Hobby # 6: Getting a Hobby

Goodness, it’s been a while, and so much has happened, but alas, not so much hobbying. First, we decided to host an exchange student for nine months, so I’m counting fretting and nesting as a hobbies. I’ll probably log our adventures here, or maybe not. I have no idea.

Second, my awesome sister who is completely supportive of my whims and doesn’t seem to understand I have little-to-no follow through sent me this fantastic book, Get a Hobby. I fully expect it to save my life.

I took the quiz, and it told me I was dexterous, independent, patient, and technical. I’d agree with all but the patient part, which is largely why I’m not crafty. I’m suspicious, too, of the dexterous designation, as I really only know how to type with my fingers. But ok! Let’s discover new hobbies!

The book lists 101 hobbies—some of which I’ve dabbled in*:

  1. Astrological charting (Like, ALL my orbs are in Scorpio, so watch out, betches!)
  2. Birding (chickens count; I watch them all day long)
  3. Collecting (sure, my mom forced me to collect butter pat dishes, but at least it was something; betcha don’t even know what butter pats are—ha!)
  4. Composting (was really just throwing organic matter into a pile and consequently breeding soldier fly maggots that the chickens went nuts over, but still)
  5. Crochet (anticipate a post on this one)
  6. Docenting (was actually a part-time job in college, and I never really offered any info to museum visitors but instead fell asleep on the upstairs gallery couch)
  7. Doll house building (my dad and I build half of one from a kit; we gave up at the point where you have to glue on each stupid individual shingle)
  8. Journaling and blogging (woo!)
  9. Mushroom hunting (ok, we joined a mycological society and fantasized about forays but never actually went; got the newsletter, though, so it counts)
  10. Photography (I once took a class in college and did a project in middle school; this counts, too)
  11. Needlework (I’m pretty sure I did a cross stitch once when I was 10)
  12. Rubber stamping (my grandmother was in to this for years, so summers when I’d visit, we’d make pretty stamped envelopes)
  13. Seed trading (to be fair, this was when Paul was into urban farming, so while we didn’t exactly trade seeds, I did help him shell a bunch with the ultimate goal of trading)
  14. Soap making (this is legit, y’all; I for real can make soap, and it’s awesome)
  15. Species protection (I’m counting my months of nursing our chicken Butterball as this; she was certainly not like any chicken I’ve ever met, so yeah, species)
  16. Tarot Card Reading (hit a little too close to home and had to stop before I freaked myself out)
  17. Urban animal husbandry (I’ve kept 2 of my 4 chickens alive; PLUS, they’re well dressed)
  18. Vegetable and herb gardening (though Paul took the lead, I nursed seedlings and planted and watered and harvested our veggies)
Chicken butts: proof of life and successful husbandry.

Chicken butts: proof of life and successful husbandry.

Others are just sort of things you do in life, but if it’s published in a list about hobbies and you can count them as such, I’ll take it:

  1. Beachcombing aka summer days
  2. Deep frying aka the first thing you learn to do in the south after saying “y’all”
  3. Drying flowers aka the euphemism for killing my plants
  4. Knotting aka tying your shoes
  5. Lego building aka childhood
  6. Paint by numbers aka childhood
  7. Stargazing aka summer nights
  8. Treasure hunting aka childhood
  9. Whittling aka what I’m doing (mentally) those nights I can’t sleep

And then some others are all WTF:

  1. Bell ringing. If, by this, you mean being in a hand bell choir, well then fine, my mom made me do that. But otherwise, what does this mean? That you’d just have bells on you at all times and would ring them when the urge strikes? You certainly wouldn’t gain friends this way, but perhaps you could use this hobby to drive people away?
  2. Dumpster diving. I’m pretty sure being homeless isn’t a hobby. Neither is living in Portland.
  3. Falconry. This would actually be cool, but my chickens would have words with me, as would my BFF, who totally has falcon bait for a dog.
  4. Miniature wargaming. I’m not sure what this is either, but I feel like it’s just a glorified and infinitely creepier game of chess.
Falcon Bait

Falcon Bait

But I did get some good ideas:

  1. Beer brewing: I probably won’t do this, but I may try to find friends who do. Or at least friends who do beer drinking. Which is all of them. My friends are lushes.
  2. Bonsai: Paul totally took over this when I suggested it; and we both promptly forgot to water the tree seed. But at least we agreed on a bonsai pot.
  3. Book arts: I think this is that thing you did in elementary school art class where you marbleized cardboard and bound it to paper? If not, it’s what I’m doing anyway.
  4. Ice sculpture: Really, I just want to purchase and sit next to a giant block of ice because IT’S FREAKING HOT AS HADES OVER HERE.
  5. Making preserves: Because my mom can teach me.
  6. Pottery: Because there’s a place down the street that offers classes.
  7. Puppetry: Because I want to freak out all my friends.

I DO have my next hobby planned, and it’s not even on this list! AND my mother-in-law has agreed to help me with it. Stay tuned—I’ll post it eventually. xo

*The grammarian in me wonders if I shouldn’t have put, “some in which I’ve dabbled.” The everyday me told the grammarian to shut up.