Kinks! That's also my favourite image that they had. There were a lot of pictures of The Kinks wearing their red jackets that were taken in the August of 1964. Most people get nostalgic about their school years in August, when those back to school commercials are on the telly. I get nostalgic for a different reason. 1964 was also the year that The Kinks cut and released their first album. You Really Got Me made it to # 1, that August and All Day And All Of The Night made it to # 1 the November of that same year. The song 'She's Got Everything' was also recorded around that time, but it wouldn't be released until 1968.

The Kinks started off 1965 on a good note. Tired of Waiting For You made it to #1 in the Late February of that year and they released their second big album, Kinda Kinks along with Kinkdom, Kinks Size and The Kinks Kontroversy. They also did a tour in Sweden that March. Mick Avory looked cuddly and adorable in his green jacket, blue shirt and khaki trousers on those EP covers. There was one night in Cardiff where things went terribly wrong. Dave demolished Mick's drum set and Mick hit Dave over the head with the pedal to his hi-hat. Mick ran off the stage, out of the building and than into a cafe and than sweet Mick sat at a table and cried - something he did, whenever he felt that he did something terribly wrong. They also started a tour in America just to get themselves banned from performing in the US for five years. Dave said that America needed a British Invasion to liven things up and that got them banned. The Kinks also did a tour in Germany that year. A Well Respected Man reached #1 in the December of that year.

The Kinks released the Face to Face LP in the October of 1966. A lot of my favourite songs are on that particular album. Dedicated Follower of Fashion and Sunny Afternoon both made it to #1. Ray had a breakdown and had to spend a few weeks in the hospital. Sweet Mick had both bronchitis and than tonsillitis one after another, and Dave also had tonsillitis. Pete broke one of his legs and John Dalton filled in for him for a few months. Pete also tried to quit the band and get a job working for a commercial airline. The Kinks were back to their original lineup that July. There's also an image from 1966 that will stick in my mind forever. The image where The Kinks are showing off their truest personalities and Mick made it very clear that he was the sensitive Kink who used his heart, instead of his brain. I bet that reminds you of a certain WP member.

The Kinks released three more albums in the 60s. Something Else in 1967, The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society in 1968 (Say that quickly, 10 times in a row) and Arthur and The Decline of The British Empire in 1969.

There were a lot of other albums that were released during the Mick Avory era of The Kinks. State of Confusion and Word of Mouth are my two favourites. Sweet Mick had to leave The Kinks in the Summer of 1984. I think that I took on his temperament and personality traits that summer, as well. I was experiencing a lot of growing pains that summer. Sweet Mick Avory will always be my favourite Kink.

It won't be laid in the first place; roosters are male.

I enjoy making things, from cakes to stories to masks and dolls. I have two dolls, James and Sable and I made another one named Rome I ended up giving away to my friend as a going-away present (If you've read my other posts you'll understand the names. It made sense to give her the "fun and obnoxious" one). They're made of corn husks tied up with hemp cords and dessed in scraps of clothes. And let me tell you; coming from someone with NO self esteem, I make a pretty delicious blitzkucken. It's this easy German cake that tastes like heaven. And I am actually wearing a hockey mask I made right now

Which brings us to my next interest: the bad, the creepy, and the downright sick. Starting with "the bad" I LOVE learning about serial killers. Jack the Ripper is just one of the many men (and women) I've grown obsessed with. "The creepy" would be the core of my sense of humor. Horror movies make me laugh to no end, and I've only known two to actually scare me to death (ie Dracula and Insidious). Even then I was laughing. I love Jason Voorhees and have frequently wished I could of been there before he drowned to be his friend despite his non existance. And the "downright sick". Mental diseases, pandemics, you name it, I LOVE it. Call it my less than normal family, but the human brain is so fascinating. All of my pretend bands are named after illnesses, like Fregoli Squared and Cotard's Delusion.

I also love stories. Thanks to my middle name, I grew up with King Arthur tales and learned many, many world folktales by heart. I honestly could choose a favorite kind of story. The African ones are so colorful and diverse and fun. Still, the Asian ones are just so close to my heart thanks to my religion. But my middle name IS Guinevere so I love European naturally. And as for the Americas, who could not love a story about a skunk in love with the moon?

What else, I could go on. Oh yes, here's an interesting one. French monarchs. I'd say the Sun King is my favorite one despite his mixed legacy. I don't even know HOW I know so much about them. I love the history and culture of Spain as well (thank you anime for that) as well as the language.

Animals is a BIG one. I love them to death. The picture below is my current favorite: the Suffolk sheep. I know so many animal facts it's near unhealthy, but ironically I know nothing about my favorite one. I'll need to pick up a bit of info if I ever want to get one.

I like to destroy planets from orbit.

question 1...correct.
question 2....it was a trick question...roosters dont lay eggs....it is a trick question cause you get so wrapped up in the math that you forget we are talking about a rooster here.

Cockney Rebel:
Thank you for sharing that I learned soo much....I love your dedication to your interests.
You are the heart of WP.

Gamma geek,

I used to have a morbid facination with serial killers...then it grew into abnormal psychology in general. Then I went to school and studied psych...but cant get a degree in it because of one class. psych stastics...which was called psych "sedistics"
I am so bad at math....it is pathetic.
Anyway, I also have an unhealthy amount of info about animals that I collected since I was 8 years old....I am 34 now.
In fact on my ink blot test, I saw nothing but animals...so I was diagnosed with depersonalization syndrome before I was put on the spectrum.
husk dolls are cool...do you do them like the native americans do??
horror movies are on my no no list...I am very sensitive to things that are visually disturbing, even some people's WP advitars freak me out.
I usually just like to watch documentries...I find the aussie accents of animal biologists to be insanely hot....rip, steve irwin.

iamnotaparotkeet...how do you destroy planets....in a game??

Anyway, I was not ignoring you all.. I been recovering from minor surgery the last few days.

keep them coming

Sounds "fun".

Yes, in a couple computer games I destroy planets. In Sins Of A Solar Empire I play as the Trader Emergency Coalition and use nuclear devices to kill of enemy populations. In Sword Of The Stars I prefer to use antimatter weapons primarily.

that actually does sound like fun.

ya whats really "fun" about surgery is I dont react to anesthesia the same way most people do....it gets me groggy, but never knocks me out.
I was awake the whole time, heard every conversation....mostly debating my allergy to all mold based drugs. I was pretty groggy, felt a little pain. but not much. I could have chimed into the conversation, but there was a tube in my throat because they were doing a stomach scope and biopsy to find out why I have acid reflux since I was a child.
He said something about allergic inflamation.
I wont know anything till the biopsy gets back

but as far as the asethesia thing...I woke up once during an eye surgery...that is freaky.

sorry for the organ recital.

So tell me more about your games...

Jojo

OOOOOOH this thread!! !

Well my interests are obvious really, so I thought I'd post why I like them in the first place.
The reasons I obsess over great apes so much is the uneasy uncanny feeling I get when I see them. They are like humans, but not, there intelligence is like that of a small human child or a ret*d adult and their looks have a creepy resemblance to humans that is not quite the same but too similar to be comfortable. The orangutans and bonobos are especially like this, the orangutans face is rather flat and not too wrinkly, and the head and facial hair are all EXTREMELY similar to humans and their eyes are paler than the African apes. The bonobos remind me of early cavemen like Australopithecus and the like, and their more slender frames and long legs and more upright stature contribute to this.
I am always impressed by their intelligence, both social and mechanical. Give an orangutan a clock and he'll dismantle it, they are amazing escape artists and you can be outwitted by an orangutan if you're not careful. The social/Machiavellian intelligence of the chimpanzee can be very impressive and they do manipulate each other and the dramas they have can be quite entertaining to follow. Unfortunately the social complexity leads them to things like war, murder and tyranny. Yet the apes can be so tender and loving and empathic with each other and also experience grief.
The apes have such a wide range of social setups and behaviours, the most interesting for me being the bonobo (and also the humans, strange creatures we are.) The bonobo's use of sex being even more diverse and casual than humans! Bonobos can also be amusing with their rather promiscuous ways.

Another reason why I'm crazy about the apes is the individuality, it is the kind of obsession where I can follow the lives of individuals and get to know various personalities. Rabbitears and I frequent Howletts Wild Animal Park and watch the gorillas there and we're getting to know some individuals quite well and they also know us. Djambou is an interesting character, he is the silverback of one of the harems and you could say he's a bit of a show off. Often has his lips pursed in a serious expression and he sits with his chest puffed out and his muscles bulging. When he displays you know it, he first shakes his head that runs and hits something and makes a noise. He's quite the displayer. If he was a person in school he would be one of the popular kids, and probably a bit of a dick too. I like Djambou though, he's funny and is cool with me (it's rabbitears he tends to display at. ) The silverback from another harem called Kouillou is a lot more laid back, soft and not even as physically fit as Djambou. He has been silverbacking for much longer than Djambou though (Djambou is 17) so I think Kouillou is much more secure and so can be laid back and not trying to prove something.

The physical and psychological differences between individual apes means that the obsession can never get boring, I won't know everything there is to know and will always find new things and find some new developments in the dramas and personal lives of the apes. This is an interest that has more meaning than rote, unlike the obsession stereotype. It's not all facts and figures, while there may be facts and figures involved it is a much more social, and alive obsession.

Here's a little picture for you all.

When I had my tonsils and adenoids removed I fought the anesthesia for as much as I could, mentally willing myself to stay awake and keep my eyes open, so that they'd provide enough anesthetic to make sure I was not conscious.

Sins of a Solar Empire is a Real Time Strategy game in which there are three factions, the humans, the weird cyborg humans, and the aliens. The regular humans use conventional, close to modern, technology. Lasers, rail guns, missiles, etc. The weird cyborg humans have telekenetic abilities and other crap like that. The aliens use a lot of nano technology and a few of their ships look like Covenant ships from Halo.

Sword of the Stars is a turn based strategy, with a few different aliens and humans. The tech tree is randomized for each new game and although for the strategic map it is a turn based strategy, for the combat/tactical sequence it plays as an RTS. You control your ships, to a degree of how much research you have done on fleet command, and you can have more ships in with the greater the command ship you have. If you have three dreadnought class command ships out fitted with antimatter torpedoes and disruptors, each ship having ceramo-magnetic reinforced hulls, you can beat most enemy fleets. Make sure you have plenty of reserve command ships though as the enemies target them specifically. I prefer this game over Sins of a Solar Empire, although both are good.