The Boy thinks I have a bit of an obsessional problem. He says it to me semi-accusingly and totally straight-faced, not realizing the hypocrisy of his statement, as if he weren't the one who can literally sit in front of the computer for 40 hours straight, coding the night away (and the following morning).
But I agreed with him despite the fact that he is guilty of the same offense. I believe my sister and I are both really obsessional people. And I think we "get" that about one another, which may be one of the reasons we get along so well.
Maybe this comes from our dad, who has the sort of brain that is easily stimulated. He also has an intense ability to concentrate, which has been put to use in an entire range of interests. For example, I think he enjoyed making the dollhouse more than I did, in all honesty. I mean, I liked going to the store and picking out the furniture sets, but painting the wood? Gluing? Not so much. Or at least some days more than others.
Recently, he has taken to making paper-m�ch� 2.5-ft-tall animals. I caught him once at 4.30 am just sitting in the living room, sticking on slips of newspaper and doing his low, breathy whistle he inherited from his father, and I inherited from mine. At that time, he was working on a duck, I do believe. He did it because we already had a frog in a tuxedo (Oliver?), so it only made sense that he be accompanied by a duck in pearls (Lucy). I dunno; it's his thing. And I love it. Maybe he has a new thing now, but at least we know the animals will still sit perched on our living room bookshelves, watching over the family. Until Mom throws them out.
So my sister and I, like our father, both have a tendency to get on bandwagons and ride them like they're the devil's motorcycle. I think Kari took up woodwork at some point. And there was quilting (which I think she still does). Over Christmas she couldn't hold a conversation without also holding knitting needles in her hands. There have been others, more physical in nature (kickboxing? yoga? bicycling...), but she can fill you in on those in the comments.
It's not because we overextend ourselves in too many activities that we're not incredibly intense about the things we do, either. We're just incredibly intense for a short while, then we get bored, and then we move on. This means that we go from obsession to obsession, swearing it's the newest, coolest thing EVER, until the day we realize that, no, actually, it would be super cool to try ice skating! And after ice skating it's CANDLE MAKING! And after candle-making, it's totally time for water aerobics! You get the idea.
But here are a few things that have stayed with me for the last year, miraculously:
- history books
- web design
- Arabic
- listening to news radio
Here are the other current obsessions:
- mediamatters.org
- taking baths with my seaweed additive stuff
- sheep's milk yogurt as part of this whole obsessive detox
- Mobutu
- organic food
- Russian
- stretching
But last night I got to thinking that I should become a nurse. So I might start taking some science classes at night when I can find the time. I'll just squeeze them in sometime between my salsa lessons and my Swahili classes.
Don't forget it's a *barefoot* front in a tuxedo!
And there's been quilting, knitting, voiceover, woodworking, sign language, bicycling, yoga, um.... drawing classes! And that's all just in the past four years. In addition to my jobs (IT, banking, computer programming, bookstoring, and now teaching).
Hee.