Ask Lemmy

Partner dancing has been my main hobby for now half of my life (absolutely wild to think about. It’s an amazing thing to drop into flow state and make an ephemeral art piece collaboratively with a friend.

Astronomy because it makes me feel funny. Or simply stargazing. I don't see a need to differentiate because the vibe changes every time I go out specifically for this.

There's a convenience. It's something that I can dabble in just by stepping outside at night, it's something I can work into a trip if there's a significantly darker sky within an hour of my itinerary, it's something I can plan a trip specifically for. As a night owl, it's also something that occurs during the "bonus hours" of the day, so I can still do all the daytime entertainment activities and still get more fun time. Do I feel tired the next day? I don't want to talk about it. But I can stay out to 3am if the conditions are good. Hell, last time, I saw the darkest skies of my life yet and didn't hit bed until sunset. 100% worth it to me.

There's an overview effect. This is the primary driver of the hobby. I can't promise it matches the feeling astronauts feel seeing Earth from space, but I have to beleive that the knowledge of that feeling, the knowledge of how distant every point of light is, the feeling of knowing millions of other people are seeing an essentially identical sky right now, just gives me such a twisted feeling. I'm alone, yet we're all together on this planet, but the planet is alone. I can feel the overwhelming feeling that none of this view is tangible. I can look towards the moon, I can look towards some visible planets, I can use a telescope or binoculars to see them better. The moon has texture that feels tangible, but then I can consider the fact that every single planet in our solar system, the ones that are single-color dots by eye, would fit in the space between is and the moon. Just 400,000 km. Just the space astronauts travel in a couple days. More mass of planets than is even fathomable, more surface area, an order of magnitude or two more area than we have on Earth, fits between us and the nearest body. We're stuck here. None of the beautiful things we can spot in deep space are tangible, reachable, achievable. They're not even fathomable in size. Every nebula in sight, every cluster, everything visible is far, far greater than the size of our entire solar system. Unfathomably large, intangibly far. When I'm out in truly dark skies, especially with clear horizons, it's just an insane feeling because it feels it's just a solid sky dome because it takes all the same focus. But the focus is at infinity. My eyes just can't tell a mile from a lightyear because there's nothing of context. If I'm deep in thought, one of the coolest things to me is seeing a plane fly through. Suddenly, the context clues of knowing 200 people are in the tiny structure overhead make me feel so incredibly small. The blurs and blubs I've been sizing up suddenly, scarily, have a tiny plane in front of it, and the scale hits me like a train. Similar things can happen with distant horizon objects and the Milky Way band.

And sometimes I take pictures.

My hobbies are more for practical function than hobbies.

I design and 3D print things to fit my specific needs, rather than compromise with something store-bought. I recently made a USB cable holder that matches the profile of edge banding on a desk I refurbished.

I made a bed, refurbished a desk and made a dressing bench. I have plans to make an entryway table.

I sewed a cover for the pad for the headboard of the bed I made. I'll make another one for the bench whenever the fabric shows ups. I also made a t-shirt last year, one that fits me.

Yapping/gossiping/interrogating people lovingly, and it hits all the spots: it's information-heavy, gives me a socialization dose and it strengthens relationships. 👍

sir, I'm a poster,,,

(depression is coming back and all of my hobbies are exhausting now)

Guitar and 40K, guitar because it just clicked with me, I love music and it does things for me that nothing else can, and 40K because I just love stupid shit.

Beekeeping. Every day's a school day.

I have 3 hobbies, Crochet, 3d Printing and Cooking. All 3 are the same "why have lots of money if few money do trick?" vibes

Bicycling and partner dancing. I spend time in front of the computer for work and for fun, so I need some active hobbies to balance that out. Biking combines the thrill of exploration with the ritual of gear preparation and the endorphins and physical effects of exercise. Dancing is deeply perceptive on both auditory and physical levels. It encourages me to be social and approach people I don't know. Together, it's about the balance for me. If I loaded cases of beer onto trucks all day I'd probably be a professional hammock-er when I got home.

CloneHero drumming on an e-kit. Still suck at it, still love doing it, every day.

It's a great challenge and a real workout in one.

Origami.

It is affordable, fun, can be quite useful and once you reach certain level is an art form.

Music. Because it's sound, even when I'm at my most lethargic, depressed, and too exhausted to do anything, I can enjoy it just by feeling its vibrations in my body.

Collecting rare and high-quality pages on the internet, especially personal websites. In this age of social media where information flow is manipulated by algorithms, the culture of personal link collections is all the more necessary.

LARP, specifically full-contact. It's a craft-heavy environment where you can smash people with a stick and get beat on yourself, then drink roughly four to eighteen beers by a fire. It's got crafts, catharsis, sports, partying, camping, and shenanigans built in.

Tabletop rpgs are the only artform that merges artist and audience. Telling a story is probably the oldest human artform. With a well-designed RPG and a good group you can tell a story and thrill yourself at the surprising outcome. It's a unique and timeless hobby.

gaming. freind got DnD when I was young and still love all sorts of tabletop and computer. Why? Its fun.

Drums! It's honestly just a lot of fun and a bit zen, depending on what you're playing. I don't play in a band anymore, but they're still a blast. I try to play at least a couple times a week.

Music production

I was a professional musician most of my adult life, but it was all performance and I never really got to experience the recording/audio engineering side. So I’m semi-retired out of that now, and I built a little recording studio in my house and have been slowly studying production while continuing to write and record music. It’s a good hobby for me because it allows me to keep scratching that musical itch I’ve always had and gets me out of my own head after working in a lab all damn day.

As a middle aged man, playing soccer. I fell back into it just before I hit 30 and have made a boatload of interesting friends from all walks of life in the decade since. It's also a lovely mental yoga, for an hour several times a week I don't think about work, politics, life of anything, just keeping a dumb ball out of my dumb net and helping others put it in the bad guys' net. Physically, to keep playing I've had to stay in shape, which is a lot easier when it's directly related to a fun hobby instead of a vague concept of being healthy.

We've been at it so long that a couple teammates who met playing have just had their first kid.

Gaming: very convenient. Don't have to put just about any effort into turning on the computer after work and spending the entire evening.

Hunting: I feel like a part of nature in a way growing potatos in the garden does not come close to.

I do a lot of gardening and cooking.

Sourdough bread is probably my favorite because it still blows my mind that flour, water, and salt are the only inputs and can deliver a loaf I could sell for $8-10. Literally some of the best bread I've ever eaten, and there is no reason it should even work.

Gardening is sometimes magical and sometimes tragically frustrating.

Yoga I value because it keeps my body and mind in good shape.

Textile work and sewing. I love working with fabrics and turning a flat piece of cloth into a usable/wearable object. It also gives me a feeling of connection to the flow of human history. When I'm sitting in my craft room, hand stitching a hem or working on a piece of embroidery, I often think about the fact that the physical movements I'm making with my body have been shared across human cultures and time. The pulling of a needle and thread through fabric is a mirror of the human tapestry we all create together.

Jiu-Jitsu. It's fun, it's good exercise, there's lots to learn, and you make friends fast when you're rolling around sweating all over each other.

3D printing. Making things in general, because it's useful, but 3D printing specifically because I can make things I otherwise wouldn't be able to dream of making.

I've fallen off a bit on it, but Go. The amount of complexity that emerges from simple rules, the aesthetic forms that emerge, as if both players are collaborating on a work of art. To an experienced player, each stone has a meaning, in it's own language, and you can almost hear them speaking. There are so many ways to approach the game, a player's personality reveals itself on the Go board, and any flaw in one's way of thinking, anything you need to work on, comes out on the board like looking into a mental mirror.

I'm actually heading out to a tournament now, and I'm super rusty but I think I'm starting to rediscover my interest in it.

Sim racing.

I'm a major gearhead, I've always loved cars, driving, in pretty much any form it comes in. Especially racing. I follow, or I've at least watched/heard of basically every form of motorsport on the planet. Getting to do it in real life has been a dream of mine, but that requires a lot of time and money I simply don't have.

For the cost of a beat-up Miata and a set of summer tires, my sim rig PC lets me (virtually) drive any car, on any track, at any time. And not just cars; trucks, planes, pretty much anything. There's also the added benefits of not having to pay for car repairs or hospital bills whenever I virtually crash.

Sure, it's still not the same as the real thing, but with all the hardware and peripherals at my disposal, I can get pretty damn close.

Film photography. I enjoy all aspects of it. Travelling around to all the antique stores looking for cameras, composing shots, developing the film...

Mountain biking. Mainly the biking part because where I live you're lucky to find as much as a hill, but there's still plenty of nature and footpaths to explore. Fun way to exercise, commute, and it gives me a reason to go outside every day.

It got me into doing bike repairs too, and the skillset and tools are applicable for lots of other areas too, which has saved me a ton of dosh over the years.

Hiking: I'm in my mid-50's and did a lot of hiking and backpacking in my youth. I have chronic back issue that precludes me carrying a heavy back pack for days on end. However, I do still love to go for day hikes. Mainly because I love being in nature, but also it's good exercise for my old bones.

Audio Electronics Repair: I like to take old amplifiers and pre-amps and bring them back to full function. Satisfaction is what I get out of this. It can also be a puzzle that needs to be figured out.

Gaming and cooking

Fun and relaxing

Tasty and relaxing

Gaming. It gives me enough dopamine to keep going.

Mead making. Good quality time with my wife, and we get to drink it, so… what’s not to love?

Cooking. The little steps are each meditative with the result of that time being delicious applied chemistry. And music on in the background helps get into the cooking flow state.