So...what else do you do?

spasticcp · Sep 9, 2009

Aside from the wonderful world of brewing (of which I have been a part of for a little over a month

), what other hobbies and interests take up your small hours?

Unfortunately I seem to suffer from ADD and OCD in that regard, so I end up getting a little bit obsessed about just about anything I take an interest in. So the result is...quite a few hobbies/activities.

I guess the first one, which you can't really call a hobby with a straight face and conscience would be fatherhood. My son is my life, no two ways about it. Has to be mentioned because most of my time outside of work is spent with him and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Aside from that, I'm an avid fisherman (who unfortunately doesn't get a lot of time on the water these days...), guitar player (acoustic and electric, I'm no purist), bowhunter, home theater buff, self-proclaimed master griller, dart player, and of course the vice to end all vices...video gamer (something which I have substituted for sleep with minimal success).

Of course there are other things that don't quite count as "hobbies". I'm a pretty big film buff and avid reader, and the best activity invented yet has to be sitting outside with a nice drink in hand and watching the sunset (to be followed by moving 20 yards to sit by a bonfire).

And that pretty much sums me up.

skunkboy · Sep 9, 2009

I'm supposed to have interests other than mead, cider and beer?!? ;-)

I guess that I do read history books, watch old movies, and play games (card, board, wargames, etc).

AToE · Sep 9, 2009

I used to play in a touring metal band, but gave that up a few years ago to concentrate on recording and producing, which is going well for me right now, and definitely my #1 passion. I also read a metric tonne of books (SF mostly, stuff like Herbert, Asimov, Clarke etc), I consider good SF to be one of the most important genres of deep literature, and am slowly working on developing my skills as a fiction writer. As a part of that process I usually take about 1 college or university course a semester after work, concentrating on english studies, but also trying to round out my grasp on physics, evolution, philosophy and all the religions.

Gardenfish · Sep 9, 2009

I have numerous organic vegetable beds in my yard and three fish ponds. You can see a few pages in my book at blurb.com.[ look in landscaping section and my book name is "Desert Gardening in the southwest", by Rick Provencher ].I do alot of canning, Fishing, custom rod building, I make organic soaps and lotions and shampoos. Cheesemaking, custom woodworking. Beer, and now mead.

Gardenfish

Kee · Sep 9, 2009

Like spasticcp, I tend to have a lot of hobbies. I've knit (not well), crochet, any threadwork, quilt, stainglass,... My husband is a tabletop gamer. I couldn't get into that, but I LOVE painting miniatures so we have quite a large collection of miniatures, many beautifully painted.

If there's a hobby, I'm game to try it.

EVERYTHING is on hold until Dec., though. I'm in the last year of my BS and earlier this year I decided to go to grad school. That pretty much took care of my free time. I have two GRE tests to take for grad school. It's a good thing mead is best after bulk aging. I have several batches I want/need to bottle, but I won't be getting to that until next year!

Yo momma · Sep 9, 2009

Beside Mead and Wine, I Bow hunt, coach and ref youth soccer and play Warcraft ALOT. My wife plays with me, we call it warcrack....LOL

TimV · Sep 9, 2009

I do SciFi too, but more Zelazny, Martin, Alternative history than the classics.

I grow carnivorous plants, about 500 species counting the rare Cactus and Succulents, and have some big enough to eat mice. Here's some pics

http://www.pbase.com/beekeeper/plants

and an example of a smaller one that eats fungus gnats in my greenhouse:

Day job is landscape contractor

http://www.pbase.com/beekeeper/work

AToE · Sep 9, 2009

Cool - I'm not into alt history myself, nothing wrong with it, just not my thing. I do read some newer authors as well as the classics (I also read truly old SF such as Edgar Poe and Verne).

akueck · Sep 10, 2009

This is pretty much my main hobby, though with beer brewing it can take up quite a few weekends. Apparently I am the beer guru of these parts and have been helping out a lot of folks with their batches, buying equipment, etc.

My wife and I like to pretty much chill out on the weekends. I have gotten sucked into this online game Travian. Click here to play! Ask around, it only takes a few minutes a day.

Work takes up most of my weekdays though; I am currently doing characterization & testing of medical devices (stents and related stuff, mostly).

BBBF · Sep 10, 2009

My hobbies: Making mead, brewing beer, restoring a '73 Beetle Convertible, playing bass and I have some angelfish I'm trying to breed.

DaleP · Sep 10, 2009

Besides mead, cider, and beer making, I enjoy fishing, hunting, beagles, picking wild fruits (its a hard choice, mead or my wife's pies and jellies), and building musical instruments.

afdoty · Sep 10, 2009

Interesting question...Just over 3 years ago, I sold my Insurance agency and "retired". Retirement lasted about 6 weeks before I was bored out of my skull (I was 49 at the time). So I went back to my old engineering job. After 17 years away from it, trying to get back up to speed became my daytime hobby. Very challenging and in many ways humbling. Love the work and enjoy the re-learning.

Off time, I make mead, play pool, read...I collect vintage Sci-Fi/horror books from the...wood working...oh and I play pool...

Mead making has been a primary "obsession" for the last 4 years. The deeper I go, the more interest I find in the hobby.

Kee · Sep 10, 2009

TimV said:
I grow carnivorous plants, about 500 species counting the rare Cactus and Succulents, and have some big enough to eat mice.

I envy you. I want to grow carnivorous plants. I'm just not good with plants in general. There are only a few types I can keep alive more than a few weeks. I have kids so we've tried the fly traps. They usually die immediately. I haven't trusted my 'skills' enough to try anything more expensive.

wildoates · Sep 10, 2009

What do I do? Well I am a public high school science teacher, so that takes up quite a bit of my time most of the year--between August and May, anyway. I also geocache, which gets my lard@$$ out of the house. I ride my bike, I love to hike. I run (badly) sometimes, but not much in the summer because it's just too hot in these parts. I go paddling with my friends sometimes but I don't have a boat, so that doesn't happen near enough. I read a lot. I like to cook, but as I live alone I don't have anyone to cook for so I seldom do. I blog--huge political junkie. I love to sleep--love my bed, especially in winter with all the down this and that. I have 3 cats (one of whom is at the vet as I type this, as something skinned his tail down to the bone and he is undergoing surgery to amputate--$1300+ later). I have four fantastic kids who sadly all live far away from me--Hong Kong, Norway Wyoming, and Monterey County--you know how you hear of mothers who are so cloying their kids move as far away as possible? I'm afraid that must be me

(not really--we all get along swimmingly).

I've only been brewing since March (my son brews beer), which seems a strange occupation for someone who doesn't drink, but I'm fascinated by the chemistry of it all, and really enjoy the many great people on this forum. Extremely helpful and, as advertised, friendly.

I do a lot of things, but since I don't have anyone to be with and no-one to answer to but myself, I have to do a lot of things to fill my time. Unlike Al, I guarantee I wouldn't be bored if I retired.

I guess I'm darned wordy, as well.

socpsy · Sep 10, 2009

I guess that I might as well jump in here too.

Like Wildoates, I'm in education - been a university faculty member for 30 years. Much of my "free" time was taken up by reading professional literature, writing, and doing unpaid work for professional organizations. So much for free time.

I played golf for many years, but had to give it up last year due to shoulder problems. My reading for enjoyment, when I get to it, is usually SF or off-beat historical stuff (Salt: A World History, e.g.). I started brewing beer as a hobby and then decided that mead might also be something interesting to dabble in. I'm also an electronic gadget geek.

My wife is into many of the fabric arts and I've helped a bit in that area. We also are in SCA and so constructing garb and playing in the modern middle ages also takes up some of our time.

wildoates · Sep 10, 2009

Salt! Great book, as is Cod, The six glasses one, and their ilk.

Unfortunately, my kids like to read them too, and they always seem to join someone else's library. Between us we own a lot of books.

TimV · Sep 10, 2009

There must be some sort of correlation between IQ and SciFi reading. I just hope it's, like, a positive correlation......

Carnivorous plants aren't exactly easy, but if you have plenty of light, and pure water there are several that you can put in your kitchen window to catch fruit flies etc...

wildoates · Sep 10, 2009

There must be some sort of correlation between IQ and SciFi reading. I just hope it's, like, a positive correlation......

Me too.

socpsy · Sep 10, 2009

wildoates said:
Salt! Great book, as is Cod, The six glasses one, and their ilk.

That's the genre!;D

Shanecb · Sep 10, 2009

Hmm hobbies. I like reading certain books, namely Sci-Fi also. I'm fairly into my course of study, which is neuroscience. It takes up a decent amount of my time. I'm starting to get back into playing Diablo 2 with a couple of friends of mine, which is a game I always liked.

Umm, I'm sure there are things I'm not thinking of off the top of my head haha. I like medieval history, and am thinking about getting into making chainmail. I also like trying different beers and reviewing them on Beer Advocate.

So...what else do you do?

NewBee

NewBee

NewBee

NewBee

NewBee

NewBee

NewBee

NewBee

Certified Mead Mentor

Worker Bee

NewBee

NewBee

NewBee

NewBee

NewBee

NewBee

NewBee

NewBee

NewBee

NewBee