Slashdot Mirror
What's Your (non-tech) Hobby?
Slipped_Disk asks: "Being the curious sort, I was wondering what the Slashdot crowd did while you're not reading Slashdot or doing any of the other geeky things we usually do. So tell me, what is your non-techie hobby? I'm defining non-techie as stuff you do when you're not using a computer, so 'I play videogames' doesn't qualify, but 'I build game consoles' does. I'm especially interested in distinctly non-electronic stuff (ie: film photography, building models, training sociopathic attack cats, etc.). I'm looking forward to some interesting topics, here!"
Aren't you?
Joe Llywelyn Griffith Blakesley
[This post is in the public domain (copyright-free) unless otherwise stated]
Redescovered it as an adult once I started earning enough to afford it. Like all really good toys it is wasted on kids :)
by ski (winter) or by foot (summer)
#include "coucou.h"
I think the general concensious(sp) is that we like to build things, doesnt matter what we build, be it computers, bikes, space planes, movies, music, etc... slashdotters are people who like to create. in work or outside of it, we make stuff. second to that is learning stuff. amateur astronomers, radio operators, pilots, scientists of various sorts. beyond that? I don't know... shopping would probably be pretty low on the list. I'm trying to think of what my non geek friends do as hobbies. I think its shopping, drinking, and well, a lot of them don't have hobbies, they just work, buy things, and complain about stuff. guess that's why I'm a geek!
-and occasionaly a giant moose.
Looks like I may post the first real response.
Anyway, done properly, Wing Chun is very meditative and physically taxing (if you're doing the stance properly). At the same time, itâ(TM)s something anyone on two feet can do. It's an internal martial art like Tai Chi which, but it has some immediate and effective applications. It's nothing like you see in the movies though. It's very subtle and hard to appreciate until you actually feel some of the effects.
But besides all that, it's what I do to associate with non-geeks. I couldn't stomach the thought of golf, so Wing Chun it was. Ironically about half the folks that attend the classes are in some way into IT, but we don't talk shop much.
For anyone who is curious and resides around the Minneapolis/St. Paul MN area, send me an email at: VincePlatt AT Yahoo D.O.T com.
Please mod this post only if you think others should/n't read this. I have enough ego^H^H^Hkarma. Thanks!
Foil and sabre fencing, via a Boeing Employees club. I've found that it provides me with not only a good workout, but also trains my reflexes and mind. You have to be able to think very well on your feet, and change your strategy on the fly when what seemed so brilliant 2 seconds ago doesn't work. Just trying to use brute force will fail every time against someone who is quick to think and act. Besides, it's fun to poke and whack people with swords!
That's it. I'm no longer part of Team Sanity.
OK, I realise that to some people that's going to be a revolutionary concept, but I'll wager that a great many of the Slashdot crowd have one too.
Part of the fun of said relationship is that, sometimes, I find myself doing things that I'd never dreamt of doing. Like visiting a garden centre, spending half the weekend looking for the right pair of shoes, or wondering what's the point of underwear that's so small that you could swallow it without even noticing. But after nine years or so, you tend to develop the ability to either tune out that stuff or - shock, horror - like it. (There's a degree of sadomasochism involved here - relationships aren't for the those with low pain thresholds.)
On the plus side, I also find myself doing things that lots of you, err, more available guys are always dreaming of doing. Believe me, there are plenty of things in life better than downloading your favourite distro at maximum speed on the day it's released and, for most of them, two's better than one.
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
I am a Master Thespian! (No jokes.)
Well, more like a permanent apprentice. There's a professional theater group in my area that offers apprenticeship opportunities to non-professionals. Sometimes these apprentices are folks that want to get into the biz. Or, sometimes they're like me, they just want theater as a hobby. I've had chances to develop all sorts of useful skills: Construction, lighting control, sound, wiring, organization, memorization, and of course, public speaking. And it's a great way to meet people, too.
Good judgment comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgment.
Look at my .sig and guess what I do on sunny weekends.
You can get up from the Flight Sim and try the real thing. Start at BeAPilot.com
In my case I dreamed about flying all of my life. I decided to give it a go while I was still young enough to enjoy it.
I had three concerns:
1) It's very expensive. I can't afford it. (It took a while for me to notice that I could afford it.)
2) I need to do other things like get a new degree, etc. This will take up a lot of time. (So what? I wasn't making good progress toward that goal anyway.)
3) If I start, I'll be obsessed by it and I won't do much else. (Again So What? It ain't a drug addiction. It turned out that the obsession wore down, but not much. Like most pilots I think it's so magical I never get tired of talking about it, even if you get tired of hearing about it.)
Worse than I imagined, I bought a plane. There's where all my money goes.
There actually is a wave of techies that became pilots about the same time I did. We thought we had money to burn when the stock market was flying high.
Even now, you can earn a Private Pilot certificate in the US 6 months or so for $5000 or less.
Join me in the air.
Ever dream you could fly? Get up from the Flight Sim. I Fly