A little about my interests

Hope said:

My interests are:

The brain and neurology

Learning more about autism

Nutrition

Culture/psychology/philosophy

Miyazaki and studio ghibli films

Good films in general

Words

Literary and film criticism

Feminism

Disability studies

History of ideas

I love anime too, especially studio ghibli. My favourites are Howls moving castle, Kiki's delivery service, and Laputa the castle in the sky. I am also a huge startrek fan(the original series and next gen and voyager). I am a keen gardener, with special interest in plant viruses(i know its weired right). I am a hoarder, and cannot throw anything away that i feel attached to. I play the guitar, record my own songs, used to write stories a lot, i like art stuff, the norm really.

I admired Spock because he usually seemed impervious to the many slights given by other crew members, in particular Dr. McCoy, who seemed to take delight in making venomous remarks about him. Mind you, Spock was only half Vulcan so sometimes the nasty remarks got through!

On a more serious note though, I did think that Mr. Spock was possibly used as a role model for (especially) young people about the best way to deal with problems in life in terms of being mature and using reason and logic to solve their problems. I think the producers would have been very well aware of this and the regulatory bodies at the time would have also, and no doubt approved.

Spock was one of my favourite characters too, and, yes, Leonard Nimoy was a fantastic actor in the role. I could always identify with Spock, because I always felt as though I was different, and trying to fit in with people that I have very little in common with, so far as how we perceive the world.

I, too, have seen the original Star Trek series quite a few times and I was always fascinated by the 'Spock' character. Leanord Nimoy did a great job in portyraying the quintessential calculating, cold semi-human aspie who was able to focus on a problem using logic and analysis.

I, too, have seen the original Star Trek series quite a few times and I was always fascinated by the 'Spock' character. Leanord Nimoy did a great job in portyraying the quintessential calculating, cold semi-human aspie who was able to focus on a problem using logic and analysis.

Thank you buffy,

I have made a list of the reasons that make me believe I am on the autistic spectrum too. One of the main reasons that makes me believe it is my sensory problems. I have a great deal of problems with being around constant loud noise/loud conversation, as well as with bright or flashing light, and this makes me think that my problems are not caused by anxiety or depression.

I have problems maintaining eye contact as well, especially if i don't know the person well, or I am not interested in what they are saying.

Hopefully, when I do go to see my GP to be referred for an assessment they will recognise some of the aspects of autism in my behaviour.

Thanks again for your advice, it is really appreciated.

Hi

I thought I wouldn't be listened to as well, I thought they'd think it was a ridiculous suggestion that I thought I might have autism. I suppose I thought this because my son is diagnosed with severe autism and I don't have anything like the issues he has. He is non-verbal and also has SLD, but the more I looked up about ASD, the more I thought it sounded similar to my life, especically on this forum! What helped me and gave me the confidence to go to the GP and ask about it was making a list of all the reasons and ways I considered relevant to me possibly being autistic. The GP made a comment in the referral letter saying "she has good eye contact", whereas most of the time I'm looking at the bridge of someone's nose or just slightly glaze over so I'm not looking directly into their eyes, but my eye contact isn't terrible. Not that this is the definitive diagnostic tool for autism, my son has excellent eye contact! Anyway, I was nervous too, but just went for it, don't know if that helps 

Hello again. I don't have a diagnosis, yet, no. I have to make an appointment with my GP surgery soon to discuss what I told my neurologist. I must admit that I am a little nervous about it, because I am worried that I will not be listened to, and I will be told that it is something else other than ASD. I hope your assessment goes well and you get the answers that you wish for.

Hi again Paddy, i'm not sure which language is my favourite, I like listening to all of them, I like the way Chinese is about intonation as well as pronounciation and I found Japanese also really fascinating when I learn it at beginners level. 

Do you have a diagnosis? I'm going for a full assessment soon, I've just had my initial assessment and not sure how I feel about it.

Hi Buffy, thanks for sharing your interests with me. Which language is your favourite? I love the sound of French and Italian, but also the sound of Japanese and Chinese fascinate me, although I don't speak any of the last two. I was quite good at French in school and have tried to take it up again, but, like you, I have a lack of people to practice with, and I'm not outgoing enough to approach people on the internet.

I always wait for the full box-set to come out of a programme that I want to watch, as well, because I hate waiting for things too.

I am usually quite good at working out what is going to happen in a film, but, I have a tendency to point it out, and that means I'm not always popular with people I am watching them with.

I can defintely relate to you not liking surprises, because I don't like any kind of change to my routine whatsoever, which is probably something I need to work on.

Paddy said:

Hi everyone,

I think that one of the nicest parts of this community is this section, so I thought I'd share some of my interests with you all.

My interests presently are:

History and mythology from ancient Greece and Rome,

Writing fiction(although I haven't really written anything for a little while)

Cats, I LOVE them, they're so wonderfully quiet and, just as importantly, not in your face all the time

Starwars is life, I even liked the sequels, especially The Phantom Menace and The Revenge of the Sith. Darth Maul was woefully underused, sadly. I am so looking forward to seeing the new films, too. Can't wait for them to come out on DVD.

Star Trek to a lesser degree, although there hasn't really been a new series for quite some time to maintain my interest, and I have seen all the original and later series many, many times, and, of course, the films.

Game of Thrones is a brilliant series, and I can't wait for season 6 to come out on Amazon.

The Walking Dead is a great favourite of mine too, I own all of the first five series, and am looking forward to getting season 6 on Amazon.

I also take a keen interest in science(although I have not studied it to any great degree), Autism, which I have obsessively studied over the last few months and, finally, because I am disabled I also take a keen interest in my health, although that probably isn't a positive thing because that interest does via into hypochondriac territory, sadly.

Just a little about me, and I look forward to reading about people with other interests, and especially people with interests similar to mine if anyone would like to share.

Hi

I'm going for an assessment next week, so as yet I'm undiagnosed, but I wanted to share my interests with you too as some of them are similar

My interests are (in no particular order)

kite flying

science (biology, chemistry, biochemistry, toxicology, astrophsyics)

knitting, making clothes

psychology of murder and mental health

Autism

Playing the violin 

Learning languages (although have lack of people to practice with)

learning new words

Austism

Understanding metaphors and their origins, as I'm quite literal and have trouble understanding what people mean when they use metaphors as I'm visualising the metaphor and then lose the thread of the converstation

I loved Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones, but I prefer watching the whole lot at once as I'm not good at waiting! I also prefer to watch programmes / films I've already seen as I don't like not knowing what's going to happen, also I'm not very good at guessing what is going to happen so most outcomes are a surprise and I don't like surprises very much!

I also love cats but I'm living in rented accommodation at the moment and can't have one :-(

I think that's the main reason I used to play music, Trogluddite, mostly for the enjoyment and to relax. The main problem was that I always took it too seriously, and then became frustrated that I couldn't get to a good enough level, quick enough. 

All the best to you too.

Hi Paddy,

I get what you mean about playing the same music riffs again and again, I'm the same with that.  Oddly enough, I could read music at school when I played trombone in the orchestra, but seem to have completely forgotten how to do it.  I do get frustrated with my lack of music theory sometimes - I feel like I always gravitate to one of a handful of keys and chords that my fingers seem to find most comfortable.

It depends what your motives are for making music, I think.  I did used to play in bands, but not for a couple of decades now (too much socialising involved before and after gigs).

Nowadays, I just like to play as a form of "active meditation".  I can never relax or sit still enough for the usual meditation and mindfulness exercises.  But I find when playing music that I can get into a "zone" where I get to leave my wordly woes behind for an hour to two.  It's very therapeutic even if the range of what I play is somewhat limited.

If you're into words, and with an interest in far-eastern languages, I can heartily recommend a blog called "LanguageLog".  The contributors are linguists, both amateur and professional, with quite a few specialising in the many Chinese languages.  The posts where they analyse how scrambled "Chinglish" translations happen are a particular fascination for me - they're an insight into a different form of cultural thinking as much as the linguistics very often.

All the best.

Hello Hope and Trogluddite, and thanks for posting. My main interest philosophy-wise is stoicism, although I wouldn't say I'm the world's best stoic, by any means, I let pressure get to me a bit too much for that, but I am learning all the time to cope with my problems, so that's something.

I haven't seen any Miyazaki or studio Ghibli films, but, looking on Amazon video there's one called Isao Takahata And His Tale Of The Princess Kaguya which I will watch soon, I am always open to new interests.

I have always loved music, too. I have tried many instruments over the years, but, since I seem to have a block where reading music is concerned, I haven't got very far, but, playing the harmonica, at least, I can play almost anything by ear. The trouble is playing from memory, then, for me, and I tend to play little bits and pieces over and over again. I have always wanted to learn bass, but, being careful with my amount of interests now, I don't really want to take up another interest that I will be incredibly focused on for a while, then quickly lose interest in. That's the way it seems to go for me.

I love words, too, so much. If I encounter a new one I just have to look it up, and always try my best to remember it. I also have a love of european languages, and have studied french a little bit, but, with my other interests, and not finding it easy to travel/talk to people, it always tends to fall by the wayside for me, sadly. I also love the sound of asian languages, like Chinese and Japanese, languages which have very little similarity to european languages. I learned Esperanto for a while, too, but sadly gave that up for lack of anyone to speak it with. It is a wonderful idea for a language, not wholly sure it would work in practice, but the idea behind it is wonderful.

It's nice to meet someone else on here who loves cats as much as I do. I don't have my own, either, but, like you, I give treats to my next door neighbour's cat, and I love it when she comes to sit by me and just enjoy some nice, quiet, peaceful time together, without the need to constantly talk.

Thanks again for your comments, and it was nice to hear from you.

Almost anything to do with science will get my attention - all my life I have enjoyed nothing more than stuffing my head full of facts from encyclopaedias and science books.  I also love words and figures of speech - I used to really struggle with taking them too literally, so I made it my mission when I was younger to collect as many as possible, and to know where they originated.

I'm a keen photographer.  I used to paint and draw a lot too, but not so much these days.  Almost all of my photography is of the natural world - everything from birds of prey down to close-ups of bugs, fungi and lichens.

I've played bass guitar for nearly 30 years now, plus a bit of drumming, and rather ham-fisted keyboard playing.  I use my PC as my "recording studio" (though I'm old enough to remember editing tape with a razor blade).  This is my best escape these days - playing music sends me into a trance where I can forget all of my worldly woes.

I also enjoy computer programming - mostly tools and sound effects for my virtual music studio.  I'm reasonably competent at Ruby and C++, and can get by in a few other languages so long as I have the documents to hand.

And I'm another cat lover.  Sadly, I don't have one at the moment because of my living arrangements.  But I say "hello" to every cat I meet, and fuss them if they'll let me - more often than I do to people, I'm pretty sure!

My interests are:

The brain and neurology

Learning more about autism

Nutrition

Culture/psychology/philosophy

Miyazaki and studio ghibli films

Good films in general

Words

Literary and film criticism

Feminism

Disability studies

History of ideas

Oh, and I almost forgot, my greatest passion is general knowledge, and quiz shows like The Chase and Eggheads.