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Blasting the World with your obessions:

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ZodRau
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20 Mar 2009, 10:49 am

Magicfly wrote:
My poor partner is bored-to-death of my special interests (geology) but she still humours me. :)

I try not to talk too much about my special interests incase I bore anyone else. It seems completely incomprehensible to me that anyone else could find geology dull let alone boring, because I could sit here and go on about it for days!!

I tell people to bring me back a rock from where they go on holiday, I don't care what rock, just something you pick up on the street, and get very puzzled looks.

To settle things I explain to them that a rock is a unique gift from where they've been, it's actually a teeny piece of the place they went, and best of all they're free, and that I collect rocks. I don't go into detail about why, and what I do with them (I like to play detective and work out the geology from them, great fun for me!)

I'm just known as the chick who likes rocks to most people!


Having always been a collector of rocks myself, I found rock heaven when I traveled to northern Wisconsin in the U.S. The region I was in was a point where glaciers from the last ice age stopped advancing, leaving behind vast quantities of diverse and interesting rocks when they retreated.

I was camping up there, and one day I spent 4 hours with water up to my knees in a clear and swift-running icy stream picking out incredible rocks. My feet were kinda numb for awhile. :roll:

People are always giving me rocks too. :D



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20 Mar 2009, 1:14 pm

sbcmetroguy wrote:
And Glider, one of my fixations has always been house plans and such as well (hence my job as a residential designer) and whenever she and I would be in a bookstore, I would always go straight to that section and just look at all the plans.

These days, however, my constant talk about AS (being one of my main interests) or World of Warcraft actually annoys her but I simply can't help it ... it's just bound to happen everytime I open my mouth!


I have noticed that many of us with AS love house plans. To this day when we go to a bookstore, I gravitate to the house plan books. I have so far actually gotten 4 sets of blueprints to houses I have obsessed over in the past. As all but one of them is over 4000 square feet, I doubt I will ever be able to afford building them. But I love looking at them.

Also like you, I have made AS one of my interests, and my wife often seems to not be that willing to talk about it---especially since our youngest son is showing AS traits according to our school.

Thanks for sharing---always fun to see what we with AS have in common as far as interests go.


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sbcmetroguy
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20 Mar 2009, 2:17 pm

glider18 wrote:
sbcmetroguy wrote:
And Glider, one of my fixations has always been house plans and such as well (hence my job as a residential designer) and whenever she and I would be in a bookstore, I would always go straight to that section and just look at all the plans.

These days, however, my constant talk about AS (being one of my main interests) or World of Warcraft actually annoys her but I simply can't help it ... it's just bound to happen everytime I open my mouth!


I have noticed that many of us with AS love house plans. To this day when we go to a bookstore, I gravitate to the house plan books. I have so far actually gotten 4 sets of blueprints to houses I have obsessed over in the past. As all but one of them is over 4000 square feet, I doubt I will ever be able to afford building them. But I love looking at them.

Also like you, I have made AS one of my interests, and my wife often seems to not be that willing to talk about it---especially since our youngest son is showing AS traits according to our school.

Thanks for sharing---always fun to see what we with AS have in common as far as interests go.


I've felt some kind of draw to you since you first came on here and posted your story not long after I first started posting here. You seem similar to me in ways, though different in other ways, but you always seem to be kind and informative.

Anyway, my wife's problem as she has explained it, is that she feels with every new thing I learn about AS, that I have another excuse to use. I don't use AS as an excuse, though when I realize something might be related to my AS, I am quick to make the association and say something like, "See!? This explains why I do [insert odd or offensive behavior here]!" She thinks I'm making an excuse, whereas I'm honestly not. In most cases it's just a reason why I do certain things and I like knowing that there is a reason and that I'm not just strange.



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20 Mar 2009, 4:32 pm

Sorenna wrote:
Does anyone else not keep their obessions to themselves?

I am so engrossed by them that if anyone talks to me in any way, I will bring them up. I am ALWAYS reading about them in public and do not try to hide them at all.


I can refrain from bringing the obsession up totally out of the blue, but I will try and get it into the conversation any way I possibly can, sometimes via the most tenuous connection. If I'm in the full grip of an obsession, it's filling my mind so much that I'm almost desperate to talk about it.

Obsessions are one of my 'most AS' things. I don't think that some of them are actually that unusual in themselves - it's just the degree to which I become obsessed with them. Sometimes it's like I have basically an NT interest, but still go about it in an Aspie way.



LosFrida
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20 Mar 2009, 7:30 pm

I tend to only discuss them with people who are interested- I've had far too many experiences of people pretending to listen or simply changing the topic by (verbal) force. I know, however, that this may have something to do with the somewhat grusome nature of my interests (Frida Kahlo, the French Revolution, Grigory Rasputin)

IdahoRose wrote:
If I may ask, what are your special interests?
However, when I'm out in public, I like to wear little accessories related to my special interests, such as wristbands or necklaces with anime logos/symbols on them.


I have a Frida Kahlo necklace that I wear on special occasions and if I'm reading in public it's invariably connected to my special interests.


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20 Mar 2009, 7:49 pm

Most of my obsessions are mainstream, so I don't feel shameful when I reveal them. Currently I'm obsessed with my iPod - I'm actually accessing WP on it now.

I also met my first boyfriend by asking him if he liked a band I liked.

There are some things I keep to myself, like my obsession with Ben 10.



chasingthesun
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20 Mar 2009, 10:08 pm

I'm often pretty vocal about my obsessions because I don't know what else to talk about! They're all I think about, so nothing else really comes to mind! I try to work on my self-control and keep things to myself because I know nobody cares, but I'm always trying to see if somebody does and we can establish a connection that way. Like some people said, I own a bunch of t-shirts and other accessories or merchandise that I wear or carry around to hopefully attract others with the interest. Hasn't really ever worked, but I try.



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21 Mar 2009, 1:18 am

Lightning88 wrote:
I have absolutely no problem sharing my obsessions. My obsessions have given me my greatest memories in life and I am so much happier because of them. If I didn't have anything I could hold onto like this, right now I'd be lonely, miserable, and absolutely bored to death. And if I am upset, I can just escape into them so I can be happy again.

That is exactly like me! My obsessions have given me an immense amount of happiness.



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21 Mar 2009, 1:35 am

QUite seriously...if you do not talk about them, what else do you talk about?

The only alternative would then be to not talk at all.

i talk about art and Autism constantly. When i talk, that is. I do talk. I can talk. I am rather verbose in fact. i monologue.

I enjoy Glenn Gould and his chair. He reminds me of me, and other memebrs of my family.


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21 Mar 2009, 5:45 pm

ZodRau wrote:
Magicfly wrote:
My poor partner is bored-to-death of my special interests (geology) but she still humours me. :)

I try not to talk too much about my special interests incase I bore anyone else. It seems completely incomprehensible to me that anyone else could find geology dull let alone boring, because I could sit here and go on about it for days!!

I tell people to bring me back a rock from where they go on holiday, I don't care what rock, just something you pick up on the street, and get very puzzled looks.

To settle things I explain to them that a rock is a unique gift from where they've been, it's actually a teeny piece of the place they went, and best of all they're free, and that I collect rocks. I don't go into detail about why, and what I do with them (I like to play detective and work out the geology from them, great fun for me!)

I'm just known as the chick who likes rocks to most people!


Having always been a collector of rocks myself, I found rock heaven when I traveled to northern Wisconsin in the U.S. The region I was in was a point where glaciers from the last ice age stopped advancing, leaving behind vast quantities of diverse and interesting rocks when they retreated.

I was camping up there, and one day I spent 4 hours with water up to my knees in a clear and swift-running icy stream picking out incredible rocks. My feet were kinda numb for awhile. :roll:

People are always giving me rocks too. :D


Must....hold......back......! !! !

Sorry, I find glacial terrains and rocks fascinating too!! We have the same kind of geology where I live there's a huge glacial erratic 3 miles from where I live.

That sounds like a beautiful place to camp for sure. And you wouldn't be the only one picking rocks out of stream beds, I've done exactly the same thing myself on more than 1 occasion!



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21 Mar 2009, 8:24 pm

Another rock collecter here. There seem to be a lot of us. Although my version of it may be unusual. I will be drawn to pick up certain rocks. Sometimes that's due to the rock and sometimes it's due to me. When it's due to the rock, it's because the rock has initiated a vibrational exchange. When it's due to me, it's because I just want to pick the rock up, feel it and well, sort of talk to it. Yeah I know that sounds crazy but that's what I do. Obviously rocks don't use words, thoughts or sounds. They seem to emit a kind of radiation or frequency. It's very subtle and one has to be quiet and sensitive to register it. This is ordinary rocks, the kind you find when hiking or camping. I have always loved rocks.



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23 Mar 2009, 6:37 am

I used to collect rocks when I was younger. I would buy the box sets with multiple types of rocks in them. As a youngster, I would set them up in my room and create a little museum for my family to walk through. As an adult, I still find rocks interesting, but I don't collect them now.


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