Enthusiasm!
After looking over the list of non-fandom subjects where spuffyduds has fannish enthusiasm, I figured I'd better add my own list. (These sort of remind me of the various lists of characters' preferred Jeopardy! categories in Douglas Coupland's wonderful Microserfs.) I'm leaving out all forms of narrative (whether it's Alan Moore comics or John Varley books or Joss Whedon TV shows) because there are too bloody many of them.
Birds -- Yeah, I watch them and list what I've seen and obsess over what I haven't seen and write about all of the above.
UNC Basketball -- It's been a consuming passion of mine since 1971, when my parents took me and my brother to our first Carolina game. I'm interested in basketball in general, and college basketball more particularly, but I'm unquestionably more interested in UNC hoops than any other form of the game. And if you EVER say anything bad about Dean Smith, it's throwdown time.
Hiking -- I've always had a vaguely outdoorsy streak, possibly as a result of the whole birding thing, but in recent years it's grown more powerful. I still don't do a lot of camping, but I'll walk up anything for a day hike, and if there's time and equipment, I'll rock climb or kayak, too.
Natural History -- I'm a longtime fan of Stephen Jay Gould's essays (and longer works), and I've become convinced that David Quammen is the best nature writer ever, largely on the basis of The Song of the Dodo. I'm fascinated by Darwin's work, as well as in the way his theories are still denied by some people, and in the arguments over those theories are arguments I'm almost guaranteed to get sucked into.
Breakfast Cereals -- I've eaten cereal almost every day of my life, and I've spent far more time than I should have spent in watching commercials for various brands. I know the history of Quisp & Quake, the entire theme song for Freakies, and the various evolutionary forms of the Post "Crisps" brand. (Sugar Crisps, Super Sugar Crisps, Golden Crisps, and eventually just Crisps, if you were wondering.) It's an obsession that's not unique to me, as evidenced by Brendan Douglas Jones' utterly brilliant webcomic Breakfast of the Gods, which is just so perfectly done I can't even analyze it properly.
Birds -- Yeah, I watch them and list what I've seen and obsess over what I haven't seen and write about all of the above.
UNC Basketball -- It's been a consuming passion of mine since 1971, when my parents took me and my brother to our first Carolina game. I'm interested in basketball in general, and college basketball more particularly, but I'm unquestionably more interested in UNC hoops than any other form of the game. And if you EVER say anything bad about Dean Smith, it's throwdown time.
Hiking -- I've always had a vaguely outdoorsy streak, possibly as a result of the whole birding thing, but in recent years it's grown more powerful. I still don't do a lot of camping, but I'll walk up anything for a day hike, and if there's time and equipment, I'll rock climb or kayak, too.
Natural History -- I'm a longtime fan of Stephen Jay Gould's essays (and longer works), and I've become convinced that David Quammen is the best nature writer ever, largely on the basis of The Song of the Dodo. I'm fascinated by Darwin's work, as well as in the way his theories are still denied by some people, and in the arguments over those theories are arguments I'm almost guaranteed to get sucked into.
Breakfast Cereals -- I've eaten cereal almost every day of my life, and I've spent far more time than I should have spent in watching commercials for various brands. I know the history of Quisp & Quake, the entire theme song for Freakies, and the various evolutionary forms of the Post "Crisps" brand. (Sugar Crisps, Super Sugar Crisps, Golden Crisps, and eventually just Crisps, if you were wondering.) It's an obsession that's not unique to me, as evidenced by Brendan Douglas Jones' utterly brilliant webcomic Breakfast of the Gods, which is just so perfectly done I can't even analyze it properly.