13 Things I've Been Focused On (In My Life)

Hello, all! Welcome to this week's Thursday Thirteen!

I thought I'd share something a little different this week. Well, maybe it's different, maybe not. Those of you who know me well can make the call better than I can.

You see, I have a tendency to get really focused/fixated on things. Some would say I become fanatical or obsessed, but I disagree. "I'm not obsessed, I'm focused" I say. It's all relative, anyway.

So, I present to you:

Thirteen Things 
I Have Been Extremely Focused On In My Life
(at one time or another)

1) Monty Python's Flying Circus. Yes, it's true. I've been fascinated by the British troupe of comedians since I was roughly eight years old (God bless PBS). Michael Palin was one of my first British crushes (and there have been many, many of those), as some of you know.

I watched the show obsessively and saw "Live at the Hollywood Bowl" so many times when I was twelve that my mother feared for my mental health. I seem to have come through it all unscathed, and I've managed to drag my sweet hubby into the fanaticism along with me. Bwhaahaaahaaa!

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2) Duran Duran. Also when I was twelve. And another thing which worried my mother half to death. I was obsessed with Simon le Bon (C'mon, he was delish, no?) at the time. Never mind that he was literally more than twice my age (only just), I found him dreamy beyond words.

Duran Duran's show in Charleston, West Virginia was the first concert I ever attended, too. Heh. Oh, and I had the poster pictured above. So did my sister. (She loved/loves John Taylor.)

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3) The Beatles. I collected everything I could get my hands on: posters, books, badges, photos - you name it, I wanted it. From age thirteen onward, I was obsessed with the Beatles (John Lennon, especially). Music in general was an obsession, but my musical interests had a tendency to merge one into the other. Interest in one artist frequently led to interest in another.

Because I had all of Paul McCartney's albums, I soon came to know the work of the next artist(s).

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4) Pink Floyd and David Gilmour. Because I loved the Beatles, I kept reading about Pink Floyd. My sister was a fan, and I liked some of their songs. When I was fifteen, Pink Floyd regrouped with Gilmour as the nominal leader. A Momentary Lapse of Reason came out when I was sixteen. I loved it. And I developed my long-standing crush on David Gilmour soon thereafter.

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Dude. I'm actually on this DVD. Seriously. The little white blur over Michael Kamen's shoulder when the camera has the audience in the background? That's me. In my "I am GilmourWhore#1" t-shirt. (I had a website... Oh, nevermind... long story.)

5) Kate Bush. A natural progression. Gilmour produced her first album after helping her to get a record deal. I became totally obsessed with her bizarre, quirky - and innovative - style. I still love her.

One of the best pencil sketches I ever did was a copy of this cover, too.

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6) Music, of course. In case you hadn't noticed, a lot of my obsessions were focused on music. I wanted to try my hand at producing music, as well as writing it and playing it. I never managed any of it. Though I still remember a few melodies I wrote for my poems. So, I kinda wrote some songs. Arguably.

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7) Guitars. Guitarists. Where does one end and the other begin? Does it matter?

The photo here shows a Peavey T-15. I had one of these - the body was red, the scratchplate cream. I loved that thing (and I wrote those melodies I mentioned above on it). I played all the time. Plugged in, unplugged, in my dreams.

Never really did learn how to play, though. I lack the dexterity in my fingers and hands. Pity.

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8) Cycling. Throughout it all, this interest burbled beneath the surface to break through from time to time. When I was sixteen, it started to grow - along with my cousin's ambitions to be a pro cyclist. It went underground for a short while, though, only to re-emerge when I made it to Italy, where there was real interest in the sport (and not just because of Mr. Armstrong).

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Seriously, though; do you blame me?

I mean, come on!!!

Okay. Flash forward a few years, and you get:

9) Queer as Folk (USA version). From the very first episode, I was hooked. HOOKED! I thought the direction looked familiar (it was directed by Russell Mulcahy of Duran Duran vids fame), I thought the guys were hot, I thought the storyline was over-the-top-fanTASTIC!

Since it concluded after I moved to Italy, I watched the whole series on DVD.


Twice.

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10) Jarvis Cocker. As much for his sense of humor and his sense of style as for his music and lyrics (which are AMAZING). A friend introduced me to the work of Pulp, and I was fixated on their lanky frontman in no time.

He inspired the novel which brought the hubby and me together.

'nuff said.

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11) Photography. I started learning it in high school. I'm still learning. I've loved it all through the years. One day, I'll actually get pretty good at it, I think. ;-)

This is one of my lucky shots from September, 2006, on Lago Maggiore, Italy.

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12) The X-Files.  I was a total geek for this show. Again, I collected all I could get my hands on. The videos. The DVDs. The magazines. The comic books. I even had the Mulder and Scully action figures for the first movie and put them on my writing desk. Inspiration, of course.

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13) Doctor Who. Starting when I was a kid, I loved the Tom Baker version of the Doctor. Last Christmas, since I was in the States, I watched the Doctor Who marathon on BBC America.

Love. It.

And one of my students was a dead ringer for the Tenth Doctor. Uncanny!

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*Bonus*! 14) Writing. Throughout it all, I've been writing. There were times when inspiration took a hike and left me high and dry, but that's fine. I kept slogging away until my Muse returned.

Now I'm making a teensy bit of headway, so I'll have to keep it up, I reckon. Heh.

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Yeah, I know.


















Keep going...





















And remember...

Let the winds take you wherever they may... ;-)

Ciao!