37 thoughts on “Lobby for a Hobby”

  1. Counted cross stitch. I will need a fancy magnifier to see all the threads in the cloth. There are other hobbies, too, but I will have to think more about them. Oh, I want to become fluent in German. That would take time for study, lessons, a fancy tutor, and travel to Europe

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  2. Hardanger embroidery, rosemaling, Dixieland jazz style trumpet…The first two might be easier than the third. Rosemaling, I believe, is one of those things that Ingebretsen’s offers classes on from time to time. Or I could roadtrip to Decorah, IA. (Ingebretsen’s also teaches a class on making kransekake – I just need to have a Saturday available when there are class openings for that one…and I need to figure out if my grandmother’s kransekake rings survived my mother’s move from house to apartment, or if they disappeared in the estate sale…)

    As a P.S. I’m sorry I missed the weekend discussion. And I am glad we have a truly nice, civil place here for gathering and chatting about this and that and nothing at all. I am equally glad that for folks like me who have become more occasional, it’s still okay to stop in and sit a spell. (And yes, I may be the youngest, I beat Ben by two years…if you want to look it up, I was born about a month and a half after The Beatles “Revolver” was released…)

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  4. Congrats on your eggs, VS.
    I’d like to start:
    – drawing – colored pencils or pastels… maybe take a class
    – RV-ing for a couple of weeks at a time (does this count as a hobby?)
    – drumming
    – learn to play the recorder

    and revive:
    – piano playing
    – sewing (besides mending)

    I know there’s something else…

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  5. I’ve always contended that if you own a house, you don’t really need a hobby. Nevertheless, I already have plenty to choose from. I’m not sure where pursuing a craft devolves into merely a hobby. I don’t perceive them the same way. Hobby seems to lack a certain amount of seriousness or dedication. Also, calling something a hobby seems to set it apart from the normal conduct of one’s life. Some people claim reading as a hobby but to me, that would be like claiming breathing as a hobby.
    Just about anything I’ve done in the past as a elective interest is something I could and may choose to do again. I still have my stained glass tools and a wide variety of tools and art supplies at my disposal. I’m still probing to determine if I can settle on any one style and medium of art to the exclusion of others. I’ve taken classes in both abstract and representative painting and also one in botanical illustration. My interest in bookbinding and book repair stems from my interest in nineteenth century popular culture and my collection of period books pertaining to that. Knowing what to look for and collect is a result of my research into those subjects, which is also part of my hobby. For a time we were associated with a living history group that reenacted civilian life from mid nineteenth century. As an adjunct to that, we researched clothing styles and construction and I made myself a nineteenth century wardrobe. I also began collecting nineteenth century images.

    After not playing one for forty years, I bought myself a used baritone horn with the intent of relearning to play it. I found that quite a bit came back to me, but that the baritone as I learned it was a bit of a dead end.
    Having come to the instrument by way of the trumpet and french horn, I was used to reading b flat treble clef musical notation, but most of the music for baritone/euphonium is written for e flat bass clef. Unlearning the treble clef and learning bass clef notation may be asking too much of my aging brain.

    Then there’s the genealogy. Even if I stopped researching and expanding the family tree, I suspect it will take me most of my remaining time to scan and catalog the photos and materials I have accumulated.

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    2. You’re right, Bill, about the “set apart from the normal conduct of one’s life” – at least, it connotes something done in your spare time. My Funk & Wagnalls defines hobby as: an activity or pursuit undertaken for pleasure during one’s leisure.

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  6. i am a man of many interests
    my bucket list is hot
    the things that i would love to do
    a short list it is not

    painting poems and artsy stuff
    hold a place within my soul
    skydiving surfing mountain climbs
    are the other way i roll

    i made models as a kid
    dreams of dusenberg’s and corvettes
    as a teen i went for teen stuff
    booze pot and cigarettes

    i love camping hiking cooking too
    play guitar and sing
    sculpture carving architects design
    seem like interesting things

    all my life i’ve had ambitions
    dreams is love to do
    now time is fast approaching
    i’m probably half through

    id better kick it in the ass
    and knock of a few ticks
    i’ll likely add more later
    that involve some magic tricks

    i saw one only yesterday
    a guy surfing 80 foot portageese waves
    he’d broken lots of body parts
    but the highlight films were faves

    i’ll climb the himalayas
    and the matterhorn one day
    and certainly killaminjaro
    before the snow all melts away

    paint some big ass paintings
    10 foot tall and 12 feet wide
    and write a poem about it
    spewing feelings deep inside

    if time and money were no object
    i’ll bet my interests would expand
    egyptians space and race cars
    wrapped within my rubber band

    i’d check back in to visit
    all the baboons on the trail
    reporting all my findings
    and that i’m not in jail

    wouldn’t life be marvelous
    pursuing life’s good stuff
    now i’m off to work my other job
    after this it may be tough

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  7. OT – Just returned from Signal Hills, a local shopping center, where I had gone to mail a letter and get my hair cut. Sorry, but not surprised, to discover that my hair salon has gone out of business. The owner, a black man in his early thirties (is my guess) was a personable guy, just didn’t have the first clue about customer service. He lasted all of six months in that location. Don’t know that he would have been more successful elsewhere.

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    2. i remember your mentioning that earlier
      he might be just the guy to work out of his home or come to yours as an alternative
      paying overhead will kill you
      my mechanic is successful as a traveling mechanic
      busy as can be
      he had a shop once and no one came

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      2. !. Not enough energy to stand that long in the kitchen and make cookies. 2. Can’t eat very much at one time; sometimes 5-10 bites makes me feel as full as if I had just eaten thanksgiving dinner.

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  9. I’d love to be able to sing. vs offers me the chance to sing without concerns about money or time. That’s a nice start. Now wave your magic wand vs and give me what I really need: a pleasant voice and a sense of pitch.

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  10. Now that I’m pondering it, I don’t know that I’ve ever really had what I’d consider a hobby. There have been lots of things I have enjoyed doing in my leisure time, but none that I would consider a hobby. Playing tennis, kayaking, camping, collecting stamps, listening to music – live or recorded, cooking, embroidering, reading, dancing, gardening, cross country skiing, and swimming, diving and bicycling. The list goes on and on. Most of the activities listed above I have done for many years, but there are few that I still do. There are lots of other activities that I have tried my hand at, but which I abandoned relatively quickly for various reasons. At the moment I can’t think of anything that I’d like to do that I’m not already doing if my body and energy allow it.

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  11. Cooking is quite the hobby for me and Husband. We were at a loss over what to do yesterday afternoon as we made an elaborate biryani on Saturday and had nothing to cook on Sunday. We took three-hour naps instead.

    OT-Mailed passport applications and voted today.

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  13. PJ mentioned her husband has gotten into kintsugi. I would like to learn that – it seems like a useful skill. Metalworking appeals to me too – sometimes people make very creative things by welding found objects together. This would take special equipment and lots of space. Storage space and room to work.

    Learning the recorder is something I’ve meant to do, but it hasn’t yet risen to the top of my list of priorities. I’ve done a little genealogy research, but nothing serious.

    Glassblowing, maybe? Building furniture? Making jewelry? It would be hard to choose just one thing.

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    1. You don’t need to choose just one

      There is a spot in St. Paul where they let you play with their tools. It’s called co create it’s a garage behind a house that accommodated many inventor kind of folks. I bet they would allow soulful creators too
      Look up on meetups or just google co create.
      Want a recorder? The plastic plays the same and sounds almost identical to the wood
      Cool instrument.
      Glassblowing at 280 and vandalia
      Furnature is my therapy. I love woodworking

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  14. Rosemaling would be fun. Quilting. Glassblowing. Macrame. Stilt walking. Candy making. Cheese making and wine brewing.

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      1. I spent a good part of my childhood and youth on ever taller stilts, thanks to dad who thought every child should have a pair and learn to walk on them. I’ve made quilts, done lots of macrame, made truffles, and dabbled in making cheese. Glassblowing, while it looks interesting to me, I just know I’d burn myself.

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