all posts post new thread

Off-Topic Non-lifting endeavours and hobbies

Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
;(

I play both but really love upright.

-S-
I bet upright would be fun. I admit it's a little intimidating. There's no frets, and it's so big.

There's actually a number of instruments that look like fun. If time, money, and storage space were no object I'd probably be a one man band.

But sometimes I feel like a wanna be. I spent more years on the drum set. I was told my technique, coordination, independence and everything else is good. I just had to learn how to play. It seems I'm more of a technician.
 
There's no frets,
When I decided to try upright, my first step was an inexpensive fretless electric. It proved not to be an issue for me, so it was on to upright I went. They are big, and there is definitely a learning curve. The biggest thing is to learn to bow - that's much harder than learning to find the notes without frets.

Whatever you're doing, keep doing it. The world needs more bass players of all kinds.

-S-
 
I've really come to enjoy coaching youth track and field. So far I only really know about coaching the running events and high jump because of what my own kids compete in. Additionally, I really only did running events in high school. My own training really helps identify drills and methods to correct or improve aspects of those few events.
 
I listened to an interview with Zach Even-Esh who bemoaned the death of hobby culture. He recalls, as I do, how during the 70s and 80s, people got into all sorts of niche activities and took a deep dive, learning and developing skills along the way. Peek into any suburban home on evenings or weekends and you’d see the basements, garages, and hobby rooms in use. From tinkering with models, working on cars, HAM radio, whatever, people picked something and got INTO it. Some of them chose strength training.

But these days, with the internet, the distractions are endless. On the one hand, it’s great to connect with others in your niche, as we do here, but it can also lead one astray.

For myself, as an English major, reading is a big deal. I enjoy studying about yoga, Buddhadharma, TCM, Ayurveda etc.

I’m enjoying learning about cars as I work to keep a vintage VW van on the road.

Outside, anything that lets me run around in the woods all day.
 
But these days, with the internet, the distractions are endless. On the one hand, it’s great to connect with others in your niche, as we do here, but it can also lead one astray.
Indeed so. A decade ago, that bastion of journalistic integrity known as The Onion attempted to warn us of such hazards.

Man On Internet Almost Falls Into World Of DIY Mustard Enthusiasts

DES MOINES, IA—When Steve Gibson first became casually involved with an online community of mustard makers, he had no idea his mild interest in the condiment would, within a few short months, spiral dangerously out of control.

But Gibson, unlike so many others, managed to get out before the hobby consumed his entire life.

"I don't know how I wound up at that point, but thank God I escaped when I did," Gibson, 41, said Friday. "There I was, a grown man, planning a trip to the Mustard Museum in Wisconsin, when suddenly I heard a voice deep within me say, 'This is not what you want your life to be about.'"

"It was like waking up from a bad dream," Gibson added. "A bad yellow and brown dream."

Gibson's descent into the depths of mustard obsession started innocently enough, when he got involved in an Internet exchange about the best kind of mustard to use on a grilled bratwurst. When someone posted a link encouraging him to "click on this if you really want to spice things up," he took the stranger's advice and suddenly found himself on MustardMonster.com, a discussion group devoted to the cultivation, preparation, and enjoyment of the table-side condiment.

"I immediately realized I was out of my league," Gibson said of his first encounter with the Internet's do-it-yourself mustard community. "At that point I had maybe three different kinds of mustard in my refrigerator, but when I looked at their forum topics, these guys were talking about the strengths of unique varieties of imported mustard seeds, brewing your own vinegar for mustard-making, ways to improve store-bought mustard when you find yourself in a pinch. That…that was the start of what I now call my 'lost year.'"

Over the next few weeks, Gibson broadened his palette with many new and "exciting" mustards, an experiment that soon led him down a path toward compulsive mustard connoisseurship.

After an inquiry about a good place to get starter supplies for mustard-making received eight enthusiastic responses, an emboldened Gibson looked through the group's archives to familiarize himself with its etiquette and tastes. It was there that he first learned about mustard's use in various folk remedies: how to relieve chest congestion by making a plaster from the condiment, or keep feet warm by sprinkling dry seeds into one's shoes.

Initially, Gibson's family encouraged his new interest, saying they were pleased he had found something to do with his spare time and that he was cooking more in order to show off the mustards he made.

"I thought it was pretty neat at first," said Gibson's wife, Heather. "After a while, though, it seemed like every conversation we had was about something the people on his mustard website said. One night I woke up at 3 a.m. and found him bathed in the light of the computer screen, posting his latest mustard thoughts to the message boards."

"That's when I realized the mustard had come between us," she added.

When a MustardMonster member who was "deep into the lifestyle" suggested Gibson till up his yard to grow his own mustard plants, the 41-year-old didn't even balk at the idea. By this point, Gibson said, mustard had become his only reason for getting out of bed in the morning. Coworkers had begun to shun him, friends grew distant. Soon every Tupperware container in his home was filled with the rich, yellow condiment, and Gibson began dumping out half-empty jars of jam and olives in a desperate attempt to find receptacles for his latest zesty concoctions.

It was only when Gibson started getting angry, even enraged, by mustard-related issues that he started realize he had become entangled in a dense, thickening web of mustard obsession.

"I saw my wife putting French's mustard on a bologna sandwich for our 5-year-old son, and I just lost control," Gibson said. "I said things—awful things that I'm not proud of—and the two of them were clearly shaken. I can never take those words back. When I looked in the mirror and barely recognized that livid face staring back at me, I finally understood that these mustard people weren't really my friends."

 
Last edited:
I dabble in a few things: play tennis on some weekends, read both fiction and nonfiction (I'm targeting 52 this year, and so far have completed 20. Trying to get back into reading for so long!), play retro video games (Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is the latest I've completed, brings me back), and writing to penpals (I only have 2). I'm also looking into starting with woodworking and maybe even beginning business, the niche I have yet to finalize. For the latter, I've been considering it is better to do part time first, the pros and cons in this source seem to confirm that I should better start small.
 
That mustard man story.....
I've had many interests and hobbies, never really going the full mustard but perhaps too close than perhaps I'd admit to....
Via a renewed interest in all things strength and movement, I reflect on my youth for insights into this stuff. In Dan John's world, quadrant 1 stuff and in so doing find myself thinking about what was then a geeky pastime of astronomy of my youth. This interest has remained to be fair buying a telescope for my kids....of course!....when they too were younger, to have that sense of awe and wonder looking at other worlds as I did.
Now at 55 I'm studying physics and astrophysics. What I should have done at 18. Funny old world.
 
Last edited:
Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
Back
Top Bottom