strange obsessions...

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Elfman said:

I constantly study my own hands. And, Elfman, as for mirrors, I can sometimes picture my face more fully from a visual memory of when I looked in the mirror. I am also strangely more able to picture peoples' faces when they are in photographs. For instance, I cannot recall accurately my father's face and yet when I think of a particular picture of him, I am better able to do so.

Since childhood, I’ve been fascinated with oil field pump-jacks. Just like my “parts of objects” fascination with ceramic insulators, I would eagerly search for pump-jacks while on driving trips. There is something hypnotic about watching those things going up and down, up and down.

This fascination is still present as an adult. When I took up photography at the age of twenty-nine, one of my first subjects was pump-jacks. One day while photographing, I sat in front of one and stared at it for several hours.

Windmills are another obsession. When I was a child, my family owned a vacation condo near Palm Springs, California. There is a large windfarm nearby that I used to love visiting. So of course, windfarms became another photography subject much later in life.

I guess these obsessions aren’t that strange…

Eye Glasses, Antique TVs and Cockneys.

I used to be obsessed with EXIT signs.

Hmm, can't think of anything really. The only object I could say I was obsessed with, would be whatever video game console I'm playing at the moment. Then again, that's pratically normal now, to be obsessed with gaming.

Smokestacks. When I drive through cleveland I can't take my eyes off of smokestacks.

I am also obsessed with old buildings. I find them beautiful and when I see one I can't help but catch my breath for a moment. I am just drawn to them. They are like familiar friends. They speak very quietly.

Orthography has been an obsession since the age of five. Armenian church architecture is another one. Bringing up either one at a party will get you lynched.

LOL, I'm obsessed with antique TV cameras.

This is a bit off the topic (imagine that), but I remember a news story I read when I was a boy. It reported that Idi Amin, dictator and general thug, had a huge collection of cameras. He was not a photographer; he would sit and play with the dials and levers for hours on end.

NOTA BENE: I do NOT wish to claim Idi Amin was an aspie. We have enough problems.

For me it was crystals, especially amethyst ones but crystals of any kind can hold my attention and fascinate me. I have a particular ring with an amethyst in it and I have ended up staring at it for hours at a time. I also used to draw creatures with crystals attached to them, like birds with crests made of crystals.

Ok, so now I'm sitting here trying to think of what I may have been obsessed with over the years. At first I couldn't think of many, and now some are popping into my head.

I also have a thing about mirrors. I love to look at myself in mirrors. It isn't narcissistic at all. There's soemthing just fascinating about studing my face I guess. Especially when I'm talking. Sometimes I'll talk to my best friend on the phone, while watching myself in the mirror.

I like older style cemetaries. You know, the ones with the larger, more ornate looking markers than you typically see these days. There's soemthing about those old markers that just fascinates me, and always has. I loved to drive by cemetaries as a child. I still kinda do, but I never stop. I wonder why?

I like paper grocery bags. I loved to watch my mother fold them. I used to practice over and over trying to get them to fold properly. I still ask for paper at the store now and then.

I'm sure there are probably more, but I can't think of any at the moment.

Donna

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Last edited by Ante on 09 Nov 2005, 4:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I've had quite a few obsessions over the years; here are a few of them.

Ornamentations on chandeliers
When I was little, I was terrified of a chandelier in my apartment. As a result, I would look at chandeliers in every house/apartment I visited, as if trying to "decide" whether or not I'm scared of it.

Faucet handles
During my pre-teen years, I was fascinated with faucet handles, and the different styles they come in. D*mn, I sure loved visiting Home Depot and Lowes.

Railroad logos
My avatar is probably a giveaway to this one. Whenever I see a train go by, I always try to spot a logo on it. It's pretty interesting, as some freight trains have logos from many decades back, as the modern railroads that own the boxcars never bother to repaint them.

Aspie-Mom said:

I was have always enjoyed cemeteries. I wouldn't say they became a point of obsession with me. But I have always found them incredibly peaceful (yeah, yeah. I know: the most QUIET place in town). But there seems a lot more nature in cemeteries, too. I enjoy walking around and calculating the age of the people when they died and looking to see if any family members are buried beside them and see when they died. I can't help but sometimes feel more empathy for these people who have passed than the ones which are still alive. Grave stones can surprisingly tell so much of a life when you see how they are interconnected in the cemetery. And sometimes even sadder when a person was buried alone.

From age 10 to 15 then again age 19 to 21, I lived next to an old german settlement cemetary. I spent a lot of time there and at others in the community. I agree that there is something very peaceful about them.

The only thing i can think of is philosphy. That's the only thing in my life that always continues to go on, whereever i am, whatever i'm doing.