Does Anybody Else Here Anthropomorphize Lights? « on: July 14, 2026, 12:23:20 PM » Author: Omnilight37
My Backstory: For as long as I can remember, I've always liked lights. Ever since the age of three, I could never stop but look at them. As a child, whenever my parents would take me to the grocery store, to school, or wherever, the defining part of the experience was what type of lights were in the parking lot. It would always make my day as a toddler if I saw a Gardco Gullwing G18 in the parking lot (my favorite fixture as a kid). It would come to a point where they would become the sole thing that completely sucked everything else out of my mind. However, I knew from a young age that society would harshly judge me for this, and I always knew that publicly expressing this hyperfixation would lead to me being branded as weird or eccentric. I never openly shared my lighting fixation for decades, and when I reached my teenage years, I tried to permanently omit this interest from my mind entirely (out of a desperate desire to fit in). I could always recognize the specific models, configurations, and finishes of all the HID lights in my city, but up until recently I could never identify their model or manufacturer. Up until I discovered my community (you guys at Lighting-Gallery.net), I thought I was the only one. However, lights were never just wire, metal, and glass to me—they always had souls and personalities. I would tilt my eyes to see them 30 feet high in the sky, and they always looked like they had something to say. They never had the same expression; they looked like they were resting or dozing off during the day but looked like they were smiling or excited when they were active at night. I even went as far as naming certain light fixtures after people I knew. For example, the MH lights at my local Costco parking lot were called Jackson. The post-top decorative lights in a neighborhood I used to live near as a kid were called Dominic. I gave them these names because, somehow, they reminded me of the people I worked with. I'm just wondering—do any of you actively experience or relate to what I'm describing?
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*Getting Brighter by the Day!*

I'm an avid lighting enthusiast who works with and studies ballasts, ignitors and lighting optics while identifying various models and manufacturers of electric lighting. I am actively studying particle physics and seek to understand the mechanics of a photon.

	Re: Does Anybody Else Here Anthropomorphize Lights? « Reply #1 on: July 14, 2026, 04:29:48 PM » Author: rjluna2
Join the club here I have had fascinating with light bulb since I was a baby.  Fast forward to now, I still have interest in light bulbs and whatnot.  My first light bulb collection started in 1973.  Despite my eccentric interest, it never wanes and still with me.  For long time, I thought I had an unusual hobby that nobody has until I discovered this site in 2009.  Now, my eccentric hobby is no longer an unusual concept of crazy collection.
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Pretty, please no more Chinese failure.

	Re: Does Anybody Else Here Anthropomorphize Lights? « Reply #2 on: July 14, 2026, 11:54:10 PM » Author: suzukir122
Although I haven't anthropomorphized lighting, I can DEFINITELY relate to being extremely fascinated by various lighting since the age of 3 years old. For me, that is also when my lighting interest began, all starting with the single lamp Preheat F40T12 strip fixture in my Grandma's basement, before the interest went insane when I encountered Rapid Start while at preschool. I've been at 100% in terms of lighting since then. This increased even more when I discovered my first EOL show in school, in 2nd grade. (Rapid Start again, specifically Louvered fixtures.) I've got absolutely no shame, at all, regarding me talking about my lighting interest. I usually talk about lighting to pretty much all of my friends or coworkers, like how I talk about sportcars, trucks or motorcycles. I even go as far as showing them my lighting project at my apartment, etc, and I'm making plans on bringing my friends over to my apartment soon, and showing them my living room lighting project results, showing off the start up flicker, etc. I guess everyone is different, but, I don't see lighting as a weird thing to have an interest in, at all. There's far too many epic things about it. By the way... is this really Off-Topic?
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Interests:
1. Motorcycles, Cars, Women, and Lighting (especially fluorescent)
2. Weightlifting/staying extremely athletic
3. Severe Thunderstorms of all kinds
4. Food and drinks. So gimme them bbq ribs
Lighting has ALWAYS been a passion of mine. I consider everyone on here to be a friend

	Re: Does Anybody Else Here Anthropomorphize Lights? « Reply #3 on: July 16, 2026, 01:27:14 AM » Author: Omnilight37
@rjluna2 - There's always something for everybody on the internet.   @suzukir122 - I 100% agree. Lights are more than just a bulb on a pole, they reveal a tremendous amount of information and insight about the history, design, technological standards and legal codes of the area you find them.
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*Getting Brighter by the Day!*

I'm an avid lighting enthusiast who works with and studies ballasts, ignitors and lighting optics while identifying various models and manufacturers of electric lighting. I am actively studying particle physics and seek to understand the mechanics of a photon.

	Re: Does Anybody Else Here Anthropomorphize Lights? « Reply #4 on: July 21, 2026, 07:43:58 PM » Author: Maxim
@Omnilight37 — I'm the same way. I possessed a weird obsession towards lighting from an early age. Driving down the highway with my parents, I would actively shout, "that light is out" every single time I saw a bulb/fixture out. And, if the next time we drove by and those lights were fixed, I would always comment on it as well. It definitely got tiring for my parents, and my dad always told me my hobby was absurd (through probably 7th grade)... but they generally respected and then eventually encouraged it. My mom used to drive me to pick up lights on Marketplace, and eventually the ReStore. The first picture I ever took on my dad's Canon EOS 50D was of a set of metal halide floodlights and highbays at my sister's swim meet in 2013. Unfortunately, those photos were permanently deleted sometime around 2020 when my dad wanted to "free up some space" on his hard drive. If I ever find the SD card the photos were taken on, I'll be sure to upload them to this site.
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Sometimes it just takes a little bit of time and a concerted effort to learn something new. Don't give up before you get where you want to go.

	Re: Does Anybody Else Here Anthropomorphize Lights? « Reply #5 on: July 23, 2026, 08:01:17 PM » Author: Omnilight37
Nice to hear your story! I hope you find those photos one day.
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*Getting Brighter by the Day!*

I'm an avid lighting enthusiast who works with and studies ballasts, ignitors and lighting optics while identifying various models and manufacturers of electric lighting. I am actively studying particle physics and seek to understand the mechanics of a photon.

	Re: Does Anybody Else Here Anthropomorphize Lights? « Reply #6 on: July 23, 2026, 08:49:00 PM » Author: Maxim
Thank you! By the way, are you currently in college? And if so, where? I will soon be a freshman at Purdue University for Engineering (in about two weeks...)
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Sometimes it just takes a little bit of time and a concerted effort to learn something new. Don't give up before you get where you want to go.

	Re: Does Anybody Else Here Anthropomorphize Lights? « Reply #8 on: July 24, 2026, 07:46:45 AM » Author: rjluna2
Quote from: Maxim on July 23, 2026, 08:49:00 PM I will soon be a freshman at Purdue University for Engineering (in about two weeks...)  Good luck, Maxim
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Pretty, please no more Chinese failure.

	Re: Does Anybody Else Here Anthropomorphize Lights? « Reply #9 on: July 24, 2026, 03:43:04 PM » Author: Maxim
Thanks, Robert!
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Sometimes it just takes a little bit of time and a concerted effort to learn something new. Don't give up before you get where you want to go.

	Re: Does Anybody Else Here Anthropomorphize Lights? « Reply #10 on: July 25, 2026, 02:01:39 AM » Author: Omnilight37
@Maxim I'm about to attend college! I will obtain an MSEE and  plan to work in the lighting industry. I would love to work at either Lithonia or Cooper Lighting Solutions. They have both make some iconic lighting fixtures such as the Lithonia D Series, the Cooper Archeon and the Lithonia Aeris that I've always admired!
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*Getting Brighter by the Day!*

I'm an avid lighting enthusiast who works with and studies ballasts, ignitors and lighting optics while identifying various models and manufacturers of electric lighting. I am actively studying particle physics and seek to understand the mechanics of a photon.

	Re: Does Anybody Else Here Anthropomorphize Lights? « Reply #11 on: July 25, 2026, 03:04:23 AM » Author: Maxim
My goal post-Purdue is to end up in a Lead Engineer role at Acuity Brands in Crawfordsville, IN!
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Sometimes it just takes a little bit of time and a concerted effort to learn something new. Don't give up before you get where you want to go.

	Re: Does Anybody Else Here Anthropomorphize Lights? « Reply #13 on: July 25, 2026, 02:13:02 PM » Author: Econolite03
Cool to hear Maxim! I hope to finish at my community college sometime next year for the electrical trade. I’ve considered going into Civil Engineering through the Cal State system afterwards, lots of studying but not impossible. Lots of tire kickers in electrical right now.
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RMS Queen Mary Enthusiast

	Re: Does Anybody Else Here Anthropomorphize Lights? « Reply #14 on: July 25, 2026, 02:34:36 PM » Author: Maxim
Thanks you guys. There are other lighting companies, but Acuity is unique because Crawfordsville is their hub for not only engineering but also BAA-compliant manufacturing. Same with LSi. They have a pole fab facility in Indiana, which I believe is a part of their sprawling mega-campus for manufacturing many of their products. As well as an entire lighting campus in Cincinnati, Ohio. Hence why I doubt I'll be living on the East Coast after college... because all of the manufacturing and R&D-based jobs are in the Chicagoland area.
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Sometimes it just takes a little bit of time and a concerted effort to learn something new. Don't give up before you get where you want to go.