Hobbies -- silly or otherwise

[Canadian Viking]

Hi everyone,

In another thread, Dan mentioned the idea of hobbies. Obviously, we all have one hobby in common, a love of football and the Vikings. But, what else makes you tick? What are your other passions?

For me, I love music of all sorts and seek it out where ever I can get it -- big name acts, underground acts and local jam bands.... Along with that, goes a love of stereo equipment. Some of my favourite bands right now are the Black Keys, Slim Cessna's Auto Club, the White Stripes, N.Q. Arbuckle, old Bob Seger (pre-silver bullet), the Stooges and the Who.

I also have a goofy fascination with German mechanical watchs.

Photography is probably my main artistic hobby and I spend a fair bit of time working on it. My next step is to learn to process my images using photoshop to bring out the best in them.

Anyhoo, just thought that it would be interesting to get to know what makes some of you tick.

Cheers,

Jay

[Kansas Viking]

My main hobby is my Vikings website. Seems like that is where I spend most of my time playing. But like Jay, my real love is photography. I don't hardly go anywhere without some sort of camera now. I can go out on a hike and shoot 100 pictures just for fun. I'd love to make a living at it but then it wouldn't be as much fun and I would go broke.

[Greg]

music - hmmm.... - right now its bluegrass - I go to a bluegrass festival every summer that usually happens to fall on the same weekend as the first pre-season game so I miss it - I've been playing guitar off and on since we drafted Dave Osborn - over the years I've spent way too much money on it, but like I explain to friends, some guys collect motorcycles, I "collect" musical instruments and enjoy them very much

[DanAS1]

Well yes, my hobbies start with philosophy. Spinoza-scholarship specifically, but more generally the philosophy of God.

In the last several years, novel writing has become a mainstay. If you haven't read my first novel, The Creed Room, go to Amazon.com and order it. That's an order! [Pun intended.] My second novel, Moses the Heretic, should be coming out next year.

Politics is also a huge hobby. I post a lot about it on my blog, The Empathic Rationalist. [Again, google it and plug into my semi-sane mind.]

Rock music is another hobby. I've helped build my daughter Hannah's love for that music, and now she composes it and performs it. Google "hannah spiro" and you'll be able to hear some of her stuff. I love nothing more than to watch her perform.

I like Star Trek and a few other classic TV shows and movies. Watching anything Kubrick made is a hobby. And yes, that includes Eyes Wide Shut. I love it all.

Finally, I get involved in (sometimes heated) battles over how to improve my synagogue. I love engaging in communal prayer -- though I recognize that the God I pray to and the traditional God are very different concepts. That's OK, though. As long as the prayer leaders have created a spiritual environment, I'm happy to join in.

Oh yeah. I kind of like watching a little sports ...

[VikingMachine]

Making money....

Find something you really enjoy and figure out how to make money doing it. Thats what I do....

[Canadian Viking]

Novels? Wow, Dan, I am impressed! I will look those up.

Bluegrass guitar, Greg? Like Chet Atkens and Roy Clark? I love that style of guitar playing... so clean.

Mike, keep those photos coming! We should put up a photography board for people to post photos... not just football related, but whatever they take. Like you, I love to take my camera out with me and occassionally, some decent images come up. It is a great hobby.

[vikingman]

Outside of all of our common interest of football. I like to fish however, with working 65 to 70 hours a week I find that a little hard to do anymore.
However, I am going to cut back to about 50 hours a week so I will be able to do a lot more next summer (I am not a winter time fisherman like some of you in Minnesota) I am just a Kansas boy that fishes in the summer time when you can kick back drink beer and at some point hope the fish don't bite as you are just relaxing. I also enjoy the message board and have had a lot of fun here. My main interest I have to admit is watching our beautiful Viking cheerleaders. I like them all however, there is one l like more then the rest and Mike knows which one that is.

[PurpleMustReign]

I used to collect stamps, but got busy and really low on funds so I stopped for a bit, but I'd like to continue it again. I like gardening a lot, especially when I can eat veggies that I grew in MY garden, its really satisfying.

[Kansas Viking]

I am just a Kansas boy that fishes in the summer time when you can kick back drink beer and at some point hope the fish don't bite as you are just relaxing.

You need to do what I do and don't bait the hook. That way you don't have to deal with the fish. Just the relaxing and enjoying the day.

[S197]

Guitars - acoustic and electric, Cars - mainly old muscle/pony cars or newer Mustangs, Skiing and Basketball. I like to talk theology too but nothing as serious as Dan has done.

[Greg]

Bluegrass guitar, Greg? Like Chet Atkens and Roy Clark? I love that style of guitar playing... so clean.

More like Tony Rice, Dan Crary, Steve Kaufman - pure acoustic - stuff you can play around a campfire under the stars without electricity - just wood and steel - I'm also messing around with mandolin, and some other things - I have some electric stuff that I haven't turned on in a couple years but I learned long ago not to sell anything (I always regretted it later)

[DanAS1]

Guitars - acoustic and electric, Cars - mainly old muscle/pony cars or newer Mustangs, Skiing and Basketball. I like to talk theology too but nothing as serious as Dan has done.

The Spinoza stuff can get esoteric, but one of the reasons I write novels is to be able to make theological discussions down to earth. There is always a dilemma when you're writing novels of ideas as to how much philosophical substance to include and how much plot/character development to include. I cannot afford to write more than 100,000 words -- people would laugh if I tried to get such a book published.

One thing I like to do in writing these novels is throw in stuff about sports. I've put even more about football in Moses the Heretic than in The Creed Room. But I've never figured out how NOT to make the main character a Redskins Fans. That's the problem when your books tend to be centered around Washington, D.C.

[Canadian Viking]

The Spinoza stuff can get esoteric, but one of the reasons I write novels is to be able to make theological discussions down to earth. There is always a dilemma when you're writing novels of ideas as to how much philosophical substance to include and how much plot/character development to include. I cannot afford to write more than 100,000 words -- people would laugh if I tried to get such a book published.

One thing I like to do in writing these novels is throw in stuff about sports. I've put even more about football in Moses the Heretic than in The Creed Room. But I've never figured out how NOT to make the main character a Redskins Fans. That's the problem when your books tend to be centered around Washington, D.C.

Make the character a displaced Minnesotan or a fan of a great young rookie who went to his alma mater or came from his home town.... *grin*

[DanAS1]

Make the character a displaced Minnesotan or a fan of a great young rookie who went to his alma mater or came from his home town.... *grin*

I do work in Minnesota in The Creed Room. But not in Heretic. These ventures are idiosyncratic enough; I have to make sure the idiosyncrasy meter doesn't go through the roof.

[Magnus1959]

I like collecting sports memorabilia. Not so much lately. Trying to learn to play the bass, reading and watching sports. Can't do too much since I've been disabled. Used to like to fish and hunt.