Why is it your obsession/field of study?

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I don't really know why I get obsessed with certian things. I just do. I have some theories. But for the most part, my special intrests and obsessions seem to pick me.

I was OBSESSED with TLK as a kid on a level that made people in the mental health field worry. One physiatrist asked me why I liked TLK so much and I told her I did because there were no people in it. That really creped her out and she asked me why I didn't like people. At the time, I couldn't really express myself very well so I was at a loss for words but now I could tell her why....because people were never nice to me.


But anyway, the main reason I loved TLK so much was because there were no people in it. TLK was my escape from bullies and people who couldn't accept me for who I was. Then some hack named Julie Taymore had to come along and f**k things up. Whenever people see me wearing a TLK shirt, they ask me if I saw the stage show. I tell them yes and then they ask if I liked it. I tell them no but I never go into detail about why because I don't really think could understand. But I can't really do anything TLK related without seeing references to that abomination You didn't just rape my childhood, Miss Taymore...you ass raped it.


Anyway, I hated cartoons about people and movies where animal characters didn't talk. I DESPISE the live action 101 Dalmatians because they don't talk. A lot of people claimed they loved it because the puppies were so "cute". I was never much of a dog person and the puppies were no cuter than any other puppy. I never really found puppies that cute to begin with. I hated all cartoons with an animal and human cast because the animals usually always sided with at least one human. I secretly wanted to see Megan from My Little Pony get bucked and then trampled. For me to enjoy a cartoon with people and animals together, they had to be against the humans.

I probably would have loved Sonic SatAM as a kid but at the time the only Sonic cartoon I was aware of was AoStH and I just found that silly and annoying. I find Sonic SatAM rather frustrating as an adult because these animals are clearly capable of using computers and technology, they surely would know how to load and shoot a gun and pop a cap in Egg Man and crew. Okay, that probably wouldn't go over very well with media watchdogs since the target audience was kids.

I've seen guns used in Star Wars and Transformers cartoons that are specifically aimed at kids; but once I think about it, no one really gets harmed by them so maybe it's rather stupid to wish they used guns or something. I can't really see Sonic using a gun anyway. I can totally see Sallie using one if she totally had too but I can't see any of the characters being trigger happy maniacs like some of my characters are. But anyway, since they are animals, couldn't they at least bite their human foes? I don't know, I kind of prefer Sonic X (in Japanese of course) anyway.

I suspect if I were a kid today, I would have a "dangerous" obsession with Kung Fu Panda because there are no human characters in it. But with more knowledge and awareness of autism spectrum disorders as there is today, perhaps I never would have developed such a pathological distain for the human race in the first place.

I have recently noticed that most of my obsessions are basically just bi products of older obsessions. For instance my longest running special interests, meerkats is basically just a bi product of my Lion King special interest. I became fascinated with Timon. I used to think it was because my older brother, whom I hero worshiped at the time liked him. I have pretended to be obsessed with certain things such as the Goosebumps books series because my mum always told me that if I was interested in the things other people were interested in, they would be interested in the things I was interested in. I found out the hard way that wasn't the least bit true.

I truly, truly loved Timon...to the point where I hero worshiped him. My Goosebumps obsession was fake, whereas my Timon obsession was real. My mum says I liked Timon so much because he was loud and quirky...just like me at the time and I had finally found someone I could relate with. When the Timon and Pumbaa cartoon came out, I REALLY related to Timon. The cartoon consisted of immature, pratfall humor, which I never found funny to begin with. Timon was being thrown into walls, squished, hit with baseball bats, and basically the brunt of everyone else's brutality.

I seriously suspect the reason we have so many people who think it's okay to abuse animals today is because of cartoons like this. A lot of people hate Timon now because of his cocky attitude in the cartoon and being a Timon fan will not make you popular in the Lion King fan community. I always thought Timon was so nasty in the cartoon as a result of being picked on all the time. When I was coming home from school with bruises from the other kids, I was starting to become quite nasty as well. Whereas I eventually retaliated and physically lashed out at my bullies to the point of being considered a bully myself, Timon just got nastier. I secretly wanted to see him just loose it and go postal on his bullies. I didn't know very much about meerkats back then, but I figured they didn't take lightly when they were tormented.

Anyway, I think my mom is right about me liking Timon so much because I could relate to him. When I got older, I began to write Lion King fan fics and wrote myself into them as an unbeatable heroine. Timon hero worshiped me because I protected him. Sure, I would probably come across as a "Mary Sue", but writing these fan fics was very therapeutic for me. I was always interested in meerkats when I learned they were a real species of animal but for a while, I was more interested in Timon. I am always told that I am living in a fantasy world, but when I was a kid, it was painfully true.

I had to have my special Timon and Pumbaa plushies written into my IEP because I could not function without them. My evil school bus driver tried to make me give them up forever and even stopped the school bus for over an hour in his vain attempt. He tried one last time to make me surrender when he stopped the bus in front of my house. As an adult, I would have told him to procreate with himself and possibly kicked him in the boys but I just screamed "NO!" at him. He got in HUGE trouble for that stunt when my mom called the school and told them what happened and how traumatized I was. It was like I was in fear for my children's lives.

My parents were always worried I would be carrying them around with me until I was fifteen and personally I don't see what's so wrong with that because I've never really outgrown the need for a transitional object...or creature. But anyway, that stunt of my stupid school bus driver stopped me from taking them everywhere with me. As I said, I couldn't really cope without them. My behavior problems at school got worse but no one was really able to see the connection. Everyone hated that driver and was trying for years to get him fired but he did seem to have a penchant for picking on the kids that had problems and couldn't really defend themselves.

I was paranoid he was going to break into our house and steal my plushies. I wonder if I also thought he would try and break into my mind because I somehow was able to convince myself that I had "outgrown" my plushies and Lion King. I think I had even convinced myself that it was "bad" to still like them. I was temporarily obsessed with Pepe Le Pew and skunks but I have to wonder if it is because Timon and Pepe Le Pew kind of share facial features. I was still made fun of for liking Pepe Le Pew and skunks but it was okay to like them because they weren't Lion King related. It's really hard for me to remember because I've tried so hard to block out that part of my life.

I didn't really get into Lion King again until after I was being homeschooled and was finally learning to be myself again. I was channel surfing and came across a Timon and Pumbaa episode. I watched it and remembered how much fun I had when I was obsessed with Lion King and Timon. I was still ashamed to admit it and was still convinced I hated it but that didn't last very long. My mom basically told me that people who were going to be mean about it could go jump in a lake. I talked and talked about meerkats, Timon and Lion King nonstop.

My mom says she always heard me talk about my special interests, but not as much as I did meerkats. I wonder if I was just making up for lost time. My mom tried and tried to make me "widen my horizons" and would tell me she needed to hear about something other than meerkats for so many minutes. It made me feel as if she didn't love me. About the same time, Montgomery Gentry had just released a song called "She couldn't change me". The verse: "She said I guess when you love someone you just gotta let it be" really stuck with me and I wished my mom could be like that...I prayed and prayed for my mum to accept me as O was and eventually she did. By then my mum realized that trying to change me was a futile attempt.

Anyway, it's been like ten years and meerkats are still my main special interest and my mom has finally let me be myself. There was a neighbor boy who was always mean about my meerkat and Lion King obsession and he sometimes made me cry. I eventually stopped hanging out with those people but my brother was still mean about it. I've practically disowned that brother if he really does want to sustain a relationship with me, he better start apologizing and being sincere. It wouldn't bother me if he never did and I seriously looking into disowning him legally.

I like meerkats more than I ever liked Timon and I don't think I will ever know why but I don't really care either but if someone asks me why I like them so much, I tell them, "Because that's how I roll!" if someone is mean about it, I usually give them the social finger and sever all ties with them. I will never let anyone take my special interest/obsession/passion from me ever again.

Computational modeling of protein-ligand interactions. I'm a visually oriented person and love translating molecular sequences and formulas into three dimensional models. My life revolves around my research.

I also love anything to do with water. I find it to be very soothing. I have a small saltwater reef aquarium and I love to swim laps when I have time.

Ah, sweet obsessions!

I don't know about all the folks here, but my particular obsessions have come and gone, waxed and waned over time. I love ships. I love catamarans and multi-hulls. I would love to see someone build a real ship (three or more masted square-rigger) using 18th-century techniques that was a multihull. Why do I love ships, sailboats, and especially multi-hulls? I don't know. I just think they're nifty. I have been on tallships and catamarans, but that was more because I was interested in them before that. Maybe it's because I'm a Pisces?

I love history, including the history of technology. I like seeing how things were done and finding out why. I like second-guessing decisions that were made a hundred or a thousand years ago. And that brings me to science-fiction of the alternate history sort. I loved reading science fiction when I was a kid because it brought together several of my interests: history, technology, philosophy, and human nature. The alternate history stories, such as H. Beam Piper's Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, presented a world where a historical decision was changed. Similarly, Piper's "He Walked Around the Horses" was fascinating not so much as a pseudo-explanation of what happened to Benjamin Bathurst, but because of the way he played with history and the twist he had in the story at the end, a twist that required a small amount of historical knowledge to understand.

I love studying poetic forms. Part of that is the structural aspects, but another part is seeing how different cultures and base languages have treated poetry and what they believed about poetry. This also led to the formulation of my law regarding military successes being inversely proportional to the complexity of the poetic forms. In other words, if there is a war, bet on the side with the less complex poetic forms. For instance, the French had very complex poetic forms from the beginning of their history. They never win wars without help from a foreigner. Joan of Arc? She was from the Duchy of Bar, not France at the time. Napoleon? He was a Corsican of Italian descent who was acquired by France with their taking of Corsica from the house of Savoy. I haven't studied Savoyard forms, but I suspect they must be really complex, since the French were always beating them. Celtic forms are very complex. Even the French beat the Celts of Brittany to incorporate them into France. The Angles and Saxons had very simple forms of poetry and wiped up the Celts across the British Isles. Amercians have given up form in poetry altogether, and look where we are today. So, there is how poetic form is not only interesting structurally, but also can contribute to an ethnological and historical analysis.

I have a thing for efficiency. I suppose going back in time, I first got interested in efficiency experts when I read Cheaper by the Dozen many moons ago. In many ways, my career has been as a form of more modern efficiency expert. It is a more integrated and holistic approach using synthesis and anaysis rather than just the latter, but the whole obsession probably traced back to that book so long ago. I suspect were I to read the book again, I would spot AS traits in the father of that family.

I probably have several others that just aren't coming to mind at the moment. I try not to feed them consciously, though.

Pollyfinite,

Firstly, lets agree that we all believe as we please and thats okay. Secondly, my obssession is religion and knowledge in general.

As for religion I am obsessed with the driving madness that demands all the answers to the universe. In addition, I feel that unless one who claims God exists focuses all one's energy into "discovering God," then said person would not be worthy anyway to meet Him. In other words, if we say God is our all, then God truly does need to be our all or we would only be hypocrites.

Though, the acquisition of knowledge drives me absolutely crazy. I want to know EVERYTHING!

I admit though, I have much to learn ( especially about computers as I am a bookworm.)

If only I could get paid to learn things.

Edit: I figure with all the studying I presently do, if only I could get paid to do it, I'd be set!

Was social science - back when I was trying to save the world
the ways in which humans can go off the beam is infinite and very interesting. I've done some myself.
Then when i got too old for junkies and the drama I got into computers - programming designing systems and the like
the administrative BS got kinda deep.
being retired - Chaos Theory - nature - nature photography writing books about recovering from
my self medicating era.

I'm not sure if this is aspergers trait because I am not diagnosed but i obsess when buying things. For instance when I bought a second hand car I spent every spare hour on the internet comparing different types of car. I ended up with a bargain low mileage car. I did the same when I bought a racing bike. I even do it over a pair of shoes. I can easily spend a whole day looking at nothing but the same pair of shoes on the internet until I have found them at the cheapest price with the cheapest postage. Total waste of my day

My number one obsession is maps.
I am fascinated with physical networks and the structure of things. Maps give me a solid mental image of how the world around me laid out and where all the people are. Google Earth is one of my favorite computer programs ever. I will spend hours and hours tracing out road & rail networks. I could easily sketch out off the top of my head the states & provinces of the US & canada, along with most of the US Interstate highway system.
I am a walking atlas. I have a very visual mind and my spatial reasoning is off the scale. I pretty much NEVER get lost.
It also extends into a fascination with geology & tectonics. My internal atlas includes fault lines.

I suppose a good career for me would be cartography. I also am a very good graphic artist.
I just have no idea how to get into the field of cartography and get paid for my obsession.

I'm also obsessed with technology & computers, why? because it's very good knowledge to have in the 21st century and also , I dunno, lights & buttons are cool.

Meteorology is another minor obsession of mine. maybe because I'm so sensitive to my environment and I don't like surprises. I find it good to be always up on what is heading my way. And the raw power of nature is exhilarating! I'd love to go storm chasing.

Computer programming, particularly iOS / iPhone / iPad. I used to write software in the movie industry.

It interests me because I can never reach the end of it.
I can build things of incredible beauty and complexity, and I don't ever run out of materials. No bricks or paint to buy.
I build my own software components and combine them to make more software components.
Virtual worlds are mine to create.
And I can do it anywhere that I can take my Macbook Pro.

What I love most about it is that it's totally creative, but totally intellectual and totally absorbing.

I don't care what other people think, or whether or not they like what I create. Usually they say they love it, but I don't care.

I can wake up, open my laptop and concentrate until I go to sleep at night. Every day.

Professionally/field of study wise, I write software for a living and study it in grad school. I love statistical modeling in particular, but in general I find coding and designing software very satisfying and pleasant. I chose to study it mostly because I love the internet and have ever since the first time I used it as a girl of 10 years old writing emails, plus I heard I wouldn't need too many interaction skills with people to be able to do it. I have not found this to be true. Social skills are still needed to get along in an office and this has been very hard for me. However, I'm glad I found computer science anyway because it is pleasant.

My longest lived personal obsession is Disneyland. I lost count of how many times I'd been there in my middle teens. I think of it as my "home" almost more than anyplace I've ever lived. It is one of the only places in the world where I feel I could never be lost as I can draw a scale map from memory. I also love that children are always really excited and happy there. It's fun to watch happy kids, like little human puppies. Disneyland also changes often (new rides, new shows, etc) so there is always something new to see and learn, but underneath, you know it's still the same old Disneyland from 1955.

I really enjoy sensory overload meltdowns (I think it's like when NTs take drugs for me, or like rebooting a computer) and Disneyland is loud, bright, and full of people, and most of them are with big groups and not paying much attention to anyone else. So if I'm there by myself I can ride every ride as many times I want and watch fireworks and parades, and if I start crying or freaking out, it's very easy to hide. It's hard for me to go to Disneyland with other people because I can't be so effusive about it, and also I know a lot of facts and have to be quiet and not tell them to my companions since they make fun of me or feel weird about me knowing so much. I compensated for this by learning a lot about each restaurant and about probable line wait times so I can at least say facts that most people will find useful.

It still feels strange to admit my little obbsessions. I've spent most of my life concealing them from people.

Mine would be airships, i love them and collecting documents on military history. I don't know why those things have grabbed me to tell the truth, although the document obbsession has lead me to start a website that hosts them for others to view.

for me cooking. and understanding the chemistry behind it would be my biggest obbsesion. other then that though i love games of almost any kind either chess, poker, scrabble, trivial persuit, bizzerwizzer, battleship, ect ect. seeing games understanding the odds contimplating what my opponents is going to do... to me there is nothing more fasinating.

that's beautiful.

Test Driven Development and Source Control. I am obsessed with them because they enable me to program creatively without having to worry about breaking what is already there. Like climbing up a rock face putting in gear as you go so that you never fall further than you got to in the last stretch.

Also just now, although i am enjoying christmas vacation I'm looking forward to going back to work because my employer told me off for being perfectionist recently so I developed a nice simple algorithmic system for writing ugly code that works. It's called Just In Time Design. I'm looking forward to trying it out. At first I was upset at not being allowed to try and write perfect code. But I just re-applied myself to trying to create the perfect method for writing imperfect code. i dont know if my attempt at this is worth sharing with anyone here, cos it only really makes sense on the salesforce platform , and no self-respecting aspie works on the salesforce platform. (I lack self-respect).

My main obsession, though, is myself. I am constantly trying to program myself and it doesnt work but it doesnt stop me trying. i am in therapy and she says i should allow myself to be chaotic and should observe my feelings even if i dont understand them. I sort of have an idea what she means, but the algorithmic habit is a hard one to kick.

In summary, my interests span a few discrete areas. Each area serves a different purpose. First and foremost, I have a passion and fascination with politics of identity. Historically, since early childhood, I have always felt different; in particular, I've felt, and continue to feel, disconnected from the social world. I simply do not and cannot readily connect with other people. And so, through this sense of disconnection, I've spent a concerted amount of time trying to cognitively understand some of the relations between self (i.e., identity) and society (i.e., culture). Secondly, I have a long standing fascination with fantasy role playing games and entomology. At face value, I have no logical explanation for these interests. With some initial reflection, given that I am hopelessly awkward in unstructured social situations, I could surmise that fantasy role playing games offer a way to escape the confines of a confusing social world into a world with a number of clearly defined roles and rules. With regard to entomology, I suspect it has to do with the abundance of opportunities to observe patterns (i.e., ants sometimes travel the same pathways over and over). As a child, I spent many hours each day watching insects, conducting rudimentary experiments then recording my observations. Afterward, I would attempt to discern patterns of their behaviour. Hence, I can also watch the same Tv show or movie many many times over; alternatively, if I hold a pen, I play with it in a very repetitive pattern. I find relaxation in repetition. As an adult, I have found ways to make this slightly more socially acceptable (i.e., I observe insects while I walk my dog in a park then theorize reasons for these patterns).

The psychology and biology of felines and avians.