Hobbies

My hobby is being amazingly good looking. It takes up most of my time actually.

(Well, that and drawing)

They are seriously too numerous to list, but some things I like to do:
Hiking
Photography
Painting
Writing
Travel
Playing Guitar
Electronics

and that's just looking at one shelf on my bookcase.

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Original post by boolean My hobby is being amazingly good looking. It takes up most of my time actually.

Damn how do you fit that into your schedule? =O

Oh I kind of forgot to mention my ish..

Senior in high school right now and I.. bboy (breakdance) and pop.
Friend and I run a Breakdance club at my high school and hold a crew outside of school as well. Basically, it's a just lot of work prepping for the assemblies with the team, battles, etc.. Takes up a lot of time combined with school work. Which is why I think it's going to be hard getting really far into programming in a short period of time

Other than that, I'm also into tennis, play piano, and.. well I guess that's pretty much it.

Actually, it's my computer-related stuff that's the hobby.

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Original post by Tryst Outside of programming, and such, what do you guys do?

Sigh...

Anyway, I draw a lot, learn about military technology, play Halo 3(seriously, I play that game), build Gundam models, other scale models, hmm... airsoft.

Finding new hobbies is difficult for me because I am naturally apathetic towards most things. I started playing the electric guitar at the start of the year though. It's the greatest thing I have ever picked up! I have played it nearly every day; occasionally I will take a day off if my fingers or wrist hurt. I could only play for 30 minutes initially but now I can play for two hours maximum and I have nice, thick calluses on my fingers xD

I can't believe it took me till I was 25 to learn that I love playing guitar. I also like how I am doing something that doesn't involve a PC.

Volleyball
hanging out with friends
UT2k4 - decent
Warcraft 3 (the strategy game) - decent, too

Amongst other things I play numerous musical instruments, read, the occasional multiplayer videogaming, and have a random activity day with friends.

I cook, eat, (code | play video games), post on GDnet, sleep, and go to lessons, usually in that order. Cooking is my "hobby" in that I cook almost everything myself, together with the two French guys in my flat. I'm currently playing COD4 and I usually pwn everybody, unless somebody is cheating. (punkbuster crashes on my PC when COD4 starts [sad])

I don't have a huge amount of time for hobbies at the moment, but they're

PC related stuff: Internet, coding, gaming

Xbox 360

Watching TV/movies

Archery

Cooking

Chilling with coursemates at the pub

"Urban exploration"; sounds weird but sometimes it's nice to just take a long walk to a part of town you've never been to before.

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Original post by Tryst Outside of programming, and such, what do you guys do?

I like to go hiking, and because you live in Kirkland, I'll tell you about a really nice hike you can do in the summer time. It's actually apart of the Pacific Crest Trail, and it starts from Alpental in Snoqualmie Pass. You can reach Kendall Katwalk for a good day hike. Here's pictures from the my last trip:

I juggle a lot (although I haven't done this as much recently as I used to), I like to read books about math, physics, and biology, as well as the occasional novel, and I thoroughly enjoy puzzle and adventure games where I can relax with a nice drink and explore the world. I like camping, hiking, and other outdoor activities, but I rarely get the opportunity to do them, partly because not very many of my friends or family will do them with me, and there's nothing fun in camping without some friends to go with you.

Half my time outside of school is probably spent doing all those hobbies I just listed and programming. The other half I spend just doing random activities with my friends and girlfriend.

Currently, my only hobbies are snowboarding and playing guitar, but in the summer I'll golf, run, hike, bike, and probably skate. I also play Halo 3 (gamertag mast3rKeef). Anyway, here's a shot of me hitting a doghouse.

Hobbies I currently have:

* DJing (vinyl only...). From house, techno and D&B through to disco, soul and funk. I play at local bars/clubs/parties occasionally too. A sub-hobby of this is record collecting: discovering new artists & labels, scouring second hand & charity shops for unusual records, etc.

* Making my own tech-house tracks. Or at least trying to [wink]. Only just starting out with this - beats layed down with the piano-roll, bought a MIDI controller/keyboard last week and having lots of fun with the free "Oatmeal" VSTi.

* Socialising (pubs/clubs/parties, meals, films, concerts, galleries, just hanging out etc). I think it's important for a social circle to include people outside of work and for things being talked about to not include work (I sometimes get upset when people want to talk about games when I'm having a day off[smile]). Not so much of a hobby of course, but it takes similar time and effort and fills a similar role.

* Cookery. I find it good for relaxing - and of course I get good, healthy food that's been adapted to my tastes.


[Near] future hobbies (depending on available time):

* Exercise. I used to go to the gym regularly - for various reasons including boredom and schedule clashes I've not been for a long time. I need to get fit again, maybe at the gym, maybe even a team sport (which I hated when I was at school due to bullying, but might explore again).

* Learn to speak French. I can speak a little, but nowhere near enough. On a recent solo business trip to France I was ashamed and embarassed about not being able to communicate about even the most basic things - having to drop back to the "parlez vous anglais?", pointing or diagrams far too often (e.g. you want a reciept from a taxi driver and he doesn't speak English). Thankfully working for a French company, I can get some assistance with this[smile].

* A visual art. Painting and/or drawing and/or photography. I used to paint and draw a lot as a kid (until I got a Commodore 64... [grin]) and I work in the visual side of computing (graphics/renderer programmer), but something is still missing.

Playing Guitar and Bass. I generally don't try to learn songs, I just enjoy strumming around and coming up with new melodies and concepts only to forgot them by the next time I play again.

Watching movies. I have always been a movie fanatic and both my wife and I enjoy curling up on the couch a watching a movie. Horror, chick flick, comedy, whatever, a good film is a good film.

Playing D&D. I actually run sessions a lot more than I play in them. I find it to be a great way to explore ideas and enjoy some social time with friends at the same time.

Brainstorming on game concepts. I work as a game designer for a living and this has only gotten "worse" since I started my job. I am constantly on the lookout for gameplay mechanics and whatnot.

Drinking copious amounts of coffee. I enjoy a good cup of coffee and I enjoy trying different brands and different flavors. My wife and I met each other while both working at a coffee shop!

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Original post by Avatar God Actually, it's my computer-related stuff that's the hobby.

Same.

Now, if I invert things, though, then I suppose these would be hobbies:

1. Girlfriend
2. Delivery (I'm a driver for On-Trac, formerly California Overnight, a company around the west coast.)
3. Working on my car and truck (This is always a battle...)
4. Finances (This involves settling debts from not only my past, at last, but also the debt my mother had piled up after dad died.)
5. Very imperfect but active Jehovah's Witness (and some may have, but I bet you didn't see this one coming :P But yeah [smile])


After all that, a few hours a night on the computer is kind of like a getaway.

I would be hiking, but at below sea level in the desert near Mexico, that's not even particularly beautiful (that I've seen, anyway). The hiking pictures make me miss the Pacific Northwest even more. :S I absolutely loved that during my time in Oregon.

I do a lot of Aikido, I love snowboarding, and I'm getting better at surfing (I still suck at it though).

I also mountain bike and scuba dive, although I haven't had much chance for either of those recently.

I like to learn (and learn about) languages. I don't know why, but I find them fascinating.

Also, that outside thing is kinda fun, when you have the time for it.

I play video games and scare little children. No seriously, I love sports, work out often and love to read. I'm also into movies (like most genres) and right now am really wanting to try out RC airplanes. Don't watch much TV, but always save room for: LOST, The Simpsons and Family Guy.