Unexpected hobbies

[unixknight]

  On 3/25/2016 at 10:57 PM, mirkwood said:

D&D and tabletop wargaming.  I like to shoot guns a little bit too.

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Tabletop?  What do you play?

[mirkwood]

Only Mordheim lately. I have Warhammer (Chaos/Nurgle) and 40K (Black Legion and vanilla space marine) armies.  I also have a short lived game called Dogs of War and Battletech.  I couldn't get any of my gamer buddies to go with any of the WW2 games.  That is what I really wanted to play.

[NightSG]

  On 3/31/2016 at 7:20 PM, unixknight said:

Tabletop?  What do you play?

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I've been resisting the temptation to make a bunch of NdFeB dice and a steel table so we could try out tablebottom gaming.

Could actually be kinda cool since everybody could lay heads-in right under a central play area, so sharing the expensive dice would be a lot easier.

[Guest]

  On 3/28/2016 at 4:45 PM, NightSG said:

Bummer. I was hoping you were making cube pythons, icosahedron pythons, maybe even nonahedron pythons.

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And I was hoping for Monty Pythons or Django Pythons.

[NeuroTypical]

I started dabbling in art here in my '40's.  I went through the usual public school art classes and hated every second of it, yet always secretly wishing I could do stuff like that.  Now, while mom homeschools two daughters, I get a second chance to start over from scratch.  I tell people it's a way to stay connected to my girls (and it is), but I get a kick out of it.

The stuff I'm producing isn't good.  This isn't false modesty - I suck at art.  But I'm astounded at how fulfilling it is to go through the creative process.  Conceptualizing something, trying to bring it into existence, and then reaching a stopping point where I call it "done" - really fulfilling.  I share it with my daughters, where I hope it encourages them to not give up in their own efforts.  I almost never share any of it with people I know, as I need to avoid the crippling embarrassment I experienced in public school.  I've found supportive artistic communities online that have been really supportive, and I've also found ways to share some of it anonymously online, rejoicing secretly in positive feedback.

It's amazing to not just draw a character, but to draw a character feeling something like anguish, embarrassment, joy/happiness, drowsiness, anger, etc.  

My goal for the next few years is to be able to draw something original.  Right now I'm copying/tracing/tweaking other people's stuff.  Because I just stink to high heaven trying to start from scratch.  I'd like to see if it's possible for that to change.  I don't know if it's possible.

[Vort]

  On 3/31/2016 at 8:56 PM, NeuroTypical said:

I started dabbling in art here in my '40's.  I went through the usual public school art classes and hated every second of it, yet always secretly wishing I could do stuff like that.  Now, while mom homeschools two daughters, I get a second chance to start over from scratch.  I tell people it's a way to stay connected to my girls (and it is), but I get a kick out of it.

The stuff I'm producing isn't good.  This isn't false modesty - I suck at art.  But I'm astounded at how fulfilling it is to go through the creative process.  Conceptualizing something, trying to bring it into existence, and then reaching a stopping point where I call it "done" - really fulfilling.  I share it with my daughters, where I hope it encourages them to not give up in their own efforts.  I almost never share any of it with people I know, as I need to avoid the crippling embarrassment I experienced in public school.  I've found supportive artistic communities online that have been really supportive, and I've also found ways to share some of it anonymously online, rejoicing secretly in positive feedback.

It's amazing to not just draw a character, but to draw a character feeling something like anguish, embarrassment, joy/happiness, drowsiness, anger, etc.  

My goal for the next few years is to be able to draw something original.  Right now I'm copying/tracing/tweaking other people's stuff.  Because I just stink to high heaven trying to start from scratch.  I'd like to see if it's possible for that to change.  I don't know if it's possible.

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I was enthralled watching Bob Ross on Roku. My son watched him about three years ago, then painted a really beautiful painting for his mother for her birthday (or maybe it was Mother's Day) before he left on his mission. Don't know if you care about Bob Ross or not, but fwiw I think he's great.

[Guest MormonGator]

  On 3/31/2016 at 8:56 PM, NeuroTypical said:

I started dabbling in art here in my '40's

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I can "draw" a little bit. Started in my 30s. Evolved from stick figures to things that look like stick figures. 

[Guest]

  On 3/31/2016 at 9:01 PM, Vort said:

I was enthralled watching Bob Ross on Roku. My son watched him about three years ago, then painted a really beautiful painting for his mother for her birthday (or maybe it was Mother's Day) before he left on his mission. Don't know if you care about Bob Ross or not, but fwiw I think he's great.

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I thought he was good.  But what do I know?  Empress said that she didn't like the fact that "his light sources are inconsistent".  I haven't seen enough of Bob Ross to tell if she was correct.  But she's a great painter, so I'm going to agree with her without verification.

[Guest LiterateParakeet]

  On 3/25/2016 at 7:27 PM, MormonGator said:

I'll start. I make my own soap. I'm totally self taught with the help of only a few internet videos. I've been making soap for about four years-but let me rephrase it. I've been making good soap for about six months. 

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That's so cool.  I made soap once or twice.  It was awesome.  Very good for dry skin I was told.   

I don't think I have any particularly unusual hobbies...the one that surprises ME the most though is art.  I use art to express deep feelings that I sometimes can't put into words, or to capture something I want to remember.  My therapist thinks I am a very talented artist.  She is the only one that has seen most of my work since it is mostly dark and sometimes unintentionally so.  She is also an artist, so maybe she knows something.  But unless I die or get to a point that I can use my art for something less dark, the world will never know, LOL! 

[NeedleinA]

  On 3/31/2016 at 9:01 PM, Vort said:

Don't know if you care about Bob Ross or not, but fwiw I think he's great.

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Bob Ross spoke in General Conference several years ago, not sure if anyone remembers it? Some quotes from it:

"Brothers & Sisters, we don't make mistakes. We just have happy accidents"
"Trees cover up a multitude of sins"
lastly
"I remember when my Dad told me as a kid, ‘If you want to catch a rabbit, stand behind a tree and make a noise like a carrot. Then when the rabbit comes by you grab him.’ Works pretty good until you try to figure out what kind of noise a carrot makes…"
 

Edited April 1, 2016 by NeedleinA

[anatess2]

  On 3/28/2016 at 2:25 AM, NeedleinA said:

Sorry. It was for creating color and pattern mutations on ball python's scales using recessive, co-dominant, dominant genes. 

Felt like mad scientist type stuff.  Hatching eggs was like Christmas, fun times. 

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My kids got into this a while back... I didn't realize it at the time but the first snake I ever got for them was an excellent specimen of a pastel.  I just thought the other snakes just faded into the bedding so I paid the extra money for the only yellow one in the store.  Then some guy lost his job (this was in 2008) and sold his snake and so my husband got the guy's snake.  It looked so different I thought it was a completely different snake - it's an albino.  Then we got a spider (I found out later this was another really good specimen as it has a very reduced pattern with the brown part a smooth beige shade and it didn't have a head shaking behavior) from this 12 year old who started this business from his bedroom breeding snakes.  And then, of course, I had to learn everything there is to know about these snakes so I joined the snakes forum and as luck would have it, I won a free snake... a yellowbelly.  So then we had 4 snakes of all different colors.

My sons learned everything there is to know about ball pythons too and found out they can actually put the pastel with the spider and possibly get a bumblebee.  So, they put the two together one winter and they got 2 bumblebees and 2 normal... one egg did not make it - the mom rejected it (the kids did it all naturally - no incubators) - it turned out to be a spider.  Anyway, I refuse to have any other snake, but they talked me into keeping one bumblebee (because we didn't have one of that color) and one normal (she had a missing tail).  They sold the other bumblebee for $600 and the normal for $50.  The bumblebee is my favorite.  We ended up with an awesome looking one with reduced pattern and bright yellow that stayed bright through adulthood.

Anyway, that's how we ended up with 6 snakes.  They were gonna put the bumblebee with his mother (yeah! incest!) saying they can get a super pastel bumblebee (queen bee?).  They also wanted to breed the yellowbelly saying they could get a white snake after 2 generations or something...  but I put my foot down.  Nope.  That's enough snakes to last me a lifetime.

 

 

[Vort]

  On 4/1/2016 at 6:25 AM, anatess2 said:

they can actually put the pastel with the spider and possibly get a bumblebee.

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Isn't recombinant DNA technology wonderful?

[Jamie123]

One of my hobbies is Karate. (Or it used to be until our local dojo got closed down - I am "in theory" looking for a new one at the moment but I've been distracted with other things.) I am useless at karate, but I do it for much the same reason Sherlock Holmes played the violin.

My other hobby is amateur dramatics - especially pantomime. I totally LOVE pantomime!

Most Americans won't know what pantomime is. (My wife - who is American - had never heard of it till she came to England.) A pantomime is basically a bunch of songs, dances and stupid jokes set around a loose and ridiculous plot - usually (but not always) based on a popular fairy tale. This year we did Snow White. The hero is usually (but again not always) played by a young(ish) woman, and there is always a frumpy female character called the "dame" (usually the hero's mom) who is played by a older man in lipstick and drag. There are animals (usually played by children), ghosts and monsters of various sorts who creep up behind characters while the audience shouts "it's behind you!!!" only to have disappeared by the time that character turns around. There are running gags (awful ones usually), jokes based on current affairs or local news, sometimes candy thrown into the audience (grabbed eagerly by the children!) All the characters continually "break the fourth wall" and interact with the audience. It is tremendous, hilarious fun.

It is very, very English - not in the least bit "high brow" - and utterly wonderful.

Pantomimes I have been in:

• 2012: Cinderella. 2 performances. (Playing First Bailiff.)
• 2013: Aladdin. 3 performances. (Playing the Emperor.)
• 2014: Dick Whittington. 4 performances. (Playing the Captain.)
• 2015: Treasure Island. 4 performances. (Playing Ben Gunn.)
• 2016: Snow White. 4 performances. (Playing Jobsworth the Butler.)

Edited April 1, 2016 by Jamie123

[NeuroTypical]

  On 4/1/2016 at 12:39 AM, LiterateParakeet said:

But unless I die or get to a point that I can use my art for something less dark, the world will never know, LOL! 

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I know exactly how you feel.  I made a YouTube video, pushed it hard and got 100 views, and nobody I know has ever seen it, or will if I have my way.  Because it would be cripplingly embarrassing. 

[Vort]

Now I want to see a pantomime.

[unixknight]

  On 3/31/2016 at 7:47 PM, mirkwood said:

Only Mordheim lately. I have Warhammer (Chaos/Nurgle) and 40K (Black Legion and vanilla space marine) armies.  I also have a short lived game called Dogs of War and Battletech.  I couldn't get any of my gamer buddies to go with any of the WW2 games.  That is what I really wanted to play.

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That's pretty awesome.  I have a Black Templars army for 40K and a Bretonnia force for Warhammer Fantasy before they killed it.

As for unexpected hobbies, here's my current project underway, which I've mentioned before at some point...

[Guest MormonGator]

  On 4/1/2016 at 4:24 PM, unixknight said:

As for unexpected hobbies, here's my current project underway, which I've mentioned before at some point...

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This sir, is why I salute you with all the awesomeness I can muster. It looks amazing so far. 

[unixknight]

  On 4/1/2016 at 4:27 PM, MormonGator said:

This sir, is why I salute you with all the awesomeness I can muster. It looks amazing so far. 

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I haven't made much progress in the last few weeks because I've been taking a little break, but this weekend I plan to resume work and finish the knee joints.

[Guest MormonGator]

  On 4/1/2016 at 4:28 PM, unixknight said:

I haven't made much progress in the last few weeks because I've been taking a little break, but this weekend I plan to resume work and finish the knee joints.

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I think it looks great. I can't wait to see it completed. 

[unixknight]

Yeah I have a convention in Washington DC in June I want to attend, and I want to wear the sit so that's my deadline.  Plus, to be able to fit more comfortably in it I need to lose a few pounds so that's an incentive as well.

[EarlJibbs]

One of my favorite hobbies was growing heirloom potatoes. I even took my seeds to Houston where I live now. That is where that ended. I got a few good ones out of my first year harvest, but the rest were diseased with the blight (potato famine). I had to trash the plants and the soil. Too humid here. I should have done some research, I figured I would have a ton more because the growing season here is so long. It was very sad. Whenever I told people I grew potatoes and used them for thanksgiving dinner, it surprised them. Sweet potatoes thrive here, but I don't like them. Potatoes have been the only think I could really get into. Perhaps I will read up and try to make a small green house. 

My current hobbies - Photography, videography. 

My passions - Volleyball, always volleyball. 

[Guest]

  On 4/1/2016 at 4:24 PM, unixknight said:

That's pretty awesome.  I have a Black Templars army for 40K and a Bretonnia force for Warhammer Fantasy before they killed it.

As for unexpected hobbies, here's my current project underway, which I've mentioned before at some point...

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My husband's army is Tau. But what he has is only a fraction of what his buddy has that got him into Warhammer, and that guy has spent literally thousands. Not a cheap hobby.

[mirkwood]

  On 4/1/2016 at 7:57 PM, Eowyn said:

My husband's army is Tau. But what he has is only a fraction of what his buddy has that got him into Warhammer, and that guy has spent literally thousands. Not a cheap hobby.

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Let us not discuss just how much money I have invested in figures and terrain.

[Sunday21]

  On 4/1/2016 at 4:24 PM, unixknight said:

That's pretty awesome.  I have a Black Templars army for 40K and a Bretonnia force for Warhammer Fantasy before they killed it.

As for unexpected hobbies, here's my current project underway, which I've mentioned before at some point...

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So cool it shivers!

[classylady]

I wish I had some really cool unexpected hobbies. I feel like I'm quite boring. I love to solve word puzzles such as logic problems, crosswords, cryptograms, codewords, and sudoku. I also like to look at maps. I learned to read a map at a young age and would often help my widowed mother in navigating around San Francisco and other areas. I have always had a map of the United States and of the World on different walls of my home and would often ask my children to find ______on the map. If travel can be a hobby, I definitely have that hobby. I just don't get the chance to travel as much as I would like to due to finances. But, I still manage to get around in spite of that. I specifically found a job that allowed me to travel (the airline industry) which even after retirement allows me to travel all over the globe for next to nothing. This past week I've been in Alabama, Florida, and right now I'm in Southern California and will be traveling back home to Utah tomorrow.