Do You Get Easily Obsessed?

[flat-top]

I do. For example, I'm going to the Viva Las Vegas weekender which is in April, but it's all I can think about. I have a 51 cd changer filled with Rockabilly, R&B and Doo Wop playing on shuffle non-stop whenever I'm home, I'm already planning what clothes I'm going to bring, I just ordered a new custom pair of shoes from Indy Magnoli to bring with me....let's just say I have issues.
Do you get like this? If so, over what?

 

[CharlieH.]

I once got a rather sever obsession with the 1939 New York World's Fair. I combed the net in search of photos (especially colour slides), downloaded all of the movies from the internet archive and even planned to build a model of the Trylon and Perisphere. Those two structures eventually haunted every sketch I made for a short while.

I also got a similar obsesion with miniature live steam engines. I searched for plans, parts, photos, everything you need to build one, only to be thwarted by the lack of a lathe (and funds).

Similarly, my thoughts were dominated by phonographs and records for a while. As of now, I still want my portable Victrola.

At another instance, I got heavily fixated on prewar colour pictures. I've amassed quite a collection of scans pinched from the internet.

Spectator and saddle shoes have also haunted me quite a bit, until I got a pair.

 

[Absinthe_1900]

I prefer to think of it as being very selectively focused.

 

[CanadaDoll]

I just tell myself there's worse things to be addicted to than books, shoes, pens, vintage and the like.... It could be a 1000 dollar a day cocaine addiction instead, and I go right to sleep at night, after I've examined the lounger threads!

 

[LolitaHaze]

Some say it's stalking... I say it's admiration. LOL

 

[MissHuff]

Some say it's stalking... I say it's admiration. LOL

lol lol lol lol lol lol lol

I get obsessed with EVERY new thing I come across that I like. I always want to know EVERYTHING about it. Recently I've been obsessed with crocheting a baby blanket for my new little nephew. I have been sewing and knitting for years but never picked up crocheting. Now that's all I do when I'm not taking care of the baby. I even do it while I'm reading threads on the lounge. lol.

In terms of being excited to the point of obsession in a trip, I am really excited about going to Ft. Lauderale in March. Some friends are getting married and we're going to spend some time down in Miami. I have been so excited getting new shoes for the trip and busy making a dress for the wedding as well as for the rest of the 4 day trip. Since the baby's staying home and we're gonna be in a completely different place where no one knows us, I decided I'd test out a full on vintage inspired weekend and have been OBSESSED with every little detail for the outfits.

 

[Mr. Rover]

I once got a rather sever obsession with the 1939 New York World's Fair. I combed the net in search of photos (especially colour slides), downloaded all of the movies from the internet archive and even planned to build a model of the Trylon and Perisphere. Those two structures eventually haunted every sketch I made for a short while.

I also got a similar obsesion with miniature live steam engines. I searched for plans, parts, photos, everything you need to build one, only to be thwarted by the lack of a lathe (and funds).

Similarly, my thoughts were dominated by phonographs and records for a while. As of now, I still want my portable Victrola.

At another instance, I got heavily fixated on prewar colour pictures. I've amassed quite a collection of scans pinched from the internet.

Spectator and saddle shoes have also haunted me quite a bit, until I got a pair.

You should ask Lauren Henline where she got her Victrola.

 

[Spitfire]

I am like you Miss Huff. When I dig into something, I want to know it all. And that "selective focus" can go on for years.
As a child I knew everything worth knowing (for a child) about animals of the world - especially Africa and North America. My poor family had to listen to me lecturing about beavers and beaverhuts for hours during lunch. I went to the Zoo at least once a week. Just to see how my favourit Mountainlion or buffalo was doing. Even believed they recognice me.

Later on as a teenager I had this big thing with tallships. And wanted to be a sailor!
(Luckily my parents talked me out of it)

Later again it was planes in WWII.
I have been into Napoleon for years and years in the 90's. (Just ask me)

Now I am back again on airplanes and pilots from WWII. (Guesse it has always been there)

I have been all over French Redwines - especially everything about Bourgogne.

In short: I buy far too many books on Amazone, I hunt the internet - I really dig into things.

The same goes for my work, when working on a advertisingcampaign I can really loose myself in facts and dig down deep.
Strangely I do not feel obsessed with sports. Allthough I have done horseriding for many years - it never was an obsession. Maybe obsessions are only something that goes on in you mind. And not a physical thing.

 

[RetroModelSari]

Right now I´m deeply obsessed with sewing and look out for all sort of books and patterns. I have now several sewing books with more or less the same instructions over and over again. Well, on the other hand I sell a lot of it on ebay, too (if anyones interested: There is a link to my ebay on my website )

And than there is a swedish country band I´m totally obsessed with since I´m 13. I have all the Cds they ever published in different countries, all the Cds their producers published before and after producing for them, all the newspaper-articles I can get, etc. etc and I did their fanclub for many many years. Thank god they know me by now so when I go to a concert I don´t need to pay and they just come to pick me up lol

 

[Naama]

And than there is a swedish country band I´m totally obsessed with since I´m 13. I have all the Cds they ever published in different countries, all the Cds their producers published before and after producing for them, all the newspaper-articles I can get, etc. etc and I did their fanclub for many many years. Thank god they know me by now so when I go to a concert I don´t need to pay and they just come to pick me up lol

So, if you are obsessive enough, it'll pay you (I'm still waiting for that day)

I'm also pretty obsessive with everything I come across and like, and it's always been like that since I'm a child..... If I find a director who makes good movies, I have to see every movie He's done, then I want to see every movie which insperd him, see every movie of those directors and so on. If I find an interesting author it's the same. Starting with vintage clothes, I threw (and still do) all my money out for it. The list could go on and on....

Maybe it's a way to compensate something? Don't know [huh]

Naama

 

[LizzieMaine]

I don't think I'd call it "obsession" as much as I'd call it an intense curiosity about subjects that interest me. Maybe I'm just overcompensating for the lack of a college education, but I've always made a point of learning everything I can possibly learn about subjects I enjoy -- in the pre-internet days I was always expecting to get locked in libraries after closing time, and nowadays my bookmark list covers a huge range of unusual subjects, from the nursing habits of baby pandas to the use of the zero copula in certain Southern regional dialects to reference databases on surviving early sound films.

Very little of this information is of any practical value, I guess, but *interesting things to know about* should never be gagued exclusively by practical value. That's not obsession, that's a sign of a healthy mind!

 

[scotrace]

My family says I am obsessive. I like to say that I can't possibly live long enough to learn everything I want to know.

 

[flat-top]

I think as collectors, which most of us are, we certainly have "obsessive" personalities (because we're ALWAYS searching, right?). But right now, I have tunnel vision. It may have to do with me needing to have something to look foward to--like a goal. The way a little kid looks foward to Christmas maybe.
Luckily for me, my trips to Vegas are never a let down, so it almost seems logical to BE this anxious!

 

[scotrace]

What happens in Vegas...

 

[Fletch]

I get a lot more easily obsessed since the internet age began. It's that much easier to squirrel up knowledge, trade opinions, and acquire objects. For example, I put together an extensive collection of vintage reed instruments primarily by scouring eBay and shopping online.

I also gathered enough information about the German Do X flying boat to develop a jones about it that lasted over a year, then receded, my curiosity largely sated.

 

[Kim_B]

Short answer, yes. I become obsessive with certian things and they hold my interest level for months at a time. I like LizzieMaine's outlook on it:

I don't think I'd call it "obsession" as much as I'd call it an intense curiosity about subjects that interest me.

 

[photobyalan]

Absolutely!

It happens about twice a year, on average. Something will strike my fancy and I will pursue it to the exclusion of most of my other interests. I'll learn all I can about it, think about it constantly, spend money on it, and, nine times out of ten, lose interest in a couple months. Some of the failures: cigars, beer brewing, wine making, gardening, remote control airplanes, sailing, and kitchen remodeling (my kitchen has been 98% done for 5 years now ). Some I have stuck with: hats (although I have gotten over the initial infatuation), photography, cooking, model railroading.

I suspect it is a symptom of Attention Deficit Disorder or something similar.

There is a good side to this, though. When I want to buy something, I tend to get excited about it and do a lot of research and price comparisons. I think I make better buying decisions because of it. It has definitely helped with two houses and several cars as well as planning vacations. I've also retained a lot of the information so it has made me much more well-rounded, although it hasn't made me any better at making small talk, unfortunately.

My current obsession? I want to buy an antique fire truck. With any luck I'll get over it before I actually go through with a purchase, but I'm not optimistic.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Yes, obsessive and sometimes addictive.

I have been a shopaholic in my time, have been obsessed with hats (of course, that is why I am on this site), cowboy boots, action figures, toy horses and riders, rocks and minerals, Godzilla, stuffed bears, and other things that fed what became an addiction to Ebay for a couple of years.

Also have had a gambling addiction, which seems to have subsided. Lucky for me, since I am so obsessive, these things don't last very long and then I flit on to something else.

I am still coping with a food addiction. I have to lose weight for my health, if nothing else. So, have become obsessed with carbohydrates and the kinds of food I stuff into my mouth.

I have noticed that my obsessions have become less intense now that I am retired from what had become a crazy job with the County of San Diego. So, I think that stress might have been a trigger for some of my obsessions, certainly the gambling addiction. And probably Godzilla, too.

karol

 

[GOK]

My family says I am obsessive. I like to say that I can't possibly live long enough to learn everything I want to know.

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

Our wonderful world is choc-full of amazing things, people, places, creatures - is it any wonder we are hungry to learn more?

 

[scotrace]

It happens about twice a year, on average. Something will strike my fancy and I will pursue it to the exclusion of most of my other interests. I'll learn all I can about it, think about it constantly, spend money on it, and, nine times out of ten, lose interest in a couple months.
...There is a good side to this, though. When I want to buy something, I tend to get excited about it and do a lot of research and price comparisons. I think I make better buying decisions because of it. It has definitely helped with two houses and several cars as well as planning vacations. I've also retained a lot of the information so it has made me much more well-rounded, although it hasn't made me any better at making small talk, unfortunately.

Yes! This is me as well.
As a result of some obsessions, I own enough enough factory literature from the 1952 model year to literally equip an Oldsmobile dealership's sales, service and parts departments, and probably enough model specific tools as well. (oh yes - and a full set of dishes from the Olds exec. dining room) Enough kitchen knives, pots, pans, and widgets to start a really fine restaurant. Silver hotel service pieces to set up a swanky hotel... on and on.
A long running fascination is my research on a now-obscure, but once prolific, cigar maker of the early 20th century, the John W. Merriam Co. Some day I'll write the definitive history. Meanwhile... must... gather... trinkets..