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Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

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Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#371

Post by dmoy »

hermitcrab wrote: post #357
dmoy wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Olympic style fencing is pretty interesting too, to be fair. Physical Chess Also it's less... scary? At least you'll get less scary-looking bruises (though probably more total number of bruises)

>Olympic style fencing is pretty interesting too, to be fair. It just seems incredibly divorced from it's martial origins. To each their own.

Oh for sure it is very gamified. It's still very interesting in its own right though.

Just don't go into it if you are looking for realism.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#372

Post by aksss »

chromacity wrote: post #148

Almost everything you can do on your own is a "solved problem". Why go into woodworking if you can buy an Ikea stool? The point of hobbies isn't to solve problems - that's called a job - but to learn and have fun. Find a niche where you can resist the temptation to constantly compare yourself to eight billion other people on the internet. Something where success isn't measured in Github stars, Youtube likes, or Reddi…

What defines hobbies is not what or why you do it, but when you do it. The phenomenon of hobbies has been mulled over quite a bit - activities that engage many disciplines of an actual job, activities that for other people actually are jobs. The key difference in the nature of a hobby is that we do the activities on our own schedule - we are in no way compelled to do them but have complete ownership over the execution.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#373

Post by teecha »

Ancalagon wrote: post #59

I’m obsessed with powerlifting. Not only because big numbers get bigger but also the physical changes that occur with a healthy dose of lifting each week. It’s also easy to track lifting stats and there are tons of analysis tools out there if data analysis is something you enjoy. Also, I’m trying to learn guitar - right now following the Justinguitar.com lessons

I've started going down the rabbit hole with Reactive Training Systems and Emerging Strategies. Been a very satisfying deep dive into all sorts of data, variables, etc. to play with that has me constantly playing around with different ideas. Their free training tracker is just the tip of the iceberg but focusing on RPEs and protocols already feels like a game changer.

Started with Stronglifts 5x5 a couple of years ago and has definitely been one of the best things for me. I don't compete but love seeing the numbers go up.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#374

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

Guess this doesn't count as a hobby since I switched careers, but I left software recently to attend violin making school. I'm happier than I've been in a long time.

I'd encourage all "mental work" folks to engage with something physical in the 3D realm (art, cooking, gardening, etc.). I really believe humans have a special affinity for creating refined objects, and I don't think software "scratches that itch".

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#376

Post by unsupp0rted »

MrDresden wrote: post #289
unsupp0rted wrote: post #3

My hobby is organizing in-person meetups for random people to get together, chat and make friends. Barely structured, if at all. I've found this rewarding and ended up making friends this way. You have to accept that 5-15% of the people who would show up to something like this are genuine weirdos you probably don't want to be around. And another 10% at any given meetup are autistic or neuro-divergent but well-meaning…

Have you done any write ups about how best to go about doing something like this? I'd love to organize something like this in my local community but somehow am not sure where or how to start really.

If you had to guess how I'd suggest you start, what would you think I'd say? My advice is probably just that or something no better that what you'd guess.

You start by starting. The first meetup will have a couple people and you let it be awkward and not quite right. Then you do a second, and a third...

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#377

Post by johnthedebs »

iamjs wrote: post #348
johnthedebs wrote: post #282

I got into fig (and since then, more broadly, fruit) cultivation. Figs have a rich history, lots of variety, and there are very active online (and in-person) communities where you can buy or exchange plants and cuttings, advice, and fruit. This grew out of an initial interest in gardening, and the long-term goal is to create a food/fruit forest around our house where me, family, friends, and neighbors can walk around…

I have a volunteer fig tree growing in a container on my patio in the middle of a bunch of onions. I have always heard of people transplanting them from cuttings, presumably because they are difficult to grow from seed. I have no idea how it got there, but I feel fortunate to have been chosen.

Awesome! Curious to hear if it ripens good fruit for you.

In case it's interesting: people normally grow them from cuttings to make sure that the trees will 1. be female (males have figs, but they're not really edible), 2. hold/ripen fruit without pollination, 3. be true to type, and 4. bear fruit sooner (cuttings can bear fruit the first year under the right circumstances).

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#378

Post by codazoda »

bluGill wrote: post #189
ryandrake wrote: post #174

If you like to work with your hands and have space, build something physical: big and complex, and actually finish it. I built a single engine two seat kit airplane in my garage, did all the flight testing, and now have an interesting way to travel/commute as a result. The "finish it" part is the most important bit. Computer people spend too much time working on projects that don't have a "done" state. Change that up…

I would start smaller though. There are a lot of half finished airplanes (where the last 20% takes 80% of the time...) and the maker is dead. I've been working on a ukulele for over a year now and it isn't close to done yet, and this is a much smaller project. (Or maybe I should say I've been working on raising kids for a decade and there is another left?).

Oh, yeah. I’ve been meaning to build an electric ukulele. I’ve built some handmade electric guitars, slide guitars and similar. Mine are rudimentary, more akin to a cigar box guitar (if not less complex).

Examples: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPmHtIa9vAm8wNPeTXP4MoZ...

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#379

Post by chrysoprace »

Some fantastic hobbies involve learning a new skill that'll serve you in the long run outside of tech, or teach you something interesting that will last after you drop the hobby. I personally love making things, especially food-related things and so I've been a hobbyist baker for about a decade. The Bread Code on GitHub was a fantastic introduction and taught me the basics to branch out and discover better baking techniques. That's the main one I've stuck with.

I've also dabbled in home wine making, cheese making, preserving and pickling, and they've all given me a deeper understanding of fermentation even if I've not stuck with them as much as I did with bread. However, if I go for a wine-tasting or a beer brewery I now know what they're talking about when they go into the process of it, which is a good conversation starter if nothing else.

There's also gardening, but that's mostly something my partner stuck with instead.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#380

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

chromacity wrote: post #148

Almost everything you can do on your own is a "solved problem". Why go into woodworking if you can buy an Ikea stool? The point of hobbies isn't to solve problems - that's called a job - but to learn and have fun. Find a niche where you can resist the temptation to constantly compare yourself to eight billion other people on the internet. Something where success isn't measured in Github stars, Youtube likes, or Reddi…

I totally agree with what you've written - "comparison is the thief of joy" is one of my favorite mantras.

That said, hobbies can be remarkably useful because they allow you to create or engage in something that is uniquely tailored to your own personal interests, and the modern economy often doesn't provide that level of personalization, or if it does it's extremely expensive. E.g. the other commenter that decided to design his own clothes because mass produced clothing is really just tailored to "average".

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