Creating a catalog in your head?

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Ever since I was a kid, I've had a weird habit of looking through catalogs and touching the pictures of stuff I'd want, sometimes saying the name of the object out loud, as if to compile a list or a catalog in my head. If I miss something or change my mind, or sometimes for no apparent reason, I'll have to flip the pages back and start all over again.

At the store, too, I have to pick up things I'd like to buy and hold them for a second, and sort of remember everything I've picked up. I've heard that my great-grandmother was accused of shoplifting for doing the very same thing... I guess the traits really do run in my family!

Anyway... does anyone else here do those things, or something similar? Or do you look at catalogs/magazines/etc. and actually write or type a list of the things you like, even if you just delete the list when you're done? I find it a great way to waste time...

I used to love looking through the Best Products catalog when I was a kid. They had all sorts of neat toys and electronic gadgets in them. Although I didn't do quite like you did, I would memorize all the specifications to my favorite products. The Sears catalog was also my favorite, along with the Crutchfield electronics as I got older too!

I play a game where i pick one thing on each page, and i have to pick one, even if i don't like anything, and invent a way for myself to use it. I can't trade off: nothing on this page for 2 on another. That's cheating. Its really challenging in a catalog where nothing interests me.

Oh yeah... I do that ...

Especially with DVDs.

A write down a list in Notepad of every single thing I plan to buy or spend money on within the next 12 months.

I go to online clothing stores pick out everthing I want to buy in the future which doesnt make sense since most of those clothes will no longer be available by then.

I do with books. I work in a bookstore so it is a bit hard to keep on track, but I am doing well, i just have to steer clear of the science and tech section because I will just get to excited and absorbed in my fixation and just make lists. I really like making lists.

I used to do this, but now I am more certain of what I want nowadays. I am a low-maintenance person, and there are only 3 things I really want (a plasma TV, an Apple iMac, and a Buick Enclave).

Tim

Tim_Tex said:

aren't you selling yourself a little short there...

isn't LCD a lot better than plasma?

I was going to make a comment about Mac's but since Windows Vista came out it's no fun anymore because the Macs are obviously better (heck... Windows XP is better).

Don't know anything about Buicks... We don't have them here.

I used to have those lists in notepad too, then I moved them to Google Writer (part of Google docs). Now I can access them from any computer on the internet and ... more importantly... from the Blackberry.

Yes, I'm one of those sad people who checks DVD prices against my list via the Blackberry in Hi-Fi stores.

I don't really know the difference between LCD and plasma.

Buick is a branch of General Motors. In the U.S., the GM branches are, in order of luxury:

Chevrolet, Saturn, Pontiac/GMC, Oldsmobile (phased out in 2004), Buick, and Cadillac. Also, GM owns Saab, Opel/Vauxhall (in Europe), Holden (in Australia), and Hummer.

I agree with you on Macs being better than PCs.

Tim

A plasma screen works basically the same as a CRT, only it's a flat screen design so if you play videogames too long on it, or leave the shopping channel on all the time the screen will get burned in.

Scoots5012 said:

CRTs also get burnt in. We were really looking at the difference between plasma and LCD.

I'll use someone else's words for this.

From: CNet.com.au

1. Plasma and LCD technology - what's the difference?
Plasma and LCD panels may look similar, but the flat screen and thin profile is where the similarities end. Plasma screens, as its name suggests, uses a matrix of tiny gas plasma cells charged by precise electrical voltages to create a picture. LCD screens (liquid crystal display) are in layman's terms sandwiches made up of liquid crystal pushed in the space between two glass plates. Images are created by varying the amount electrical charge applied to the crystals. Each technology has its strengths and weaknesses.


Why Plasma?
Apart from better contrast due to its ability to show deeper blacks, plasma screens typically have better viewing angles than LCD.

Why LCD?
LCDs have a longer lifespan than plasma screens. This was true of earlier plasma models, which would lose half of their brightness after more than 20,000 hours of viewing. Later plasma generations have bumped that up to anything between 30,000 and 60,000 hours. LCDs, on the other hand, are guaranteed for 60,000 hours.

I used to do this exact same thing!

Good to know (and sorry so off topic). I'll stick with XP.