Sometimes, I obsess

It's true.  I tend to obsess over things.  I mean, it should come as a shock to no one - I quite freely admit to belong to several groups not normally known for their collective mental stability and ability to maintain perspective.  I own horses.  I read comic books.  I'm a grad student in the never-ending process of writing my dissertation.  No one has ever sat down and thought, "Wow.  Horse owners.  Now THAT is a group known for a rational, reasonable thought process."  Or, "You know, that PhD in contemporary graphic narratives/atrocity photography that you're working on - that's really got a ton of real-world generalization available to it right there."  "Collecting a 16-issue run with 48 total covers, including variants and reprints?  Why, yes - that IS a good life decision you're making there.  Well played, you!"  

So, really, it's part of my genetic makeup or something. 

Generally, I obsess over totally legitimate things.  I mean, I have a comic book collection numbering to the thousands - it just makes sense to have a comprehensive spreadsheet recording issues, covers, condition, artists and storage locations.  Good, rational sense (maybe some day, I'll tackle the difficult realization that I can justify just about anything).  And those (freakishly well-organized) comic books have led to the dissertation that will never die, so it all works out in the end, right?  I have a certain group of skills - obsessing, memorizing obscure facts about cult TVs from the mid- to late-90s, organizing, stacking things at right angles - and I put those skills to use. 

Sure, there have been some hiccups along the way (I still maintain that the NSync fiasco was ironic. It was meta. It was performance art. It was, importantly, during undergrad) but generally, I have pretty focused taste.

In short, I'm a nerd.  A bored, obsessive nerd.