I need a hobby

[cjsmith]

...like tennis, or philately... ok, no really. I'm doing way too much reading of books that don't interest me. Time for something new: something that can be done in small chunks of time and with little prep (or the prep can be left lying around the house ready to go), something that is okay to interrupt, something that does not involve standing up.

Some possible new hobbies for the CJ:
- beading*
- yoga (the seated poses)
- yet another new language to learn a little

Some past hobbies the CJ could revive:
- flying**
- sewing*
- photography
- baking**
- Japanese language study

* needs planning to pass the "can you fill just fifteen minutes with it" test
** fails the "can you fill just fifteen minutes with it" test

Comments

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

Crocheting?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Maybe. Last time I tried I was an utter failure at it -- never learned to keep the tension even. But it's a nifty thing to do with the hands and fingers. *musing* :-)

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

hand piecing for patchwork quilts is good. (Do the quilting by machine.)

[tsjafo.livejournal.com]

You might consider egg carving or model sailing ships. You have the attention to detail that would make you at good at both.

I've just taken up resin casting. I'm casting everything I can spray mold release on. It's fun.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

What is egg carving?

I've got some half-finished model airplanes lying about. Most of my effort on those in the past couple of years has gone toward protecting them from the cats. :-) Maybe I should go finish one!

[tsjafo.livejournal.com]

I carve holes in chicken eggs and make scenery to go inside them...sailing ships, light houses, spacecraft and airplanes.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh my! Those would be some very tiny ships and light houses and such! What do you make the scenery out of? How big is the hole through which you get it into the egg?

[tsjafo.livejournal.com]

The hole is a bit larger than a quarter. I make the scenery out of just about anything. Water can be made out of crumpled and smoothed foil, painted blue. Ships are made from small scraps of wood and wire with cigarette paper sails and invisible sewing thread for rigging.

The idea was that I could use scraps and things laying around the house. I use nail polish to harden and paint the outside of the eggs. Craft wire to line the hole, lots of super glue. Tweezers to make the hole and emery boards to smooth the edges. Just whatever I can get my hands on.

You can see pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/41719098@N00/sets/637639/

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh man! Those are incredibly detailed! It must take forever to complete one egg. How long does it take you, for example, to do all the wire decoration around the hole?

[tsjafo.livejournal.com]

It takes a lot longer to think up what to put in the egg than it does to put it together. I can do a simple egg, from start to finish, in about an hour. Complex eggs can take longer.

There is only a single strand of wire superglued around the hole, the rest is cheap ric-rac from the fabric store white glued around the wire.

The hobby is cheap and simple. You've probably already got everything in your house to do a simple egg.

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

crosswords!

[irascignavojo.livejournal.com]

SuDoKu

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

What is SuDoKu?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Never mind previous comment; I looked at Wikipedia's entry. I love solving puzzles. I could imagine myself getting addicted to SuDoKu!

[irascignavojo.livejournal.com]

that's the point. I could imagine you getting addicted to SuDoKu too.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh yes -- well chosen!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I already enjoy those quite a bit! :)

I've got a hobby...

[rampling.livejournal.com]

... rereading Lady Chatterly! ;)

You could borrow any of my occasional hobbies: juggling, guitar playing (or any musical instrument), origami (polyhedra are my favorite), online activism (haven't done much of that), learning to draw (I have books about drawing cats, but haven't tried that much yet), making jewelry (haven't tried yet, but I wanna try beads &/or pretty wire shapes)....

Re: I've got a hobby...

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh man, yeah, I could get back into playing a musical instrument. There's a thought.

I've reached my lifetime achievement limit in juggling: I can juggle three for a while and absolutely can not, no matter what, do either four or five. I think you need different genes do ever do four or five.

Making jewelry is where I was sort of going with beading. Would be even better if I ever WORE jewelry. :-)

Re: I've got a hobby...

[firecat]

If you don't wear it, you can always give it away to make friends and influence people. ;-)

Re: I've got a hobby...

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Mmm, presents! :-)

[visgoth.livejournal.com]

No matter how many times I hear it, philately always sounds like something that would be illegal in 29 states, and get you thrown out of a job for moral turpitude in 16 others.

I think you should take it up if for no other reason than to tell people in public places, "I'm really into philately," and watch scandalized upper-middle class mothers cover their children's ears and rush off in all directions.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I collected stamps when I was little, and when I used the word "philately" in front of my mother she had just about exactly that reaction!

it's time to come to the Dark Side

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

*hands you knitting needles and a ball of yarn in exchange for your soul*

seriously, knitting and crochet are fun, most projects are small and both portable and finished quickly. the only drawback i've found thus far is that projects left sitting too long get claimed by the curious kitties.

as for the time test, i can knit an 8" square dishrag with achy hands in an hour or two, depending on what else is going on in the room.

(i need a knitting userpic)

Re: it's time to come to the Dark Side

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh yes -- protecting unfinished things from the kitties is a hobby all its own! :-)

I was taught how to cast on, one year, when I was very small, by a grandmother who's no longer with us. We visited once a year, so the next year I was taught how to continue. By then I had forgotten how to start. Oops. :-)

Re: it's time to come to the Dark Side

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

i'd be glad to try and show you, but there's this pesky we-live-in-different-time-zones thing. but i'll have two weeks of vacation next year ... ;-)

Re: it's time to come to the Dark Side

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

One of which I hope you'll spend at Michfest, of course!

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

I'm doing way too much reading of books that don't interest me.

Okay, I'm trying to figure this out. Is it just because that's all that's around to read?

If you revive photography, that would be something else on which we could "compare notes". :-) Or go on an excursion or two sometime.

Let's see, what other things can I suggest...

- scrimshaw
- metal sculpture using recycled materials
- online RPGs
- Tuvan throat singing

;-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, basically that's all that's around to read.

Sadly, reviving photography probably means taking pictures of my cats. Otherwise I have to walk :-(

Scrimshaw! Man, can you even do that any more? I thought ivory or whatever was a controlled substance. Now metal sculpture sounds WAY COOL... and I'm not sure I want to know what Tuvan throat singing *is*. :-)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Tuvan throat singing is basically deep throaty groans with high-pitched overtones, simultaneous by the same person (http://www.furious.com/perfect/tuva.html). I find it amusing. One of my local friends has learned to do it.

As for scrimshaw, I wondered about the legality/ability as soon as I posted my earlier comment. Apparently, some are doing it these days on shed antlers, which sounds cool. (http://www.scrimshaw.net/)

[simplykimberly.livejournal.com]

Oh great ... now I have that stuck in my head!

"...give me smut and nothing but!"

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I had it in my head the instant I typed "I need a hobby"! Sheesh, we have one-track minds, huh? (Well, one MUSICAL track anyway.)

[apparentparadox]

Umm, write square dance sequences?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there is that! I'm prepping for August...

[firecat]

Selfishly, I approve of the beading and Japanese language study. I also second and third the knitting/crocheting suggestion. Once you get the hang of knitting or crocheting it passes the 15 minute test and it can also be either mindless stuff to do when you're feeling mindless, or complex stuff to do when you're feeling alert. (The same project usually can't be both, though.)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Selfishly? Is there value in having me do a thing you are also doing? I suppose it gives us something fun to talk about. :-)

I'm taking a guess at the expense associated with beading. More than crosswords, less than (say) skiing? (I don't know how much is required in the way of tools, little boxes, expensive parts that get used up in projects...)

[firecat]

Or do together, yeah.

The expense of beading is variable depending on what kinds of beading you do and the quality of the materials you use and what tools you use. You can do it for not very much at all if you use inexpensive components, which are widely available, or if you take apart thrift store jewelry for your components. Also if you do kinds of work that take a long time, such as bead weaving with seed beads, you can minimize your expense compared to just stringing one necklace after another. (You can combine beading and string knotting - macrame - to make bracelets; that also gives you a lot of hobby time for your buck.)

There can be a lot of pressure to use expensive components if you read beading magazines. I know you can resist that pressure though. The other pressure, which is a bit harder to resist, unless you like making a game out of resisting it, comes from going into bead shops and seeing lots of pretty stuff that costs pretty pennies. :)

The only tools you really NEED are a pair of small narrow-end pliers and a pair of scissors. And little boxes are helpful, but you can re-use glass jars and things for the purpose.

[firecat]

PS: The OH jokes, "Tell her I suggested World of Warcraft."

[irascignavojo.livejournal.com]

one single suggestion: calligraphy could be something for your mind and soul, with different cultures and styles going into what you do.

one multiple suggestion: myraworld. Anything creative you do or did (or will do) could go there with only minor modifications (or none at all), be it drawings, poetry, character studies or plotbunnies, silk paintings or terragen (3d modelling software) landscapes.

Project Myra would easily fill the time-filler criteria, as you could always do a snippet whenever it suits you. You could, for example, adopt a part of Myra and shape it your way, with architecture, poetry, local mythology, major characters or even eating habits and receipes... adding a bit whenever boredom would hit you otherwise, like pieces to a very diverse jigsaw puzzle... Ah there I go, advertising myraworld again, but I really think this could be something that could grow on you, not only but also because I know you from NaNoWriMo. Just take a look, will you, at http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=myraworld

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I remember looking at Myra a while back, perhaps after you mentioned it in your journal. It sounds very complicated. Do contributors have to know a lot about the existing Myra creation before contributing?

[jupiter29.livejournal.com]

I'm no expert, but I would hoping that flying is not a hobby that is okay to interrupt. :) But I hope you find something good. I have those same little windows of opportunity that I can't find anything good to do with. I usually end up keeping a book nearby and reading, which isn't too bad because I almost never get to sit and actually read for an hour, so it's not like I'm reading too much. The only downside is I never know where the 15 minutes will come, so I have a book in the living room and in the bedroom and in my car and in Kim's car, and I'm currently in the middle of four books, none of which I will finish in less than a month. It gets confusing. :)

So if you come up with something good, let me know. Sadly, between my sarcastic sense of humor and my vaguely inappropriate brain, I'm not coming up with any suggestions that are actually useful. ;)