Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What are your hobbies, and why are they cool?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 128 posts

Re: Ask HN: What are your hobbies, and why are they cool?

#81

Post by balabaster »

rimunroe wrote: post #43

Blacksmithing and woodworking, although I'm currently without a shop. Blacksmithing is cool because with enough experience, materials, a hammer, and an anvil, they can make basically all the tools they need for a huge number of projects. I've made gardening tools, bird feeder hangers, fireplace pokers, and some other miscellaneous tools. Plus, it gives you an opportunity to learn about propane burner design. Fun stuf…

I'd love to try my hand at blacksmithing. That's on my list of things to try. I'm not sure yet what I need to get into it.

Re: Ask HN: What are your hobbies, and why are they cool?

#82

Post by cpursley »

tvanantwerp wrote: post #17

I'm not sure that it's a proper hobby, but walking. It doesn't require any special equipment--just go outside on a nice day, pick a direction, and go. I love the meditative effect it has on me. I also become much more aware of the communities I live in and visit when I just walk everywhere--I find lots of hidden gems that make places seem more alive. And yes, if you find a rose during your walk, you can stop and smel…

I do the same thing during lunch! Our suburban city just opened a nice mile long (and expanding) paved trail that's a quick walk from our house. It's nice to step out after the morning work load with the dogs. I make a point to stop and smell the roses (and honeysuckles). Lots of wildlife (snakes, deer, rabbits, hawks).

Re: Ask HN: What are your hobbies, and why are they cool?

#83

Post by slayed0 »

bdat wrote: post #79
jasonkester wrote: post #3

Rock Climbing, specifically Bouldering, makes a great hobby for a computer programmer: 1. It works the right muscles to fight all the terrible things that programming does to your body. Slouching fixed, wrist issues fixed, obesity fixed. 2. It's crazy fun and addictive. You will make time to go climbing. There is no concept of "I should probably go climbing but..." like there is with the gym, running, etc. If it's ph…

Hello fellow boulderer! I have seen (anecdotally) that climbing has adverse effects on slouching. Your back muscles grow disproportionately to your chest muscles producing rounded, hunched shoulders.

Having large strong back muscles pulls your shoulders back and keeps you from slouching. The opposite happens if your chest grows disproportionately larger than your back (whether the weight up front is due to muscle or fat).

Also, the core strength developed when climbing supports good posture by makes it much easier to sit or stand up straight for long periods. Not sure

Re: Ask HN: What are your hobbies, and why are they cool?

#84

Post by jlewallen »

fbernier wrote: post #39

Beer brewing. It's fun because it's a great mix of creativity and science. The possibilities are endless, you feel like you're constantly learning no matter how long you've been doing it. It's also possible to achieve great results because your process can be really close to a professional one at a much smaller scale, plus it's easy to have access to the same ingredient diversity and quality as any microbrewery. It's…

This is something I've dabbled in (10 batches?) It's one of those hobbies that's nice because you can dip your toe in it by brewing a gallon of beer in your kitchen and next thing you know you're completely lost in it when find yourself tweaking water chemistry or examining yeast under a microscope.

Re: Ask HN: What are your hobbies, and why are they cool?

#85

Post by jasonkester »

bdat wrote: post #79
jasonkester wrote: post #3

Rock Climbing, specifically Bouldering, makes a great hobby for a computer programmer: 1. It works the right muscles to fight all the terrible things that programming does to your body. Slouching fixed, wrist issues fixed, obesity fixed. 2. It's crazy fun and addictive. You will make time to go climbing. There is no concept of "I should probably go climbing but..." like there is with the gym, running, etc. If it's ph…

Hello fellow boulderer! I have seen (anecdotally) that climbing has adverse effects on slouching. Your back muscles grow disproportionately to your chest muscles producing rounded, hunched shoulders.

Counter that by also taking up Surfing. One good month-long surfing trip per year will bend you back to where you need to be.

I used to be decidedly concave when I was only climbing. Now I'm roughly planar, varying slightly over the year depending on the current proportions of climbing to surfing.

Re: Ask HN: What are your hobbies, and why are they cool?

#86

Post by dre85 »

I'm into grappling martial arts. I did a year of judo, 6 or so years of Brazilian jiu jitsu and now I do freestyle wresting. Unlike striking-based martial arts, there is really no violence at all and I find that they are vastly more technical. There are literally thousands of different techniques to learn and each one takes a lifetime to master. I find it to be quite safe as well. I've never had any serious injuries or even seen any. Best of all, I find it incredibly relaxing mentally. After spending an entire day inside my own head, it's so nice to do something where your brain shuts off and your muscle reflexes take over everything.

Recently, I decided to get into beer brewing. I made one batch so far from a kind of "just add water" beer sludge that you can buy in a can. It's drinkable. I'm looking forward to trying my next batch completely from grains and hopefully making some proper beer.

Re: Ask HN: What are your hobbies, and why are they cool?

#87

Post by unusximmortalis »

chrisBob wrote: post #2

I like to paddle around local lakes and ponds with my wife in our homemade carbon fiber boats. It's amazing how even in the Boston area you can see a lot of wildlife when you get out on the water. Why is it cool? The little 18 pound canoes are amazing on calm lakes.

can you share something about the making of those boats?...

Re: Ask HN: What are your hobbies, and why are they cool?

#88

Post by jlewallen »

rimunroe wrote: post #43

Blacksmithing and woodworking, although I'm currently without a shop. Blacksmithing is cool because with enough experience, materials, a hammer, and an anvil, they can make basically all the tools they need for a huge number of projects. I've made gardening tools, bird feeder hangers, fireplace pokers, and some other miscellaneous tools. Plus, it gives you an opportunity to learn about propane burner design. Fun stuf…

Two hobbies that marry incredibly well. I've got some hinges and a hasp on order from a blacksmith in Colorado for a woodworking project and I'm incredibly excited to be adding custom forged hardware to the things I create.

Re: Ask HN: What are your hobbies, and why are they cool?

#89

Post by JoeAltmaier »

dre85 wrote: post #86

I'm into grappling martial arts. I did a year of judo, 6 or so years of Brazilian jiu jitsu and now I do freestyle wresting. Unlike striking-based martial arts, there is really no violence at all and I find that they are vastly more technical. There are literally thousands of different techniques to learn and each one takes a lifetime to master. I find it to be quite safe as well. I've never had any serious injuries…

I appreciate the benefits of martial arts. But to describe grappling as 'really no violence' is ignoring the joint locks, cartilage torqueing and so on. If it hurts, its violence!

Good luck with the beer. Its all good; never mind what's 'real' brewing and what isn't; only thing that matters is what you like.

Re: Ask HN: What are your hobbies, and why are they cool?

#90

Post by dre85 »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #89
dre85 wrote: post #86

I'm into grappling martial arts. I did a year of judo, 6 or so years of Brazilian jiu jitsu and now I do freestyle wresting. Unlike striking-based martial arts, there is really no violence at all and I find that they are vastly more technical. There are literally thousands of different techniques to learn and each one takes a lifetime to master. I find it to be quite safe as well. I've never had any serious injuries…

I appreciate the benefits of martial arts. But to describe grappling as 'really no violence' is ignoring the joint locks, cartilage torqueing and so on. If it hurts, its violence! Good luck with the beer. Its all good; never mind what's 'real' brewing and what isn't; only thing that matters is what you like.

Yeah, I mean from an overall perspective it can still be considered violent, but I just wanted to clarify that a punch to the face or a kick to the ribs will always hurt while a joint lock or a choke hold generally causes only as much discomfort as you choose yourself because after a bit of experience you know exactly when to tap out and let your opponent know to stop. Mostly you do this even before the person starts actually applying any significant pressure just because you realize automatically when you've reached a doomed position. Obviously when you're a beginner or when you train with some spazzy or violent people it may not be so ideal. In my opinion, if you are experiencing any significant amount of pain during a normal training session, something is very wrong and you should change gyms/partners.

As for the beer, I definitely do go by taste. The stuff from the can just didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. It should also be more fun to do everything form scratch, which is probably the most important aspect of having a hobby in the first place.

Post reply on HN