Include IoT and maybe electrical engineering in that if you're hard-core into cheap little devices/sensors from Aliexpress/Taobao
As someone who has more hobbies than time, I seriously don't understand how people can have no hobbies. How do these people live? How do they find fulfillment? What do they do in their spare time, only entertainment?
They watch TV/movies/news.
I'm also a person with a million hobbies. I've got TV or audiobooks on in the background as I do woodworking, smoke meat, play instruments, record music (ok, there's nothing on in the background while I'm recording), go sing karaoke, rock climb, work on motorcycles, garden, or one of the other million things I might be doing. My family passively sits and watches television.
As far as I'm concerned, that's fine. If it makes them happy then I'm happy for them. I couldn't be content that way but it takes different strokes to move the world.
We're too tired. That's the answer. It's not that watching TV is my hobby, it's that I'm burnt out and don't have the mental energy to do anything. My old hobbies feel like chores. New hobbies seem like so much work
I feel you and I’ve been fighting this. I feel like personally I’m a lot happier and find it easier to do things when I actually do my hobbies… It’s kind of like exercise. You often don’t want to do it when you’re busy and tired, but if you do it consistently you usually have more energy and feel better in the long term. Totally understand it can be a luxury to even consider doing a hobby, and I definitely don’t know your situation, but I hope you can push through and get to a better balance! Life’s too hard sometimes :(.
easy, I don't find fulfillment. yup, only entertainment. maybe a bit of gaming here and there, mostly with friends.
there are other reasons to suspect that I am depressed, though.
Game development. I do the coding, 3D art and animation, everything. I don't know if I'll ever even finsh another project, and it's incredibly time-consuming, but I enjoy it.
Same, but honestly for me it is such a lonely existence. Even when I show off my projects to friends/family they can't understand the effort that went into it... many seem to think there's a "make racing game" button or something and I just added some textures or built a track.
I often wonder if I should pivot into wood working or something else, at least I'd have something tangible to gift or sell at the end. People just seem to appreciate things they can hold in their hands more.
So what are you working on just now?
Ol' gamedev making a no-graphics multiplayer game here :-)
I have a GIF of a quick placeholder character I made a while ago (I kinda want to keep it though).
I'm also hoping to make it multiplayer, but not sure if I'll be able to optimize it enough to make it playable.
Was surprised to find this comment as well. I consider it more like social media rather than a hobby
3D Printing and homelab. I run a lot of services at home on my server (things like a personal streaming service, smarthome, security camera software, and more).
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Anything we can do to help with that? I'm a little mic shy myself, but it goes away as soon as a good topic starts being talked about.
You got access to Dstar/DMR or some other way of communicating internationally? I'm in VK3
I think there’s an EchoLink repeater near me? I just have a baofeng. I’m planning on building a QMX soon because I feel like CW and digital modes would be fun and I kind of want to go on bike trips and do radio or something. I think I need to look up how POTA and SOTA work. I’m not a big talker in real life, I’ve always kind of preferred written communication, so I’m hoping Morse code helps, haha.
The other thing is I’m just kind of worried about getting the etiquette wrong or doing something wrong, even though it doesn’t really seem that complicated.
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Don't worry about getting anything wrong. Most people are pretty excited to speak with someone new or that doesn't come on air often.
We're all just normal people, done of use are even a little introverted.
Just say what's on your mind.
"Hi, I'm Joe, happy to be speaking with you, in kinda new to this and am a bit nervous. Anyhow how are you and where are you from?"
Chances are that will spawn a conversation that feels less forced and more natural as you move forward.
I've messaged you my email address. Never private messaged on Lemmy before so I hope it works. Just say hello and we can maybe catch up on echolink or discord.
Yeah, I had a couple of good conversations on repeaters when I first got my license, but I’m a bit of an introvert so I always feel a bit weird after a conversation like “did I fuck this up?” haha. And the extra rules and unspoken etiquette around radio is a bit intimidating, but I think as long as you identify every 10 minutes or whatever and stay in band nobody will get too mad at you.
I’m really excited about getting into CW actually, and QRP seems interesting and like a really fun challenge. I actually built a pixie kit recently, but I used it as soldering practice before building the QMX mini that I got recently. Hopefully I’ll have some time to build that soon :). I can mostly copy short 5 or so letter words in my head now at 40 WPM, but I haven’t practiced in a few weeks (and obviously I fall behind on complex words or longer ones). I’m a bit nervous about trying to actually send and receive Morse in the wild though, and I REALLY don’t know the etiquette and q-codes and shorthand associated with that yet, but I guess I’ll learn!
73 de SA5FTP. I'm the only one in my circle of friends. Could be more active on HF, mostly on the local repeater
I was wondering if I should get into this. I'm more interested because it seems cool and I need some kind of backup means of communications in case communication is down or something
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Sure, give it a go. The bands and the learning you get access to as a ham are a valuable tool.
But don't be that kind that gets a licence just for 'prepping'.
Having the gear without being proficient in it's use or having someone to talk to is pretty useless.
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The process varies from country to country. Let me know where you're from and I'll try to point you in the right direction.
You’ll need to pay $35 (I think?) and write a multiple choice exam.
https://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-exam-session
The exam is relatively easy, and you can find lots of resources for practice exams and stuff. At first you’ll have a hard time with some specific questions, but you’ll get the hang of it. If you want they usually let you write the general and the extra exams after the technician for no extra fee (they’re harder but give you a better license with more permissions. Technician gives you a lot, though)
If you’re at all interested you should do it! Getting licensed doesn’t take much time, even if it seems a little daunting at first. Then you’re ready to go when you get the itch!
Boardgames. Especially big, rules heavy games like Mage Knight and Twilight Imperium. I'll happily spend a day playing a boardgame and my family just don't get it at all.
My family were doing a dog sledding trip and my brother came off and hit his head. We ended up putting him on my sled, with my job being to keep him awake in case he had a concussion. So I asked him to explain the rules to Twilight Imperium to me which, luckily and unluckily, took. Hours.
I've never hated, but been glad for, a game I've never played more...
(but I'm glad that you, and my brother, and other people get so much enjoyment from them!)
Take a day to learn the rules (yes, a whole day) and play through a solo game. It’s one of the best solo games ever!
It's not a big game, but I fell in love with Nefarious (specifically a translated version) after encountering it in the wild. Fast pace, simultaneous turns, short games, simple rules, no eliminations leading to people waiting for others to finish, and at the same time has some interesting decisions leading to multiple strategies... And then you add two twists every game, changing the rules, meaning you have to adapt your strategies, keeping it fresh.
I love the World Rally Championship, but it's a pretty niche sport as it is, I doubt there are many fans in my whole town!
But to answer your question, probably wanking
I bought a sparrows kit and need to get back into the hobby. I've only picked the beginner pins
LARP, and costuming/crafting for it. Amusingly, even among larpers I get a few weird looks when I explain my husband made my clothing, and I made his crossbow.
I met a woman on FB years ago. She's super effeminate, and tiny, and no one would ever guess that she forges swords in her backyard on the weekends, and I absolute love her.
I’m really curious about bonsai but it seems hard to get into! I also worry that I don’t have a good eye for aesthetics, and that might be a problem too, haha. It seems really cool though.
… also maybe this seems like a stupid concern, but sometimes I wonder if it’s cruel to the tree? I know little actual details, though… and also most people wouldn’t care about a tree’s feelings, haha.
Music. My parents weirdly never listened to music. When I was a kid, the most they would listen to was a Queen greatest hits album and another greatest hits from this 80s band from my country. But like, only on road trips.
I don’t know why, but ever since I was very young I loved music. One of the first birthday presents I remember choosing myself was a copy of Dookie (Green Day). I didn’t know what it was, but I loved the cover. Less than a month later we were back to the record store and I bought this brand new album by a band I had never heard before, In Rainbows by Radiohead. And that was it. I was hooked forever. Music was to become the most constant and important part of my life.
I spent years finding and listening to music. Trying to understand the history and development. Music really was my main hobby in high-school, like listening to music.
Nowadays I also play guitar and produce a bit, but I still listen to music as a hobby.
And my parents still don’t listen to music at all lmao. Even after enduring years and years of me hogging the AUX cable and forcing them to listen to everything from Wu Tang Clan to Burzum and Sufjan Stevens and Nirvana… but I love them. The most they would say is “wow this is very heavy” as I blasted black metal lol
I feel the same way. When I was a kid, my parents had a pretty small collection of tapes of religious music, and that's the only stuff they would listen to. Once I got my first internet connection around the age of 12, a whole new world opened up.
Today, I listen to music all the time, while working, while driving. It was so weird (and depressing) to go on a trip in my sister's car who doesn't listen to music.
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RC cars, amateur radio, sailing, 3d printing, cooking/baking, sewing, camping...probably more.
I'd say my kid has a mild interest in some of these, but probably wouldn't if I wasn't also doing it. My wife and I mostly just watch tv together.
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She's willing to go camping and will ask me to 3d print stuff for her, but doesn't really have much interest in being more involved in that.
Generally speaking, she is supportive of all me doing all of these hobbies, just not interested herself.
It was LARPing, but then I got clever. Once my wife was pregnant, it was only a matter of time. Now my kids have grown up in the hobby, and they love it as much as their old man.
You ever consider combining these hobbies to make yourself into a badass, modern day samurai? Consider adding poetry to the list.
Funnily enough I used the little guy to replace the smaller red camera on the scope after it started failing on me
Rubik's cubes and puzzles like that . But that's a very niche hobby anyways . I have a collection of probably 30 or so different cubes/ puzzles.
As someone who used to be into cubing, I find it immensely amusing that it's one of the few hobbies where the Chinese off-brand is actually better than the original name brand. My main cube was a Moyu Weilong GTS2M.
Pretty much everything. The only people I can really talk to about my hobbies is a friend I talk to maybe once every two weeks. Even then, it's hard getting a word in