2022, Art, Family, home, Mysteries

Can’t…. Stop….

47 Comments

I decided to put the egg table up Sunday afternoon (since I had to skip Blevins due to continuing cough).  This just involves setting up the candle, cutting wax into teeny bits, lining up the kistkas that I’ll need for this year’s design and also making the dyes I’ll be using.   The actual set up takes less than an hour but there’s a 24-hour lag before I can start working on eggs.  The dyes need to be completely cooled and the eggs need to be room temperature.

Yesterday when I woke up at 5:30 (about the norm), it was all I could do to keep myself from going downstairs, firing up the kistkas and getting started.  I know myself well enough to know that the minute I start, I’ll be obsessed until I’m done.  Sitting in that chair for too many hours in a day just makes my back and shoulders hurt so starting at 6 a.m. is not a good idea. 

There are very few things that I get this obsessed about.  In card-making, I don’t have any problem putting things away at a good stopping point.  Jigsaw puzzles can keep me busy for quite some time but I do tend to run out of puzzle steam after 3-4 hours.  Reading is a passion, but except for the rare “I just have to finish this book right now” situation, I can stop when I need to.   (I do occasionally have to throw YA out of my room if I’m down to the last few chapters of something I’m really into and I was once late to work!)   But once I start the first egg, the decks need to be cleared because I want to keep going and going.  In prior years (before retirement) I used to take the egg week off from work because I’d end up sitting at the table until 2 and 3 in the morning.  Several years ago when I didn’t take the week off, I ended up pulling an all-nighter; that was ugly.

Waiting until 7:30 to go downstairs was a good idea.  I ate all my meals at the table today and except for an hour when there was a tradesman here measuring stuff, I worked straight through to 8:15 p.m.  Then I hobbled upstairs and headed straight to the ibuprofen bottle!  I figure, based on yesterday’s work, I’ll have four more days before I’m done. 

What do you obsess about?

47 thoughts on “Can’t…. Stop….”

  4. Well, there’s getting Husband to drink enough water, and eat the right foods.

    One definition for the verb obsess: preoccupy or fill the mind of (someone) continually, intrusively, and to a troubling extent;
    be preoccupied with or constantly worrying about something.

    On the 3rd try yesterday, a friend helped me install a new printer. I can now stop obsessing about that, and start to worry about what kind of new computer I need to replace this dinosaur…

    Also yesterday, I bowed out of a commitment I had made that involved several Monday nights away, and being counted upon for a folk dance performance. I just cannot make that kind of commitment right now. The relief that comes from this is palpable…

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  6. Obsessions R Us…
    I’m always open to new obsessions. Robin is as well. They lead you into new realms.

    I’ve alluded frequently to my obsession with aspects of the nineteenth century. My collections of books are one way I express that obsession. Unlike the typical aging white male’s fixation with the American Civil War, which interests me only peripherally, my interests have extended into the various communal “utopian” experiments, the spiritualism movement, theater, certain individuals (none of whom were politicians or generals) and most recently, humor. The humor has proved interesting especially, not because it’s side-slapping funny, but it’s topical at a level that contemporary readers could recognize. When I say humor, I’m not talking for the most part about joke books, although I have a few collections of witticisms. Most of my collection is narrative or commentary or satire. Sometimes it crosses into folklore and tall tales. It’s a way of reading history at ground level.

    I’ve been known to obsess pursuing genealogical puzzles—at least Robin thinks it’s obsessive. I maintain and build and refine trees for both my side of the family and hers and have been known to spend many hours over many days trying to pin down a family line.

    My set of images from a trip through Europe in 1904. Since I put selections from the set online, certain images have been featured in newspaper articles in Germany and England, I’ve gotten many requests to use images for books and television programs, I’ve sold prints of the images in various venues and one image was even used on the label of a British gin. The one thing I haven’t been able to determine is the identity of the photographer, though I’ve pursued every avenue I could imagine for the last twenty-five years. It’s an ongoing obsession.

    Robin also entertains serial obsessions, most but not all of them relating to fiber arts. Currently she is obsessing about vintage Japanese textiles and has been acquiring examples to use in various sewing projects. The textiles bring with them a complex terminology pertaining to types of fiber and weaving techniques as well as the names of the various traditional patterns. Of course I’m drawn into that as well because it interests me and so I can be conversant with her on the intricacies of her samples.

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    1. Spiritualism is fascinating. I suppose you know it still exists as the Spiritism religion in Brazil? I’m much more interested in the magical revival of that period and, to a lesser extent, Theosophy, but those various philosophies interacted and influenced each other in interesting ways (e.g., the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn prohibited its students from mediumship, as one of the purposes of magical training was training the will). As for 19th-century humor, I’m afraid most of the time I can’t figure out why something is supposed to be funny. The past really is another country…

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      1. I have several books that pertain to Mme Blavatsky and the Theosophist movement as well.

        Spiritualism persists in this country as well, as evidenced by the town of Lilydale in western New York. https://www.lilydaleassembly.org/
        There’s a mediumistic outpost in Wisconsin, Wonowoc, that is affiliated somehow with Lilydale.

        When reading topical nineteenth century humor it’s necessary to understand the context to understand the humor. Often that means extensive research into the references. That’s why I contend it’s history at ground level.

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        2. It’s possible that the one book I’ve read about Madame B came from you. Although I might’ve come to it from another angle, it does seem like something you might have lent me at some point.

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        3. Madame Blavatsky’s Baboon? Funny, I never considered the Baboon reference before. The book is especially rich because it ties in characters like Gurdjieff, Rudolf Steiner and Annie Besant to the Blavatsky story.

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  7. I guess the only thing I come close to obsessing about is whatever book I’m currently writing. Using BiR’s definition, I’m preoccupied, but I wouldn’t say “troubled.” I feel more like I’m challenged to improve the book, so I’m always thinking about how I can make it better-tossing ideas around, liking some, laughing at others(!).

    Chris in Owatonna

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  8. I am sort of obsessing about not obsessing. Not joking but serious. Trying to keep my life more in balance. 3 of last 4 days when I left her Sandra got emotional. So on patio trying to ignore very noisy construction project. Cannot find music this morning to help me.

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      1. Yeah, this is a good goal.
        My mom lays awake at night “thinking” and doesn’t sleep much. She kind of obsesses about random stuff… but she says ‘What else am I going to do?’

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    2. I used to obsess about things but I really don’t anymore. I don’t plan well either. Sometimes I have one thing on my calendar and it just feels so inconvenient to me! I kind of just do what I feel like doing now, which is kind of nice. When I’m at work I obsess about how I wish things were being done the way I think they should be. And recycling. At home I don’t really obsess about anything. If I’m reading a good book I will obsess about it and I’ll read almost constantly until it’s done but that’s only if it’s a book that really has me in its grip. I’ve had trouble with the social and political problems we’re experiencing in this country. I was getting a little depressed and freaked out about it for awhile. I’ve had to stop listening to certain news stories and stay grounded in the present in order to combat the terror and panic I was starting to feel. Daily meditation and gratitude has helped. Being around like-minded people helps too.

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  9. Went last night to the celebration for Peter Ostroushko at the Minneapolis Women’s Club. What a wonderful event provoking such good memories for all of us Trail Baboons. Claudia Schmidt, Prudence Johnson, Sedra Bistodeau, Kevin Kling, Marian Moore, Greg Brown, Dean McGraw, Mary Duschene, Rich Dworsky, Dan Chouinard, and others were in fine voice with exquisite playing. Appreciated the articulate and loving comments of many including Marge and Anna Ostroushko. So impressed by the mandolin and fiddle program Peter established at Mac Phail, headed by mandolin virtuoso Richard Kriehn. Hopefully lots of $$ raised for aid to people of Ukraine. Check out the podcasts Peter created after his stroke about his history as a musician on his website peterostroushko.com

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    2. Good for you that you were there in person, Jenny. I watched the live stream, and it was such a great line-up. What an emotional tour de force it was. I can imagine that there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

      I attempted to post the link to the performance here on the trail, but don’t think it worked very well, though BiR was able to both see the link and click on it. Not sure what the issue was. At any rate, I watched the whole thing and was very moved.

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  10. Rise and Shine Baboons,

    I am back from my Aunt’s Memorial Service. It was an intense emotional experience. Right now I am obsessed with memories of her.

    Gotta go to work now. Just sticking my head in the Baboon window this morning.

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  12. Husband obsesses a lot about food and what we are going to cook on the weekend, how we will use leftovers, etc. He has diabetes and always seems to be hungry, so perhaps that has something to do with it.

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  13. i am a vidiot
    i get sucked into my screen and am gone
    one of the 900 areas of interest grab me and the links lead to links that lead to links and where was i

    i went to ely a week or two ago with a long awaited hang out with my son spencer and they must have put up a tower because we had connectivity that allowed me to do iphone stuff

    big mistake

    won’t happen again

    famous last words

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  15. Come to think of it, I’m obsessed with many things. I forgot.
    Being Green. There are so many things we should all be doing more of, or less of. Lip service is no good.

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  17. Someone on Facebook posted a meme that says: “You’ve been kidnapped. Two hours later you are returned because you can’t stop talking about _______?”

    Responses included: dogs, air fryers, politics.

    Liked by 1 person

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