And two years later he published Misery.
I’m a serial obsessive. When I was a kid (10 to 16) it was horses and fantasy (at that period it was Tolkien, C.S.Lewis, and some oddballs like Mervyn Peake and E.R.Eddison). Later it became horticulture, dog training, fiction writing, classical voice, keeping aquaria, and a good bit more. Always a total absorption, research, practice, etc. And they fade, some permanently, and some to resume in another form. But very rarely celebrities, authors, games, or films. Mostly things I do, not consume.
Right now I’m back to flower and vegetable gardening after a hiatus of a more than a decade caused by burnout frustration with a horrible site, and after forty years, horses again. But fiction writing is gone, and so, it appears, may be dog training (I’m not talking about basic obedience, which for me is automatic). I’ll never keep aquaria again – I had a large room filled with them, from 150 gallons on down, all fully planted in an era when no one knew how to keep aquatic plants alive indoors. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake broke them all, and I never went back to it.
This is all fine with me. I can only pay attention to so much at one time. Some things run their course. There’s always more to learn, to become skilled at, to spend time with. I won’t run out.
You sound like you may be a passion junkie! I can relate to all your hobbies, I never really lost interest in anything it was just that something else would come along that would grab my attention. I always felt a little guilty when walking away from something to get into something else. The one passion that has never left me and was with me as early as I can remember is my fascination with the power of passion. I worked it into every aspect of my life. I would enjoy interviewing you sometime if you ever feel up to it.
Really? Perhaps you should PM me about this.
Too many things… Flying was my passion, but I lost my medical. I was a serious martial artist when I was young, but haven’t practiced in years. I love astronomy, but hauling the telescope out on cold winter evenings stopped being fun a few years ago, and I rarely do it now.
I used to be a car enthusiast and cared a lot about new models, horsepower ratings, etc. Now I drive an old Escape and don’t care. I was seriously into photography for years, but my iPhone is about the only thing I use these days.
I started programming when I was in Jr High School, started a software company in the 1980’s, and always had software projects on the go, even after my day job as a software engineer was over. I haven’t written a line of code in two years.
I was a professional poker player for a few years, wrote articles about poker, played for fun all the time. I haven’t played a hand in probably five years, and don’t seem to care.
I hate to say it, but it looks like I’ve given up on most of the things I loved. Some out of necessity, but some because I just lost the desire to keep doing them.
I’ve dropped several dear pastimes due to health and aging reasons (in my late 60s). I no longer barefoot ski due to the danger from 40mph falls. Stopped slalom skiing as it was causing me back problems. I gave up flight instructing due to a heart condition, and eventually decided I’d pushed the odds in small planes enough. So I never tried regaining my medical.
For the time being, I’ve also given up hunting. It’s changing into a sport for the rich, instead of something for those of modest means. Also, the club I’d been in for 20+ years began admitting women. No objection to women hunters, but one of the attractions was a place and time for men to gather. Since this is the SDMB, let me be clear: I voted to admit the women, as they met all the requirements in our bylaws. But personally I preferred a group of just guys to hang out with.
I’ve joined a regular poker group, but unlike @Sam_Stone above, I’m a long ways from being a pro. It’s not something I “love” though, but maybe in time.
I am very much this way, too. I have heard it’s common with ADHD. Although the periods are shorter. Like: “For the next three weeks I’m going to learn everything I can about Mt. Everest.” And then it’s on to something else. But I usually do come back around with hobbies, maybe after a year or two. With writing, though, it was always writing, all the time. Everything else was a secondary love. I think I still have it in me in some form, but the prototypical “writers life” doesn’t fit my life right now.
Writing, like any art form (and plenty of other things) requires selfishness. When I was writing novels I spent six or more hours a day locked in a small room without a phone or internet and everything I needed to take care of, just had to twist in the breeze.
I’m with you! I could hardly wait for the new King book to come out. I’d spend the extra on the hardbound because I couldn’t wait for it to come out in paperback. Or the new book would be on my Christmas list. After I discovered him in my teens, I devoured everything he wrote (except for the Tower/Gunslinger books). I had boxes and boxes of his books that I saved after reading, thinking I could never part with them. About 5 years ago I sold them all in a rummage sale. It didn’t bother me in the least. I’ve started and quit reading most of his newer books. I don’t even know which was the last one I actually read all the way through.
[quote=“TruCelt, post:16, topic:992548”]I was watching when Joe Theismann’s leg broke, and I had seen Riggins at events after back pain ended his career. But when I learned that these men were losing themSELVES, that their brains were gone, that’s when I could not, in good conscience, watch another game, ever.
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Joe Theisman’s brain isn’t gone. I had dinner with him about a month ago and had a very long conversation with him. His cognitive reasoning is better than your average 74 year old. This may not be what you meant, but that’s how it reads.
another one here, with the (moderate) sequencial addictions … mine seem to last a couple of years (1-3) and I do a lot of reading up, and tend to spend a lot of time on msg boards …
stuff I had done was: golf, 4x4, digital photography, music and electric guitar, gardening, motorcycles, bike-riding and others that escape me now …
I am lucky to have learned early on, to keep my wallet close to my heart and not spend big amounts of $$$ for those hobbies.
Lately, the last 5-7 years I have not really found anything of mayor interest for me (I still am very intelectually curious) … which is odd(ish) and makes me feel a bit empty or dis-passionate. But as LSL said, that might come with age and maybe my body (albeit quite slim and healthy) and my brain tell me something … there is def. some winding down going on
a similar thing in my professional life: I have culminated in my career and become very efficient at what I am doing … and I am lucky to WFH most of the time … but … something very similar is happening … not a lot of passion, just running of the mill, with some self-ass-kicking to do a bit more (to fulfill my own high standards that are higher than those of my environment) … overall highly regarded, but I feel I could easily do more … but then comes the Q. “whatfor?”
so overall, I am a bit disoriented and lost about that lukewarm-ness in my mid 50ies
I didn’t read it that way, although I see that you can.
Planted.aquaria was what gave me insight into the changing and giving up of interests/hobbies. For 15 years or so I progressed from a single 10g up to several 70s and 90s. Then, for whatever reason, it started to seem more like work. I slowly got rid of tak after tank (made easier by a couple of moves), but had the hardest time getting rid of my last 30g at home and a 3g at work. I remember talking with my wife, and she observed that it is OK to have your interests change. And it was great that I was really into something for 10-20 years - that doesn’t mean I have to be interested in it all of my life, or that I couldn’t get just as interested in something else.
Just recently my wife asked if I had any interest in starting up an aquaria again. And occasionally I see pics of my old tanks and am awed by how beautiful they were. But I’m not interested in the actual effort. Now it’s making music.
Not at all. It doesn’t generally happen to quarterbacks. I am talking about the difference between knowing about injuries like his, and finding out that multiple concussions were occurring and people’s brains were literally being destroyed. And that it is a common occurrence in the profession.
I know you said “generally.” ISTR hearing Jim McMahon is in pretty rough shape.
I actually got a bit of a break today as my son is going to finally be in a good, supportive place that gives me the mental headspace and emotional bandwidth to create. I attended an online writers sprint today and wrote for over an hour for the first time in at least a year. I’m hoping to make it a daily habit with the group.
I love aquariums but I could never do that upkeep myself. I have recurring nightmares (actual dreams) that I’m neglecting aquariums full of fish. I stop cleaning their tanks and they start dying… Horrible. I wonder if anyone else has these dreams? Do aquarium owners have these dreams?
I worked at a pet shop for a bit under a year. The owners were scum and had all kinds of scammy things going on.
Any dead fish I netted had to be bagged and put in the freezer. They had insurance in case of power outages. If I opened and saw evidence of a power failure, I was supposed to hurriedly toss dead fish into tanks, for insurance fraud. Never happened while I worked there.
(The owners sold pure puppy mill dogs. They got them dirt cheap, flown in from Oklahoma. During a high heat period he picked up puppies at the airport and drove them back to the store. He was hungry on the way home so he stopped at a restaurant. While he ate a leisurely meal, the pups died from the heat. They were guaranteed 72 hours so he didn’t care.)
That is appalling! Those poor puppies.
I can’t. I didn’t read that.
With sports it would be NASCAR. When they started driving 2 doors cars when only 4 doors were sold at the dealership, I realized the “stock car” was no longer part of the National Association of STOCK CAR auto racing. No longer interesting to me.
On a more somber note is my decision to quit volunteering my time, money, or items to local charities/groups to help the economically disadvantaged. Background- I grew up in a lower class (maybe poor?) household and was told by my parents to appreciate any help we received as the old saying says “beggars can’t be choosers”.
This isn’t meant to be political, but the abuse of the system and unappreciativeness of the recipients got to be too much for me to handle.
The final straw(s) happened during Covid when supplies were tight for helping. Volunteering at the local food bank and a lady was upset that we didn’t have name brand Cheerios and the store brand wasn’t good enough for her family. Or our church’s Thanksgiving meal for the community and a people were upset (some quite upset) we didn’t serve pie like previous years because we had to use to-go containers. I saw a few others open their container and only seeing a slice of turkey breast, a scoop of mashed potatoes, and a scoop of corn threw the container in the trash on the way out. Then during the toy giveaway for needy kids I saw the same toys we just gave away being sold Facebook marketplace a few days later. Just too depressing to see all that work either thrown away or people’s expectations/attitudes of the help they received wasn’t up to their standards.
As I near retirement and will have more daytime hours available I do plan on volunteering as a “hospital ambassador” helping patients find where they need to go or assisting them when they arrive or are leaving. I feel I will be helping the people who truly need the help.