Obsession History

Last night, my two current obsessions sort of aligned in a David Cook performance of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" that has given me chills each time I've watched/listened to it. In fact, all three of David's performances last night gave me chills, for three different reasons. He was amazing last night, and yet he was treated horribly by the 2 male judges.

To take my mind off the stressful results show that's looming several hours ahead, I'm gonna give you a run down of all my major MUSIC obsessions: what they were, when they were, how they came about, and what sorts of crazy things I did while under the influence of whatever it was at the time. Why just music? It's hard for me to think of when all my actor and TV show obsessions happen because they all overlap the music obsessions, which were really more major. So, in there with all these music obsessions were obsessions with Al Pacino, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix, Jim Carrey, Edward Norton, Steve Carell, Mindfreak/Criss Angel, Lost, and The Office.

I'm going to start off by explaining something. By contemplating all my past and present obsessions, I think I've realized why I get so obsessed with things. It's because I know that, eventually, I'll probably somewhat "get over" whatever it is with which I am obsessed. At the time of an obsession, I truly believe that I will always be obsessed with whatever it is. That isn't fact. So I just enjoy my obsessions to the extreme while I have them because I never know when a new one will strike. I have a guilt problem, okay?!

Alright. I'll do this in chronological order.


What: The Beatles
When: 1998 - ????
How: My dad was a Beatle freak growing up - still is, sort of - and his Beatles fandom rubbed off on me. He'd always tried to get me to listen to them, but it wasn't until he taught me their song "For No One" on piano that I felt the need for my own Beatles CDs. I got my first one, Revolver, for Easter when I was 9 years old. Now I have ... a lot of Beatles CDs. I don't know when, exactly, this obsession stopped. It was one of my less extreme obsessions, so it's hard to put an end date on it. That said, it was most certainly an obsession.

What: Country music
When: Nov. 2004 - Oct. 2005
How: My dad, again. He was trying to help me become more open-minded by forcing me to listen to one style of music, country, that I had absolutely shunned without really giving it a chance. Turns out some of it isn't so bad. Yes, this obsession lasted almost a year. And I got really annoying during it. On my livejournal, I started using the word "y'all" a lot. Sure, I use that in normal conversation quite a bit (being from Alabama, how could I not?). But it's just really awkward to go out of your way to use it on a blog. During this obsession, I listened to the radio, alternating between the 3 main country stations we get around here. My dad bought me Keith Urban's Golden Road album. Then Christmas arrived and I got some more country CDs: Horse Of A Different Color by Big & Rich, Be Here by Keith Urban, and When The Sun Goes Down by Kenny Chesney. My TV was also permanently set on GAC. I'm not nearly as crazy about country music now as I was then, but I'm grateful that I became more open-minded because of this obsession. I still love my main 5 or 6 country artists, I'm just not as INSANE as I used to be. Y'all.

What: Queen
When: Oct. 2005 - May. 2006
How: I'd always really liked Bohemian Rhapsody, and when I seriously thought about it, I had memories of Queen songs going way back into my childhood. I'd always heard Queen, but I'd never really listened. Then, a mini-obsession happened earlier in 2005: Constantine Maroulis. My first American Idol love performed Bohemian Rhapsody on the show to rave reviews. I started listening to classic rock radio stations, trying desperately to hear that song. I heard a few other Queen songs during this quest, but no Bohemian Rhapsody. I mentioned to my dad that I wanted a Queen greatest hits album, so what did Dad do? He brought me 2 Queen greatest hits albums from the store-room of used CDs (he works on jukeboxes, so he gets free used CDs). I listened to them endlessly. Then I collected 3 more Queen albums - Dad brought me A Kind of Magic, I bought The Miracle at a used CD store, and a good friend of mine gave me A Night At The Opera for Christmas. The obsession was HUGE by Christmas, but my parents already had bought all my presents, so that didn't help my obsession. My birthday came a month and a half later, and almost all I got that year was Queen-related. The money I got for my birthday was spent on more Queen CDs. My mom surprised me by buying me a Queen poster for no reason, and then I started collecting Queen pictures off the internet to complete what I now call my Queen shrine - a gallery of Queen on the wall in my room. On April 1, 2006 I started painting the nails on my left hand black to honor Freddie Mercury. I don't know if this obsession necessarily flat out ended in May of 2006, because it was a pretty extreme obsession. But the next one started in May, so that's what I'm going with. Oh, by the way - I only lack ONE Queen CD before I have all of their studio albums. So close!!

What: Red Hot Chili Peppers
When: May 2006 - Fall 2006
How: Dani California was released in April or May of 2006. Whenever it happened, the video was on HEAVY rotation. And I decided I LOVED it. So I asked my dad (he always seems to be so helpful in these obsessions) if he had any RHCP CDs. He happened to have a used copy of Californication in his car, so he let me have it. That happened on the day we were leaving for a weekend at the lake. I listened to Californication all weekend. Later in May, I purchased their new double album, Stadium Arcadium. I was officially in love. I had always sort of liked the Chili Peppers anyway - my brother was a fan, and when I was younger I used to listen to a lot of his music with him. So I knew all of the hits. Anyway, that was the summer of the Chili Peppers. I collected CDs and books all summer - somehow convincing my parents to spend a good deal of our vacation money on my Chili Pepper obsession while we were in Tennessee. I used a black Sharpie to draw a RHCP tattoo on my wrist to match the one Anthony Kiedis and John Frusciante have (they might all have one like that ... I can't remember). Anyway. I would maintain that tattoo, darkening it when it started to fade. That was pretty extreme. At least I didn't get a real tattoo! My mom would have killed me. I can't remember exactly when this obsession stopped. My next one started in Fall of 2006, so that'll have to do.

What: Morrissey/The Smiths
When: Fall 2006 (Octoberish?) - February 2007, May 2007 - September 2007
How: We got a new computer. On this new computer, we were able to have iTunes. My brother put a bunch of his music on the iTunes library. That included all his Morrissey and Smiths CDs. I'd heard my brother talking about Morrissey and The Smiths, but I'd never heard them before. So I decided to give them a listen. I fell in love with Morrissey's voice immediately. I borrowed my brother's Morrissey concert DVD. It was amazing - he is one captivating man. On that DVD was a documentary about slaughterhouses and how horribly animals are treated. I became a vegetarian for a while, but I've scaled back to just a non-beef/pork eater. I haven't eaten beef since I watched that documentary way back in October of 2006. I've eaten very little pork since then - Mom force-fed me ham on Easter of 2007. Sheesh. I should have stood up to her and just had cereal or something! Anyway. My eating habits were the most extreme thing about this obsession. I really just listened to Morrissey and Smiths music nonstop to feed this obsession. It took a brief hiatus for my next obsession, but came back for the summer (in which I saw Morrissey in concert!! July 19th!!) and lasted till the next obsession took hold. (Hey - my dad had nothing to do with this obsession! Crazy!)

What: Blake Lewis
When: February 2007 - May 2007, July 2007, December 2007
How: American Idol. Blake was the first Idol contestant to be considered one of my full-fledged obsessions. With my new iTunes library, I was able to download all his performances for myself and listen to them over and over and over, nonstop. I also got all his videos to put on the iPod I got for Christmas of 2006. With all the voting and Idol-y goodness from February-May of 2007, Blake consumed my life. After the finale, it was difficult to find Blake-ness to feed my obsession, so I went back into my Morrissey obsession. Then, on July 12 I got to see Blake (and 9 of his Idol friends) in concert, so I listened to Blake a good deal during the time leading up to the concert. He was AMAZING in concert, by the way. My obsession resurfaced a bit when Blake released his debut album, Audio Day Dream, in December of last year, and I listened to little else for a pretty long while. But it was still difficult to maintain this obsession without Blake on TV twice every week ... and with the public's refusal to acknowledge the awesomeness of ADD.

What: Michael Jackson
When: August 2007 - November 2007
How: On a whim, I bought Michael Jackson's greatest hits album. I'd always liked the Thriller album, so I figured I would like this. I ended up listening to little else for 3 and a half months. I bought the DVD that went with the greatest hits album, the one with all the music videos. I watched a bunch of videos on Youtube. It was a short obsession, but I was definitely obsessed.

What: Green Day
When: November 2007 - February 2008
How: I'd had the American Idiot album since my birthday in February of last year, and I'd listened to it several times, but with all the other obsessions of that time ... you know. Anyway, one day I decided to listen to something other than Michael Jackson on the way to school. I picked the American Idiot album. It was almost Thanksgiving by that time. I listened to nothing else while we were in Mississippi for Thanksgiving. All I listened to in the car and during any free time I had away from the family during all the Thanksgiving stuff was that American Idiot album. I started listening to the Dookie album as well, and then my brother gave me his copy of Nimrod. It was just a Green Day love fest for a few months. I still love them, and I'm happy to see they've got new music (even if they're masquerading under another name). I need to get that album. I am REALLY ready for the next true Green Day studio album. REALLY.

What: David Cook
When: February 2008 - present
How: He wasn't my absolute favorite American Idol season 7-er from the get go. When I first saw it, I thought his audition was one of the few good ones they actually showed. It wasn't until he performed "Happy Together" that he became my second favorite (behind Michael Johns). After "Hello," he and Johns were basically tied for my favorite. I was in love with both of those guys (still am). Then David performed "Eleanor Rigby" (which, coincidentally, just came on my iTunes, which has all my 42 of my Cookie songs playing on random). That's when he became my absolute favorite. And then I just became consumed with David. I think if Michael had lasted longer than he did (which he DEFINITELY should have), I might have been OBSESSED with him as well. Tonight's the finale of season 7. I really hope Cookie wins. And I really hope I don't have as hard a time maintaining this obsession post-Idol as I did with Blake ...

What: U2
When: April 2008 - present
How: I'd always heard U2, I'd just never listened. But I'd always sort of wanted to listen. It wasn't until I got some iTunes giftcards that I got a real chance. I bought 9 songs in one spree, 5 of which were U2 songs. Those are the ones that went on heavy rotation on my iTunes and iPod. Then I just kept buying more U2 music on iTunes. Then I bought that U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle DVD (which I watched TWICE IN A ROW last night while voting 4 straight hours for David Cook - talk about 2 extreme obsessions). Then I bought an actual U2 CD, The Joshua Tree. Then I got that awesome U2 book, U2 By U2. And I am completely obsessed. I watch Youtube videos, look at pictures, read my book, watch my DVD, listen to all 33 U2 songs that I now have, and try desperately to figure out ways to get more money to buy more actual U2 CDs so I can feel more like a true fan. I need more than 33 songs!!! I think this is going to be the summer of U2. I'm just fully enjoying this U2 love fest while I can. I have a feeling it will last a while, though ...


Well. That's that. Hope it enlightened you?