Process/Product
My hair causes stock market crashes.
Archive for February 7th, 2009
Saturday, February the 7th, 2009
038 - The Knowledge Junkie, Part I
“HoHO! Did you know that Vin Diesel is half black?” I asked her.
“Yeah, so?” she said.
“But did you know that he made this independent short called ‘Multi-Facial’?” I asked.
“No, what’s that?” she said.
“It’s this twenty minute film in which he explores his own struggles as an actor, trying to get roles, and being dismissed as being ‘too white’ or ‘too black,’” I said.
“Huh, you’ve got quite a man crush on Vin Diesel don’t you?” she said, jokingly.
“OMG, that is so not true!” I said, “I just get obsessed with things really easily.”
After learning about Mark Vincent’s upcoming cinematic masterpiece, I started clicking around on ‘kipedia, and eventually other sites, watching interviews, reading about his video game company, and other riveting details of his life. Before I knew it, an hour had passed, and suddenly my head was filled with entirely useful facts like:
a) he was a bouncer at a gay club, and
b) he wrote the foreword to the the 30 year commemorative book for Dungeons and Dragons.
It’s a crippling addiction, really, this hunger for information. I’m just genetically predisposed to becoming fascinated with details and minutia that most people are content to ignore. I take up hobbies, sometimes requiring a significant investment of startup capital, only to become utterly consumed by it for a few months, until I reach a plateau, at which point I promptly lose interest. This is a well established recipe, and I can cook it up almost on command.
Just take a look at the various poker related books on my shelf. I haven’t touched cards or chips in nearly a year.
Convinced that I was to lead the coming revolution of guerilla gardening, I had my friend pick up some seeds from Home Depot. I spent hours educating myself about growing cycles and irrigation techniques. I considered getting a set of sturdy tools and some work gloves.
The seeds are currently sitting on my shelf, still wrapped in their original brown and orange plastic bag.
The time I spent was not a waste. I got pleasure out of the very act of learning, and that knowledge is still with me. When I desire to, it will not be hard for me to pick up any of those hobbies again. I will come back around to all of them, I’m absolutely certain. They’re just not as high on the list as my other staples: writing, taking pictures, and productivity.
I’m serious about that guerrilla gardening though. You know, as soon as I’m caught up with my writing, and my room is organized…