Geeky obsessions

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What kind of geeky obsessions do you have? Mine are:

History in general.

NASA. Not so much recent stuff, but from about 1957 to the end of the Apollo program. Because it's really interesting, and, well, astronauts are sexy.

Meterology. All of it in general, but storms of the tornadic variety in particular. Radar and barometers and dew points, oh my!

News. Local, CNN, MSNBC, FoxNews (which we don't get here), C-SPAN, Time, Newsweek, newpapers, I don't care. News news news.

I don't know if there's an actual term for this (Eric says yes, but doesn't know what it is): Anything having to do with old commercials or advertisements or logos or pictures or any of that stuff, I go crazy over. It's dorky.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Answers

Hmm.. I really dig computer hardware, building computers and such (networking, too).. Also Astrophysics, and sex. Sex sounds like a non-geeky obsession, but I mean from the academic point of view. The journals and textbooks and all that boring non-steamy stuff, I can't get enough of it. Hmm.. that's about it, I suppose.

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2001
i beat you both. magic the gathering baby. except i hardly play now. i just keep most of my cards in plastic card protector sheets. all the colors together in order by rarity then by expansion then by mana cost. ohhhh yeah. i can lightening bolt your ass in my sleep...

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2001
I have the geeky sex obsession, too. I read Journal of Sex Research and stuff like that. It's the most stodgy writing ever. I never thought anybody could make sex sound boring. Well, THEY DO. I research the effect that sex has on preteens. I've done about six papers on it. You'd think I'd get sick of it, but nope.

Literary criticism. I can't stand to read an author or book without knowing all that everybody else has said about that author or book. After I've read it, of course.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2001

If I'm reading a work of literature in a critical edition, I try not to look at the introduction until I've read the work itself. This way, I aim to have my own response to it rather than someone else's...

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2001
Much like Katie, I also have a fetish for old advertisements. Here's a few of my stranger obsessions:
I second the Meterology. I have a weird anxiety about storms so it's me and The Weather Channel.

'I Love Lucy' I cannot help myself, I love this show. I've gathered up the lunchboxes, and pictures, and other random memorobilia.

Altoids tins. I collect them. I don't know why; both the tins and the advertisements because I dig the 1950's advertisements and the whole Era of Good Feeling stuff.

and yeah, history in general.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2001

LOL, Laurie! I know what you mean...every time I have to do research at the campus library, I'll see journals and things with sex articles, and be like, ooh! let's check this out! And you're right - it doesn't seem possible, but they CAN make sex sound monotonous as going to mass in a cloister.

As for geeky obsessions...I love turtles. Collect all kinds of turtle stuff.

Weird cards to mail to friends, even though I hardly ever bother with snail mail these days.

I also collect ticket stubs from movies I've seen...i don't know why. My friend Emily and I started that back in high school, and now I have a shitload of movie stubs...what I'm suppposed to do with them, I have no idea. Maybe I can start a new category in the Guinness Book someday.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2001

Hey! I read your NASA geek entry and wanted to say this, but the forums were down then so here goes: Im a total mercury 7 geek..its so weird. Ive seen the right stuff about 2 million times, and have read moonshot only twice.... but still, thats more than most people right? When I was reading your entry and you said "I drove across Donald Slayton Bridge " I shouted to my boyfriend : "no way, theres a deke slayton bridge!" And got all excited. I plan to use all of my future family vacations to travel the US and see every single mercury capsule on display. I was so excited when they brought up Gus Grissoms capsule ...I have a feeling you were too. Its probably an odd thing to be geeky about, but at least now I know Im not alone.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2001
I typed that so fast that I forgot to add that I also love old ads...I cant get enough of them. I searched the internet for them, and didnt find too many.. so I dragged my beau to an antique store and made him buy me old Life mags just for the ads...theyre great. I also love old Home Ec books... from the 1800s-1970s... My fave book is from the 30s. I have alot of geeky obsessions that I wont get into, but those are two major ones

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2001
hmm..anyone ever watch desmond morris's "the human sexes" or discovery channel's a body story. now that is sex for the pure scientific study of coitus. ha! anyways...how is this? i've taken to collecting mp3's of playstation music. Nobuo Uematsu is the sheit. i have the theme to Silent Hill, about eight of the main final fantasy VIII themes (did you know the latin in the opening fmv is pertinent to the game?...yes, i am sad.), and working on the Final Fantasy IX stuff now that I'm back to my dinky little modem connection. Chocobos man, chocobos! and yes i know...everyone has something interesting to contribute and its unholy in its sadness what i add...bite me hard, big boy. i need love too.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2001
Laurie, where do you do your research about the affects of sex on preteens? Sounds pretty interesting.. I'm studying Human Sexuality Studies at San Francisco State University.. The academic sex world is fairly small, comparatively, I bet we know some of the same people

-- Anonymous, June 01, 2001
I go to the University of Georgia. I'm an undergrad, though. English and Psych major. I was going to do my Honors thesis on the sex and preteens topic, but then I decided I was going to grad school in English instead. So I'm doing my thesis on John Updike.

Still, every time I'm assigned to do a psychology paper on a subject of my own choosing, I find some way to work in the preteens- and-sex topic into whatever class I'm in. Developmental psycholgy journals have been pretty helpful, but a lot of my research has come from combing the library (oh, there's another geeky obsession) for obscure book chapters or articles in places you'd never expect. It's a really interesting topic, and not much has been published on it yet... which is good for me if I ever do decide to go into Psych as a career.

-- Anonymous, June 02, 2001

Ah, I'm an undergrad, too, actually. I'm waiting until the absolute last moment I can to delcare exactly what my major(s) will be. Psych is in the running, as is Philosophy, as is a "Special Major" of Human Sexuality Studies (if I don't go with the major, though, I'm still minoring in it.) I'll getting my MA in Sex when I've finished my bachelor's. SFSU has a lot of really interesting professors in the field and has a research centre purely for sexuality, which is always great fun...
And yeah, it does seem that most research is about teen sex or about childhood molestation/rape.. what are your hypotheses when it comes to sexual practices of preteens?

-- Anonymous, June 06, 2001
Formula One Racing, astrology, anything about Queen Elizabeth 1, and wars.

-- Anonymous, June 06, 2001
The poetry of John Keats, going through reaaaally old romance novels and highlighting all the repeated phrases the authors use, mullet haircuts and how bad they look, weird cards!

-- Anonymous, June 07, 2001
My major geeky obsession is Judy Garland. Once, while thrift store shopping, I had a choice between some rock albums from the 60s/70s and a couple of Judy Garland records. I went with the Judy Garland records, even though some of the same songs were on both.

I also <3 Sailor Moon. I know Sailor Moon was really big for awhile, but that fad is pretty much over now and I am still with it. I even schedule my day around watching Sailor Moon when I can. I just...can't help myself.

-- Anonymous, June 07, 2001

I forget to talk about my love of PBS. Yes, it really is quality television. I regularly watch "American High" & "Mystery!" I guess this isn't wierd for someone who's 68, but I'm 18. :)

-- Anonymous, June 07, 2001
Comics. It started with Iron Man (and he remains my favorite). It expanded to Spider Man (Can't WAIT for the movie). Now there are probably about 2 dozen titles I read regularly. It's expensive, but since I quit smoking, it's OK.

Here's a sample of my obsession. I have $700 worth of Iron Man ststues (8 statues total). I have almost ALL Iron Man toys, including dozens of action figures, lunch boxes, glasses case, and patches. I have 2 large, 1 medium, and 4 regular sized comic boxes bursting with my collection. And, the ultimate, I have the Spider Man symbol tattooed on my chest.

I'm 26.

I'm a geek.

-- Anonymous, June 09, 2001

I'm joining the Weather Geek Club. I'm also a mullet hunter, for what it's worth...

-- Anonymous, June 10, 2001


-- Anonymous, June 10, 2001
I have too many geeky obsessions. What makes them even more bizarre is that I'm not a college student (I was, but didn't graduate).

Philosophy. While I like philosophy in general, I focus more on methods of acquiring and verifying knowledge and beliefs, and have done a bit of independent research on the topic in the past. Also, I have a heavy interest in modal logic and its relationship to knowledge.

Math. I have an obsession with math books. I've got stuff ranging from algebra and calculus texts to graduate level works on things like category theory and statistical forecasting. Mostly, my math interests focus around optimization and the intersection between computer programs and formal logic.

Music. Not only the actual music in the form of vinyl and CDs, but books about the history of the record industry and studies of its development and change in the face of new technology (the development of the LP, cassette, CD, DAT, and now mp3).

Economics and finance. I watch CNBC and Bloomberg (when I can get the latter), read the Economist, and study market and economic charts, and seek sources of free and cheap data so that I can build models to test any crackpot theories I have.

Egads, I must be rather lame.

-- Anonymous, June 11, 2001

I collect dictionaries. I have dozens of them. Old ones, new ones, cheap ones, expensive ones. I especially like to compare the differences between dictionaries for the US market, those produced in Australia (where I am) and those from the UK.

I also collect grammar guides. These seem to be produced in prolific quantity by American linguists and academics. The sheer number and detailed grammatical analysis is unmatched by anything produced by their English or Australian counterparts. It's quite bizarre. I won't table my *opinion* as to why I think the US is such a rich source of these grammatical and lexical tomes. I just love them.

I'm also obsessed with the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, cats and the band Radiohead. I also like to collect different versions of books. Hardback, trade paperback, paperback, promo editions. I have like 6 different copies of "The Shipping News".....too wierd.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2001

I like dictionaries too, although I don't collect them. I just have a hugeass one that would probably kill somebody if you threw it at them. And I have a fuckin' kickass thesaurus that I'm so glad I bought even though I almost never use the thing. Sometimes I just randomly read through it and... I don't know what the thrill is, really.

Just realized another one: maps. Don't know why, but I love looking at them. Or did I already say that one?

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2001

office supplies...i have no idea why. but this goes back to grade school and doing that whole beginning of the year supply list shopping spree.

the sims computer game. F-U-N

neil diamond...sweet caroline, forever in blue jeans. SO SWEET!

and, of course, the dictionary/thesaurus/grammar handbook, etc.

the news is my latest little obsession (msnbc is a favorite) as is baseball (like, statistics, etc) and pop culture.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001

Ooooh, I LOVE office supplies. Especially pens.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001
totally...i loves me some pens.

the thing is, though, all these people here at work go for the expensive pens while i prefer the cheaper bic clear blue pens. i like pens with caps...no retractable ones. i'm a little...or a LOT...picky about my writing implements.

if you dont already have one, you should think about getting a big office depot catalog. *HEAVEN*

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001

Neil Diamond! Black Adder... any of them... any British comedy really, Red Dwarf, Monty Pyton... etc. Danger Mouse Books with neat covers. I buy books just based on their covers.. and they have all been good. So I guess I can judge a book by its cover. haha

I guess that's it.

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2001

Stationary. I love to collect stationary although I rarely use it.

-- Anonymous, June 19, 2001
I am obsessed with Celine Dion.

-- Anonymous, June 19, 2001
Richard freakin Dawson

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2001
I love little badges! I think you Americans call them "buttons"? I just love badges! I have so many on my bag, I especially like the free obscure ones you get when you go to see a band and things! so far, on one of my bag straps I have : DNA Doll badge *band*, Sex Kitten badge, Blonde Bombshell badge, a GLAM badge, Some Product badge, two King Adora ones *band* and my old school prefect badge. *grin* I was happy the other day when I found some, *Badges are fashionable again now* and I bought some that said "Frankly My Dear, I Don't Give a Damn", "I'm not perfect but some parts of me are excellent" and "Not now, I'm shopping!"

-- Anonymous, June 25, 2001
*Huey Lewis (& the News) -- I LOVE him!!! *Musicals -- all of them -- not really geeky, but not entirely usual, either. *Reality TV -- I just wrote a freaking long journal entry about it at: www.livejournal.com/~erinlyn

That's about it. I love all three of those things. Now, having Huey Lewis do a production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying on The Real World -- that would be heaven...*sigh*

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2001

Thats some pretty weird stuff.lol.I like history in general too.When I was in high school I would read the history book for fun.My classmates would think I was so weird when the teacher would ask a question.And then Id give the answer off the top of my head.I have a new one though.I like horology.The science of time keeping.Im really interested in wristwatches.But not just in the materialistic sense.I like to read about their history.The first wind up watch,the history of timex,etc.love that stuff.oh and I also like to read online diaries.

-- Anonymous, July 05, 2001
this sounds so gay... baby names. seriously, i can tell you all my future kids names right now, and the names of any movie star's kids you want to know. I'm just a name freak!

-- Anonymous, July 22, 2001
Bookstores. I like to browse different stores for hours at a time. I even worked at a local Books-A-Million for awhile but didn't get much work done due to my constant wanderings from section to section.

Online games. I play a game called Half-life entirely to much to be healthy. I also look at news sites like MSNBC, CNN, Slashdot, and AInt-it-cool-news.

Movies. I worked at a movie theater as a projectionist for around 3 years. Easiest job i ever had, saw every movie for free. Now i am trying to fulfill the daunting task of buying the DVD of every movie I like which happens to number in the hundreds.

I'm sure i could develop deeper geekly obcessions with comics, and history but i'm too broke!!

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001

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