I’ve had a lot of hobbies over the years. Some expensive, some not so much. But all in the search to find somehting comfortable i could do for a long while and helped me feel whole. I know that I was just looking for a creative outlet, but I had to do something to keep my mind going. Something i could feel good doing and be comfortable with, and still be a socially acceptable outlet for me.
I’ve tried the following things.
- Painting
- Warhammer 40K – of which I had more fun painting the army and making up stories and stuff about each figure ^_^
- Magic the Gathering and other various card games – never got into those, but it was a chance to try and fit in
- Hypnosis – I’m a fairly skilled hypno-fetishist and can make most people feel really really good but again I lost interest
- Electronics design – we don’t have the tech that I want to play with yet, and the few bits and bobs i DO love to tinker with are very prohibitively expensive – I still love this though
- Ceramics – can’t take a kiln with you everywhere and the slip and molds and…. yeah it adds up fast…
- Vinyl dolls or Dollfies – I love this one and I really love making them up and dressing them up to look just perfect and cute. But again, expensive…
- Saber crafting – i can combine several mediums i love to work with in one hobby. Namely painting, electronics, and crafting. Also they look really awesome. ^_^
- Sewing – can’t take a sewing machine with me everywhere. I do mend all my clothes myself by hand though. It’s very relaxing and enjoyable for me.
- Web site administration/design/etc… Look around. I do this for fun. I’ve had more sub-domains in the last year with various installs of random web apps than most people will ever think about there even being in their whole lives.
- Computer hardware, maintenance, and getting various incompatible hardwares working. I rebuild laptops for fun and have a drawer or three of spare parts just for that.
- Linux – what’s better than community based software? Ok, I know there’s a lot of debate on that one, but i prefer software by the people, of the people, for the people. Call me crazy…
- Tabletop Roleplaying. My favorites are all prety much D20 systems. I’m a licensed Game Master (ahem… Mistress please…) and will jump at the chance to play a cast of thousands and torture… ahem… direct a group of players through a complex and convoluted (yet amazingly random and still completely tied together) storyline start to finish. Being able to tell a story like that with everyone able to interact in the world I build for them to play in is just refreshing and somewhat liberating.
- Chatting – I love talking to people and offering any knowledge i may have to them. ^_^
- Poetry – making a nice smooth and heartfelt poem… It’s like it’s a window into my soul and i can just pour my words out in the text.
- Religion – I guess you would call me Esoteric. I’m ordained non-denominational and i pull my beliefs from across all religions and stick with what feels right with my higher self, deep in my soul, and in my heart. As the Dalai Lama once said “The right religion is the one that makes you a better person.” Link.
Some of these hobbies I’m active in now, some I’ve all but abandoned, but a lot of them I still enjoy greatly and plan to continue to enjoy for a long time to come.
One of which I’m currently involved in, Saber Crafting, got me to thinking about something… One of the sabers I have plans on making has a mouth like emitter shroud with reverse teeth cutouts. then i got to thinking about the name I chose for my web site so long ago – Split World. And then I got to thinking about my dual nature in a lot of things and started applying it to the saber shroud idea… instead of a jaw-like appearance, rotate the sleeve 90 degrees and make one side a nice orderly shroud while the other side is a gaping toothy menacing thing. I might possibly go so far as to cut them completely separate from each other, yet still touching in the middle. then for the lower half, a large crystal chamber with a crystal heart basically in the pommel area. Then tie the two parts together with a ribbed section and add a few more detail bits. ^_^ I know it’ll be hard and it’s my most unique and arduous skill stretching project yet with sabers. Do some gloss polishing on the shrouds and some gray weathering under that on the base parts… I would like to think it’ll turn out good. ^_^
Anyway, this is a part of what gives me drive to keep going day after day.
Az