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The Four Hobbies, and Apparent Expertise

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Re: The Four Hobbies, and Apparent Expertise

#111

Post by criddell »

atorodius wrote: post #60
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Making music is one where the gear is a huge part of it. I have some electronic music making gear (midi keyboard, drum computer and a synth), but I like tinkering with the gear and fiddling more than actually making music, lol.

Yeah I enjoy that part also :) But it certainly feels like you also just need some of the gear (eg keyboard), whereas maybe with photography you could use the phone to start?

I went down a YouTube rabbit hole recently, watching people make music on the fly with GarageBand on their phone. There are some fantastically talented people out there.

Re: The Four Hobbies, and Apparent Expertise

#112

Post by RHSman2 »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #53
atorodius wrote: post #52

Interesting framework. My 2c is that some hobbies are harder to do (top left corner) than others. Many listed in the article, eg, hiking, photography, climbing, etc: you can’t just do it always. I find I enjoy making music at home since I can just sit down for any amount of minutes and engage.

Making music is one where the gear is a huge part of it. I have some electronic music making gear (midi keyboard, drum computer and a synth), but I like tinkering with the gear and fiddling more than actually making music, lol.

It doesn't have to be. You can make music very simply. You can record on your phone. It doesn't have to be all the tracks and gear. I have a friend who has searched his whole life for tone. Top end guitars, amps, more pedals than anyone I have ever seen. His actual guitar playing? Less complete, however, he loves it. Do what does it for you, in the way you like it. That is the best part of hobbies to me.

Re: The Four Hobbies, and Apparent Expertise

#113

Post by RHSman2 »

comfypotato wrote: post #8

The author misses the concept of passion I think. It’s a major assumption that everyone has the same amount of time to discuss and or do, and I think it’s an incorrect/useless assumption. There are certainly people who talk about hobbies more than actually doing them (it felt like this article was targeted negatively towards these folks), but often the biggest doers are also the biggest discussers.

Talking about hobbies is a hobby. A good one too!

Re: The Four Hobbies, and Apparent Expertise

#114

Post by hackeraccount »

bloomingeek wrote: post #49

I know a lot of guys who love fishing and can't seem to understand why I don't. When I was younger, I geared up and fished quite a bit. Once I became successful at the sport I began to realize I wasn't having as much fun as everybody was telling me I should have been having because I was actually catching fish. Then it dawned on me, what joy I initially had when I started fishing had run it's course. So, I moved on a…

Maybe it's because I was never very good at it (I went perhaps a dozen times) but that's why I enjoyed fly fishing.

The fun for me was picking some place in the river (theoretically one that I thought might contain a fish) and trying to get the fly there. That was tricky enough for me to provide a lazy days entertainment. I might even catch a fish.

Re: The Four Hobbies, and Apparent Expertise

#115

Post by xmcqdpt2 »

mnky9800n wrote: post #77
gensym wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly why I switched my sport of choice from cycling to running. In cycling, I kept getting pulled into the gear and tinkering. (It didn't help that I raced cyclocross, so during race season, every Monday was spent cleaning and repairing the result of the previous day's races). TBH, it was fun, but if I spent as much time training as I did tinkering, maybe I would have had some decent race results. With run…

i just decided that i enjoy working on bikes more than i do riding them and i decided that was fine. What i dislike the most is talking to people on reddit about it. if i need a new part that i dont know where to find google will lead me to the forum that will lead me t owhat i need. if i can't find it i can ask on reddit. but i do not want to sit around on forums talking about bikes. what a waste of time. and look a…

Personally, I like both. I like riding a lot but I also take a lot of enjoyment from cleaning and tuning my bikes. It's meditative!

Re: The Four Hobbies, and Apparent Expertise

#116

Post by pjc50 »

dehrmann wrote: post #32
gensym wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly why I switched my sport of choice from cycling to running. In cycling, I kept getting pulled into the gear and tinkering. (It didn't help that I raced cyclocross, so during race season, every Monday was spent cleaning and repairing the result of the previous day's races). TBH, it was fun, but if I spent as much time training as I did tinkering, maybe I would have had some decent race results. With run…

> With running, it's harder to believe that the gear is what's holding me back from performance. Running reminds me of strength training. No one thinks a new barbell is going to add 10% to their one-rep max.

For that kind of training, the body is the machine with which you can tinker.

Re: The Four Hobbies, and Apparent Expertise

#117

Post by pjc50 »

rramadass wrote: post #80
hprotagonist wrote: post #3

There are two ways you can get exercise out of a bicycle: you can “overhaul” it, or you can ride it. On the whole, I am not sure that a man who takes his pleasure overhauling does not have the best of the bargain. He is independent of the weather and the wind; the state of the roads troubles him not. Give him a screw-hammer, a bundle of rags, an oil-can, and something to sit down upon, and he is happy for the day. He…

Ha, Ha, Ha! Jerome Klapka Jerome ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_K._Jerome ) is one of my favourite authors. For those folks unfamiliar with his works Project Gutenberg is a great resource https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/173 Start with "Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow" and go from there. Just make sure that you are not eating/drinking while reading his books and have somebody monitoring you in case you…

> Klapka

I've known of "Three Men In A Boat" since childhood and it never occurred to me to ask what his middle name was, or that it might be this surprising.

Re: The Four Hobbies, and Apparent Expertise

#118

Post by xmcqdpt2 »

RHSman2 wrote: post #109
jiggawatts wrote: post #14

I started off in the "enjoying collecting gear" quadrant of photography, then I heard an insightful comment by a pro: "If you have $5K, you can either buy one good lens and use it to take photos of the pigeons outside your apartment, or spend that money on a destination holiday and take pictures of amazingly beautiful places with your old lens which still works perfectly fine." I stopped buying new kit and started go…

As an ex pro photographer (not great as I am an ex!) but the best camera is the one easy to access and use. While my photos don't have the three dimensional quality they used to have, they are in the moment and captured by doing rather than doing photography. iPhone Camera. Incredible.

What really rebooted my photography is buying a high quality (well not even all that high, a used Pixma Pro 200) photo printer. There is something special about holding pictures printed on quality paper. They make great gifts (well if they are good!) They look different than on a screen.

I print (good) iphone photos without any retouching or correcting on photo 4x6 and they look great! Doing this without fiddling in lightroom is the closest I've gotten to the experience of film photography but with digital.

Re: The Four Hobbies, and Apparent Expertise

#119

Post by RHSman2 »

xmcqdpt2 wrote: post #110
RHSman2 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is hilarious in road cycling is all the middle aged men who really do believe that kit = faster. If you have any basic bike of a reasonable standard, it is ALL about hours, weight and power. Nothing else. On a one hr climb up a 10% mountain, nothing is gonna save your fat ass.

Yeah, having a 3k$ carbon bike or a 1k$ aluminum model doesn't make a difference that's true. However, having good cycling clothes is way more comfortable, as is a lightweight helmet. A more upright bicycle absolutely robs you of energy due to wind resistance, even at low-ish speeds on flats (30 km/h). I could exercise on my 40 lbs, 3 speed upright 1940s english roadster in jeans and a sweater for cred, but that does…

That is definitely the best approach in my opinion. Getting the things that help you enjoy the sport/hobby more. Drumming, nice comfy stool (throne) Skiing, custom fitted boots Guitar, take it to a guitar tech so it plays easier Gardening, good waterproof jacket and hat

Re: The Four Hobbies, and Apparent Expertise

#120

Post by fest »

rfrey wrote: post #30

For efficiency, I took up machining, where "Doing" and "Gear" have had a cosmic "merge cells" command applied to them. The only reason to own machining equipment is to USE it... to create tools and fixtures to improve your machining equipment.

For quite some time I was mostly using the lathe to make parts for milling machine, and milling machine to make parts for the lathe :)
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