What's your current obsession?

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Here is a random sampling. I tend to get excited about something, do a bunch of research, but rarely actually do the thing or pursue it further. Then on to the next thing. Sometimes I go back to an earlier topic.

Currently:
- Asperger's, since just recently diagnosed
- Doomsday prepping (just reading about it, I have yet to stockpile a single thing)
- Silver coins (only US commemorative silver dollars, don't ask me why)
- Hiking and back packing and all the gear that goes with it

Past:
- Word origins
- Cosmology and big-bang
- Call of duty
- Euler's formula
- Homebrew (I gave up after so many bad batches)

Ongoing:
- The history of everything, but especially the Roman Empire and rock n' roll
- Bass guitar
- Tolkien

I could go on and on, but I'll spare you the torture.

Right now I'm really into projections about technological advancement in the near future (between about now and 2050) and how it will affect culture and society. Of course it is all conjecture, but there are ways to make decent educated guesses. For instance, http://www.futuretimeline.net/ took up a good chunk of my attention for awhile, and I try to keep up with the latest trends.

I'm also kinda digging on large scale public works projects of yesteryear and today.

I go through periods of intense obsession and then switch from one object to the next.

Lifetime obsession: puzzle-solving (everything from the crossword to more interesting situational problem-solving for human behavior problems), categorization of human behavior/discovery of patterns in human behavior and generalizable rules, patterns in random strings of digits (bar codes and the like), shape rotation/Tetris-like fitting of random objects together, reading, computers (generalized), semantic and lexical analysis, logic (both in the formal-rigorous and rhetorical sense).

For reasons which seem silly considering my training, I'm convinced that with a large enough N, there are set patterns to human behavior which are knowable and predictable. This is ENTIRELY opposite to my training on the subject. I can't quite explain it, but I'm convinced there's something there which I could find given the right training and access to a diverse enough data set. It's probably completely irrational, but I can't shake it. It has to do with the structure of classification and statistical analysis and I won't bore anyone with it.

Current obsession: big data and statistical analysis, computer games, experimentation and methods.

Previous obsessions: studio art, writing, languages (French, Spanish, Latin, Greek), the works of Heinlein, dictionaries, thesauruses, philosophy/rhetoric, feminist theory, political theory, biology of the AIDS virus (because of the way it behaves toward the immune system), and poetry.

And it's full-on obsession, too. I forget to eat, drink, and go to appointments if I'm not exceedingly careful to regulate my involvement in the process of learning about the thing I'm interested in. I have skipped a day, in terms of bathing, if I didn't have anything better to do than study the object of my interest. But only one day, because gross.

I also get... stuck... in the obsession, particularly where it involves problem-solving, and it takes a major act of will to tear my thoughts away from the problem, if that makes sense to anyone else. It's like running into a brick wall over and over, but I can't quite stop until the problem is resolved. If I can't resolve the problem, I start to panic, because I know there's a solution but I can't quite reach it.

Does anyone else do that or is that my extra special version of nuts?

Current obsessions:

Doctor Who
~ been obsessed for the better part of 2 years. I really restrain myself from rewatching episodes over and over and trolling Tumblr otherwise I'll never get anything done.

Researching ADHD/ASD and how to cope
~ mostly for myself and my daughter; we both exhibit a lot of the traits and it drives me nuts that neither of us have a diagnosis

Past obsessions:

Natural Parenting
~ babywearing, attachment parenting, etc.

Dogs
~ everything about dog care, back when I first adopted my dog

Yaoi anime

Embroidery

Photography

Cartoon characters like Pepe le Pew, Quick Draw McGraw, Baba Looey, Heckle and Jeckle, and Colonel Bleep

Mountains

Music from the late fifties and early sixties and music by Amy Grant

Geography and Travel

Rhinos, Tapirs, and Humphead Wrasse

Old Buildings/Architecture

WALL-E

Music!

My favorite genres are Hard Rock, Metal and Alternative but I like most genres out there.

I have 1,700+ cd's on my pc and am always looking for more.

I don't really have a "newest" one, since older ones return as "TOP 10" obsessions regularly.

A random list:

- everything dealing with KOREA (statistics, products, politics, culture, written language)
- Slavic languages (Czech, Slovak, Polish, Croatian and so on. Not so much into Russian btw.)
- credit cards (design, issuing banks, interest rates, "look and feel")
- discount/rebate offers on nearly everything on the market (train tickets, fares, insurance policies, cell phone operator plans ...)
- cell phone technologies, "dual SIM" / "dual standard" phones (GSM/CDMA)
- legal tax evasion, tax systems throughout Europe & beyond
- glasses (not so much anymore)
- Windows 98 (still using it right now)
- election results (world wide)
- music (classical, Czech 1970-1980, musicals, "belcanto")
- political advertising and slogans
- tabloid head lines
- names and founding details of "limited liability" companies in many European languages & beyond


... just to name a few!

At the moment I'd have to say sewing. It makes me crazy. I keep thinking about ancient and Golden Age of Exploration ship building and types of ships; it is pulling at me too, but I have other obligations. Oh, to have time to do it all!

there's a lot right now, but

the words "ynet", "walla" "taraienen", "crowncallen"

cartography

geography

stereolab and haMechashefot/inbal perlmuter.
the latter was in a dream of mine a few weeks ago. it was short but incredible.

I'm currently obsessed with videogames, and writing music. I don't really get obsessed with anything else, except maybe starwars or anime

I'm currently obsessed with a new band I found weeks ago named Nahko and Medicine for the People. I've been listening to their cd for 3 straight days now. My record for listening to the same cd is 11 straight days.

Right now I am obsessed with a music genre if have been obsessed with on and off with since 1979 New wave

my obsessions from present to past
decluttering and selling on ebay
collecting dolls
collecting fabric
anything to do with some kinds of dolls
knitting lasted for 2 seconds
the uncanny
surrealism
craft
dolls houses and miniatures collecting
making miniatures
prams and pushchairs mini and big
collecting tiny bits of plastic such as bottle tops the plastic on a price tag to make miniatures
alternative health longstanding and ongoing
working out what was wrong with me and trying to fix it through alternative health
gluten and dairy free diet
hating the haters
psychology counselling and self help
various peeps over the years
the look of things
drawing and painting
bead collecting making earrings
homeopathy
sculpting and general craft with fabric beads etc
writing poetry and prose
boxes and box frames for craft
photography
other cultures
peeps in other countries and how they live
how to be a good friend or just how to be a friend at all

the obsessions I could have had if I had had time
the origin and meaning words
spelling
the origin and meaning of phrases like the pot calling the kettle black
learning languages
writing more seriously reading more seriously
music learning and composing i am supposed to have perfect pitch but got kicked out of the music group at 7 for being too slow
singing i love to sing

Right now? Aphex Twin/ Richard D James and his awesome music. That and reacquainting myself with this forum and fora in general.