May 9, 2011

ONE AT A TIME PLEASE

I'm what you might call a fixatater. I fixate. And the level of my fixatatedness has grown dramatically in the last few years, as I'm sure Aunt Chrissy would be only too happy to tell you if you took her out for a nice cool adult beverage.

Fixatatedness means that I am completely incapable of just viewing/reading/seeing/thinking something banal or simple without turning it into a "thing". Or, as Aunt Chrissy likes to call them "one of my obsessions".

We were riding in the car a few weeks ago and she said "Your obsessions just kill me." I, of course, took that to mean that she was bemused by all of my shenanigans and that if it weren't for the joy that was me, she would be a lonely and dour old spinster with a dog. (Oh wait. That's me.)

But what she REALLY meant was..."Your obsessions are causing me to lose sleep, spend money, elevate my blood pressure, and want to stab you repeatedly in the face with something sharp." I guess by "killing" she meant actual bodily demise and NOT comic enjoyment of the wonder that is me.

I'm not sure where it all went off the rails exactly, but I can tell you that fixatating is exhausting and seems to manifest itself (with me anyway) in several different areas. Let's take a walk down Crazy Lane, shall we?

1) The damn TeeVee.
I blame HBO and Showtime for this one. It all started innocently enough with The Sopranos many many moons ago. Once I saw my first episode, I was hooked and just had to watch every single moment of every single storyline of every single season over and over and over again. I became a "super fan" and could answer questions about character development and plot that even David Chase His Very Self didn't know. Once The Sopranos was over, I started with The West Wing. Then it was Sex and The City. Then it was anything by the documentary film maker Ken Burns. (What can I say? I had a little PBS in the midst of all of my smut and such.) I don't need revisit the Tudor fixatation. You got to read about THAT little period of my history in between the two days a month that I actually wrote about something other than dog pee and Johnathan Reese Myers.

Now it would seem that we're in a whole Nurse Jackie, The Borgias, and, as of 2am this morning, Game of Thrones mode. Yup. I'm a mess. Can't keep all of the story lines straight and am now waiting for Edie Falco to wave from the Pope Mobile as she conquers one of the Seven Kingdoms.

2) Stitching
I was on a roll there for a little while and was knocking out the finishes like nobody's business. Remember when I was doing that? Do you suppose we could call that "The Good Old Days In Which Our Heroine Had Half A Freeking Brain And Didn't Feel Compelled To Stitch Every Single Thing In Her Stash"? There are 14 projects all kitted up and ready to go in Ye Olde Stitchy Organizer thingie, but for the last 48 hours I've obsessed over these two:



The top piece is ready for some alphabets, and the bottom piece (which I am just LOVING, by the way) has a few more hours and we can call that block finished. (Oh, please excuse the sashing issues...I will need to go back for a little restoration once the block is completed). The fixatating here is that I want to stitch both of these projects AT THE SAME TIME, and no matter how hard I set my very little brain to it, I just cannot figure out how to do so.

3) The state of the union. I'm pretty sure that this happens to me every year, but I am feeling compelled to tear every single room of my house apart, purge the living daylights out of it, and then clean it to with an inch of its life. Fortunately, this mood passes very quickly, and I am able to climb back into the Happy Chair with the remote and the ort jar and all becomes well once again.

Fixatating is not for amateurs or the weak of heart, I tell ya. You have to be prepared to sit at the kitchen table at 4am, writing lists upon lists upon lists of everything you want to accomplish. You'll write and write and write, and your lists will soon organize themselves into categories like "Stuff that I had better do before the walls close in on me" and "Errands that I need to run or Stewey is going to run away from home". The good thing about being a fixatater with lists is that you can spend more time writing them and then re-writing them than you do on the actual stuff that you've written and then re-written on them, so although nothing gets done, you save a lot of energy and improve your penmanship all at the same time.

So that's all that's rattling around in my brain today. Throw in the fact that I also fixatate over this here blog, geopolitical affairs, thunderstorms, and learning how to make pie crust, and you've got yourself one very big episode of crazy for the next Oprah Winfrey Presents special. (9pm Eastern, 8pm Central).

Happy Monday! I hope that whatever you're fixatated on is exactly what you want it to be! Woo Hoo!

13 comments:

  1. Oh can I relate!! I'm trying very hard to stitch from my stash. So today - I got out several kits and things kitted and took pictures and made lists in a neat thing called Evernote. It lets you add tags, so I have wips, ufos, to stitch, etc. It's fun and good for us people that fixate! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Straight jackets have many fine uses, one of which confines the wearer to inaction, and makes more time for real concentration. Aunt Chrissy may need notification.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have not been a fan of Stars, but yours may turn me. I like your colors.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Don't fixatate on making the perfect crust. I tried and tried for many years to get the butteriest, flakiest crust to no avail. Then, I discovered refrigerated Pillsbury pie crusts in the grocery!!! They are delicious and taste better than anything I ever made. So, go ahead and use the Pillsbury and claim you made the crust yourself - problem solved!

    By the way, why doesn't Aunt Chrissy have a blog?
    Addie

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have the same problem. It's even worse since I lost my job...now that I have more hours in the day, I have more stuff to do and therefore less time in which to do said stuff....see? I would have a hard time choosing between your two fab projects, too. Stars looks really complicated and addictive but the alphabet piece is so beautiful and rhythmic and addictive...oh, dear...

    I often think I would have done better back in the old, old days when the Governess made you practice your good manners from 9-10, then French lessons from 10-11, then stitching from 11-12, etc. Hmmm, but then there would still be the problem of what to stitch during that one hour...

    ReplyDelete
  7. ROTFL!!! That`s hilarious Connie!! Right now i`m fixated on Harry Potter movies, P.D. James novels, and repro samplers...ahhh....life is good!!

    I LOVE the canvas project!! Red white n` blue always gets my attention. Maybe that`s why I married an American...?

    Kisses to Stewey...

    ReplyDelete
  8. The WIP's are fabuloso!!!! Oh, the fixatedness. I can SO relate, although I have to say I have not had such an ailment of that in quite a while. Above all else, just remember to BREATHE and enjoy all of your pursuits. Hugs and kisses to Stewey.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I totally understand being fixitated on all things stitchy-related. Right now, I am fixitatd on what fibers you're using in Tony's piece. Fabulous colors! Any chance you could let us know what they are, please?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Fascinating watching a Stars block come to life in R,W,B & Gold. If you ever figure out how to work on two projects at once, please alert the media! Some of us are dying to know how.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Just love Stars! As to fixating, I think it's a normal thing for all us crazy people to do!! LOL

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love your stitching and love love love reading your blog. It always gives me a good giggle. Add to that that I have here two little Royal Woofinesses, one from the same breed as Master Stewey Angus Willowswamp, and my addiction to your blog is fully explained. Should comment more often though.
    And you're fully allowed to be as fixated as you wish. As long as your blog is one of your obsessions, all is fine...lol.
    I wonder if your sister has a blog too?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh, I'm fixating on JAG right now! I've been borrowing the seasons from the library and am listening to Season 6 right now as I type. Remember this show? David James Elliott and Catherine Bell star in it and concerns the military and the Judge Advocate General corps. I'm worried that Season 6 is the last that the library has!

    And as usual, fixating on my current stitching and all the others I want to take one!

    ReplyDelete