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Ask HN: What are your hobbies?

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Re: Ask HN: What are your hobbies?

#81

Post by adamhp »

robotguy wrote: post #59

I have moved beyond hobbies into METAHOBBIES. Specifically: Collecting Hobbies. I find that following my ADHD hyperfocus until the next shiny thing comes along has led to a massively diverse array of introductory knowledge and mediocre skills (as well as a garage stuffed full with bins of unfinished projects). Specifically in the last two years I have dabbled in: home automation (incl. Node Red, LoRa, MQTT on Raspber…

I'd never heard it described this way, but man, this is me and my life in a nutshell! It always felt like a disadvantage. I always yearned to be more of an expert at any one particular thing, but like you, I've been trying to lean into it (with mixed success).

Re: Ask HN: What are your hobbies?

#82

Post by adamhp »

bruce511 wrote: post #73

Hobbies are not like a career, or a job. The goal of a hobby is to have fun. If it's not fun, then stop doing it. Start doing something else. Dont think of it to same way you would a career. So don't look at your ex-hobbies as failures, or things you didn't master, but rather as things you enjoyed for a season. They're not a marriage "in sickness and in health". Yes, some are productive, some are not. But the-produci…

I think that depends. There is some wiggle room. Some hobbies require dedication to reach a new level of enjoyment. Making music or playing an instrument, for example. Enjoyment is directly correlated with capability, because you can more readily express what you're attempting to express. But sometimes, practice isn't fun. Being dedicated and spending the time are a bit of a grind. It's delayed gratification.

Wholeheartedly agree with your point about needing to enjoy the journey though, so it's best to find a way to enjoy the grind. Mixing it up. Applying your learning. Jamming with other people. etc..

Re: Ask HN: What are your hobbies?

#83

Post by is_true »

robotguy wrote: post #59

I have moved beyond hobbies into METAHOBBIES. Specifically: Collecting Hobbies. I find that following my ADHD hyperfocus until the next shiny thing comes along has led to a massively diverse array of introductory knowledge and mediocre skills (as well as a garage stuffed full with bins of unfinished projects). Specifically in the last two years I have dabbled in: home automation (incl. Node Red, LoRa, MQTT on Raspber…

I do something similar, I like to learn techniques used by craftsman. I do it by lurking in facebook groups of people doing the craft.

Re: Ask HN: What are your hobbies?

#84

Post by robotguy »

fuzztester wrote: post #76
robotguy wrote: post #59

I have moved beyond hobbies into METAHOBBIES. Specifically: Collecting Hobbies. I find that following my ADHD hyperfocus until the next shiny thing comes along has led to a massively diverse array of introductory knowledge and mediocre skills (as well as a garage stuffed full with bins of unfinished projects). Specifically in the last two years I have dabbled in: home automation (incl. Node Red, LoRa, MQTT on Raspber…

Nice list. >making wooden boxes Can you describe how you do that? I mean, I can guess in general, because I have done a little carpentry earlier, and making boxes is somewhat common sense anyway (getting and assembling the pieces), but still would like to know how you do it. I can guess the first part: you collect and cut the necessary wood pieces for the sides, top and bottom of the box. But even that is not fully o…

I got into it watching Adam Savage. The method he uses is really easy; glue & staples, build all 6 sides, cut off the top with the table saw.

One Day Builds: Adam Savage Makes Something Wonderful from Scratch https://youtu.be/-tUHJnl8qPM?si=d8eQ99XiqqKUzWRe

Here's a few of mine:

https://imgur.com/a/O9ybg

https://imgur.com/a/ChgDJ

https://imgur.com/a/U4XSO

https://imgur.com/a/e3ZG0

https://imgur.com/a/DMdMS

Re: Ask HN: What are your hobbies?

#85

Post by robotguy »

tgittos wrote: post #68
robotguy wrote: post #59

I have moved beyond hobbies into METAHOBBIES. Specifically: Collecting Hobbies. I find that following my ADHD hyperfocus until the next shiny thing comes along has led to a massively diverse array of introductory knowledge and mediocre skills (as well as a garage stuffed full with bins of unfinished projects). Specifically in the last two years I have dabbled in: home automation (incl. Node Red, LoRa, MQTT on Raspber…

Also a metahobbyist. I've tried everything you have (except weather stations and mechanical pencils) but also make/play guitars, hobbyist electronics, paper making, painting/illustration, fixing up old cars, and MtG among others. I realized I was being a little ridiculous when I started planning a peltier powered hydroponic cabinet for growing fresh wasabi. Most of that was to do with the disappointing results with p…

>I realized I was being a little ridiculous

Anything worth doing is worth overdoing...

Re: Ask HN: What are your hobbies?

#86

Post by bruce511 »

adamhp wrote: post #82
bruce511 wrote: post #73

Hobbies are not like a career, or a job. The goal of a hobby is to have fun. If it's not fun, then stop doing it. Start doing something else. Dont think of it to same way you would a career. So don't look at your ex-hobbies as failures, or things you didn't master, but rather as things you enjoyed for a season. They're not a marriage "in sickness and in health". Yes, some are productive, some are not. But the-produci…

I think that depends. There is some wiggle room. Some hobbies require dedication to reach a new level of enjoyment. Making music or playing an instrument, for example. Enjoyment is directly correlated with capability, because you can more readily express what you're attempting to express. But sometimes, practice isn't fun. Being dedicated and spending the time are a bit of a grind. It's delayed gratification. Wholehe…

Sure, practice can be practice - learning a new skill can be frustrating when my ambition is up here, and my ability is down there. But if I'm making _progress_ then I'm happy... There have to be some "wins" to keep me going :)

And there's a lot of truth that it _has_ to be hard in order to be _fun_. Easy things aren't really fun. At least not for very long...

Re: Ask HN: What are your hobbies?

#87

Post by tgittos »

hotpotamus wrote: post #69
tgittos wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also a metahobbyist. I've tried everything you have (except weather stations and mechanical pencils) but also make/play guitars, hobbyist electronics, paper making, painting/illustration, fixing up old cars, and MtG among others. I realized I was being a little ridiculous when I started planning a peltier powered hydroponic cabinet for growing fresh wasabi. Most of that was to do with the disappointing results with p…

I reused a fermentation setup for the hydroponic wasabi idea. I had some success with lettuce as a test subject but the humidity was not well-controlled which I think would be a problem. The thought of how much energy I'd have to use for years to keep the whole thing running just made it seem a bit ridiculous. Also, I'm not sure if I could reliably source wasabi seeds. I stick with super-hot peppers mostly which don'…

I reached a similar conclusion, luckily before doing too much building. I'm happy with terrariums so far, they scratch my 'living things in closed systems' itch.

Re: Ask HN: What are your hobbies?

#88

Post by subtra3t »

FumblingBear wrote: post #58
subtra3t wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't read Malazan but I've heard it's very hard to get into. I've seen trying to read the first book being likened to being dropped in a remote Chinese village with no manual or linguistic ability in Mandarin. For your group to not only successfully complete the 1st book, but to also proceed till the 3rd book must have been a challenging feat.

Thanks! I think the difficulty can be a little overhyped sometimes, but it's definitely been a challenging read! More than anything, it often presents information with little context and leaves you to wonder for a while (sometimes books) before finally explaining things. The nice thing about reading it in a group is we can all share different insights and predictions for the things that are happening. I think we're g…

Would you recommend it to a casual fantasy reader who's never really ventured beyond Sanderson/Rothfuss/etc?

Re: Ask HN: What are your hobbies?

#89

Post by hotpotamus »

tgittos wrote: post #87
hotpotamus wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I reused a fermentation setup for the hydroponic wasabi idea. I had some success with lettuce as a test subject but the humidity was not well-controlled which I think would be a problem. The thought of how much energy I'd have to use for years to keep the whole thing running just made it seem a bit ridiculous. Also, I'm not sure if I could reliably source wasabi seeds. I stick with super-hot peppers mostly which don'…

I reached a similar conclusion, luckily before doing too much building. I'm happy with terrariums so far, they scratch my 'living things in closed systems' itch.

Funny, I was sort of exploring the idea of aquaponics myself and I was trying to explain to someone what was at the root of my curiosity and I realized that it was enclosed ecosystems. I had fun giving the lettuce to people and explaining that it was grown without ever seeing natural sun or soil and showing them a timelapse video of the growth, but no one seemed all that impressed lol.

If you've never been, I can highly recommend a trip to "Biosphere 2" in Arizona which is a semi-retired monument to the whole idea, and quite worth the tour.

Re: Ask HN: What are your hobbies?

#90

Post by fuzztester »

robotguy wrote: post #84
fuzztester wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice list. >making wooden boxes Can you describe how you do that? I mean, I can guess in general, because I have done a little carpentry earlier, and making boxes is somewhat common sense anyway (getting and assembling the pieces), but still would like to know how you do it. I can guess the first part: you collect and cut the necessary wood pieces for the sides, top and bottom of the box. But even that is not fully o…

I got into it watching Adam Savage. The method he uses is really easy; glue & staples, build all 6 sides, cut off the top with the table saw. One Day Builds: Adam Savage Makes Something Wonderful from Scratch https://youtu.be/-tUHJnl8qPM?si=d8eQ99XiqqKUzWRe Here's a few of mine: https://imgur.com/a/O9ybg https://imgur.com/a/ChgDJ https://imgur.com/a/U4XSO https://imgur.com/a/e3ZG0 https://imgur.com/a/DMdMS

Thanks for the info.
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