Obsessive Thoughts

Stephanie at Poorer Than You tagged me for this obsessive thoughts meme. I was asked to list five of my obsessions.

First off, Stephanie, I apologize I haven't had time to respond to that until now. Second, I would have chosen the five you chose, but since I'm not allowed to, I've decided to chose five others. For those of you wondering, I had a difficult time coming up with an image for this post, and since this is better than some of the more X-rated images that popped up on Google, Obsession by CK is how I choose to "picture-ify" my rantings (for the less literate).

Money: While it may appear that I talk about and pursue money, its not the material aspects that intrigue me as much as the accumulation process. I just enjoy watching the digits in my bank account go up, while at the same time, spending for life's wants and needs. A wise friend said it best, "When all is said and done, your bank account will be the measuring stick." While I certainly don't believe money is valuable in itself, it is the ultimate means to an end, and having money to spend is always better than having no money at all. With that said...

New Perspectives: I want to clarify I'm no Scrooge. I very rarely penny-pinch, and I consistently blog against doing that. I also know it is very important to have friends and family around, for both the support and the different perspectives they have on life. After all, its no fun to have money when you have no one to spend it on.

"Why"s: On a day to day basis, work requires me to ask about the "why's" behind data. I have to delve into mathematical models, customer feedback, or the fixed income market to ascertain trends and prognosticate. But to me, this is fun, because I already spend so much of my life asking "Why". A classic example is that I spend an unnecessary amount of time analyzing bathroom scribblings. This isn't because I have to be there longer, but rather, it intrigues me that in a public bathroom, someone would take the time to write a 100-word thesis ranting against George Bush, and then someone else would later run the thesis through a manual spell-check and grammar check. I ask myself, "Why?" and I imagine to myself the scenarios that could cause someone to have so much time.

Movies: I spend a lot of time watching movies. I enjoy the chance to escape reality, but more importantly, it gives me a fodder for fostering new relationships and finding new perspectives.

Simpsons: There is no rational explanation for why I watch it. I find it the funniest thing in the world, and I have personally watched every episode at least 2 times (that number would be 3 if you didn't count this season's episodes).