Hobbies

[bob]

I've been stuck in a rut lately, and been looking for some sort of hobby to take up. Just wondering what the rest of you do....

Couple things:

1) Can't cost a lot of money, or at least not a lot after some initial purchase.
2) No PC / console games. I think I have either grown out of my gaming period, or just grown out of forgiving developers for stupid bugs.
3) I live in a one bedroom apartment, so anything that requires a lot of space or storage is pretty much out. At least for now.

Any ideas?

- Bob

[rkmsuf]

you could become one of the world's foremost experts on the NFL and kick ass video games.

[korme]

mj4h recommends juggling

i recommend, collecting kleenex boxes

[bob]

Excellent - both helpful posts.

[Suicane75]

Excellent - both helpful posts.
Get a hobby you dirty hippy.

[rkmsuf]

How in the heck did you get "bob" as your handle anyway in 2004. Genius I tell you. Nobody else had come up with that yet.

Ok seriously, it's hard to offer suggestions not knowing what you like. I mean I could go with reading in a particular genre, working out, building stuff. It's really what kind of stuff you like.

[GroundCat]

Do some sort of detail-oriented woodworking.

Carving, inlaying, veneer....

Something like that is cheap and difficult to master. Perfect hobby activity.

[gstelmack]

2) No PC / console games. I think I have either grown out of my gaming period, or just grown out of forgiving developers for stupid bugs.
You could become a developer and thus avoid those stupid bugs in the first place.

(No, seriously, in addition to programming games as my full-time job, I come home and program for fun as a hobby)

[bob]

Well, I program (not games) as my job, so I don't want to do that. Let's see, what I enjoy - travelling, which is why I don't have a lot of money to spend (saving up for a big Eastern Europe trip next summer), outdoor stuff (mostly hiking), reading (history stuff mostly).....

I guess I was looking for what other people do to see if any of it was worth a try..... Not sure if woodworking would work at my apartment.

[korme]

pick up tennis

[rkmsuf]

pick up tennis

How is he going to play tennis in a one bedroom apartment?

[JeeberD]

table tennis?

[albionmoonlight]

If you can share your apartment with a bike, and you already enjoy hiking, you may want to look into trail biking. It's like hiking, but you get to go farther and work up a bit more of a sweat.

[JimboJ]

Learn to play a musical instrument.

You can buy a beginner electric guitar/amp package for a couple of hundred bucks, and after that its free, except for changing the strings once in a while. There are plenty of websites with free lessons. And most small amps have a headphone jack, so you don't have to disturb your neighbors (unless you want to! :))

[JPhillips]

Drying and pressing flowers?

[rkmsuf]

Drying and pressing flowers?

yeah maybe scrapbooking too

[Suicane75]

1. Search for potato chips that resemble people.

2. Read

3. Buy some old wrestling figures online and start your own federation. Keep meticulus details in a notebook on cards, winners and title history.

4. Find pornstars who look like famous actresses and splice video of the famous actress in with scenes of the porno stars, watch them and masturbate.

5. Buy a big piece of green rug, draw baselines on it with chalk, make tiny uniforms out of old clothes and put them on your wrestling figures, play out baseball games with them.

6. Make a top 30 list every week of your favorite songs, each week make a "gold" record with a paper plate covered in tin foil and write something like "Kelly Clarkson, Since You Been Gone, #1, 6-3-2005" Hang it on your wall. Make sure you have alot of space for all the records.

7. Put on Baseball games and make yourself the homeplate umpire. If you would of called strike 3 before, say, a guy hit a home run, that run doesnt count, this requires detailed bookeeping. If a game ends before YOU say there are 27 outs, file a girveance with MLB, be sure to include your written records.

8. By womens clothing and makeup, dress yourself up and see how many famous female celebrities you look better than.

9. Rub yourself.

10. If your still in womens clothing pretend that your a high class hooker and do some kinky shit to yourself, you know, stuff you would wanna do if you were the man doing the stuff to you as a woman, but at this point pretend that you are better looking than the women you werent better looking than in suggestion #8.

11. Look up lyrics to songs you have never heard and make up a melody, record it. Do this for 10-11 songs and then download all the real songs and compare them.

12. Play poker for free money, get all dressed up beforehand, set up some martini glasses, have a running dialogue all night with fictional people while you play, perhaps discuss plans to save the Queen Mother from an assisination attempt.

13. Go to a yardsale, find a cheap record players and some cheap records, come home and put on one album a day. Grab a broom and pretend you're the artist in concert. Making your own swank clothes to perform in also works.

14. Go out to a bar, sit in the corner and look suspiciously at everyone, someone in the room is a murderer. If anyone asks you your name tell them it's Zeke, if it's a hot chick tell them that you are looking for the person who murdered your partner, and when you find them they will pay dearly. The chick will want to fuck you, trust me.

15. Fuck the chick.

16. Buy a bunch of stuffed animals, seperate them into 2 groups, draw a dividing line your room. Hold elections for each group. Everyday think of new issues your seperate stuffed animal countries could have and vote on them when you get home. Wait 4 or 5 months and begin a war between the 2 countries. The stuffed animals on the losing side should be donated to a church, only the strongest get to stay.

[Suicane75]

How is he going to play tennis in a one bedroom apartment?
You ever play against a wall?

[rkmsuf]

1. Search for potato chips that resemble people.

2. Read

3. Buy some old wrestling figures online and start your own federation. Keep meticulus details in a notebook on cards, winners and title history.

4. Find pornstars who look like famous actresses and splice video of the famous actress in with scenes of the porno stars, watch them and masturbate.

5. Buy a big piece of green rug, draw baselines on it with chalk, make tiny uniforms out of old clothes and put them on your wrestling figures, play out baseball games with them.

6. Make a top 30 list every week of your favorite songs, each week make a "gold" record with a paper plate covered in tin foil and write something like "Kelly Clarkson, Since You Been Gone, #1, 6-3-2005" Hang it on your wall. Make sure you have alot of space for all the records.

7. Put on Baseball games and make yourself the homeplate umpire. If you would of called strike 3 before, say, a guy hit a home run, that run doesnt count, this requires detailed bookeeping. If a game ends before YOU say there are 27 outs, file a girveance with MLB, be sure to include your written records.

8. By womens clothing and makeup, dress yourself up and see how many famous female celebrities you look better than.

9. Rub yourself.

10. If your still in womens clothing pretend that your a high class hooker and do some kinky shit to yourself, you know, stuff you would wanna do if you were the man doing the stuff to you as a woman, but at this point pretend that you are better looking than the women you werent better looking than in suggestion #8.

11. Look up lyrics to songs you have never heard and make up a melody, record it. Do this for 10-11 songs and then download all the real songs and compare them.

12. Play poker for free money, get all dressed up beforehand, set up some martini glasses, have a running dialogue all night with fictional people while you play, perhaps discuss plans to save the Queen Mother from an assisination attempt.

13. Go to a yardsale, find a cheap record players and some cheap records, come home and put on one album a day. Grab a broom and pretend you're the artist in concert. Making your own swank clothes to perform in also works.

14. Go out to a bar, sit in the corner and look suspiciously at everyone, someone in the room is a murderer. If anyone asks you your name tell them it's Zeke, if it's a hot chick tell them that you are looking for the person who murdered your partner, and when you find them they will pay dearly. The chick will want to fuck you, trust me.

15. Fuck the chick.

16. Buy a bunch of stuffed animals, seperate them into 2 groups, draw a dividing line your room. Hold elections for each group. Everyday think of new issues your seperate stuffed animal countries could have and vote on them when you get home. Wait 4 or 5 months and begin a war between the 2 countries. The stuffed animals on the losing side should be donated to a church, only the strongest get to stay.

you brilliant bastege. classic.

[rkmsuf]

You ever play against a wall?

Once and the guy nextdoor came over and tried to shove a leafblower in a bad place.

[bob]

Suicane75, I'm impressed.... or scared.

Let's see with the suggestions:

Tennis - actually have a court here, so I can do that.
Musical Instrument - I have a guitar, so maybe I should pick that back up.

Honestly, the trail biking sounds good. And I know there is a good place here in the ATL, that might be a winner. Any idea how much a decent bike costs?

[JeeberD]

Learn to play a musical instrument.

You can buy a beginner electric guitar/amp package for a couple of hundred bucks, and after that its free, except for changing the strings once in a while. There are plenty of websites with free lessons. And most small amps have a headphone jack, so you don't have to disturb your neighbors (unless you want to! :))

I feel for the folks in the surrounding apartments...

[MacroGuru]

One thing we (Mrs.IndoorSoccerSim and KidIndoorSoccerSim#1 and KidIndoorSoccerSim#2 are looking at starting up, was actually suggested/written about here.

Geo Caching.......

[WSUCougar]

Build plastic models, or collect toy soldiers? Collect stamps?

[albionmoonlight]

Suicane75, I'm impressed.... or scared.

Let's see with the suggestions:

Tennis - actually have a court here, so I can do that.
Musical Instrument - I have a guitar, so maybe I should pick that back up.

Honestly, the trail biking sounds good. And I know there is a good place here in the ATL, that might be a winner. Any idea how much a decent bike costs?
Not really, because I didn't bother getting a decent bike (a mistake, IMO). Your best bet, if no one chimes in here with a price range, is to go to several bike stores (local shops--not mega stores), tell them what you need/are looking for and get recommendations. If you do this at several stores, you should get a general sense of what the market is doing.

Unlike most other products, bikes are sold by people who know bikes, so you have a real advantage there.

[Raiders Army]

Buy a fishing pole or porn magazine and become a masterbaiter.

Try commenting on every thread on this board at least once a day to beat Jeebs in posts.

[scooper]

Transcribe FOFC by quill onto parchment scrolls. Stash those scrolls in a remote seaside cave for future civilzations to decipher and use to piece together the year that was 2005.

[Raiders Army]

Transcribe FOFC by quill onto parchment scrolls. Stash those scrolls in a remote seaside cave for future civilzations to decipher and use to piece together the year that was 2005.
It would truly be funny to see them translated and turned into a religion...

[hushed whispers]Skydog was so powerful he banished people for a month![/hushed whispers]

[Warhammer]

A few suggestions:

1) Boardgaming - Not talking about your normal Monopoly or some such. War games or "Euro" games. There are a bunch of games that come in from Europe that are primarily strategy games. Some are abstract, others have a tight theme, but the result is the same, they are great fun.

2) Miniatures - These can tie in with the boardgames above, or you can just collect and paint miniatures. This is very similar to building models, but you can get more of them in a small area.

Both of these two ideas can also work with your interest in history, as many games and miniatures have a historical bent.

3) Instrument - As someone already pointed out above.

[JPhillips]

It has a high startup cost, but my Father-in-law retired and decided to learn how to make neon signs. Now he does it when he pleases and makes a little money on the side.

[Suicane75]

Make feet for babies shoes.

[GroundCat]

What have you picked, bob?

[terpkristin]

Personally, I recommend:

1. Photography. Especially if you already have a camera, this can be a great hobby. Mastering the art of a great shot is tricky (lord knows I haven't done it yet!), and you can add more toys to your collection as you have $$$. But you don't need them to first get into it, you don't even need a super-duper camera. You just need to go out and shoot and see how things turn out. It's usually cheaper if you have a digital camera, so you don't have to pay for developing... If you're really ambitious, take a darkroom class at a local community group (around here they're about $60 plus supplies).

2. Juggling. Or Hacky Sack (footbag...). Or both. Learning to keep objects off the ground is fun. :D I've been juggling since 3rd grade (I'm 25 now...).

3. Biking. Ditto a lot about what was said for photography. If you already have a bike, go out and ride. Learn to wrench for yourself (er, fix your bike). Join a local riding group (mountain biking and/or road). It doesn't matter if your bike isn't the best. If you enjoy riding and/or wrenching, and if you find a group near you, then you should have no problem upgrading parts relatively inexpensively and one day will find yourself with the affliction that damnMikeBrown and I have (bike lust).

Those are my suggestions, as they can all be started with relatively low initial cost if you have the basics around you.

/tk

[bob]

I'm leaning towards the biking thing - don't have friends who would do the strategy board games and I have shakey hands (no models).

Photography would be fun, especially in conjunction with all the travel I like, but I don't tend to take GREAT pics - guess a class would help there.

[bob]

Oh, and what is geocaching?

[terpkristin]

Photography would be fun, especially in conjunction with all the travel I like, but I don't tend to take GREAT pics - guess a class would help there.
DUDE. Get a digital camera and a large card or 2 (I have a 512 MB card and a 1 GB card). Then take pictures. Just take bunches of pictures. The more you take, the greater the chance you'll take a few good ones. Once you've taken some good ones, try to repeat that quality. When I went to San Diego, I took over 600 pictures. Sure, not all were great. But a nice number of them were just excellent. And with a digital camera, you don't have to worry about developing costs.

Also, I take my camera EVERYWHERE. Never know when you're going to see something you want to take a picture of. And with a digital, what's the worst that can happen? You don't like it, so you delete it. Plus, it lets you get out and take pictures all the time, whenever you feel like it, in all sorts of lighting conditions and such.

The directory of pictures I've put online is at http://kristin.seidelmann-owners.com/

/tk

[Buzzbee]

I'm leaning towards the biking thing - don't have friends who would do the strategy board games and I have shakey hands (no models).

Photography would be fun, especially in conjunction with all the travel I like, but I don't tend to take GREAT pics - guess a class would help there.
What part of the ATL? If you are on the west side, the Silver Comet Rail Trail is fairly popular. Probably too much so on weekends, in Cobb County, but still might be worth an occasional visit.

[MacroGuru]

Oh, and what is geocaching?
http://www.geocaching.com/

[VPI97]

What part of the ATL? If you are on the west side, the Silver Comet Rail Trail is fairly popular. Probably too much so on weekends, in Cobb County, but still might be worth an occasional visit.Yeah...if you bike on the Silver Comet, let us know. I'll grab a cooler full of beer and Buzz and I can drink and point at you as you ride by.

[sterlingice]

DUDE. Get a digital camera and a large card or 2 (I have a 512 MB card and a 1 GB card). Then take pictures. Just take bunches of pictures. The more you take, the greater the chance you'll take a few good ones. Once you've taken some good ones, try to repeat that quality. When I went to San Diego, I took over 600 pictures. Sure, not all were great. But a nice number of them were just excellent. And with a digital camera, you don't have to worry about developing costs.

Also, I take my camera EVERYWHERE. Never know when you're going to see something you want to take a picture of. And with a digital, what's the worst that can happen? You don't like it, so you delete it. Plus, it lets you get out and take pictures all the time, whenever you feel like it, in all sorts of lighting conditions and such.
I gotta second this one. If you get a digicam and a decent sized mem card (512MB or 1GB), you can take as many pictures as you want just to experiment. Then you go home, throw them on the computer and see what worked and what didn't. It's got a somewhat significant initial cost, say $200 for a decent one and then another $30-$70 for mem cards. But then you just pick the ones you want to develop, if any. All the cost is upfront. I've taken about 4000 pictures since I got mine about a year and three months ago. But, unlike using a 35mm cam where you have to be careful about which pics you take, you can take as many as you want- 200-400 fit on one card and, as long as you download them to your comp, you could do that every day if you wanted.

SI

[bob]

I have a nice camera (Canon A95), but need get a better memory card....

Bob

[terpkristin]

Bob, my 512 MB card holds about 450 of the highest quality pictures. I got it for about $50.

My folks got me the 1 GB card.

The A95 is a great little camera.

/tk

[bob]

Yeah, I love the A95 - I plan on getting a couple 1 GB cards before the trip to Europe next year (2+ months in Eastern Europe), so a 512 MB card should be good for now.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I second geocaching. It's great fun, and you never know what kinds of places you'll find caches in. I've lived near the Mississippi River for my entire life, but the closest I ever got to it without actually being on it was when I went across the levee and into the woods to find a cache. I enjoyed it a lot, although I didn't like having to wash my jeans two or three times to get all of the mud off them. Even so, all you need is a GPS receiver (I recommend the Garmin eTrex Legend), some free time, and the desire to go on an adventure.

[bob]

So how do you get the original clue for geocaching?

[sterlingice]

I have a nice camera (Canon A95), but need get a better memory card....

Bob
Aw, hell. That's a great camera. I've got an A80. If you've got an A95, you're ready to go. Watch fat wallet for a couple of weeks for mem card sales, grab a 1 gig for $50 (as long as that's not cost prohibative) and you're off.

SI

[Loren]

I've been stuck in a rut lately, and been looking for some sort of hobby to take up. Just wondering what the rest of you do....
Couple things:
2) No PC / console games. I think I have either grown out of my gaming period, or just grown out of forgiving developers for stupid bugs.
Any ideas?

- Bob

no PC games :eek: you can come hang out with Cringer, itc cheap, hell I'LL pay you if you can spread that outgrowing around :eek: ANDDD I can teach you both to crochet :cool:

[damnMikeBrown]

You can get into a nice off-road bike for $500. Should get you a nice aluminum frame with solid shimano components. Be aware that for every $100 you go up, you are getting a TON of bike for the price(up to around $850 or so). If you go lower than $500, you're buying a mountain style bike, and not anything that's remotely off-road worthy for any period of time.

I like the riding, it's a great way to meet an incredibely broad cross section of people. I was always surprised by all the different types that I hit the road with over the years. Doctors, lawyers, brick layers, bums(me), you name it.

I started lifting when I realised I was too angry at people trying to kill me on my bike. I recommited myself this past winter when I realised that I was lifting more in San Andreas than I was in real life. . .

Also running. A HUGE plus to running is that there are just scads of really hot runner chicks!

[Craptacular]

DISC GOLF

Spend $25 on a few discs, and go play a few rounds. Most courses are free.
www.pdga.com (http://www.pdga.com)
www.discgolfatlanta.com/ (http://www.discgolfatlanta.com/)

[Pumpy Tudors]

So how do you get the original clue for geocaching?
Thousands of geocaches are listed at the link provided earlier, www.geocaching.com (http://www.geocaching.com)

[bob]

Thanks for the recommendations everyone....

Buying my new memory card today. I'll post anything good that I take (might be a while).

Bob

[rkmsuf]

DISC GOLF

Spend $25 on a few discs, and go play a few rounds. Most courses are free.
www.pdga.com (http://www.pdga.com)
www.discgolfatlanta.com/ (http://www.discgolfatlanta.com/)


Frolf!

[Mustang]

You ever play against a wall?

I have.. walls are fucking relentless..


On a separate note, I like to buy and clean older coins (Roman, Greek, Byzantine...). Relatively cheap hobby that someone can do while watching TV, listening to music or anything else. Plus, has the extra benefit of being educational.

[rkmsuf]

I have.. walls are fucking relentless..


On a separate note, I like to buy and clean older coins (Roman, Greek, Byzantine...). Relatively cheap hobby that someone can do while watching TV, listening to music or anything else. Plus, has the extra benefit of being educational.


The only thing that came to mind was why?

I can see buying them to collect but cleaning them? Who sells dirty coins? You just find them somewhere?

[MacroGuru]

The only thing that came to mind was why?

I can see buying them to collect but cleaning them? Who sells dirty coins? You just find them somewhere?
Historically, the Roman soldiers before battle would bury their coins/jewelry and such, so their bodies would not be looted or desecrated.

Whats happening now is a lot of major digs are being performed in the areas of some of the battlefields, and the coins are coming up caked and even cemented in dirt.

It is an awesome hobby that I have been doing as well, when I can (I haven't bought or cleaned a coin in over a year). But the best part is discovering gold or silver coins in your group or just trying to identify when the coins were made and then research the history of that era. That make the batch well worth what you paid for it.

Right now, you can get the uncleaned Romans off of ebay for around 1.50 to 2.00 a coin.

[rkmsuf]

Historically, the Roman soldiers before battle would bury their coins/jewelry and such, so their bodies would not be looted or desecrated.

Whats happening now is a lot of major digs are being performed in the areas of some of the battlefields, and the coins are coming up caked and even cemented in dirt.

It is an awesome hobby that I have been doing as well, when I can (I haven't bought or cleaned a coin in over a year). But the best part is discovering gold or silver coins in your group or just trying to identify when the coins were made and then research the history of that era. That make the batch well worth what you paid for it.

Right now, you can get the uncleaned Romans off of ebay for around 1.50 to 2.00 a coin.

huh, didn't know that. that's for the info.