What is/was your most unusual special interest?

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I don't know if it's that unusual but when I was 7 maybe (I don't really remember my exact age but I was definitely in primary school), I had an obsessive interest in the weather forecast. I couldn't miss the weather forecast otherwise I would feel very bad! Also in primary school, I had an obsessive interest in the town I used to live. I kept saying it was the best city in the world! Sadly I was a bit made fun of because of this (I used to live in something like the Rust Bell, there's no "Rust Bell" in my country but just to give you an idea). I think there's worse than me but still haha Since primary school, I hadn't had any "weird" special interest. They've become a bit more mainstream.

knife collecting or wicca i'd say

Never had a really "unusual" special interest---but it certainly could have cost my father quite a bit of money one month.

I was interested in knowing the temperatures of every place around the world. To do this, I made lots of long-distance, international calls (expensive in 1971). As a result, my father got a bill for $600.

Fortunately, the phone company understood, and waived the charges.

That is so sweet.

As a child / pre-teen I collected photographs of post-boxes from around the world. When i was younger I was also very interested in the black plague and learnt to type whilst writing this epic tale of a girl in the time of the plague. I was also very fascinated by jellyfish.

As an adult, if I even have special interests, they have been the stuff that has come my way - my phD topic - pregnancy and childbirth - breastfeeding - and now parenting. So fairly mundane stuff. Although I made my obstetrician hate me by always being more up to date on the research than he was and then finally dismissing him mid labour as we had irreconcilable differences.

^^^Seems like you were a prodigy in at least some sense.

Do you still have that "epic tale?"

Something like the Plague would have been too much of a subject to tackle when I was a child. I liked nice, inspirational stories about great ballplayers much better. I even shoplifted a book about the 25th anniversary of the National Basketball Association, which had a bunch of stories about the best players from 1947 to 1972.

I bet you feel lovely about La Leche League. In the 1960s, especially early in the decade, very few parents breastfed their kids. You're probably the type who knew all the ideal angles which made mother and baby both very comfy.

Rather like Temple Grandin making cows comfortable when being vaccinated through knowing the optimal angle between needle and cow which caused the least pain for the cow.

Not mundane if it eases pain.

I am sure my mum threw it out. I must have been 9 or 10. I was such an oddball kid. But that was Sweden in the 80s and I was bilingual (and culturally different) and years ahead academically so nobody noticed.

Having a hard time socialising with other women made things like la leche league and meet-ups of that nature a bit of a mixed bag. In fact the downside of parenting has been that the main social outlet is other women and I have a hard time connecting with women unless they are academic bookish types. Especially women around here.... For me, it has been a lot of functional socialising where I sit through lunches and endless cups of tea feeling rather awkward whilst kids play. Now, when the children are older, I am able to get away for long enough to socialise with my male friends again and that has been really restorative and made me feel a bit more like myself again.

I would have done much better in a world of stay at home dads.

But i did manage to think myself to a totally painless childbirth....so labour was a pretty good special interest.

Last edited by elsapelsa on 14 May 2018, 1:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I find Wicca really interesting too. Did you read "witches of America" I know it was very controversial research methods and hated by many but I did still find a lot of it really fascinating.

I don't know if it's that unusual, but drug leaflets are a thing for me.
If I get the chance, I will read the leaflets that follow when you buy over-the-counter and perscription drugs, those that tell you about side effects and daily dosage.
I have a small collection of all the medicine I've taken so far, which I sometimes read again if I'm in the mood for it.

Another one that is possibly a bit more weird, is scary public service advertisements.
I often reference them, but people don't know what I'm talking about.

If I ever get a copy of the World Almanac, I won't be able to put it down......

It's been this way since I was at least 8-9 years old.

When I had a synthesizer I used to connect it's audio output to TV's video input, it produced different pattern of stripes depending on the sound played. I got the idea because I "see" sounds rather than hear.

I can list 2 different obscure wired special interests.

1 History of UK Prisons. It was after watching an episode of Porridge a British Sitcom.

2 TV & Videoa idents and the different BBC ITV Idents and the different ITV regional idents through the years.

Ski masks/balaclavas. They just look cool imo. I'm currently obsessed with them and love seeing custom ski masks.

Furries. I only play furry video games, only watch furry TV shows, only watch furry movies, etc. The sole exception being Star Trek.

I was 5 years old. I loved nature and especially to collect bugs and observe them. I would bring these to kindergarden and well it wasnt to appreciated i would bring these home in my room or to shool. Fun part 6 years later at the highshool one of my classmate was a member of the same kindergarden i would bring bugs and said "oh, i remember you, you are the bug girl". It was funny.

Sorry for the dounle post. I even remember which bugs. They werent even easy to collect ^^



Arent they amazing?!

To i would devour everything about dinosaurs.

What have you come to understand since then? If you don't mind me asking.