Takin' pictures with my camera. |
Hobbies that I've enjoyed over the years have included audio (since about age 14), motorcycles, mostly dirt bikes, photography (film), hunting, shooting, flyfishing, woodworking, have always read, but never thought of it as a hobby, probably most seriously for the last 20 years my family genealogy, and collecting American art pottery, both antique and new. Oh, and lastly, run-on sentences.
L.
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vivisection...mummification...alien communications...petty larceny
OK, none of that is true. The truth is so boring:
1 - I walk 5 miles a day as fast as possible. Ran that or more for decades; now it's walking. Used to swim 2-3 miles/day (that was then).
2 - Music every waking hour: usually streaming classical interspersed with headphone audio of many different genres (I have 7 headphone amps and 8 or 9 headphones...it's not a passing phase)
3 - Streaming video content (4K blu rays & Netflix) on a huge OLED TV. I've always been a fan on high quality visual narrative, and we are the new golden age of that
4 - And writing...anything & everything. I make my living as a writer, but even when there's no work, I write for other reasons. It' what rat psychologists call "consumatory behavior" (ie, do it because it feels good) |
Classic car collector.
Guitar builder.
Beekeeper. |
Great thread! Diverse crowd, but with certain themes recurring! My love of music and audio equipment comes from my parents, who always had a stereo system, and lots of LPs spinning.
As for me... I’ve been lifting weights for 41 years straight, and have been competing in bench press competitions since I was 31 (I’m 54 now). I have my own home gym where I mostly powerlift, and my sons, and my grandkids, join me whenever they’re over.
Speaking of grandkids, is being a grandfather a hobby? If so, that’s my number one! I also love grilling all year on my Weber kettles. Big family, so plenty of grill time all summer by the pool.
I have a 2015 competition orange mustang GT premium with the “50 Years” package. I’ve had a thing for mustangs since I was six! I’m not a mechanic, but I can detail like crazy!
I also keep aquariums. Big oddball fish interest me. My favorite is my silver arowana. Close second is my datnoid. We’re getting a 300 gallon tank for them this year.
My wife is very patient with my audio hobby, so I’m sure to remember to ask her what she feels like hearing each night. We have a main system, a bedroom system, a family room system, and a vintage system in my weight room! As well as a system in the shed which plays outdoor speakers aimed at the pool area. There’s almost always music playing around the house. And I make sure it sounds good!
Keep it coming!! |
Yes I have another Hobby but it carries a dirty little secret
I do part time DJ' ing but have to connect up to some pretty lousy pre installed Amps and Speakers.
My dirty little secret is I try all sorts tweaks and workarounds to get the best possible sound without the dancers realizing
I say on average only 3-5% of dancers will notice the difference between
a mediocre sounding track and one thats been enhanced by software or hardware tweaks
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Too many hobbies!
High end audio - based in both digital and analogue, I still have a main system, an electrostatic speaker based system, a system made up of some of my old gear I can't bring myself to get rid of, and even a system in my library albeit a modest one. Server drive with c. 3500 digital albums ripped by me, and a bit more than that number of vinyl LPs.
Wine - wide ranging dedicated cellar with almost as many bottles as LPs.
Cars - raced them for 30 years (still have my old race car, a 58 MG) plus a couple of other period MGs, a Jensen, and a couple of modern sports cars (Solstice, BMW Z4MC), Sold another Jensen and an old Lamborghini when I downsized. Used to build and restore them, but not so much over the last decade.
Gardening - c. 300 species Rhododendrons (down from 800 at the old place) plus many Magnolias, Acers etc.
Cooking - a natural meld with the wine interest
Clocks and watches - keep and restore a wide range from late 1600s on.
Fountain pens - used to use a different pen or two every day when working, less often now retired.
Antiques - furniture etc.
Photography - both botanically related and otherwise. Still have my first underwater camera (60s vintage) so tend to hang onto gear but did acquire a DSLR recently to replace a couple of fixed lens digitals.
Enough to keep me out of trouble. |
@rimo thank you thank you thank you for lovingly rebuilding and fixing my Dad’s 1965 MX-110Z
i cherish it and the letter you wrote on the repair order - “ a family heirloom and treasure indeed “
RIMO ( inventor of the filter so named ) only guy to catch factory mistake that intermittently shorted out MPX board !!!
best to you kind sir ! |
There are many interesting responses. These days, my primary interest is photography which has also been my lifelong passion for almost 50 years. I've had all the Minolta, Nikon and Canon gear and am now primarily a Leica and Hasselblad man shooting both medium format and full frame. I've been in Popular Photography and currently have a print on TV on a show called The Resident. It was cool to get a check from Twentieth Century Fox. For what I've spent on equipment, I could have bought a new Porsche 911.
I like to travel and have an Airstream Interstate. I've been to 46 states in it and have photographed my way across North America. I have enough solar and lithium to stay mostly off grid, and could have bought two Porsche 911's for what it is costing me. I'm currently downsizing and may just hop in the RV and hit the road.
I grew up in Charleston and spent years surfing, skiing and diving. I got a Divemaster certification in 1990 from the same guys who found the Hunley, the Civil War submarine. I've had a Whaler and used to run it 15 miles offshore.
I just sold my woodworking machines and am probably going to even part company with my Festool stuff. I'm pretty spry for 59, but house maintenance is getting to be too much of a time waster and headache.
As for audio, I've had lo-, medium-, and hi-fi and recently sold the KEF's and Bryston's. I have an old ranch house with a lot of rooms and have it filled with SONOS which I am happy with. I just bought some MOVES which sound good enough. I bring the MOVES into whatever room I'm in and then have 4 speakers running. It's not hi-fi, but it's adequate. Don't worry hi-fi people, I still have a mid-fi main system that sounds like hi-fi.
I had a motorcycle, bicycles, and a beach house. My current cool thing is an electric scooter, a Boosted Rev. I've got about 500 miles on it since purchasing it in December.
Check out my Instagram page where I have over 500 photos posted. If you don't have an Instagram page, open one and start exploring a new world of cars or whatever. It's not Facebook.
@coasttocoastphotoatl
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You should have got an English Setter and French Bulldog. They already know the language.
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I teach English and french to my 2 dogs...
And after breaking the inter-species barrier I walk the desert city with them…
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Hillwalking - mountaineering with my dogs
Tuning jap cars and driving scottish roads. My long termers: a R32 nissan skyline gtr, 3.0, dry sump , mid 600's, high 9's standing quarter but unbeatable on the back roads, a Mitsubishi evo 6, 2.3, dry sump, mid 400's with more to come, and a toyota mr-s roadster, 2zz engine swap, monkey wrench 2 litre stroker, lumpy cams and 6speed box, mid 200's and sublime handling.
I've also got a bit of a thing for landscaping, i moved over 2,000 tons of earth and rock to create an amphitheatre in my garden
Oh, and i grow the best weed in Britain😁 |
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I spent a lot of time running my sports cars and sport bikes through Deal's Gap's 318 turns in 11 miles, as well as winning a few regional SCCA regional autocross class championships. My watercraft race team, (7 SeaDoo's, 1 Polaris, Two Yamaha's, and two Kawasakis) spawned a young rider who has won a dozen or more national and world championships. Interestingly, my boy chose 505 as his race number, because it looks like SOS from the shore. Our future world champion chose 911, which he still uses. Also, I study and write about philosophy, astrophysics (as a hobby, not as a dedicated professional), religious contradictions, and especially Sociology of Mental Illness, i.e. Why are some behaviors and beliefs labeled as insane in some cultures and not others, e.g. religion? As a audiophiliac, I wonder why some people are so insecure in their choices of equipment that they totally obsess on minutiae, rather than actually enjoy listening to music?
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The correlation factor between high-end audio and Porsche's seems to be strong with this group!
Definitely cars for me as well (1965 Mustang convertible in the garage). Wine and food are probably a close second to audio. If I could find a way to work with wines, it would be the dream! Lastly planes and travel (#avgeek)
Actually, just looking at my social media feed, it's all of the above and Airedale terriers (we have one)... and that's about it. |
Hello!
Interesting. Age 82, competitive runner in National and Local age-group running events under the NSGA rules (National Senior Games Association). Division one track at Manhattan College in 1950's. One national gold in 10K run in 2013, another a bronze in national 5K in 2015.Five medals in NY State Games running events in 2019. Taking aim at National again in 2021 assuming old body still in shape...
So, running is one hobby. Another, I play Jazz piano badly (take lessons), play at a non-discimiational audiences at Church functions, etc. They always ask me back!
Audio of course. Hold four patents in loudspeaker design, the entire Joseph Line of speakers my design. My license agreement with them expited in 2005 and at that time I retired. Do some restoration on vintage McIntosh for Audio Classics of Vestal, NY.
RIMO
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Quite a diverse group here. Add another golfer to the group. As in with Audio, I find that in all of my hobbies the buying, selling, and collecting equipment is as important to me as the activity.
The rest of my hobbies have all faded. These include bicycles/bicycling which pretty much ended in my late 30s. I am 62 now. Photography, I sold all of my film cameras a few years back and just gave my Nikon D 5200 SLR to my son. I still have a few smaller mirrorless SLR’s. Don’t even take them on our cruises and travels anymore Take all of my pictures with my iPhone 8. Playing and collecting guitars, I have always been a terrible player, but was a pretty good collector of electric guitars. Now all have been sold except for two. I rarely pick them up anymore.
There have been others as well, but Audio and Golf are my only remaining passions. Age and health have diminished the golf a bit. Can’t play as often as I would like and although I hit it pretty good for a guy my age, my distance pales in comparison to the younger guys. Still score pretty well though. I enjoy our pets, especially walking my crazy four-year-old Pomeranian. My dogs have also gotten smaller over the years. I agree with those who spoke about family. I join my wife for her passion, yard saleing on Saturday mornings when the weather is nice. Friday nights are still out to dinner and a movie. Also enjoy attending concerts with my friends.
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FAA HF radio spoken here.
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Audio
Ham radio operator
Photography including infrared
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Motorcycling (on/off road), travel, guns, CAD & 3D printing, Porsche
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Fine art black & white photography. I work with 4x5 and 5x7 folding wooden view cameras, expose and process film using the zone system, create unsharp masks prior to printing and print and process in a wet darkroom. I won't bore you with equipment models. Technique is far more important than the hardware although everything I use is excellent quality and more importantly, in proper working condition. Subject matter ranges from architectural studies to traditional landscapes. Greek Isles, Death Valley, Canadian Rockies, Finger Lakes, Maine coast and more. I am also the recording engineer for two local orchestras. Again, I won't fixate on hardware as it's all good stuff and technique is far more important. All of that plus listening to music pretty much occupies all of my time except for maintenance of my residence and an occasional bike ride (I love hand made Italian road bikes).
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Born and raised in NYC I yearned for the mountains so I took up
skiing, camping, hiking and hunting early on. Competitive long range shooting has been fun the last 5 or so years. (I can shoot the volume knob off my Auralic Vega at half a mile)! Been on several awesome horseback hunting adventures out west. (that gets addicting and expensive). Woodworking and furniture making, and oh yeah the guitar I bought......haven't got around to it yet. |
Apparently many of us make fun of conspiracy theories even in the face of a possible pandemic. :-D (referencing a post on Munich show cancellation).
Seriously, I teach SCUBA as a break from hifiness. And try to make violins. |
Drums - Vintage and Craviotto
Jeep Wranglers - JK and JLU Rubicons... not mall crawlers but actually go off roading/rock crawling.
Bicycling - Touring and Off Road
Craft Beers - All kinds and flavors
Woodworking
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Audiophile is #1. I’m blessed with a dedicated room, a wife that loves it as much as me and two good careers. (And no kids. Thank you lord)
2014 z51 corvette convertible. Love American muscle/top down/metal music
health: hot tub, sauna, regular yoga.
15’ reticulated python. Burmese python. Tarantulas.
Sex. Often. Certainly a hobby.
Guns. Never thought in a million years. Now, I like feeling safe(er)
weed. Also never would have thought in a million years. Now I grow it hydro and store it in a humidor. I’m a total weed snob.
Just retired from live shows. Saw everyone I ever wanted to see and met most in my 20s and 30s. Best memories in my audio room with pics of me with Ozzy to the Indigo Girls to Goldfrapp.
Life, is good. |
Porsche 911 s (currently 2018 Turbo S couple) and detailing them, Toyota Land Cruisers, dog shows, target shooting (.45 ACP Kimber, Colt), photography, Nikon D3S, D700, Nikorrmat |
Don’t want to derail, but curious if all of you consider yourself highly addictive personality types? Most appear to have been intensely interested in other hobbies or activities beyond Audio pursuit of perfection.
I have succumbed to watches, photography, woodworking, shoes, and fishing over the years. Probably a few others. Stayed away from things that could break the bank- but then audio got there 😉
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Once upon a time my hobby was fixing and repairing Alfa Romeos. I had five count ‘em in a row. The most fun of any car to have in the shop. I took my car once to an Alfa dealer and asked for a rough estimate so they beat the crap out of me. |
In approximate order of time investment:
Beekeeping
Gardening (mostly vegetable)
Cooking indoor and outdoors on my Big Green Egg
Home / yard maintenance
Ice Skating
Fermenting things (Beer, Wine, Mead, Kombucha)
Distilling
Golf
Listening to live music |
In my spare time I sculpt art pieces from belly button fuzz. My "BB" seems to generate an endless supply so I never have to go out to art supply stores to purchase materials. I prefer to work with organic, home grown fuzz over synthetic anyway. Hey, fun fact: B.B. King was known not only for his superb guitar playing, but he too was a BB fuzz artist. In fact, that's where his moniker came from. Don't believe me? Check it out! |
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yaluaka Love hams as well. Was in NYC a few months ago and had a Berkshire ham sandwich at an outpost of Zabar's near the museum.
Looked into it and they are available from Heritage. A bit expensive for me, but a unique flavor that stuck out immediately. My former MIL used to keep a country ham hanging in her kitchen in NC. We would cut off the moldy parts and enjoy it for breakfast when I visited...it was local to central NC, I believe, on the cure (late 1960's).
Also remember like yesterday eating at the Williamsburg Inn Sunday Buffet in the late 1950's, early 1960's and enjoying REAL Smithfield Ham there. Never forget the taste of it, and have not been able to find anything the same since then...but I enjoy looking!
Cheers! |
Akgwhiz, you have to trust me on this. In order to make the absolutely most unbelievable brisket you have to do it Sous Vide. 72 hours at 130-135 degrees. Same for Corned Beef Brisket or bottom round except a little hotter 140 degrees. Once you get into this you will never look back:)
Emailists, as you have noticed the 911 is the original sport utility vehicle.
Wrapping a car is not easy and it takes a while to learn. The biggest panel I have ever done is a hood and hoods are relatively easy because they are flat. Once you start getting into curves, nooks and crannies it gets much tougher. Xpel is the best film and you can buy kits specifically for your car but I would just buy some sheet film and have at your hood a few times. You will ruin most of it. I did and I'm a pretty capable guy. I only do little things now like stone guards and still guards. I prefer to let the pros do the big stuff. I hate my cars looking like they have acne. |
Ping Pong a close second after hi-fi |
Hobbies! I love hobbies. I’m into Hams, aged American and Spanish acorn fed hams
Vintage European sports Cars, I have 1970 911s, 1974 BMW 2002turbo, and a 1963 Abarth Monomille. Records, mostly African and gospel these days but could be anything you wouldn’t hear on the radio. Making pizza. Probably could go on but I’ll stop here. |
Nice to hear about everyone’s lovely bicycles- mine was recently stolen. I used it for getting around NYC and had it highly tricked out including a cirrus bodyfloat seat suspension. My new new hobby should be planting a decoy bike to catch the MF’ers.
And since there are Porsche fans and owners here, I’ll tell you about my odd choice of car. Since I live in the city and am lucky to be able to have a car at all, I needed something somewhat practical. I discovered the Targa 4S model (now a previous generation) that actually had a usable hatchback. It’s such a rarely purchased model it took me 6 months of extensive searching to find the right very low mileage one (11500 miles), and had to buy it without seeing it in person and shipped from Wisconsin to NY.
Having a hatchback, I’ve gotten a bike in the car with the wheel off, air conditioners, a 49”LCD tv in the box, and used it to haul equipment for smaller film shoots.
After a recent scrape up and and then having several panels repainted, I’m planning on wrapping the entire car in 3M paint protection film. Still trying to decide if I should learn to do it myself as it’s quite costly.
Incidentally, I found the car listed for sale on Craigslist.... but in Dubai! The second owner had it a few months but didn’t want to pay to register the car and was attempting to sell it outside the country. Took me months to get it registered.
And my most expensive “hobby” of all..... Filmaking. Makes audio look like a bargain. |
I was married, should explain things! |
Awesome thread, good window into folks. For me, now living in AK it's all about fly fishing for monster trout, epic hunts and backpacking. Just upgraded powder snowmobile to one with 167 hp and weighs 415 pounds. XC skate skiing. Always been avid cyclist, roadie in the old days owning a custom 753 CrMoly and first Dura Ace, built in UK, now mainly mtb both here and in AZ where we keep our truck camper for boondocking and riding my Ibis. Competed and won at photography club in major US city. 37 years a geophysicist (lots of wave theory and digital processing). Always trying to improve my brisket. Homebrewer. Oh, and listening to music...winter is the listening season. |
I'll say it again, so awesome to read everyone's posts. |
Hmm, interests come and go. I am in a period where some old hobbies have come back into view after benign neglect, and other beloved activities have been set aside for child-rearing duties.
I have a 2006 Ural Retro in jet black with pin-striping. No imagined vehicle handles worse...no rolling vehicle is more fun.
I threw pottery for 7 years, but nothing in the last four. Too busy to finish converting a shed. I did the wiring for my kiln, but plumbing the outdoor line is insane and still need to weatherize the space as well, ugh. But our table ware is all by yours truly, from plates to pitchers.
Voice lessons once a week. Mostly show tunes, but some opera and musical miscellanies with occasional pop or rock.
Interesting wine, by which I mean juice with some barn yard funk, minerality or maybe some transverse winds working their magic on a pinot.
Cooking whatever moves slower than me, especially a lot of fresh produce from our garden., where the artichokes happily over-wintered and look large and threatening—in the good sense of the word. The Traeger is well-loved, as is my high-powered range.
Speaking of which—antique copper vessels, retinned and returned to service. It’s a kick to cook out of 200 year old pots, knowing some future soul will use these when I’ve gone back to dust. I can rip through an antique store in about 5 minutes, looking only for some exceptional piece, planished, perhaps by an illiterate master craftsman from Norway or a wine-sotted Norman.
Poetry—reading and writing.
Peet-laden single malts. Ardbeg, Lagavulin and Talisker, arranged here alphabetically and not according to preference.
Rummaging through record bins and discovering another gem of a vinyl shop in my town.
Museums, concerts, travel.
An occasional trip to the Sea of Cortez where an old Mexican captain knows just where the yellow tail hunker down. His wife filets out the white meat and vacuum packs it for me. Got a freezer full of hamachi to last me till the next trip.
Some prayers to my Maker, and chatting up the neighbors.
Bedding down my wife, who a couple decades in can still bear me in the bare.
Movies and Netflix. I hop on the treadmill and watch till my legs say no.
And music, glorious music, salve of life, balm of existence, pouring magically out of a few capacitors, voice coils, and spinning black wax. Because the world remains a place of mystery.
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I play with toy trains (scale MTH and Lionel), old cars ('66 Corvette right now), some music (guitar, drums, bass, etc.--horrible on all of them), and dream of having a Hammond B3 and 2 147 Leslie's (that I can't play either).
Oh, well, there is always the stereo... |
zardoz, it is a fact that married men live longer. Something about being hen pecked I believe.
Vegas, why would you want to live in California or NY.
Puff, locomotive airhorns? Must have a gas problem. Toot Toot.
Geoffkait, I just knew it. The little reels go round and round, round and round. Easy rider. |
California has lots of rifle ranges, at one of which I not too long ago did some shooting, both rifles and handguns. If you've never held or even seen a 45, they are bigger and heavier than you think! Wore ear protection, of course ;-) . |
My Wife and I target shoot. We don't live in California or New York LOL.
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Motorcycling and staying single. |
Collecting porcelain insulators (yeah, the doo-dads on the electric pole)
Locomotive airhorns (yeah, got a compressor and air bench for testing and repair, neighbors love me, my wife sometimes not so much, cat has gotten used to it)
Care to guess what that is in my avatar? (hint: 110db@100’)
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Motorcycles. My wife rides also. She has two,and I have two. |
In no particular order:
guitar(s),
singing,
golf,hiking, especially here in Colorado,woodworking,astronomy,cooking,readingdid I mention guitar?
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reading - mostly non-fiction
skiing - even in NC lol
riding
hiking
photography - lots of photographers here - interesting
walking my crazy 3 year old lab
helping my wife when she is trying yet another wild recipe that turns out great
going to live music/theatre
volunteering at local theatre as an usher |
