weird or obscure hobbies

[shooter521]

I pretty much just shoot...

 

[riverman67]

I built an instant boat last winter but I had to move out of my garage unexpectedly .
Now I don't know wheni will get to do the finish work and get my old motor tuned up

 

[tyler34]

I pretty much just shoot...

you moderate to, but this is obscure hobbies not sad ones

 

[shooter521]

this is obscure hobbies not sad ones

No, hobbies are things you get enjoyment from.

 

[tyler34]

No, hobbies are things you get enjoyment from.

ZING!

 

[theweakerbrother]

Hobbies? Man, I've had a lot of them and I can't many of them any more since guns have prioritized themselves much higher over anything else.

1. Homebrewing. I love to brew my own beer and what I love most is when I give someone a plain brown bottle, they crack it open and they're shocked to know that I made it myself. It's not as hard as it sounds, just time consuming. As soon as I can lift more than 15 lbs, I'm making another batch for the summer. Patience, something I don't have but something I am learning, is most important for this hobby.

2. Video games. Do those count as a hobby?

3. Tobacciana & the Art of Smoking. I love fine (okay, once or twice I enjoyed a Scwisher Sweets & Al Capones) tobacco products. For cigars, I never knew what to get and had a few awesome recommendations. I always loved the packaging of Acid cigars but never had one I could stand to smoke all the way through. I liked a few Punches, darker Romeo y Julieta, Cuban-seeded Dominican cigars. A few buddies of mine gave me the ironic gift of cigars when I had graduated from my second round of chemo treatment.

While in college, I met a good friend who would later become a missionary to China. He picked up smoking hookah tobacco. He lent me his first one, which was stolen out of my apartment/car. I bought several of them, moderated hookahforum.com for a couple of years and was really involved with it. I can assure you that few things are more relaxing (legally) than sitting on a pillow on the floor in a circle of friends and passing the hookah hose around. Hookah tobacco tastes more like mild candy and fruit pieces with a hint of tobacco. I have several hookahs but I haven't smoked them in a year. I'm tempted to sell all of them but my favorite four hose Mya Saray pipe. If any of you want to try a hookah, we should meet up in Broad Ripple for an OC event.

I also have a few pipes.. Savanelli free hands but honestly... some of my favorites have been 'Mississippi' meerschaum corn cob pipes. I loved smoking those while canoeing in Brookville. They were practically disposable though... and definitely disposable after canoeing.

4. Theology/Philosophy

I've never been able to get enough of these topics. I read books about these topics as much as I can. I have a large library of books I've collected over the years on these topics. I lend them out and hope that they get returned. To me, philosophy and theology are inseparable. I approach both with a sense of humor. I attend lectures on the subjects when I can and I earned a degree in Biblical Studies from Cincinnati Christian University. However, I never bothered to pick up my degree because I'll probably never use it. I have a crippling fear of public speaking so I'll never be a preacher in the tradition sense nor will I be a teacher, although it is a dream of mine to become a professor. I took a few grad classes and enjoyed them just as much but higher education is an expensive hobby.

5. Fantasy & SciFi Nerdery

Some may say that this is closely related to 4 (see humor reference above) but I thoroughly enjoy all things nerd related in the realm of fantasy and SciFi. Dungeons & Dragons, literature of all sorts, medieval and Renaissance festivals and anything related to the topic.

6. Trivia-esque things:

I'm pretty good at random trivia and love to play trivia related games.

 

[LEaSH]

I'm a maker and lover of beauty.

 

[level.eleven]

big +1 for you! I really enjoy aquascaping. I used to do bonsai but I find this the underwater version of it and it really is far more artistic and open ended. I'm just starting a new small low tech scape with a really neat piece of driftwood for my hardscape, now I really need some dwarf riccia to complete my vision.

Just a warning, ricca and low tech aren't always compatible and can be a challenge. Most, if not all, of my low light/co2 ricca attempts result in a nice pile of algae I ended up ripping out later on. When you do get it going, it requires a lot of maintenance to give it that lush carpet look you see in so many of the asian tanks - Amano. I don't mean to sound like a jerk, I've just been doing this for a long time. Give it whack though, post some pics! Noting beats a nice patch of thriving riccia growing so fast that you can actually see the o2 escaping (pearling) as it feasts.

I would recommend that anyone interested in aquascaping take the jump and make the investment. Get the metal halides, get a good co2 system and a diffuser, get the uv sterilizer. I spun my wheels for years trying all the DIY stuff from the sugar/yeast c02 reactors to kitty litter substrate to trying to make a good co2 diffuser out of parts found at the hardware store. About the only DIY stuff I do anymore is dosing ferts. I was/am a PMDD guy but have recently really started getting into the EI method and pretty much use it exclusively.

EI - Aquarium Plants - Barr Report - Subscribe to the Barr Report

Oh yeah, you could pick some riccia up at Arizona Aquatic Gardens. THE place to order plants on the web. I can't say enough about the quality of service. Plants arrive beautifully. Now is the time to order, cold weather is easier on shipping. Looks like they have some small clumps for $3. Oh, and the state of Indiana sucks for the aquarium hobbyist. There isn't a decent store in the state, and I have traveled from Merriville to Louisville to find one.

AZ Gardens - Aquarium Pond Plants Freshwater Aquarium Plants Aquarium Accessories

Circle City Aquarium Club is a great place to swap clippings as well.

CCAC - Circle City Aquarium Club

 

[tyler34]

Just a warning, ricca and low tech aren't always compatible and can be a challenge. Most, if not all, of my low light/co2 ricca attempts result in a nice pile of algae I ended up ripping out later on. When you do get it going, it requires a lot of maintenance to give it that lush carpet look you see in so many of the asian tanks - Amano. I don't mean to sound like a jerk, I've just been doing this for a long time. Give it whack though, post some pics! Noting beats a nice patch of thriving riccia growing so fast that you can actually see the o2 escaping (pearling) as it feasts.

I would recommend that anyone interested in aquascaping take the jump and make the investment. Get the metal halides, get a good co2 system and a diffuser, get the uv sterilizer. I spun my wheels for years trying all the DIY stuff from the sugar/yeast c02 reactors to kitty litter substrate to trying to make a good co2 diffuser out of parts found at the hardware store. About the only DIY stuff I do anymore is dosing ferts. I was/am a PMDD guy but have recently really started getting into the EI method and pretty much use it exclusively.

EI - Aquarium Plants - Barr Report - Subscribe to the Barr Report

Oh yeah, you could pick some riccia up at Arizona Aquatic Gardens. THE place to order plants on the web. I can't say enough about the quality of service. Plants arrive beautifully. Now is the time to order, cold weather is easier on shipping. Looks like they have some small clumps for $3. Oh, and the state of Indiana sucks for the aquarium hobbyist. There isn't a decent store in the state, and I have traveled from Merriville to Louisville to find one.

AZ Gardens - Aquarium Pond Plants Freshwater Aquarium Plants Aquarium Accessories

Circle City Aquarium Club is a great place to swap clippings as well.

CCAC - Circle City Aquarium Club

well I'll probably use the riccia for rocks, I'm still not completely sure I'll go the riccia route I'll probably go with dwarf baby tears for a carpet effect. I don't know if your familiar with them but there is a guy in bloomington who sells plants and inverts. Aquarium Plants For Sale | Rainforest Farms International | Learn About Aquarium Plants, Buy Aquarium Plants, Quality Provider of Aquarium Plants what style are you partial to, amano/natural, dutch, etc.?

 

[level.eleven]

well I'll probably use the riccia for rocks, I'm still not completely sure I'll go the riccia route I'll probably go with dwarf baby tears for a carpet effect. I don't know if your familiar with them but there is a guy in bloomington who sells plants and inverts. Aquarium Plants For Sale | Rainforest Farms International | Learn About Aquarium Plants, Buy Aquarium Plants, Quality Provider of Aquarium Plants what style are you partial to, mano/natural, dutch, etc.?

Style wise, I usually try to pick a habitat that is as natural as possible to the region of the world I am trying to depict....so sort of a natural guy I suppose. I really like the idea of a tank being a snapshot taken from a mud pond somewhere in Singapore (just and example). I have found I don't have the schedule/time to preen over a kick *** Dutch style tank. I like the science of the hobby, and daily water testing and pruning became more of a chore than something enjoyable. Thats not to say I don't sometimes just throw some beautiful plants into a tank purely for visual appeal - i.e. Dutch overgrown mega planted no room for fish.

We should post a few pics so people know what we are talking about. I imagine a lot of people can't visualize what we are talking about and think aquariums are limited to zebras and air stone activated treasure chests.

2009 AGA Aquascaping Contest

 

[1946]

Been flying RC since 1972. Fixed wing gas and sailplane. Longest flight on a sailplane in the thermals was just over 4 hours.

 

[bdj357]

ANYTHING printcraft DOES IN HIS SPARE TIME!

That is really him in his avatar...nuff said!

 

[tyler34]

2002, 2004, and 2008 are my favorites in this lot.

Grand Prize Works | The International Aquatic Plants Layout Contest, IAPLC

 

[emclean]

SCUBA diving
once i get my equipment serviced / hydro'ed i will be diveing mostly'vintage' gear. tank from '75, reg from '79, i will have to see if i can get away without a BCD, and just using the plastic back plate.

 

[Panama]

I finally kicked this EXPENSIVE habit, but I had to build a 80hp dirt gokart first!
Boy am I glad I am done with that, but boy do I miss the adrenaline!
That is a CR500 Honda motor.

 

[Z71Gunner]

After reading some of these posts I think I need to find another hobby.

 

[360]

tyler34, check out this place...

Holey Rock of Texas

You have to keep an eye on it, because he sells out fast, but when he relists, he has some good stuff. You cant find it anywhere else.

 

[Sasquatchhunter]

I play music. Lots of it

 

[femurphy77]

First of all, I'm terrified of fish, so all this fishy talk has me a little freaked out.

But if we're talking about expensive hobbies, I play the clarinet. Not a cheap $200 plastic one. My clarinet is worth about $2000 but needs an overhaul at $450. I'm hoping for a brand new one someday, but I've fallen in love with a couple in the $3000 - $4000 range. And it's almost as expensive to feed as my guns. $20 for a box of reeds, which I'm lucky if I get 2-3 good ones out of. A reed when I'm playing hard-core might last a week. And oil, cork grease, sheet music, etc. But I absolutely love it. I wish I had more opportunities to play, but, alas, my day job takes away 50ish play hours away from me each week.

I also direct the handbell choir at my church and am very involved in my local community theatre. Yes, I'm a true music geek. I'm okay with that.

Red-highlighted words that I would have never expected to hear in the same conversation.

 

[henktermaat]

I play jazz, and like RC. I used to design and model my own planes from scratch in 3D, right up until I had kids Electric isn't that expensive. Plus the lightweight, quietness, and slow speeds achievable makes it possible to fly quietly in public parks. I got out of it a year or so ago because of the time it took...

Now I fly my blade mSR around. I love it.