MetaFilter posts tagged with obsessions

share your neuroses.

divabat — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 03:29:23 -0800

Miniature Hogwarts

jonson — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 23:33:14 -0800

Sally Wallace creates highly detailed miniature dollhouses, including several from the Harry Potter films (Olivander's wand shop & Honeydukes, Hogwarts, The Stairs). Via. Warning, every single annoying web 0.9 trick in the book is employed somewhere on this site, including but not limited to: embedded midi files, that java fake reflecting water deal, virtual exploding fireworks, etc. ugh.

There is a naughty/knotty pun here that I'm going to ignore....

anastasiav — Sun, 20 Nov 2005 08:16:45 -0800

Alaska Museum of Fancy Knots

The BWCAW online

norm — Thu, 25 Aug 2005 13:40:09 -0800

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness are a special set-aside in the Superior National Forest in the north woods of Minnesota. Containing over 1,000 lakes and streams, 2,200 designated campsites, and 1,500 miles of canoe routes, this treasure provides a great place to escape from the world of civilization. It also, apparently, provides a great reason for cool websites. The Swanson party website is one of the most impressive feats of private naturalism I've seen. It has everything from the 68 types of ferns and fern allies you can find in the BWCAW to lake commentaries for 356 of the biggest (and smallest) lakes that travelers encounter. There's also the DC³ website, which has diaries and pictures from a group of BW adventurers from 1977 to 2003. A truly impressive effort, if apparently not ...quite... finished. And while the diaries tell a story arc about a group of friends, the distance between the stories always leaves tantalizing details for the reader to imagine. Such as this tidbit at the end of the 1986 trip, which has as its central detail the fact that one of the party's wives received major burns and had to leave early:

They traveled almost ten miles and portaged four times, (a total of 465 rods), before they reached Snowbank Lake. The wind was very strong. They had to cross the lake the long way and directly into the wind. At one point they didn't move for twenty minutes even though they paddled as hard as they could. They finally reached the landing and headed for the A&W in Ely. From there, Tur called home to check on Beeps. There was no answer. But that's another story.

Naturally, there are also messageboards set up to discuss trips to the BWCAW, advocacy organizations to make sure it stays wild, and you can even make entry point reservations online nowadays. The Bee Dub previously referenced here on MeFi

SNIFF

quonsar — Fri, 27 Aug 2004 11:45:46 -0800

"...i'm cleansed, spent, and just a little moist."
the lachrymal performances of the elderly.

Do not call me DOLL

page404 — Wed, 21 Jul 2004 18:43:13 -0800

Super Dollfies: are they the Cabbage Patch Kids / Furbies of the moment?
Near obsessive Do not call me DOLL Super Dollfie photo blog.

too much coffee man

elwoodwiles — Fri, 09 Jul 2004 13:41:33 -0800

Obsessions come in many sizes and flavors - small, tall or veinte. Meet the man who is living the Traveling Salesman Problem by attempting to visit every starbucks.

Our Bicycling Heritage

quonsar — Tue, 15 Jun 2004 23:09:05 -0800

High wheels, hard tired, pneumatics and children. The Wheelmen is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to keeping alive the heritage of American cycling, promoting the restoration and riding of early cycles (1918 or earlier), and encouraging cycling as part of modern living.

3DIs - The final frontier

falconred — Tue, 27 Apr 2004 09:33:37 -0800

3-digit Interstate Highways - Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about the offshoots of the U.S. Interstate system, including naming conventions and the evil I-238. [via Fark]

play that mean licorish stick.

quonsar — Thu, 19 Feb 2004 22:40:09 -0800

clarinet databases - what has 2691 composers under 2725 names, 6564 titles under 6684 names, comprised of 7669 publications and representing 8022 sets of instrumentation? the clarinet composition database. the site also features a searchable discography of important clarinet recordings.

when war was war & men were... airborne.

quonsar — Sun, 28 Dec 2003 17:51:46 -0800

b-26 marauder nose art often reflected a flight crew's courageous faith that luck would be a lady. or maybe not quite. chock full of great ww2 vintage photos, the b-26 marauder virtual museum is a sure go for no dough.

Hobby or Fetish?

anastasiav — Wed, 03 Dec 2003 08:58:18 -0800

Hobby or Fetish? One man's collection of over 270 stewardess uniforms

Kilokat's Antique Light Bulb & Vacuum Tube Site

quonsar — Wed, 08 Oct 2003 18:40:15 -0800

Kilokat's Antique Light Bulb & Vacuum Tube Site
From the pre-1900 antique lamp bulbs to the Crookes and Geissler Tubes, box art and ephemera , I enjoyed exploring this man's magnificent obsession.

Magnificent Obsessions: Vaseline Glass

quonsar — Tue, 30 Sep 2003 16:49:42 -0800

Vaseline Glass is a particular color of yellow-green glass that is made by adding 2% Uranium Dioxide to the ingredients when the glass formula is made. The addition of the Uranium Dioxide makes the glass color yellow-green. A 'magnificent obsession' site crammed with images and information on art glass, novelties, collector themes, and manufacturers.

40ozmaltliquor.com

hama7 — Thu, 11 Sep 2003 07:44:02 -0800

40 Ounce Malt Liquor.com

Women on Brown Paper Bags

madamjujujive — Thu, 06 Mar 2003 22:08:36 -0800

The eccentric art of Lewis Smith - a man who lived alone in the woods with no amenities, at age 60, he began drawing all day, every day. His themes included muscular and wrestling women drawn on brown paper bags, and diner scenes drawn on cracker boxes. He drew or painted on every surface including the walls of his home and his barn. If he were alive today, he would probably be amazed to learn that many of pencil and crayon drawings sell for upwards of $1000.

grumblebee — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 21:27:16 -0800

Magnificent Obscessions II. In the original post, we had a blast exploring odd sites in which people displayed eccentric talents. MOs walk a thin line between genius and madness. These are people with "too much time on their hands." How I envy their crackpot devotion, energy and perfectionism. These are the True Geeks! (Fresh examples inside...)

illusionaire — Fri, 02 Aug 2002 11:11:43 -0800

Fanatic or aficionado??? 3000 photos, 30 concerts, three oil paintings, and more. Obsess much? If he didn't already live with his mother, he should shack up with the hostess of the now defunct 24 Hour Church of Elvis.

grumblebee — Thu, 04 Oct 2001 06:51:53 -0800

One of my favorite things about surfing the web is stumbling upon someone's magnificent obsession. In order to qualify as a Magnificent Obsession (M.E.) -- at least according to my definition -- the hobby must strike me as slightly-to-extremely insane while, at the same time, fill me with admiration for the hobbyist's discipline. Some M.E.s are about collecting totally useless data (like the main link above), or like this research into EXIT Sign Coloration; or strange items, like Wal-Mart receipts or air-sickness bags. But my favorite M.E.s are the ones that lead to huge expense and huge amounts of time spent building or fixing wonderful, useless objects -- like planetarium projectors or Lost in Space robots, which "can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $35,000 and vary in detail depending on the abilities and resources made available to the builder. A project like this can take months if not years to complete." Know any other good M.E. links?