Programming was my hobby, now it's my job so instead of having a hobby I just work too much
Yeah it was a fun hobby too when I was in school. But when I started working as a programmer, I don't want anything to do with it after work hours, or else I get terrible burnout. I've tried a couple of hobbies but now I just do video games and learning guitar.
Studying rhetoric. It's hella fun sometimes and hella depressing others times.
The paradigm shift that studying rhetoric has caused for me will probably influence me for the rest of my life. I'm now agnostic about the truth and barely interpret rhetoric in terms of truth/lies. Like I feel this paragraph from Post-Truth Rhetoric and Composition:
...post-truth signifies a state in which language lacks any reference to facts, truths, and realities. When language has no reference to facts, truths, or realities, it becomes a purely strategic medium. In a post-truth communication landscape, people (especially politicians) say whatever might work in a given situation, whatever might generate the desired result, without any regard to the truth value or facticity of statements. If a statement works, results in the desired effect, it is good; if it fails, it is bad (or at least not worth trying again).
Everything about political rhetoric makes more sense to me when I think in terms of post-truth.
But also, rhetorical figures are cool af. The Elements of Eloquence: Secrets of the Perfect Turn of Phrase is one of the most interesting books I've ever read about how to turn a phrase. Plus, being able to name why a sentence like "The liberal arts are the arts of liberty necessary to the exercise of citizenship in a free republic" has a particular rhetorical effect is fascinating. And that sentence is a kind of chiasmus, my favorite rhetorical figure.
I’m not sure if this is good news or bad but it’s the same damn problem since 380BCE
Then the case is the same in all the other arts for the orator and his rhetoric; there is no need to know the truth of the actual matters, but one merely needs to have discovered some device of persuasion which will make one appear to those who do not know to know better than those who know.
- Plato
This was interesting, thanks for sharing.
The Elements of Eloquence is a fantastic read.
I have two main categories, pleasant distractions, and screaming at the gods.
Pleasant distractions are things I enjoy in my free time like video games, reading, juggling, lock picking.
Screaming at the gods are things I do because I need something so physical and dangerous that it requires 100% of my focus. Skateboarding, snowboarding, long distance motorcycle trips. These are things I do to get work and other stresses out of my head for a time, as I can't afford to have my attention split.
I like those two categories and how you take up both, a lot
I enjoy programming. However this opinion varies wildly if my code works or not.
It brang me to develop photon!
I enjoy your work too. Thanks!
I like to just browse Wikipedia. It's an endless wealth of knowledge that never ceases to impress me. It's like the modern library of Alexandria.
I also make cocktails for fun, target shoot, fish, ride trails (not trials), make pens, collect knives, play skyrim, and i cook too.
I bounce between what i focus on often.
Gardening. And ... yes!
I get up in the morning and the first thing on my mind is to go out and tend to the various veggies. The beans are flowering and the tomatoes are ripening and the herbs keep on herbing. Gonna pull out more potatoes in a week or so. Some rodent got to some of the lettuce recently, but not all of it. The fruit trees are having some trouble because they didn't get enough nutrients for a while, but they're getting better now and having new growth.
There's always stuff to do. The kitchen compost turns into healthy soil for the plants. A neighbor shares fruits they've been growing; I hope to give them a big pile of tomatoes in return in a few weeks. It's all good.
Sorry about your lettuce. Do you have a problem with rabbits and tomatoes? Every time I've tried to grow tomatoes they end up with one bite out of each one on the day they ripen.
I haven't seen any rabbits near here. We've got squirrels and occasional rats. Someone in the neighborhood feeds cooked peanuts (in the shell) to the squirrels, and they bury them in the garden where they become worm food.
Over the pandemic I picked up a hobby of digging really deep into the history of the Bible.
It's so much more interesting than I would have ever thought, and so opposite what everyone (on both sides of the topic) tends to think.
An early history of powerful women peeking through a patriarchal rewrite.
A likely foreign introduction of an Exodus tale from the sea peoples.
A famine story turned into a flood from Babylonian influence.
A generic 'adversary' term ('Satan') during conversion from a polytheistic story to monotheism leading to the most extensive fanfiction in history.
A version of Jesus referring to contemporary ideas around evolution and atomism in Leucretius being declared false heresy by the group that goes on to be canonized.
Yet again empowered women having their history rewritten by patriarchal opposition.
For someone who has always enjoyed solving little puzzles, it's been a gift that keeps on giving.
I've watched a couple videos from Esoterica. His videos are wild. Who could have expected that the biblical God came from a storm-warrior god?
Sort of. One of the things I see as a common mistake in analyzing the Bible is the attempt to harmonize the different books of the Bible into a single picture of the origin and nature of a figure in it.
So yes, the storm god that shows up in Job is almost certainly coming from the ANE storm god stories which had that god defending a sea monster.
But that isn't necessarily where 'Yahweh' was originating, as much as perhaps a later syncretism with local mythos.
And ultimately, I'd argue for a case that the significance of Yahweh was mostly as consort, potentially mirroring the Shasu (the only bronze age association with Yahweh) having had a real world political marriage to a high priestess of the Queen of Heaven, which was typically Yahweh's wife in early archeology and was elsewhere in the ANE married to the storm god who slayed the sea beast.
That marriage is later overwritten and regarded as a corruption of an earlier monotheistic tradition, but such monotheism is anachronistic for that earlier period when it is archeologically evidenced as widely polytheistic.
So while I do think it's helpful with videos like that broadening people's horizons from what they might hear by modern believers in the texts, the actual picture is potentially far more complicated than a direct transmission of ANE parallels.
Even a story like Noah's Ark, which fits with a storm god, appears to be a later incorporation of Babylonian flood mythos on top of an earlier Noah story as the hero of a famine story, not a flood story (Idan Dershowitz has a compelling paper on this).
I would like to do this. I checked out audio recordings from a priest about apocalypse stories as a genre and the use of numbers in the Bible, and I've looked at Bible as Literature classes but never signed up. Did you follow a course or study guide?
I sew. Specifically, I love sewing stuffed animals.
As a kid, I always wanted those giant stuffed animals, but it just wasn't meant to be. Now I can make pretty much whatever I want!
I love the colors, the feel of the fabrics.. but my favorite part is seeing my 2D drawings get turning into a tangible 3D object! Plus, it makes kids go "WHOOOOAAA" or smile or laugh when they see what I make. That really can't be beat!
I am not in the tech field but I love coding and learning new languages. I have for the last 25 years. When my actual (blue collar) profession starts feeling drab or boring my mind naturally starts drifting to find some problem to solve or some way of automating things just to keep me happy and engaged.
Batch scripts on MS/DOS, my first (floppy disk installed) Slackware box. REXX in OS/2. I worked through the animal books and played with Java, Perl, C - actually building tools that work and accomplish things.
Diving in to a new language or project is like discovering a new author you didn't know about and the hours of joy it will bring me are fantastic and fulfilling. I guess you could say my hobby is learning.
I wrote a great iOS app to help me with things in my job and I use it all the time which saves me literally hours, making my work happier and more profitable. Best hobby ever and totally cheap too!
I've gotten into gaslands, which is a tabletop game you play with modified hot wheels cars.
I like taking things apart, putting them back together, and generally working with my hands so taking apart a bunch of little cars and gluing spikey bits and rocket launchers and stuff to them is up my alley.
And because it's a post apocalyptic setting, it doesn't really matter how good you are at painting and such, dirty, dinged up, messy, etc. is a totally valid aesthetic. That's kind of what you'd expect from some wastelanders slapping weapons onto whatever car they can get their hands on.
I started selfhosting just before the pandemic. I don't know that I'd say it's fun so much as sometimes satisfying.
I build loudspeakers, both home and car. But, mostly car subwoofers, amplifiers, head units etc. But also home speakers for home theaters.
I absolutely love it. Music is a big passion of mine (despite never learning to play an instrument). I love it because every project has so many challenges. I love electrical work and designing a system from scratch and then getting to see it actually work iis awesome. It's like little engineering challenges all throughout. Very engaging for me.
There's also a lot of wood working involved. Making a functional piece of furniture and getting to expirement with different techniques is a lot of fun.
My dad used to do this as a side hustle. It's how I learned to solder.
This is neat af
How would someone start learning on this path? I tried to get on this by myself but all the online articles I could find were directed at people with electrical experience, and to someone like me electricity is still magic.
The best beginner guide I've found is bcae1. It's just some dudes blog, but he made it up as a basic electronics lesson plan with a focus on car audio. It'll help you to get a really good idea of how everything works together. I still regularly use the site as reference.
On YouTube, there's a channel called Car Audio Fabrication . He explains alot of stuff very well and will give suggestions on what equipment to buy. He puts a lot of focus on making a build look clean and professional.
For home stuff, parts express is the defacto DIY audio store. They have a lot of resources on their site from blog posts, how to guides, and even customer projects.
Crutchfield is easily one of the best sources for both home and car. Excellent customer support, virtually unbeatable. Lots of resources like parts express (maybe more). They do tend to carry more mainstream products. Which is fine. It's all quality products, but I do find that you're often paying more for Crutchfield. Both because a lot of their products carry name weight and are more expensive because of that, and because their customer support is good enough to warrant a little extra.
For car stuff, since I do competition grade builds, I like sounds solutions audio and Down 4 Sound. D4S' owner is very active on YouTube and Instagram.
Well, that's a lot of good places to start. Electricity is magic. Don't fool yourself into thinking it's not. Even after you "understand" it, it's still magic. The last link up give you is for Sparkfun. They're a retailer like parts express and Crutchfield with excellent guides/resources and community showcases. They're focus is on low voltage electronics like arduino and raspberry pi.
Anyway, have fun learning. If you have questions, feel free to DM me. I love talking about this stuff.
Video game and weightlifting.
Video games are really fun for me, but weightlifting is like an addiction I can’t break. I rarely want to work out but if I don’t, then I end up feeling worse, and right after I do workout, it feels amazing.
Shaving with a safety razor is kinda a hobby for me. Its just feels like I'm treating myself.
Buying one has been on my mind for a long time, I think you just sold me on it haha
Wont regret it. I do recommend picking up a blade sample kit though just so you can find what you like and doing some research on the material of the razor body. Zamak tends to be too brittle and often snaps. Also maggardrazors has many deals so keep your eyes peeled. Think I picked up my first razor for like 20$ at the time it was a fatip classic
Building custom ROMs, it's satisfying AF.
What hardware do you have for this endeavor?
240GB SSD 1TB HDD, 16GB RAM, 40GB ZRAM and a Ryzen 7 2700 processor.
Barbershop quartet singing (ala The Barbershop Harmony Society). Instant friends and such satisfaction to hear yourself lending a note into four-part chords. (It's the basis of my username.)
Electronics and basically anything that involves electricity, i just love to find out how broken stuff works and fixing it, or just making stubborn equipment do what it's supposed to do; so yeah basically some people do crosswords, i make 1 working tv from 2 broken ones :-)
Retro computing. Programming things like a Commodore 64 in Assembly on the machine. It's a wonderful experience and pretty removed from modern programming.
Magnet Fishing.
I'm not entirely sure why I enjoy it so much but I suppose it's a combination of different things. It gives me a dopamine hit in a similar way to opening a loot crate, the difference being I'm mostly getting rusty, muddy scrap rather than anything valuable, and some stuff can be quite interesting. It's very satisfying pulling out large objects like bicycles, or even just big pieces of iron. It's nice to feel like I'm cleaning up waterways too, but that's not what attracts me to it.
Also magnets are cool.
I'm assuming the magnets you use are quite powerful. And heavy? How do you go about transporting them to where you use them? Any dangers in having them in cars/near your electronics? Or have I watched Breaking Bad too many times...
The one I have has a 600kg pull force, but I would like a stronger one. Obviously you have to be able to pull whatever gets attached to it off, which sometimes needs a good yank. It's not particularly heavy, maybe 1kg. Usually I just stick it in a bucket attached to the rope, but I keep it in the polystyrene and box it came in when it's at home or if I'm travelling far. The only danger having it in the car is it sticking to it, but that's easily avoided. Takes a good yank to get it off if it does get stuck to a piece of steel as large as a car body though.
Electronics are never really a concern, the only thing the magnet is likely to come close to is my phone but I try to remember to not have it in my pockets while magnet fishing, and that's really because I don't want to drop it in the water. Fixed magnets have to move over a conductor to induce a current, and it would be quite small I think. The electomagnet in that breaking bad episode is very large, probably with a pull force magnitudes higher than a fishing magnet, and I can't speak for the shows accuracy (I don't actually remember what they used it for now).
I like video games. Good video game can transport me to a world that doesn't suck. Or at least a world where I can actually fix the problems in it.
Video games
I like different video games for different reasons, but good gameplay is key. I enjoy some games because they're high octane, stressful, fast, engaging. But I also enjoy some games where basically nothing happens for long stretches. I loved walking around an empty world in Death Stranding listening to nice music just as much as I enjoyed brutally murdering demons to ardjent metal in Doom 2016.
Scale modeling, and miniature painting
I like making cool stuff. There really isn't much more to it. I have a little knack for it, and the patience to do it, and I enjoy the process. I do display my work but don't use it for anything, or come back to admire it. I just like making stuff, and this hobby is my outlet for creativity.
House plants
I used to be a bit more into this than I am now, but I still have about 30 houseplants, most of which are small. I liked getting the cool decorative stuff, and I like the color green. I grew fancy chilies a few times because I liked the reward of getting something out of my time and work. It's not a super high-effort hobby, and I can recommend it for people with not a lot of time on their hand. You can just grow stuff in pots and buckets. Just make sure to get stuff you have time for, and don't take it too harsh when something dies.
Writing. I used to write short stories but recently I've begun work on a novel.
Playing Music! I'm a guitarist primarily, but I've gained a diverse set of instruments over the years. I recently picked up an Accordion, they're a lot of fun!
Rocket League. The never ending journey of learning how to efficiently move a complicated 3D Pong paddle, just to hit a ball into a goal, will never not be fun to me. At least, it hasn't in 3,176 hours played so far. There is, and never will be, any other game like it.
You're right it's a crazy unique thing. Absolutely blowes my mind what people were doing... My son got pretty good at solo play but like soccer, it's all about the two-player crosses (across the goal)
Cooking in general, and baking in particular. It is actual fun for me, and is actually stress relief as well, because it allows me creative freedom in a medium that I apparently have natural talent in. I make my own bread every week for sandwiches, bake snacks for my weekly board game meetup, volunteer to make birthday cakes for friends and family, and give out giant boxes of cookies every Christmas. I am always inventing and researching new recipes, converting recipes to accommodate various dietary needs, and trying to find ways to use ingredients I have lying around in a way that will ensure I don't have food going to waste. There is nothing better to me than when I figure out what each recipe needs at each step and why, and watching it all come together.
I grew up learning to bake from my grandmother, and I inherited her passion and apparently her natural talent for it. I have a lot of recipes memorized, can eyeball teaspoon and tablespoon measures of ingredients with good accuracy, and can somehow get anywhere from 5-10% more out of any given recipe. If a cookie recipe makes 5 dozen I get 6 or 7, even if I am not skimping on size. If I make bread, it rises quicker and larger, even if it is cold. Making cake, I always have extra batter for a couple of cupcakes. It works out though, because I can taste test everything and throw any extra cookies in the freezer so that way I am better prepared for Christmas.
It is always amazing to see someone's face light up when they get baked goods they love, especially if their diets mean they don't often get to enjoy them. For example, several of my friends have Celiac, and seeing how happy they are to get things like butter cookies, crinkly-top brownies, or gingerbread is just amazing. It is an easy way to make people feel included and happy, and I get to have fun in the kitchen while doing it.
Videogames, but specifically Rainbow Six: Siege. I and my stack are really really good. Not pros, but I play with some guys that could pretty viably go pro with the right support structure around them, and frankly, they consider me to be a large pillar for that support structure.
There’s no other game like it. The instant decision making, the endless possibilities and ways a round plays out. The absurd skill gap between someone good at just one aspect of the game and someone new. The tons of different aspects of the game you CAN be good at. It’s endlessly satisfying.
I act as a Flex-IGL for my stack. Basically, I tell them what to do, and pick whatever we need to make that a success. Some of them main Thermite, some pick good guns, I go for support or intel or vertical or secondary hard breach, or second entry depending on the needs of the round. We get into game and I make calls about the setup we’re attacking into and how we’re going to take a round. They play around that. I call for specific support, they rotate to make it happen. “One in Logistics, Jackal open the hatch, Sledge open Logistics-Construction wall, I’ll cut off the exit” and they just trust my calls and do it. Nothing in that game is anywhere near as satisfying as seeing my own attack plans pan out into a strong, attack sided win for us. On defense, I call site rotation and setups, if we want to do standard or weird shit we pulled from others or came up with ourselves. I play cameras to make sure everyone has all the info they need, and sit myself in the linchpin position for a defense win. My mechanics aren’t all that amazing, but guys who would be described as absolute gunners “if he sees you you’re gonna die” don’t just play with me but actively WANT to play with me because I turn their lethality into a true tool used to pry victory from any team we come up against
You sir just explained being a non commissioned officer.
Cosplay- I am a big movie nerd, and love movie props, scifi and fantasy armor and weapons specifically, and making them is so cool to me. Beyond that I do community events (kids hospital visits, parades, star wars nights at sporting events, museums, etc) and interacting with kids who genuinely believe I'm the character I'm portraying is loads of fun, and seeing their smiles is a fantastic feeling.
Tabletop games- for war games I'm actually more into the painting aspect, it's so relaxing and cathartic, to put on an audio book or podcast and just paint for an hour or two is a huge stress relief, and now that I've gotten into DnD, the creative aspect. DMing is loads of fun as well. I keep a small notebook on me at all times now to jot down ideas I have throughout the day, even if I don't use them, it's still nice to get the ideas out and have them available for later.
I've gotten into 3d printing as a result of the other two hobbies, and it isn't particularly fun, but is an incredible tool, and so I would consider it fun because of the output. I can start with an idea, and for a few dollars and hours I can have a new prop or mini without having to put on pants or leave the house. It's the coolest thing.
Gaming - everyone here has pretty much said what could be said about this one. I always liked doing things, so i find it more fun than movies
MMA - I like to punch and grab. that's it. it's just kinda fun for the sake of it. I recommend it if anyone is looking for a cool hobby to get active with
blender grease pencil - if they made a sequel to drawing it would be the grease pencil in blender. it can completely blur the lines between 2d, 3d, and polygonal models. I ain't good at it yet, but i like to think one day I'll use it to animate something pretty neato
I compete in powerlifting and ham radio when I have the time.
What are the odds? My two hobbies are ham lifting and power radio!
Cooking - control over every ingredient, tastes better every time, looks better every time, rewarding, great activity with (or for) friends, generally respected among everyone, food science is a long rabbit hole to dig into
Running - relatively cheap sport, dopamine rush, good time to listen to podcasts, many events in the area to get you motivated, some dogs can join
Hiking - being in nature, difficulty can be varied easily, great with friends, great alone, most dogs can join
Gravel/Road bike - go far, quick, also dopamine rush, everyone hates you, downsides: can get pretty expensive, maintaining the bike is super annoying (in my opinion)
Gaming - no explanation needed, downsides: too much to choose (FOMO), feels like a waste of time
Board games/DnD - Like gaming but does not feel like a waste of time, great with friends and family, also some nice solo games (which I'm starting to get into now)
Programming - Very cheap, can make cool stuff, can turn into job, downsides: people ask you to fix their printer or program stuff for free, not a hobby anymore if turned into job
I recently got back into collecting physical comics as a hobby. It’s fun going to comic shops and/or used bookstores and flipping through all the back issues to try and find certain runs. I also enjoy experiencing new / current issues when they come out. I’ve been delving into the indies recently, and it’s opened up a whole new world for me.
Other than that, I’ve been trying to get into woodworking. Just need a few more tools before I can really start. I seem to have a habit of being drawn to the more expensive hobbies…
The core of my hobbies is learning how something is made or done. I learned to bake bread and sourdough by making tons of loaves. I learned to make my own beer. 3d printing is my peek into manufacturing industrially even though its a mere taste. I do meal prep to understand packaging and distribution.
I wouldn't say it's fun, most of the time, but it is incredibly satisfying and fulfilling.
How? Why? What? Never stop asking.
I have loads of hobbies, two main ones are coastal rowing (big fun, plus I’ve learned a lot about nautical stuff like tides, navigation, knots) and beekeeping (big fun and honey). Also photography, knitting, computer tinkering, websites, reading, gardening, baking… basically I’m never bored. I used to add travel to that list, but I haven’t been outside the country since before Covid.
Springboard diving. Very fun. Tiring. It’s rewarding to be able to experience improvement with practice and effort.
I collect antique postcards from roughly before 1950, with a specific focus on cards depicting airships, zeppelins, and related topics. It’s fun and I get pretty serious about organizing and cataloging them and storing them in a safe archival fashion (at least as well as I can at-home). I also have a few smaller topic areas that I collect cards from.
