paragraphs | Extracurricular Activities -- okay flist, what do YOU do for fun and games?

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So, was talking to

sanginmychains about knitting today. And yesterday. And over the last month. Slowly but surely, she is somehow tickling my curiosity enough to give it a try. I think. She's even found me a good knitting store... oy oy oy! (And, I agreed to check it out during lunchtime this week!! oy oy oy!)

This is the darn thing that started it all, when I got it in the mail:

Isn't it gorgeous? You know you think it is. I do. I have it sitting in a clear baggie next to my monitor so I can pet and admire it. But really, this isn't what it was meant to do with its life.

This has got me to thinking. I have not indulged in a hobby in a long, long time. I used to do all sorts of things creative--from painting to drawing to gardening and even cross-stitch. I loved it all, but...I don't do any of it anymore. Sure it is a lack of time but also, there is always so much to do I don't take time for pure creativity (see previous post's whine). Oh and I am not talking about writing, which I am making time for (not enough, but working on it, and today I was really good about writing, and also getting some crit work done woo) and reading. I am, actually, about to finish reading a book I started only Monday. Whoa.

But, I'd like to open my mind to the possibility of something else. And yes there is knitting, but that is a rather solo endeavor, which may just work out. I'm curious though what my flisters like to do with their free time.

So! Flisters! Do tell me! What do YOU guys do for fun? Outside of lj, outside of work, outside of school, outside of writing. What creative world do you dive in? I'd love to know. Who knows, you may inspire me like Sang has. You never know....

C

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No place to do it here in Hickville USA, but I use to spend a least one night a week singing at a karaoke bar.

You did? YOU SING TOO??? I love it! You are such an unexpected!

Well, I think it would be awesome if you found your way back to it, Kevvie (that looks like kewie, doesn't it?).

Something to think about... Grin.

LOL. Yes, I do sing. 4 of the 5 classes I took my senior year in high school involved music. Heck, my homeroom teacher was the music instructor. Poor woman only got rid of me because I had to go to English class.

hey do you act too? There is that to get into too--I think it is awesome. My MIL at 75 is singing again (for her churchy friends) and loving it. It is never ever too late to get back into something you love.

I did a little acting up through high school. Hung around Playhouse on the Square in Memphis a lot. Helped with sets and got to watch the play's for free. One side benefit of the experience is I'm not afraid to speak or sing in front of groups. But, I have no illusions of a singing or acting career.

You know, I'm really glad those things helped make me who I am. I'd much rather be able to openly express myself than spout sports scores because I have nothing else to talk about.

You run deep, Kevin. I am so glad you are finally able to tap that again. :)

....er, outside of lj/fandom? what is this place you speak of?

(sidenote.. you were wondering how people keep up? that's how, we spend our LIVES HERE) ;)

LOLOL!!! Well, honest answer! Grin.

Yeah, outside of lj/fandom/etc. It really exists, I am sure of it--hope to get more replies to see for myself. Grin.

*g* yup!

Though actually my hobby at the moment is geneaology. Which is awesome because I can do it at the same time as LJ stuff. It's like a huge mystery to solve and it's brilliant what you can find online.

If you have a cool family--mine is so boringly small, and my grandfather on my dad's side was an orphan, never adopted, heritage unknown. My sister's done some research but didn't get as far as she'd hoped.

At least we now know what the Scottish side of the family's tartan looked like--and it too was rather boring! LOL.

My family is (was) also as small though.. my parents were both of two-child families. We thought that's all there was.. but omg once you make some breakthroughs, suddenly there are hundreds of relatives. It was really quite amazing.

The other thing about it is that every few months there are new records available and stuff.. so things i've found in the last year, I would never have found the year before (and didn't as it so happens..) So i'd advise keep trying every so often!

(oh and 'heritage unknown' is great, it gives you a mystery to really sink your teeth into!!)

I do love mysteries...and history. I know there are all sorts of cool things on the internet now to help.

A friend of mine learned that the distant relative who had died by falling into a pig sty and trampled to death was actually pregnant when it happened. She speculates there was a reason that poor girl stumbled into a place she didn't have a habit of going to often. Hmmm!!! Esp. since it was an uncle who got her pregnant... Pretty tragic, and fascinating.

Well I found one of my relatives died by falling down a well (head first.. they specified). And another probably committed suicide-by-train in the 30s. Another was a member of a smugglers gang in england and got sent here instead of hanging. And I was *sure* my family was too small to have anything interesting happen!

currently i am making 2 blankets (for

mad_jaks and

thaddeusfavour) and pillow covers for my sister and working on my scuplture (just hit the junk jackpot at some garage sales, now i just need the spray paint) and trying to find one of those steady job thingies
:D

Are you in the clutches of knitting too? See, that is nice! And sculpture! Oh! Do you have photos? I'd love to see!

What is it about these two things that you enjoy? Grin.

Oh, steady jobs. Ugh. They steal all the fun, I tell you...

steady jobs are not fun, no, but possibly safer than robbing banks

no knitting for me, i never learned how - i think my grandma may have tried to teach my sister a long time ago, but she does not remember how

what do i like about these things? hmm... i like to make stuff
that's it really, i like making stuff, any type of stuff
from painting to photos, sculpture, ceramics, music mixes, videos, clothing & accessories
i like to take discarded junk and make it into something new and useful(in a loose sense of the word)
i have bags and bags of projects to work on, though, and never the time to do it

No no, no robbing banks, stores, etc.

LOL bags and bags, I used to be like that with cross stitch. I probably have a lot of unfinished projects somewhere. I really am very intrigued by the junk now art!

this is the only picture i have uploaded: http://kel-reiley.livejournal.com/39168.html#cutid1
the one i am currectly working on is only in the very beginning stages, so no pics yet

Oh and the thing with knitting is that there is a huge LJ community surrounding it! I have at least 2 knitters on my flist from fandoms, they do some really interesting stuff!

I think I am mental, as this is such a warm climate and the things I'd want to knit--scarves, hats, mittens--just aren't really necessary here. Sang showed me a few patterns that I like (mostly men's stuff!). I think a vest for Nick would be in order--then he could look like Reid on Criminal Minds. :)

Outside of writing and work and LJ? There is stuff to do that's not that? I forget sometimes.

I dabble in taking pictures of things. I need to get back to teaching myself to play guitar. I've been relishing reading the comics I'm getting. I look forward to when

mckays_lab can get down to the shop and pick them up for me.

I used to do so much. Play golf, sing (back when I had half a voice), go down to the beach. These days I'm majorly plugged in to everything, but it makes me feel lonelier. It's a strange predicament.

Randomly, I think I'd love to learn to knit. I used to latchhook, which isn't hard, but kind of therapeutic. Plus it let me make pillows out of things.

Edited Date: 2009-04-26 03:40 am (UTC)

Golf! Beaches! Sing! I hear you on the lonelies... They suck. You are lucky you have good friends there you are always meeting up with for things. I'd love that, but damn I am picky (for reasons you understand).

I don't want to be in yet another group where I cannot be the Real Me. I have two good friends here who are awesome, but one has a kid, and the other is depressed and only wants to go to chick flicks.

I tried to find writing groups but oy, they all seemed to attract hard-core, "I am writing my religious epic" types, or were too far away to be something I could do regularly.

I could be like alot of people and put a facebook up as my high school self but oh freaking no way on that!

I am very lucky. It's tiring to meet new people sometimes, but every once in a while it's worth it. I'm also lucky that I've managed to find a laid back writing group who will critique for you if you want or leave you alone if you want. I've heard writing group horror stories.

Facebook. Irgh. I only check mine when people message me on it. I did have a random conversation the other night with someone I haven't talked to in years, but other than that I'm not really interested in the people I went to high school with. And the idea of pretending to be the person I was in high school makes me cringe. I'm so much more kick ass now. ;)

Me either. Cringe! And I am SO not the girl I was back then, either. I am more kick ass too! I hated high school, really kept to myself alot, just wanted to get out every day so I could go horseback riding. LOL. My parents had it so good with me, I swear!!!

I wonder if I could start a writing group: Laid Back Writers--only liberals need apply. LOL!!!

Hello, new friend! :)

I like to cook. And bake. Basically, anything w/ food. I got a Chinese cookbook a few years ago and have thoroughly adopted about six recipes from it to put into my menu-rotation and have tried lots of others. For baking, every year at Christmas (I celebrate Christmas) I make: Christmas butter cookies, gingersnaps, scrumptious layer bars, seven layer bars, reese's squares, Christmas M&M cookies, black forest cookies and Scandinavian almond bars and give them away to my co-workers and friends. Oh, and I make snowball cookies, vegan cupcakes and apple-walnut tarts for the vegan co-workers. And Christmas bread (braided bread stuffed w/ cinnamon and sugar; it's over a foot long) for M's family. It's one of my favorite things to do! I went on this weight-loss kick two years ago, so Christmas is basically the only time I get to bake anymore. And I work for a vegan organization, so I am expanding my repertoire w/ vegan recipes on occasion. Have also dabbled in gluten-free stuff, but my good friend w/ celiac's disease moved to London last year and I have not had an excuse recently.

Other things: I work for an animal protection non-profit, so occasionally do volunteer-y stuff for animals (although more phone banking than hanging out w/ doggies, but sometimes I do get to hang out w/ doggies). I have two dogs and a cat, and like to spoil them rotten.

Also, hiking (more like walking, actually, it's not all that rugged). I live on the corner of a State Park, so it's easy to get to and I don't have to take M's car.

I like to travel when I have the money. Haven't had it in awhile, but my brother lives in the Middle East and I really like to visit him.

So them's my non-fandom hobbies!

Do you belong to the those two adorable puppies in your icon? Too cute.

Yup! And this is the cat. She is Queen of All.

Pretty. Our cat was abused before we got her. 13 years later she's still Queen of All Under The Bed.

LOL I love to cook too, but this year have worked hard to drop 40 lbs. and keep it off, so cooking fun things (baking) is out. I like making cookies now and then though. (I actually discovered in all this that staying away from wheat products made me feel better--that is tough, being gluten intolerant. I'm not, don't think, but--I just skip that stuff now).

Animals--oh I am a sucker for them. Love your puppies! My two are in my user pic--the black and white is Maddox, he's my boy, and the red and white is Shelby, who Nick officially adopted as his. I have a Springer Spaniel too, Claire. Had a second Springer but Scotty passed away from old age this past fall. He was 15, a really grand age for a Springer.

Travel, oh that is a given!!! (Is saving madly for Wales!)

Outside of my job sort of blurs with my job, but then it's all dogs anyway. If we aren't talking dogs, then my creative outlet is music. I play a variety of instruments, but my main one is banjo. :)

LOL I know your job keeps you going full time. Banjo! Now that is different!!!

I still think you should take up writing. Your experiences in becoming a musher are so amazing!!! :)

Well beyond the question of whether I can even write, I don't know how much I could comfortably tell. I would have to skip a lot if I didn't tell the truth about certain people or some of the uglier aspects of the sport. Mushing often has a negative image attached to it anyway. I'd hate to make it worse for those doing it right.

What do YOU guys do for fun?

You have me here. I turn everything I start into an obligation very quickly. It's just how I approach things. LOL. I try to work on it though, and I found that I can have much more fun in the dojo if I go a little lighter on myself. :-)

jaelle_n_gilla dragged me to my very first larp in February, and I had lots of fun. I will go again in September, and I will meet up with Jae to make costumes. Crafting stuff is something that will drive me nuts doing it alone, but together with Jae it's great fun. She takes out the perfectionist in me and nudges me to be daring, even when I don't know what I'm doing.

Occasionally, I read out poetry to myself. I just love to play with sound and rhythm. This also results in me singing nonsense words to the tune of Mad World and other songs. Or talking to myself in nonsense language, just for the joy to create new sounds.

LOL CATS! That is interesting--you turn fun stuff into work? :) Well, I know about your regular work, and absolutely have not discounted getting into martial arts of the gentle variety. I suspect I would love that. Just have to avoid my crazy sister and her husband.

A larp, omg, I guess I would enjoy going to one once...LOL! Just to see, and watch people cavort. Sew your own costume? I saw some amazing ones when I went to DragonCon years ago.

(LOVE Mad World!)

A nonsense language? Oh that is me studying Welsh right now! LOL.

Taking pictures if there's location and time

painting (and you know, my mum demanded two or so paintings for their 25th anniversary May 25th)

I wish I could go back into theatre stuff, but mostly, what's keeping me, is that yeah I did it in highschool but everyone who is doing it now has done it since then and I'd feel awkward plunging back into that, but I miss it

reading out loud to you, not just fannish stuff, but actual books (even if that too lately has been a bit time-dependent - whatcha think I choose something from my shelves and we go for reading hour

seeing the ballet/theatre/stuff even though again, I did manage to miss Westside Story here over the pre-thesis prep. Sad.

I think that's it for me.

And LOOK, I commented in your LJ :P

I shall faint...now.

Yeah, I love your painting! You should do more of it! I used to love to paint, lol, in high school. Faked the talent though, just never had it in spades. Still, it was fun. Used to sit on the floor up in my room. I am sure doing that with the huskies around would be interesting...

You already know what I do. I go fishing. ;)

Fishing, yup...and cleaning old farms up. LOL. I used to love to fish too, back in the day.

I belly dance. It's fun to do in class as well as at home, and keeps me fit and in touch with my body. Also, it's done wonders for my body image!

Now this is a new one! I am more probably the tai chi type of girl. I think. LOL.

I love all these things people do!

Well I sometimes knit and cross stitch although both have tailed off since coming back home, because at Uni there were less distractions and I would sit watching iplayer and sewing/knitting at the same time.

I sing. Constantly. Loudly.

I bake a lot and do most of the cooking, which is something I've grown to enjoy quite a bit. It's great to just take over the kitchen for a few hours, sling on a pinny and get stuck into something- and the best thing is that at the end of those hours you have something to show for it, and get to eat it and feed it to friends/family members.

I'm currently in-rehearsals for The Glass Menagerie, so I expect in the coming weeks my chief activity will be learning lines.

Mum and I have also started digging up the garden ready to completely re-do it and change the layout and the way it works. It has been a kind of low-maintenance patch for years because it's not really big enough that you'd spend a lot of time out there but we've got some free seeds coming from the BBC's Gardener's World and are going to give it a bash.

My other current project is converting my (large) video collection to DVD, which I suppose isn't exactly creative but it certainly takes up chunks of time fixing.

Seeing your post has made me think how I really need to get into doing more things than just sitting on the computer reading fic. My knitting has been woefully neglected, along with most other things, particularly with the rush of plays, birthdays and Holy Week/Easter prep. After next weekend hopefully there will be more time. lol. (I always say this, and there never seems to be!)

Grin. I think a few people have been sparked with ideas. Lots of singing going on around here, too! And cooking.

I used to LOVE gardening. Really did. But, any fantasies of gardens in the backyard are immediately ended because of the pupsters. Oh they'd have fun with flowers, oh yeah!!!

my Auntie has a big garden because of her doggies and her and my Auntie Irene are currently building a dog agility course so they don't have to wait for the fortnight agility class for the dogs to go on. They've made jumps and weaving poles and circular jumps and a tunnel and such. Don't know how much space you've got but that might be an alternative to normal gardening? lol.

Oh see I screwed up there too! I so would've loved to do agility, or hey even learn Search and Rescue work (which I do still love the idea of) but what did I do? I got huskies.

*palms face*

They don't do well in agility either--freedom in a ring means freedom to RUN!!!! Some huskies do agility, but few compete because they just aren't that kind of dog.

what kind of dogs does she have?

oh none of them do it competitively but some do it in display. Auntie Irene has a beagle called Fern, she loves agility (or really anything that involves running around). Auntie Maura has Amber the Weimeraner (she's getting very old now but still likes to have a go on some of the easier ones these days) Daisy Mae who's a Burmese but in truth is more like a rug most days! She likes weaving though, she does this thing where she wants a fuss and goes through your legs like a cat only if you're short (or male) this can be particularly awkward. And then there's Baby Jack, the Irish Wolfhound (full grown now) obviously he can't do much with the jumps but he can do the weaving poles and things. And then Auntie Maura's boyfriend, Steve has Ben and Sandy who are both heinz-variety dogs (mongrels in other words) with bits of labrador, collie and Misc in them.

I'm another of those rabid knitters. (And another fan of Sang's handspun, mmmm... I totally know how you feel about that yarn--I have a skein of her Ianto two-ply yarn that I take out and pet and purr over from time to time. *hearts it*) I don't have anything on the needles currently, I should really remedy that. Since I'm mostly unemployed these days, I'm doing my best to knit from my (huge) yarn stash, although I'm planning my annual trip out to the MA Sheep and Woolcraft Fair, where I will no doubt spend far too much money on more yarn and fiber. I'm also making a vague attempt to get back into spinning and to give crochet a try.

Aside from that and being constantly entertained by the Love Cats, the dance/theatre group I work with (I almost said "belong to", which is perhaps a bit more true than I'm comfortable with) has eaten a lot of my time and energy. Big Moves is full of awesome and talent and win. I love performing with them, and I'm on their Board as well. Mostly I belly dance, but Big Moves has given me the opportunity to explore other dance genres as well, and I've really enjoyed that, hip-hop especially. I can dance, act and sing, so I have a fair amount of flexibility with the roles I go out for. I was a Theatre major in college, so Big Moves has given me a way to get back into theatre and perform again.

I also play and teach djembe and dunun (West African hand drums and bass drums, respectively) and other percussion instruments. At least, I do when I'm not recovering from a broken arm. *grumble* The community that has formed around the drumming school I work with is really wonderful and full of good and generous people. And drumming has helped to keep me sane and functional in a serious way. When I get home from teaching a drumming class, I'm usually bouncy and happy into the next day and sometimes beyond.

I also love to read, although most of my reading is online these days. Aside from my flist, TW3, and a list of knitblogs I follow (which I'd be happy to point you to if you're interested), I've been enjoying many of the LGBTfest stories that have been posted and am looking forward to TARDIS Big Bang when those stories are posted. Aside from that, I've got a couple of non-fiction anthologies, Palimpsest and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies queued on my reading table and ready to be devoured.

I garden and I quilt!

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Extracurricular Activities -- okay flist, what do YOU do for fun and games?

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