Things look pretty much the same on the outside. But instead of becoming glued to the couch, I'm now glued to my desk chair, on the computer, sharing and absorbing the oberservations of others in my same situation. I can't just sit and watch TV or a movie like I used to, let it "entertain" me, I crave more meaning. I was OCD on the imdb site for months, but have finally realized there is more to life. Like this site! Oh well, like I said, pretty much the same outside.
I have started engaging with other people more, doing things, dinners with friends, calling up just to chat, etc; rather than sitting home and "relaxing" (another word for tuning out). I'm engaging more. I watch some of my favorite "old" movies again, with renewed appreciation and a more poignant intrigue, they affect me more emotionally somehow. I tear up at scenes that used to just give me tingles, that sorta thing.
Reading fan fics has become my recent fanaticism. I have actually bought several 3 ring binders, and sit at night while watching something banal on TV, and punch holes and organize collected fan fics, hundreds of pages of fan reviews from various websites, critical reviews, special threads from the "old" imdb board, etc into an organized BBM library. My partner thinks I've completely lost it. I'm now on my 9th or 10th binder! I know down the road I'll get to reading all of it again, but right now, I'm still reading all the fan fic I can get my hands on. I only catalog ones I really like, and there are about a dozen in my library right now, some completed, some still works in progress.
If I had more $ and more wall space, another recent facination or fanaticism, is finding screen caps of my favorite shots. I print them out on a color laser printer, and they go into the scrapbooks as section dividers/headers. I uploaded one of my favorites to photofiddle.com and had them put an "oil painting" effect on it and digitally print it onto an 18" by 12" canvas. That one I'm going to stretch and hang on the wall.
I still have only watched the film three times completely through. It's still just too sad, and I act like the "walking wounded" (sorta like Ennis) for a couple of days afterward.
I'm really looking forward to seeing more of you guys at the BBQ in August. Making my travel plans this week.