Hobbies, anyone?

[MARV]

Recently we had a fun discussion about what we collected apart from New Wave music. So I started wondering what activities we all did in our spare time. Hobbies anyone?

I think hobbies are a great way to re-energize your spirit and ground your mind. Soul healing and emotionally satisfying, hobbies give a voice to our inner selves, usually the inner child. I play the guitar and sing. I also garden. I make my own compost and do a nice flower spread around my property spring through summer and into the fall. I'm also really into my lawn. I love going to the gym. And I love cooking too. In the summer I barbecue. I'm into photography and I create art from furniture.

What do you all do for fun and relaxation?

[Panorama]

I run a lot -- since Feb. 1985.
6 marathons and numerous 10Ks. The past few years I run about 3-4 days a week -- either an 8.4 mile route or a 6.6 mile route -- so minimum would be 19.8 miles up to 33.6 miles - more if I add in a long weekend run (12+ miles).

I also have 5 full size video games:
Donkey Kong Junior, Q*Bert, Tempest, Gyruss and Gravitar. Gravitar being my favorite game.
-- I set up a web site for the game: http://www.cooganphoto.com/gravitar/

I like comedy a lot, and watch mostly comedy TV, movies. -- waiting patiently for the Seinfeld dvds.

Obviously new wave music.

And my 1968 Olds Toronado is a blast.
http://www.cooganphoto.com/68toronado/

[Otters Walk Among Us]

I tend to bounce around a lot, maybe I have adult ADD, who knows? I'll do some genealogical research for a month or so, get bored, then read about 20 books in a week and a half, then decide it's time to study my old road atlases (if anyone has old road maps, rand mcnally atlases, etc. just lying around, I'd be glad to buy them from you) for a bit, all the while continuing to digitize my old vinyl, add to a list of label discographies, make a new list of records I want, etc.
About a year ago, I decided it would be cool to attempt to visit every single city and town in New England. Then I realized how many there were. So I decided to start with every city and town within 75 miles of Northampton. Proof of the visit would be pictures. If nothing else, I take a picture of the town hall. Naturally, this leads to the idea of several other projects I'll never finish: a web site with all the pictures, perhaps a book of the nicest old town halls, village greens, etc. Maybe learning to take better pictures would be a good start! Anyway, I did get to a fairly large number on weekend drives this year. It was actually a lot of fun to do in very rural places like northern Vermont, where finding the town hall (if there is one) can be difficult.

[KYYX4ever]

I garden, big time ! Like marv, I also compost and am constantly emending it to make it even better. I turned our wasteland of a backyard into a fertile paradise. well, fertile for the desert anyway---which adds to the challenge. I try to conserve water, and have a lot of Southwest/desert xeriscaping, but I also need my lushness. And veggies. And herbs. I also harvest my own seeds as much as possible (if anyone wants some seeds, let me know; I can send you something ).
In the front yard, there is somewhat of a lawn, but it IS the desert, so mostly I try to keep it more green than brown !
I dabble in interior decorating, but not on a grand scale.
I enjoy building things--light construction, coffee tables, things like that.
Reading(a wide variety, especially history), art, writing.
Working on my car ( '74 Plymouth Duster).
Travelling and researching places to travel, particularly in Europe, the Baltics, and Eastern Europe.
Hanging out/playing with my 2 Labs is a full-time hobby.

Hobbies are definately a great way to re-energize one's spirit. I LOVE digging my hands into the garden dirt and just letting myself be grounded! [:D] marv is right.

[WoodlandParkPunk]

I play bass in a retro 80's punk/new wave band as well as play roller hockey 2x a week. Living in Arizona, swimming is a big hobby during the summer. A also try to surf at every available Southern California beach at least once during the summer. This started 2 summers ago and I am slowly making my way up the coast. Gets to be $$$$ though.

[MARV]

Wow, so many great hobbies we all have! And so many posts - ha, ha - who would have thought I'd get this many answers? And all so thoughtfully written and highly readable, bravo! Keep 'em coming.....!

I always wanted to be into cars and restore them, especially the classics. I always assumed it would be an expensive hobby and felt all the automotive talk a little too intimidating. But anyway, let's get some pics up here! Let's see that Duster, that Toronado, the flowers, the town halls, arts, crafts, everything!

And hey Dan, I'm a DVD nut too - 386 of them - and patiently waiting for that Seinfeld box set to come out too!

[2Nu]

Right Now?, Collecting, Sharing and listening to MUSIC (LUV The Hub!)[:p]
Love Ornamental Gardening/ Landscaping, and things Arboreal.
I also love indulging in my R/C model collection.
Love day sailing & New England bike touring.
My absolute favorite hobby, being a licensed pilot since 1984, was flying for recreation and introducing others to the experience from the 80's to early 90's. Nothing beat doing a night flight up or down the Hudson River past Manhattan, The Stature of Liberty, The GW & VZ Bridges. Also was great to fly to Block Island, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket for the quintessential Breakfast, Brunch or Dinner, ummmm.
However, that's on hold til our debt is paid down and our discretionary income can sustain it once more (ha! ha! ha!, I'm F'ing dreaming). [V]

[KYYX4ever]

Oops, this got mysteriously cropped along the way. I'll scrounge around for a full-size (of the Duster) pic, but for marv:

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v431/kyyx4ever/Dustyandme.jpg">

[red x red]

I collect out-of-print or first edition Sci Fi novels. I collect Sci Fi and 80's dvds, although I have yet to watch even a third of them yet!

Lately, I've been remodeling our basement. Our home is over 70 years old and needs plenty of work, so you could say that dragging my house into the new century in my hobby.

In the summer, I try to bike to and from work, but its too damn cold in the winter to do so.

I spend time with my 4 year old daughter playing "Polly Pockets" "Barbie" or whatever (out latest incarnation involved my little one jumping off the bed onto the floor, while "Polly" attempted to "swim" out of the way of the huge "tidal wave" created as as result).

Finally, I follow college football in the fall, and attend as many home games as possible at the U of U.

[MARV]

Wow, pretty lady..um, I mean car there KYYX! [;)]

And red, I know what you mean. A good quarter, if not more, of my DVD collection is still shrink wrapped in plastic. I dabbled in collecting sci fi softcovers for a while but it never really stuck. I do have tons of Star Wars and Star Trek ones. Hard covers too. Interested in taking any of these off my hands?

[Ollie Stench]

I guess my main hobby is record collecting. I hit 5 records stores on a weekly basis.

Other than that I've been involved in producing and editing a cable TV show called "Drinking With Ian" (plug: http://www.drinkingwithian.com ), I enjoy digitizing vinyl and seeing how I can bring some life back to dead vinyl, including building my own record vaccuum.

I co-host a weekly 2 hour punk rock radio show MOnday nights. Last night we did our tribute to John Peel.

I've got a 1977 Triumph chopper that I plan on fixing up some day when I get some free time and some extra cash.

I've played guitar and bass in several bands, and am in the process of trying to figure out what my next musical project will be. I've recorded some rough synth-punk demos under the name The Chinamen, and when that magical free time shows up I will probably continue with that project.

[KYYX4ever]

I love Star Trek!
My fave was the Next Generation, but I quite enjoyed Voyager and even Deep Space Nine. I am considering buying the TNG dvds...I assume they can put a whole season onto one dvd? I was curious as to how that worked. For quite a while, TNG would constantly be on syndication/re-runs on TV, but that ended some time ago. I could watch those TNG re-runs over and over again.[:I]

[nowhere girl]

Everyone has such cool hobbies! The hobbies I am into are: music(looking for vinyl and rare copies), going to antique and thrift stores(I love the thrill of finding something unique or something that brings back memories), walking, bowling,reading, and hanging out with my family. I actually want to learn to golf this year, but I've heard it is an expensive hobby and addictive!

Nowhere Girl

[MARV]

[quote][i]Originally posted by KYYX4ever[/i]
<br>I love Star Trek!
My fave was the Next Generation, but I quite enjoyed Voyager and even Deep Space Nine. I am considering buying the TNG dvds...I assume they can put a whole season onto one dvd? I was curious as to how that worked. For quite a while, TNG would constantly be on syndication/re-runs on TV, but that ended some time ago. I could watch those TNG re-runs over and over again.[:I]
[/quote]

Yeah, me too![:D]

[design_femme]

My hobby is not following through with hobbies I've started [:D]

I got a guitar, but I haven't learned anything on it yet. It's taunting me from the corner of my bedroom.

I've tried rockclimbing, off-road biking, and snowboarding a few times, and I would like to try them all again. You have to understand that I am chicken sh-t and VERY afraid of heights, so it was a BIG deal to get me up there on the slope/rockface/mountain trail/anything higher than 12".

I play poker with friends on regular basis, and sometimes we get together and have a LAN party (for you non-geeks, it's a party where you invite people to bring their computers, hook them up, play various games all night long, and consume disgusting amounts of caffeine and junk food). I'm not even a gamer. I just like hitting buttons so I can go, "ooooo, pretty graphics on screen."

I dabble a little in painting, photography, and astronomy. I have a low-powered telescope, but I prefer just checking in at Sky and Telescope's site weekly for updates.

My husband and I tried the furniture-building thing. Our stuff ends up okay but flawed. VERY flawed. After a funny attempt at building a contemporary platform bed, we just kinda looked at each other and agreed, "Maybe we should check out West Elm's catalog next time, huh."