Sometimes she has to just LEGO

CHAPEL HILL -- So she's 41 and still plays with LEGOs.

OK, so Cyndi Bradham -- who had to rent a storage unit to hold some of the 500 LEGO sets she owns -- is obsessed with the Danish plastic building blocks.

What's the big deal?

"I mean, it could be heroin," she said Sunday, presiding over the latest intricate product of her addiction.

It's Bradham's second year at LEGO-palooza at Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, where thousands of young'uns and kids at heart see what can be done with LEGOs.

Bradham went with a medieval motif this year, spending about 100 hours over four months on the design and construction of a tiny Middle Ages country.

To the east, two castles wage war on one another, complete with catapults and tiny bowmen.

To the west, beyond the Dark Forest that bisects the kingdom, is a more peaceful scene of a jousting tournament and an inn, where little plastic guests enjoy little plastic turkey legs.

"I see all the warts nobody else sees," Bradham said of her country as grade-schoolers walked around it mesmerized.

"But, still, I'm satisfied. It looks cool, and it makes me happy."

LEGOs have made her happy for more than 30 years, in fact.

She envied her brother when their parents bought him a LEGO set.

"I was a girl, right, so they didn't buy one for me," Bradham said, giving an eye roll to the stereotype that girls only like tea parties with their dolls.

She showed them.

Work as a research scientist at Duke University keeps her busy, so Bradham has to make time to feed her habit. "I'll say, 'That's it,' and then I'll take a lot of time and just go into LEGOland."

Her friends thinks she's slightly nuts, but she said they aren't judgmental.

It's just a hobby. Or so Bradham says.

"My fantasy would be to shrink down and live in my LEGO world. That would be the ultimate." Ohhh-kaay.

"I'm not your typical person, I guess," Bradham concluded. "I'm just not."