vladimir nabokov was a lepidopterologist, yukio mishima was a bodybuilder and minor actor, andre breton was an avid collector of miscellaneous odds and ends, anais nin enjoyed breaking hearts and hiding herself from the world, henry miller did watercolors, etc.
do you have other passions outside of writing, or is that all that is keeping you alive?
Not tooting my own horn, but I'm a pretty proficient guitar player. I've been in a number of bands, a few good ones too. Here's a link to some of my tunes— http://beta.projectrodney.com/pirates
ill see whaddup with that later when im at a computer, but, yeah, i play drums in a hardcore punk band. i wont post the link because i dont think anyone would like it. if anyone likes shit like infest, void, jerrys kids, poison idea, charles bronson, necros, etc., maybe ill post a link. otherwise......naaaaaaaaah
Based on how I spend my time in the day, I would say my passion outside of writing is procrastinating when I should be writing.
Sapphire mining/gold panning. Fossil hunting. Gardening.
Actually, I'll just say I like playing in the dirt.
Gardening, backpacking/hiking/camping, and I play bass.
@Simulacrum, PLEASE POST! I love all those bands. I'm a big fan of the Repos, Charles Bronson, Los Crudos, MK Ultra, a bunch of the Chicago hardcore bands, as well as others.
I used to play drums in punk bands around the midwest (chicago & mpls). I write reviews of horror movies at horrornews.net (and when not doing that, still watch a ton more).
I crochet and study. Oh, and I just got an internship with Planned Parenthood. That's... pretty much it. Spending time with my boyfriend and cuddling with my puppy.
whoa. hi sean. the repos are one of my favorite bands, all of those other bands rule, and the midwest is where hardcore is happening in the us. we have demo tracks that are fairly old, and we just recorded for an ep. as soon as we upload a track or so, ill post it. did you play in any fairly notable bands? maybe a name will sound familiar.
whoa. hi sean. the repos are one of my favorite bands, all of those other bands rule, and the midwest is where hardcore is happening in the us. we have demo tracks that are fairly old, and we just recorded for an ep. as soon as we upload a track or so, ill post it. did you play in any fairly notable bands? maybe a name will sound familiar.
whoa. hi sean. the repos are one of my favorite bands, all of those other bands rule, and the midwest is where hardcore is happening in the us. we have demo tracks that are fairly old, and we just recorded for an ep. as soon as we upload a track or so, ill post it. did you play in any fairly notable bands? maybe a name will sound familiar.
I ride a sportbike and try and do at least one track day a year. I do long distance road trips by myself on my bike. My riding season is five months long, though so that sucks and I travel when I can't ride.
I also enjoy getting my heart broken. And reading.
The main bands I was in (for anywhere between a fill-in here and there to many years): Vacation Bible School, Wide Angles, Brickfight, Sidewalk Cracks (<--chicago area), and The Slow Death (<--minneapolis). There are a ton of others as well, but those are the "bigger" ones. I got asked to play for Chronic Seizure right when they were starting, but stupidly said no as I felt it would be unfair to the band I was in at the time. They went on to go on great tours and play great show and become one of my favorite bands, and my band went on to disappoint me. So it goes...
I knit and crochet and spin on my giant Saxon spinning wheel. I don't have a weaving loom yet, though. That's next.
@Courtney: Yay, another crocheter! And doesn't Beka, too? Or am I thinking of someone else? And I know dufrescm knits.
I don't much like things or doing them. i should probably find a hobby.
I can't knit or crochet, I get frustrated when the yarn knots. I can't play guitar, I tried but my fingers hurt. I do love to read, garden, work out at the gym and run. Doing half marathon next week, but I'm in crappy shape this year. oh well. Writing is the best thing right now. And, driving the boat fast around the lake.
@ Avery it's hard to have hobbies when your raising a little kid. They take up all our time.
@SRead I think Beka is the crocheter. I'm terrible at remembering! I know Avery once posted a Ryan Gosling meme about crocheting for someone because there are so many knitting memes, but not many crochet ones.
@Cove You'd be surprised how easy crocheting can be. I literally started crocheting because I was graduating early and desperately needed a hobby. I mean, I thought, "Fuck, I need a hobby! Hmm... well, crocheting is a popular one." Less than two years (less than a year and a half, really) later, I can do all the stitches, all the fancy row patterns, and crochet any item I'm given instructions for. To me, it's like riding a bike; once you get it, it never really goes away.
(No one quote me on the bike thing. I haven't ridden a bike in, like, seven years and have no idea if I still could.)
I play & write music. I like most any flavor of rock at different times, but I never really honed in on any subgenre for very long. I'm either anti-scene or there actually are no cool scenes.
I play one computer game at a time, sometimes for months on end.
I leer at people, sometimes at strangers whose thoughts I couldn't know.
I go for walks, almost always in familiar surroundings.
I massage the cramps from my memory, inducing spasms of thought which make me laugh like a crazy man, and maybe that's what crazy men are doing when they laugh imperiously at nothing anyone else can see.
Swimming, though I do less of that these days because family illness has taken precedence over hobbies and health. I plan on getting back into it in a few weeks.
I also aspire to becoming an apocalypse-prepper, but I'm not sure how to reconcile my love of being prepared and fit with my anti-gun stance.
I think talking to Drea about her broken heart is also a hobby lately!
@SRead & Courtney: Oh, I do crochet, but only amigurumi. I usually design my own stuff now, with the intention of selling the patterns on Etsy, but I've never actually done so. I like to make kitshy crochet animals based off old kitshy retro figurines. Here's one:
I also have a deer I'm really proud of, but I haven't actually uploaded the pictures yet...
Wait time out. You guys do things besides write and read?
Seriously though I really want to try the whole urban exploring thing, but have no idea how to go about it. I just started a garden, I do a lot of medium term projects with my church. I prefer hobbies that I can float in and out of.
My indoor hobbies are digital painting, reading and playing videogames. Outdoors I like hanging out with my dog, running, walking, horseback riding and hiking. Traveling is a dual activity.
I ride a sportbike and try and do at least one track day a year. I do long distance road trips by myself on my bike.
If I wasn't terrified of motorcycles – and the season here was longer than a week and a half – that would be amazing. I have fond memories of my Honda MT5 and the many times I crashed it into things. Question though, do you go on long distance trips on the sportbike or do you have another one? Because I've been trying to get my brother to come visit me, but he lives 2 hours away and apparently that's an hour an a half longer than he'd like to spend on his sportbike.
I'd like to say playing bass (and a shitty guitar) is my hobby. But really what I enjoy most is making bad decisions. This includes binge drinking, drug use, sleeping with women within my social circle and having awkward follow up conversations, deli meat, over ordering delivery food, cigarettes, and Bruce Willis movies.
do you go on long distance trips on the sportbike or do you have another one?
@Linda - I have a CBR600RR and I'm good for an average of 6-7 hours of riding a day. Lots of breaks to fill the tank and drain my bladder. I have a throttle rocker that allows me to change my hand position - it's a life saver. On windy roads, my ass is off the seat as much as it is on it, so I've never had an issue. Tell your brother he needs a better excuse : )
@RJH - that owl triggered my owl fetish. LOVE it!
NEW HOBBY - I am going to hike the shit out of the Rockies. I just got new hikers and spent the day in the backcountry: I feel like a new man. I'm all high on oxygenated air and elevation.
@Mess_Jess
"I also aspire to becoming an apocalypse-prepper, but I'm not sure how to reconcile my love of being prepared and fit with my anti-gun stance."
That's perfectly fine. Just use a wrench, crowbar, or frying pan, and you're good to go.
BTW, I have no idea how to format quotes in this forum...
@Mess_Jess - If you mean digging out a full bunker in case of a CRBN attack maybe not; but you could start with the basics of emergency preparedness; food, water, first add kit, prescription medicines, local/regional maps, diapers, feminine hygiene products, toilet paper, copies of legal papers/info/id, banking info, online passwords, and emergency flashlight/radio. That should keep you busy for a while.
You could buy a few disassembled guns stored in grease or such, learn to use one, destroy it, and store the rest for the end times. Unless your anti gun stance includes 'don't use them after the world falls apart'. In that case no clue what you should do.
I think talking to Drea about her broken heart is also a hobby lately!
@Mess_Jess, that's because you cannot make this shit up. And for the record, I have never practiced any of the voodoo prescribed by you. Fun fact for the rest of you: Jess is something of a white Mambo.
Acting, performing and avid theater-going.
Cigars. Smoking them, reading, and talking about them. I have a side-job at a terrific cigar shop.
Photography. I took an Art Photography class as an elective as an undergrad, thinking it would be an easy credit. I was wrong, but I picked up a hobby that I remain passionate about and actually make some money off of from time to time.
Video games. I like competitive online games like those in the Halo series. Haven't played in months, but I suppose it's for the best : )
Movies. I'm no buff, but I love getting lost in a good (or at least entertaining) flick. I'd lump quality TV shows into this category as well (Breaking Bad, Justified, Game of Thrones, Californication, Walking Dead, Mad Men - to name a few).
Consumer technology. Not sure that it counts as a hobby but I have a soft spot for tech. I spend a lot of time perusing Engadget, The Verge, Gizmodo, etc.
Music. I was pretty involved in choir for quite a while but it's been years. Once upon a time I could play the piano and sort-of-kind-of play the guitar. Now I'm just an avid consumer of everything but country. Or, should I say, what passes for country these days.
Weight lifting. I was a bit of a jock in school and still enjoy getting the endorphins flowing when I can find the time.
Furniture building/wood working. Probably my favorite class in high school was shop. And since I was an architecture major in college, I spent interminable hours in the wood shop building models. I know this old doctor who dabbles in it, but has a killer shop that he lets me use in his garage.
Photography. Easily the other class I most liked in high school. It's all digital now, but once in a while when I catch a whiff of developer, I ache for the darkroom.
I also enjoy strumming an acoustic guitar I got lying around, but I haven't played anything meaningful in forever. It's more a zen thing now.
@Dwayne -- that list sounds like basic, every day stuff!
@Nathan -- home made flame throwers, too, but then you've got flaming zombies creating havoc, I guess ;)
@drea -- I still have to make a trip back to New Orleans at some stage this summer to get our RV. Let me know if you want me to do some shopping for you ;)
@Mess - Have you done it all?
@Beka: Aaaah, cute wee owl!
@Jess My ex-boyfriend's dad was literally obsessed with the zombie apocalypse and was sure it was going to happen. The first (and only) time I met him, he showed me his collection of knives. When I asked why he didn't have any guns, he took a knife, got up in my face, and said, "Because knives don't run out of bullets, that's why." Scared the shit out of me. Son was cute though. Sorry, haven't slept -- what I'm saying is get knives.
@Beka Oooh, that's cute! Link up your Etsy store if you ever make one, I'm a sucker for good amigurumi. I mostly specialize in accessories (boots, hats, scarves, leg warmers, just silly things I enjoy making) but recently started designing larger animals. I never write down my own patterns, though, and almost always immediately give them away as gifts, so no photos. I'm great at mice, and I can make some goddamn adorable cats -- I love the golf ball ones and the standard hourglass body ones.
I have a little indoor garden. I'd love to have an outdoor garden, but desert sustainable gardening is hard work and most of the plants are ugly. We do have lovely trees, but the care and trimming of those is the BANG's responsibility. I also make silly jewelry from time to time.
@Bek -- AHHH I used to write for a blog that featured crafts from all over the web based on geek culture and amigurumi became my favorite thing. I wish I knew how to do it.
My garden might not be sustainable, but it sure is pretty.
Spears, then bows/arrows, are the oldest ranged weapons in the history of mankind for a reason. Get profiscient at those for defence and hunting. Also, buy a wilderness survival book that spends considerable time on edible plants and trap-building. Trust me, I had a job for a long time where the only food we got was what we caught or harvested, and the kids I led never went hungry. Wilderness survival skills are probably my greatest pride. I never worried a second of my adult life about how I would keep myself and my loved ones alive should something catastrophic ever happen. In fact, I welcome that day.
As for my other pastimes...
Reading books on history/biographies is one of my passions. I find it fascinating the narrow scope of human-kind. We all think we're so different, and that our time is like no other - that's just complete bullshit.
I'm a sucker for movies and dramatic television. Not a fan of comedies for the most part, but I love the Big Bang Theory and Bob's Burgers. As much as I am loathe to admit it, I'm a Star Trek fan. Not a psycho about it, and have never owned a costume or been to a convention, but I can tell you the basic timeline, and can differentiate between Romulans and Ferengi(sp?).
Also, I love my family. My parents and I have a tenuous cease-fire as long as we don't live nearby. They're on the West Coast and I'm in the Midwest (Boston at the moment) so that works for us. My sisters are second only to my woman, and my aunts, uncles and cousins on one side of the family are some of my best friends even if we argue like honey badgers. That's one of my oldest passions: discussing/arguing about current events, theology, science, philosophy and the like with my cousins on the non-Anglo-American side. My white cousins are dumb as posts, so it's a very one-sided familial bond.
@Renee - YouTube videos. I remember when I was first learning to crochet, I could never understand the fucking diagrams, and the specifics on how to use a hook to wrap yarn in intricate loops does not convey well in text alone. Amigurumi is actually the easiest to crochet, because it's basically just single crochet stitches in the round. Sometimes it does get more complex, but you learn pretty quick as you go.
@Beka: My day job is editing crochet patterns for accuracy and clarity. Sometimes it's just impossible, like it's alien code, and my brain leaks out of my ear by the end of the day. But it's fun, too, so I can't complain.
Ahhh, that would be such a fun job, although it would make my brain explode sometimes. I can't do diagrams, but amigurumi is definitely one of the easy, brain-numbing ones! Once you catch on, you wind up moving your fingers without moving your brain, and it's so relaxing.
Videos used to piss me off, though, so I would watch one (without the sound, because so many of their voices are like nails on a chalkboard) after reading a few dozen explanations. I'm so glad I'm past that stage now...
I play and write percussion. I played in the drumline (not like the movie, actual drumline) at the University of Arizona. Participated in various drum corps and taught for a drum corps based out of Phoenix, AZ. Taught and wrote music for high schools all around AZ as well. It's another world that I immersed myself in very early on.
If I practiced writing as much as I drum/write music, I'd probably have something to show for my "writing."
Great thread! I love reading what everyone does to pass the time. I joke that I'm a professional hobbiest. In D&D terms, my husband says I'm a bard.
I enjoy photography and using my Hipstamatic app on my iPhone, though I also have a Canon Rebel, Lomography set & various 35mm cameras.
I volunteer in the library at the elementary school my pixies attend and run after school theater. We just had our play in March, which was based on Neil Gaiman's books for children. (The coolest thing was that I was able to give him a copy of the performance on DVD when I saw him in NY a few weeks ago. Crazy!)
I love cooking and take way too many photos of food. Yes, I'm one of those people.
I decorate cakes. I'd say I bake cakes, because, technically, I do, but I don't do them from scratch. I enjoy the decorating aspect of it far more than having to remember recipes on baking. Some of my favorite cakes include a full size bass guitar and Bag End...
Other than that, I love movies and TV, gaming (when I can), reading (books/comics), drinking coffee, learning to play the uke, and collecting all things Wonder Woman.
Haha, I love the diagrams. It's like an infographic of the project, and you don't have to read through the lines of nonsense. But it's certainly more relaxing to just crochet, no pattern, no pressure, just stitches.
I played jazz drums for a number of years, but these days I mostly just screw around in my basement, improvising along with CD's.
I also study martial arts. I competed in olympic-style taekowndo and judo in college, as well as aikido and systema later. These days, I study kickboxing, krav maga, kali, and Brazilian jiu jitsu. I have a small gym of sorts set up in my garage so I can train when I can't get to my school. I compete infrequently in tournaments. I wish I could compete more often, but I am too old and too busy.
I used to be a visual artist, especially pencil drawings, but I haven't drawn much in years.
Really, working fifty hours a week, working on grad school, attempting to get writing time in on top of being a single father doesn't give me a lot of spare time.
@Linda - I have a CBR600RR and I'm good for an average of 6-7 hours of riding a day. Lots of breaks to fill the tank and drain my bladder. I have a throttle rocker that allows me to change my hand position - it's a life saver. On windy roads, my ass is off the seat as much as it is on it, so I've never had an issue. Tell your brother he needs a better excuse : )
I knew it!
Bek-- maybe I'll have to try that once the kid is in school
WonderWoman-- those are AWESOME! I love baking/decorating but I don't do it often so my decorating skill is still pretty mediocre. I did this cake for the BANG's last birthday:
It was a yellow cake with a brownie in the middle layer, and it was awesome to eat. You can probably see all the minor fuck ups on it, though, hahaha.
Another weird coincidence, I, too, am attempting to learn the uke. I haven't been giving it enough time though.
I bought a uke to try to learn it, but I've only spent one night on it so far. I mean to get around to it. Like a lot of things.
There is a band in the UK called "The Grand Ole Ukes of Yorkshire", perhaps if we all get on the ball we can have a LitReactor ukulele band.
@Covewriter - I'm training for a marathon (Oslo, September). Did 2 hours 15 minutes on Sunday. Shit just got real.
But what I like doing better than anything is podcasting with Eve on sluttylemon.com Last night I was suffering the low which inevitably follows too much excitement. We started doing the cast and by the end of it (when we got to the item about the dildo factory) she had me laughing so hard I pulled something.
She is a tonic.
