I realized today just how much I drop trying to entertain/distract myself.

Last night I went to Blockbuster, and wound up renting 2 movies (Eragon & Rocky Balboa). When I was checking out, the guy behind the counter tells me that I already have 11 movies out.

11 movies....already.....out

And this is completely normal. I'm constantly in this chaotic cycle where I'm renting movies, and I don't really have the time to burn them, so they just sit there for days/weeks after I've watched them. Eventually I'll take them back, and most of the time it's soon enough that I think they refund the money that they charged me by me "automatically" buying it.

And then I get more movies. And then when I go to Blockbuster I don't even look at the New Releases, I look in the bin of the cart where people have just returned movies.

Seen it
Seen it
Looks crappy
Seen it
Chick Flick
Seen it
Seen it

I'll maybe find one or two that I haven't seen, and look decent enough to watch. Then I'm back to my little 2 hours of heaven. A break from my own mind. For that brief little period of time I'm able to stop my brain from thinking about 20 things at once, to calm the storm for just a fragment of time. In that two hour period, I'm allowing myself to be lead, to let someone else do the thinking for me.

I find it profoundly relaxing. Silence doesn't relax me one bit, but movies do.

And I think I pay something like $120 a month to Dish Network too. I've got their everything package with all movie channels and DVR's and HD packages and all that crap.

The only thing I wind up watching is either movies or HBO shows (Sopranos, Rome, Entourage). I haven't watched one show on Network TV for years.

And I read books, internet forums, magazines. This never-ending constant stream of information, trying desperately to quell the beast of my mind, it being ever more hungry for data, information, hobbies, pursuits, anything.

It's a rough and tiring life being me.

i so understand what you're on about! it is indeed a tiring life being me as well!

movies used to work for giving me a break from my own mind but not so much anymore. i find that reading silly crime novels is about the only thing that still really distracts me - unless there is something bothering me in which case my mind is all over the place regardless of what i do. online gaming is the only thing that works then - and only for a couple of hours at a time. i think (other people would say worry) all the time....never a quiet moment.

I'm right there with you.

btw: You might save a little money switching to Netflix or the Blockbuster mailing plan (not advertising, just a suggestion.) If you don't already.

Movies and t.v. are very soothing to me. Especially if I already have seen it. If it's new I pay attention and like watching those with my husband or family. But while on the computer, having Bridget Jones or the Matrix on (mood thing), it has a calming effect. Like the white noise from the fan I keep on at night to sleep by.

I'm so familiar with the movie I can concentrate fine on the computer. Which I love to hop around on. It's a wonderful escape. I have quite the second life on here. Yes, I can hyperfocus to the extent that I don't tend to things in the solid life as I should, but I'm getting better about it.

I've also found that since last summer, and the stress of moving, I have been reading less and less, online yes, but books etc, no. The occasional magazine article because it looks interesting...but not too long. I can't focus on it. Sentences run together, plots make no sense...and I've always loved reading. I get plenty out of the library, feel right at home in the used book stores (a favorite place to visit, especially without kids). Too bad I can't finish all the ones I'm borrowing and buying.

EYE, My wife started hammering me for becoming a couch potato after work when is not hunting season. So I do watch allot of movies but on cable, but I really don't watch them most of the time their just noice in the back ground while I'm drawing.

Aaaah, I can totally relate. I have a blockbuster.com subscription, HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Starz; My eyes seem to be glued to one screen or another all the time. I go in phases though. I also work in television. Some years I watch no TV though.

But is it unhealthy? Is it true you lose IQ points or is that an urban legend/bad science? Do you still feel that you are not losing out on time for other important things in life? Do you still feel creative? (obviously Dave, you're not lacking...but do you do better drawing when it's not on?)

Just curious.

EYE I don't , I have to have noise like my son's having to have the radio on while doing homework.

Spence, be glad you RENT them.
My wife BUYS them!
She has almost every tv series from the 50's-90's if it's on DVD.
She's converting her Twilight Zone collection, because the original collection is on VHS, and now she wants it on DVD.
I have a 5 shelf bookcase, that's 6.5ft tall with DVD's in it.
Two rows on each shelf (front to back), and then several stacks surrounding it.
I estimate her collection at well over 1000 DVD's at least.
Some cost $100 dollars, some cost $20.
It's insured for $20,000 dollars.
She really needs a cheaper hobby.
On top of that, she has said (on many occasions) "oh I got that movie."
When I ask her how it was (whether I should watch it or not) she quickly says "I've never opened it to watch it." :mad:
At least when we travel, she only takes 50-75 of them to her parents for the week. (I'm not kidding....)

I love watching TV shows on DVD. Lately I haven't been much of a movie person... Probably because movies can't go in depth like TV shows can because of time restraints... Anyway, I get very addicted to TV shows... A little too addicted in fact... I recently watched Smallville seasons 1-5 straight through in about a week and a half... o.o

Spence, be glad you RENT them.
My wife BUYS them!
She has almost every tv series from the 50's-90's if it's on DVD.
She's converting her Twilight Zone collection, because the original collection is on VHS, and now she wants it on DVD.
I have a 5 shelf bookcase, that's 6.5ft tall with DVD's in it.
Two rows on each shelf (front to back), and then several stacks surrounding it.
I estimate her collection at well over 1000 DVD's at least.
Some cost $100 dollars, some cost $20.
It's insured for $20,000 dollars.
She really needs a cheaper hobby.
On top of that, she has said (on many occasions) "oh I got that movie."
When I ask her how it was (whether I should watch it or not) she quickly says "I've never opened it to watch it." :mad:
At least when we travel, she only takes 50-75 of them to her parents for the week. (I'm not kidding....)
My wife saves such obsessive collecting habits for shoes. When I moved into our house now, I built her a 4' wide x 7' tall altar of shoes. Hundreds and hundreds of little white melamine slots, waiting to hold the objects of her true affection.

It only took a few weeks to completely fill every hole in that. Jamming two pairs into some slots. There's a 6" layer of shoes along the bottom of her closet, half dozen pairs sitting at the edge of our bed, another half dozen by the front door, and countless other pairs tucked away in closets, the garage, ect.

I will never understand Women's fascination with shoes. I asked her once, her reply was that, "Whether you gain 10 pounds or whether you feel bloated or your makeup isn't right or your hair isn't working......if you have fabulous shoes, they'll always look fabulous."

I watch very few movies...I prefer "mindless" viewing..short half hour things :-)
I am a nuisance during movies, and annoy my family endlessly..up, down, in, out, read, flick..
mm..I wonder why :-)

shoes... not my thing; my feet are too picky and nothing feels good on me. I would love to be able to be a "shoe chick". I wear sneakers most of the time. But i do like a pretty shoe.... on the plastic foot in the store.My daughter is so annoyed that my footwear is all....serviceable. I would love to be more girly, but life seems to intervene.

I watch very few movies...I prefer "mindless" viewing..short half hour things :-)
I am a nuisance during movies, and annoy my family endlessly..up, down, in, out, read, flick..
mm..I wonder why :-)
I never realised how bad i was until i started noticing and ascribing my behaviour to the ADD thing. I can't sit through a half hour TV program - and i'm not even hyper but inattentive! i get up a few times, read a few pages of different books, chat to partner about random topics.....i think it is all because i'm not allowed to have the remote anymore! When i'm watching TV on my own i never stay on one channel for more than a few seconds...maybe 10 minutes if it is a really interesting program. even then i usually watch at least 2-3 different programs at the same time on different channels - no wonder i'm not allowed to touch the remote when my partner is trying to watch something!

Suggestion on the blockbuster. Get the movie pass. Its like 26 dollars a month, and you can have two movies out at a time, and can switch out as many times as you want. Just bring in the two (or one), and exchange them for something else.

Or, get the Blockbuster TotalAccess, where they'll send you movies in the mail. When you're finished with watching those, you can bring them into the store and exchange them for however many mailers you have. I think 3 mailers at a time is 27 a month? Something like that.

Yes, I do work part-time a blockbuster. Needed something while waiting for a full-time job to start.

Oh.. and stop watching so many damn movies! Get a library card and spend the time reading! =D

Oh, and if you continue to watch movies like its going out of style, at least start writing reviews on the movies that you watch. At least pull a positive out of the situation other than personal entertainment and throwing time into the abyss. Maybe you can write reviews for a newspaper :cool:


-- jolt

Wow Eyeforgot, I totally agree with you about the movies being 'white noise!' For me, it's my computer. Now that's a little odd to say, but really.. I can concentrate for hours but I really need to have my computer on with the internet open. Just so I can take quick, mini mental breaks.

Spence, it kind of seems like the need to keep your mind occupied isn't working. So whatever you're doing to help you manage your ADD, it might need some tweaking if you're looking to so many things to distract you.

But before you throw out the baby with the bathwater, bear in mind that if these things actually help you to concentrate.. keep it! Might seem crazy to a lot of others, but you don't have to explain that, right? I'm sure my attachment to the computer may seem unhealthy to some. And yes, I should get some excercise!! But I'm comfortable knowing my way works for me, and lets me get the things I need to do done!

I find it very hard to watch movies. If they are anything deeper than a romantic comedy I have trouble following the plots and usually just watch the scenery and absorb what I can. At home, I always have to have the notebook computer in my lap while we watch a movie. If I go to the movies alone, I usually end up playing solitaire on my phone while half watching the movie.

I rarely can spend 2 solid hours sitting on the couch watching a movie. That takes a lot of committment from me.

I also have a little ocd-like trait of spelling words and phrases I hear backwards, so that also interferes with paying attention to the movie.

As for the suggestions to get a library card - am I the only one who has had to stop going to the library b/c I just lost too many books? My last bill was $90 for 3 books. Of course I found them months later. If I don't lose them, then I had horrible fines for returning them late. And the sad thing is I rarely got around to reading most of the ones I checked out. I finally decided it is cheaper for me to just order books off amazon.

I had to laugh at myself for misplacing a book I bought on ADD. I finally found it and maybe I will finish this book for once.

(Oh, I'm not into shoes at all. I have as few as possible and I hate giving them up to get new ones. It's not all women!)

MY shoes are functional also I have a few pair for "dress-up" which doesn't happen very often. When I am not in work shoes {snickers} I wear my "birthday shoes" = bare feet! So it is not all women.

I can't sit through movies, and TV isn't really my thing. Most plots are too easy to see through besides it stays on the same subject too long. I do enjoy discovery, history channel, {learning channels}

I am the local computer nut. I can make the internet change subjects as often as I want and I can control the subject matter. I normally wear my head phones and listen to the CDs I burn because Gary's constant TV watching is distracting. If I can hear it I will process it and many times I do not want to waste the RAM on shallow plots when I can be reading about how the human brain is like a virus.

The thing I do share with many of you is the constant hunger for “data” must have more input more mind munchables

I never realised how bad i was until i started noticing and ascribing my behaviour to the ADD thing. I can't sit through a half hour TV program - and i'm not even hyper but inattentive! i get up a few times, read a few pages of different books, chat to partner about random topics.....!LOL...what are you like when you play a cd in the car :D I listen to about 25 seconds, then flip..LOL..unless it's a TOTAL fave and then I put it on repeat LOL:D