Hobbies, etc
So, my friend Alphapythia asked recently about people’s hobbies. It was a nice thing for her to do. Trying to make a list reminded me of some that I had forgotten about for a while. It has also been a while on some of them so I am interpreting this as one of a series of reminders from the Universe to get my ass back into the darkroom. Darkroom is a good place to start the list:
1) Photography. I used to do this a lot. Then I moved to another state, started to Grad school, got involved with a woman who took up all the time I had (my fault not hers). There’s always something isn’t there? Soon...
2) Spending time and money in used bookstores.
3) Reading. Almost anything I can get my hands on. Last week I was at a book club where we discussed The Battle for God by Karen Armstrong. Aetherwolf didn’t sound very enthusiastic about it. And to be honest I didn’t actually finish the book entirely, despite the club meeting being postponed twice. The next book is The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat - and other clinical tales by Oliver Sacks. It goes very quickly and is extremely interesting.
4) Comic books. I told you I’d read almost anything. There are thousands of them here in my closet. Seriously, thousands. The ones from the eighties are mostly Thor and the Avengers, Superhero comics from Marvel. Recently they are anything based in Gotham (that’s the Batman mythos for those of you who don’t know). Plus I have every issue of Spawn (though they haven’t been as exciting lately as in earlier years). My favourite single book is the Dark Knight Returns which is incredible storytelling and my favourite series is a small independent book, Strangers in Paradise.
5) Roleplaying. I got this one off of someone else’s list, but I like remembering the days when we would play every Sunday, all Sunday long. I haven’t had anyone to play with since moving to the DC area a little over 6 years ago. I’m very jealous of Aetherwolf for all of the Roleplaying people he’s met in Chicago.
6) Driving. I LOVE to drive. This may not seem like it should fit your requirements, Alphapythia, on two levels. It is an essential life function and I used to get paid for it when delivering pizzas. However, I certainly embellish it beyond the norm. Today, for example, I drove to Maryland (about 15 miles one way) and back just to get a bagel. That’s not so odd itself, but today it was snowing, with an inch or more on the road. No matter how much more my mom likes what I do now, I miss delivering pizzas just for all the driving I got to do. Do any of you besides aetherwolf remember my motorcycle?
7) Home Brewing? Not exactly. It’s not beer. Mead is honey wine. When people find out that I make it at home they hear “beer” for some reason. Cutterjon and I started a small one gallon batch back in October. Mine tastes like a wintery-sitting-around-the-fire drink. It is apple and honey with cinnamon and clove flavors. It’s the sort of thing I think of heating up to drink warm. My step-Dad though liked it better cold. He got one litre, but there are two more for next October. Hopefully it will keep. The other major project is a Blackberry Mead that SUCKED when I first tasted it. That was very disappointing considering I had 5 gallons of it. I added a pound and a half of honey. It sucked a lot less so I added another pound and a half of honey. It tastes a little like a port. After a while I bottled about 10 litres. I hope some of you will help me drink it. Now I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it is fantastic, but I no longer had to go to my roommates and say “Taste this...” (a phrase they grew to dread even though they took it well) they started drinking it voluntarily. Finally I added a little more honey to the last gallon and a half (or so) to see what would happen. What would I really do with 5 gallons of homemade blackberry port anyway?
8) Shooting. That's right. I have two handguns (in addition to the rifles) and a permit to carry them. I am responsible about the whole thing though and like to stay in good practice. I'm a pretty good shot and enjoy target practice with my brothers back home in Tennessee.
9) Cooking elaborate dinners for quirky, interesting, single women. Unfortunately I don’t seem to have any of those right now. So that leaves me,
10) Sitting in front of the fire writing in my journal. You knew that though. I had intended to pass this evening that way with my snail-journal and just ended up using the e-journal instead.
1) Photography. I used to do this a lot. Then I moved to another state, started to Grad school, got involved with a woman who took up all the time I had (my fault not hers). There’s always something isn’t there? Soon...
2) Spending time and money in used bookstores.
3) Reading. Almost anything I can get my hands on. Last week I was at a book club where we discussed The Battle for God by Karen Armstrong. Aetherwolf didn’t sound very enthusiastic about it. And to be honest I didn’t actually finish the book entirely, despite the club meeting being postponed twice. The next book is The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat - and other clinical tales by Oliver Sacks. It goes very quickly and is extremely interesting.
4) Comic books. I told you I’d read almost anything. There are thousands of them here in my closet. Seriously, thousands. The ones from the eighties are mostly Thor and the Avengers, Superhero comics from Marvel. Recently they are anything based in Gotham (that’s the Batman mythos for those of you who don’t know). Plus I have every issue of Spawn (though they haven’t been as exciting lately as in earlier years). My favourite single book is the Dark Knight Returns which is incredible storytelling and my favourite series is a small independent book, Strangers in Paradise.
5) Roleplaying. I got this one off of someone else’s list, but I like remembering the days when we would play every Sunday, all Sunday long. I haven’t had anyone to play with since moving to the DC area a little over 6 years ago. I’m very jealous of Aetherwolf for all of the Roleplaying people he’s met in Chicago.
6) Driving. I LOVE to drive. This may not seem like it should fit your requirements, Alphapythia, on two levels. It is an essential life function and I used to get paid for it when delivering pizzas. However, I certainly embellish it beyond the norm. Today, for example, I drove to Maryland (about 15 miles one way) and back just to get a bagel. That’s not so odd itself, but today it was snowing, with an inch or more on the road. No matter how much more my mom likes what I do now, I miss delivering pizzas just for all the driving I got to do. Do any of you besides aetherwolf remember my motorcycle?
7) Home Brewing? Not exactly. It’s not beer. Mead is honey wine. When people find out that I make it at home they hear “beer” for some reason. Cutterjon and I started a small one gallon batch back in October. Mine tastes like a wintery-sitting-around-the-fire drink. It is apple and honey with cinnamon and clove flavors. It’s the sort of thing I think of heating up to drink warm. My step-Dad though liked it better cold. He got one litre, but there are two more for next October. Hopefully it will keep. The other major project is a Blackberry Mead that SUCKED when I first tasted it. That was very disappointing considering I had 5 gallons of it. I added a pound and a half of honey. It sucked a lot less so I added another pound and a half of honey. It tastes a little like a port. After a while I bottled about 10 litres. I hope some of you will help me drink it. Now I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it is fantastic, but I no longer had to go to my roommates and say “Taste this...” (a phrase they grew to dread even though they took it well) they started drinking it voluntarily. Finally I added a little more honey to the last gallon and a half (or so) to see what would happen. What would I really do with 5 gallons of homemade blackberry port anyway?
8) Shooting. That's right. I have two handguns (in addition to the rifles) and a permit to carry them. I am responsible about the whole thing though and like to stay in good practice. I'm a pretty good shot and enjoy target practice with my brothers back home in Tennessee.
9) Cooking elaborate dinners for quirky, interesting, single women. Unfortunately I don’t seem to have any of those right now. So that leaves me,
10) Sitting in front of the fire writing in my journal. You knew that though. I had intended to pass this evening that way with my snail-journal and just ended up using the e-journal instead.