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Are You Guys Open About Your Interests? Or Do You Hide Them?

Joel, I love bats too btw. I've been obsessed since I was a kid. On my honeymoon, I attended at bat flight in Bracken Texas, where I got to watch over 1 million bats come out. I was geeking out.
 
atrocityexhibition said:
Joel, I love bats too btw. I've been obsessed since I was a kid. On my honeymoon, I attended at bat flight in Bracken Texas, where I got to watch over 1 million bats come out. I was geeking out.
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I have heard about Bracken, I live in Rockhampton which is near Mt Etna which has something similar but I have not gone on a bat tour yet.
 
Ever seen the Congress Avenue bridge bats in Austin? I've seen them a couple of times (the last time a few years ago was kind of a disappointment though since there weren't that many bats).


I confess that I always say "One! one bat! Ahh ahh ahh! Two! two bats! Ah ah ah!" like the Count from Sesame Street whenever I watch a bat flight (which is also sort of a reference to the movie The Descent). :D


atrocityexhibition said:
Joel, I love bats too btw. I've been obsessed since I was a kid. On my honeymoon, I attended at bat flight in Bracken Texas, where I got to watch over 1 million bats come out. I was geeking out.
Click to expand...
 
Glad to know that so many people here appreciate bats. They're kind of like aspies in the sense that they're misunderstood (e.g. people think bats deliberately fly into your hair, or that all bats suck blood etc.)
 
I have loved bats all my life & currently getting outraged by the appalling treatment of the flying foxes in this country (Australia)
 
At my school a lot of people think I'm 'weird' but I don't hide my interests I just gravitate more towards people that are accepting of me. I also spend lunch times doing work in maths or physics so I can discuss these subjects more with the teachers as I particularly love physics.
 
At school I use to spend most lunches in the library reading (well looking at pictures really - I don't read that well)
 
50/50. If you can't accept I love earthquakes then I don't want to know you but a lot of the others I find socially weird, such as some old TV shows and movies so I don't share them.
 
My intermittent obsession with fish reappeared a few months ago and shows no signs of slowing. I now have 4 aquariums. I refuse to discuss it with anyone but my partner (who accuses me of "lecturing") as I know it's weird, and obsessional and I worry that people will judge me and I lack the skills tell if they are! I'm scared that they won't want to be my friend anymore (as childish as that sounds!)
 
muddled said:
My intermittent obsession with fish reappeared a few months ago and shows no signs of slowing. I now have 4 aquariums. I refuse to discuss it with anyone but my partner (who accuses me of "lecturing") as I know it's weird, and obsessional and I worry that people will judge me and I lack the skills tell if they are! I'm scared that they won't want to be my friend anymore (as childish as that sounds!)
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It strikes me as an interesting hobby for both dedicated Aspies or NTs. Both my brother and cousin kept large tanks with elaborate reefs and exotic fish for years.
 
muddled said:
My intermittent obsession with fish reappeared a few months ago and shows no signs of slowing. I now have 4 aquariums. I refuse to discuss it with anyone but my partner (who accuses me of "lecturing") as I know it's weird, and obsessional and I worry that people will judge me and I lack the skills tell if they are! I'm scared that they won't want to be my friend anymore (as childish as that sounds!)
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I love fish and have a 4ft tank that I'm about to bring bak to life. I am thinking about going amazonian, I have always love tetras.
 
I try to be as open and honest as possible with people and try not to hide anything. I also try to be polite and therefore not bore people by saying too much in my areas of expertise.

The main exception is when I distrust a person or am in a vulnerable or precarious position where caution is warranted. This is rare.
 
When I was in high school Spanish was my obsession. I had no idea about Aspergers. My friends were frequently annoyed with me, but I would stop speaking in my broken Spanish around those who were vocal about their disapproval. I learned over time who would listen to me and stuck with them mostly.
 
In the months leading up to my birthday or christmas, often, I would get really excited about a new game that was about to come out. So to my mum I would say "ooh ooh! :grinning: Mum that game looks so awesome! I want it!". Mum would say "oh ok."

Then I would go on and on and on about the stuff the new game would have in it, e.g: awesomer graphics, more explosions, more cars and blah de blah...
I was basically like an editor of a games website, lol. :)

My mum didn't mind though. :grinning: I live in a family where everyone's got a games machine of some sort so I got no reason to hide my interests there. :)
 
I'm very private about what I like to do. I think of it as being highly personal. But sometimes I let my guard down and something will slip out and then I might regret afterwards sharing something so personal with someone who wasn't that close to me.

Usually I feel that most people don't really care about what I tell them (what I mean is - they don't know I've become vulnerable and open).

Ah. It's hard to explain.
I think of myself as a highly private person.

My kids and husband know me and a close friend. I've shared things with others but it's not the same.

I think I struggle with sharing things about myself and contemplate it too much. Whatever.
 
I used to be very open and now I'm not. One that has lasted with me my entire life is medical stuff. I'd read medical books as a kid for fun and then if I went to the pediatrician I'd blow them away with how much I knew about certain symptoms or conditions or whatever. I heard so many doctors tell me I should be pre-med in college. (I tried, but basically failed out of my first college).

Another one is mental illnesses. I keep that one private too. I bite my tongue when I hear people saying incorrect things about medical or psychiatric diagnoses.

I am supposed to be this wholesome suburban mom of 2, preschool teacher. People judge me for being obsessed with dystopias, mental illnesses, and dark science fiction. It creates a creepy cognitive dissonance in their heads and makes me someone who is untrustworthy to them. So I keep quiet.
 
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