"Boring" topics you wish more people would geek out about with you

[Anonymous]

If you listen to NPR and hang out with other people who listen to NPR, you can do this all the time. Like I know I've found my people when I overhear someone say "I was listening to Science Friday and they had a fascinating discussion on [obscure subject]." Dude, I ALSO heard that episode.

Also, do you have kids? Mine is 6 and we have a lot of conversations about meteorology, plate tectonics, dinosaurs, the process of photosynthesis, why traffic moves so slowly sometimes, etc.

Finally, in the third Mission Impossible movie (the one directed by JJ Abrams) there is this great moment near the beginning where Ethan Hunt is "retired" and playing house with his wife and they are hosting a party. Someone asks him to explain what he does again, and it's revealed that he is pretending to be a traffic engineer. Tom Cruise then launches into a monologue about how fascinating it is to see how small acts like a person braking to make an exit or swerving into someone else's lane can have ripple effects in traffic patterns that can go for miles (I'm paraphrasing and probably getting it wrong, but that's the gist). The joke is that as he's saying this, people are like "wow so boring" and stop asking him about work, but whenever I see this movie, I always think "Say more."

Also if anyone wants to have a lengthy conversation about the Mission Impossible movie series, its various directors, the relative success of installments as works of cinema and as commercial endeavors, whether Tom Cruise is a net good or a net bad in society, or draw through lines between Alias, Lost, Mission Impossible, The Leftovers, and Watchmen series, Hit. Me. Up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you listen to NPR and hang out with other people who listen to NPR, you can do this all the time. Like I know I've found my people when I overhear someone say "I was listening to Science Friday and they had a fascinating discussion on [obscure subject]." Dude, I ALSO heard that episode.

Also, do you have kids? Mine is 6 and we have a lot of conversations about meteorology, plate tectonics, dinosaurs, the process of photosynthesis, why traffic moves so slowly sometimes, etc.

Finally, in the third Mission Impossible movie (the one directed by JJ Abrams) there is this great moment near the beginning where Ethan Hunt is "retired" and playing house with his wife and they are hosting a party. Someone asks him to explain what he does again, and it's revealed that he is pretending to be a traffic engineer. Tom Cruise then launches into a monologue about how fascinating it is to see how small acts like a person braking to make an exit or swerving into someone else's lane can have ripple effects in traffic patterns that can go for miles (I'm paraphrasing and probably getting it wrong, but that's the gist). The joke is that as he's saying this, people are like "wow so boring" and stop asking him about work, but whenever I see this movie, I always think "Say more."

Also if anyone wants to have a lengthy conversation about the Mission Impossible movie series, its various directors, the relative success of installments as works of cinema and as commercial endeavors, whether Tom Cruise is a net good or a net bad in society, or draw through lines between Alias, Lost, Mission Impossible, The Leftovers, and Watchmen series, Hit. Me. Up.

I loved Alias and La Femme Nikita show. Does LFN also belong on this list? They were pretty mission impossibleish. Same with Sanctuary from SciFi. And Torchwood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Raising chickens and ducks
Foraging for mushrooms
Growing food forrests
Book binding
Wooden spoon carving

I’m glad I wasn’t sitting next to you on my last trans-Atlantic flight. I mean I enjoy wooden spoon carving as much as the next guy, but chatting about them for an hour or two and I’m DONE.

[Anonymous]

“Homeland” & “The Americans”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you listen to NPR and hang out with other people who listen to NPR, you can do this all the time. Like I know I've found my people when I overhear someone say "I was listening to Science Friday and they had a fascinating discussion on [obscure subject]." Dude, I ALSO heard that episode.

Also, do you have kids? Mine is 6 and we have a lot of conversations about meteorology, plate tectonics, dinosaurs, the process of photosynthesis, why traffic moves so slowly sometimes, etc.

Finally, in the third Mission Impossible movie (the one directed by JJ Abrams) there is this great moment near the beginning where Ethan Hunt is "retired" and playing house with his wife and they are hosting a party. Someone asks him to explain what he does again, and it's revealed that he is pretending to be a traffic engineer. Tom Cruise then launches into a monologue about how fascinating it is to see how small acts like a person braking to make an exit or swerving into someone else's lane can have ripple effects in traffic patterns that can go for miles (I'm paraphrasing and probably getting it wrong, but that's the gist). The joke is that as he's saying this, people are like "wow so boring" and stop asking him about work, but whenever I see this movie, I always think "Say more."

Also if anyone wants to have a lengthy conversation about the Mission Impossible movie series, its various directors, the relative success of installments as works of cinema and as commercial endeavors, whether Tom Cruise is a net good or a net bad in society, or draw through lines between Alias, Lost, Mission Impossible, The Leftovers, and Watchmen series, Hit. Me. Up.

I loved Alias and La Femme Nikita show. Does LFN also belong on this list? They were pretty mission impossibleish. Same with Sanctuary from SciFi. And Torchwood.

Perhaps, but the link is more about creators -- JJ Abrams created Alias and was executive producer on Lost (created with Damon Lindelof and Jeffrey Lieber). Mission Impossible 3 launched Abrams into film directing, whereas Lindelof went not o creat both the Leftovers and the Watchman series.

[Anonymous]

Linguistics

Geography

[Anonymous]

Cat puns in the Off-Topic / Pets forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Raising chickens and ducks
Foraging for mushrooms
Growing food forrests
Book binding
Wooden spoon carving

I’m glad I wasn’t sitting next to you on my last trans-Atlantic flight. I mean I enjoy wooden spoon carving as much as the next guy, but chatting about them for an hour or two and I’m DONE.

2hrs on each topic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you listen to NPR and hang out with other people who listen to NPR, you can do this all the time. Like I know I've found my people when I overhear someone say "I was listening to Science Friday and they had a fascinating discussion on [obscure subject]." Dude, I ALSO heard that episode.

Also, do you have kids? Mine is 6 and we have a lot of conversations about meteorology, plate tectonics, dinosaurs, the process of photosynthesis, why traffic moves so slowly sometimes, etc.

Finally, in the third Mission Impossible movie (the one directed by JJ Abrams) there is this great moment near the beginning where Ethan Hunt is "retired" and playing house with his wife and they are hosting a party. Someone asks him to explain what he does again, and it's revealed that he is pretending to be a traffic engineer. Tom Cruise then launches into a monologue about how fascinating it is to see how small acts like a person braking to make an exit or swerving into someone else's lane can have ripple effects in traffic patterns that can go for miles (I'm paraphrasing and probably getting it wrong, but that's the gist). The joke is that as he's saying this, people are like "wow so boring" and stop asking him about work, but whenever I see this movie, I always think "Say more."

Also if anyone wants to have a lengthy conversation about the Mission Impossible movie series, its various directors, the relative success of installments as works of cinema and as commercial endeavors, whether Tom Cruise is a net good or a net bad in society, or draw through lines between Alias, Lost, Mission Impossible, The Leftovers, and Watchmen series, Hit. Me. Up.

Start a thread in the Entertainment forum. Need to redirect from the trash of celebrity gossip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you listen to NPR and hang out with other people who listen to NPR, you can do this all the time. Like I know I've found my people when I overhear someone say "I was listening to Science Friday and they had a fascinating discussion on [obscure subject]." Dude, I ALSO heard that episode.

Also, do you have kids? Mine is 6 and we have a lot of conversations about meteorology, plate tectonics, dinosaurs, the process of photosynthesis, why traffic moves so slowly sometimes, etc.

Finally, in the third Mission Impossible movie (the one directed by JJ Abrams) there is this great moment near the beginning where Ethan Hunt is "retired" and playing house with his wife and they are hosting a party. Someone asks him to explain what he does again, and it's revealed that he is pretending to be a traffic engineer. Tom Cruise then launches into a monologue about how fascinating it is to see how small acts like a person braking to make an exit or swerving into someone else's lane can have ripple effects in traffic patterns that can go for miles (I'm paraphrasing and probably getting it wrong, but that's the gist). The joke is that as he's saying this, people are like "wow so boring" and stop asking him about work, but whenever I see this movie, I always think "Say more."

Also if anyone wants to have a lengthy conversation about the Mission Impossible movie series, its various directors, the relative success of installments as works of cinema and as commercial endeavors, whether Tom Cruise is a net good or a net bad in society, or draw through lines between Alias, Lost, Mission Impossible, The Leftovers, and Watchmen series, Hit. Me. Up.

I loved Alias and La Femme Nikita show. Does LFN also belong on this list? They were pretty mission impossibleish. Same with Sanctuary from SciFi. And Torchwood.

Perhaps, but the link is more about creators -- JJ Abrams created Alias and was executive producer on Lost (created with Damon Lindelof and Jeffrey Lieber). Mission Impossible 3 launched Abrams into film directing, whereas Lindelof went not o creat both the Leftovers and the Watchman series.

Launching Abrams's career is almost as bad as Scientology.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you listen to NPR and hang out with other people who listen to NPR, you can do this all the time. Like I know I've found my people when I overhear someone say "I was listening to Science Friday and they had a fascinating discussion on [obscure subject]." Dude, I ALSO heard that episode.

Also, do you have kids? Mine is 6 and we have a lot of conversations about meteorology, plate tectonics, dinosaurs, the process of photosynthesis, why traffic moves so slowly sometimes, etc.

Finally, in the third Mission Impossible movie (the one directed by JJ Abrams) there is this great moment near the beginning where Ethan Hunt is "retired" and playing house with his wife and they are hosting a party. Someone asks him to explain what he does again, and it's revealed that he is pretending to be a traffic engineer. Tom Cruise then launches into a monologue about how fascinating it is to see how small acts like a person braking to make an exit or swerving into someone else's lane can have ripple effects in traffic patterns that can go for miles (I'm paraphrasing and probably getting it wrong, but that's the gist). The joke is that as he's saying this, people are like "wow so boring" and stop asking him about work, but whenever I see this movie, I always think "Say more."

Also if anyone wants to have a lengthy conversation about the Mission Impossible movie series, its various directors, the relative success of installments as works of cinema and as commercial endeavors, whether Tom Cruise is a net good or a net bad in society, or draw through lines between Alias, Lost, Mission Impossible, The Leftovers, and Watchmen series, Hit. Me. Up.

I am an NPR junkie too. My whole family is. Sometimes we all remain in the car on our driveway so that we are able to finish the program!!

And this particular mission impossible scene had the same reaction from me... I also though "Keep talking because this is fascinating!!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are some "boring" topics you wish you could geek out about more without turning people off?

Preferably, something NOT related to your day job - because presumably, you can "geek out" about it plenty at work.

For me, it's meteorology. I'm a huge Capitol Weather Gang fan, and whenever the weather is doing weird things, I always like to follow them and find out why. Like when they explain how wedges of cool air get stuck against the mountains in West Virginia and ruin a forecasted sunny weekend, or other explanations that go way in-depth about weather patterns. I could blather on and on about the factors going into whether we're having a sunny or rainy weekend while most people just check their phone app and plan accordingly.

Come on over to the Americanwx.com forums. A bunch of affectionately-termed "weather weenies".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:apple cultivation

Did you read that awesome article a few years back on this? It covered everything from grafting to a guy trying to find and save old fashioned species of apples to why the disgusting red delicious is still around. I know this is vague but it was a very mainstream article and I loved it even though I would not geek out on this topic.

I read about it in Michael Pollan's book The Botany of Desire. It got me obsessed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Multiverses

God, yes!!

[Anonymous]

Film noir
DC statehood
Birdwatching
Civil War and Reconstruction history
Post punk 80s music