Hobbies and such

[milosz]

I wish I had been a more patient chess player - I never played regularly and my only mode when I did was balls-out aggression. Now I'm old and the time to dedicate to becoming good (and not getting ass-raped by pre-teens) would eat up all of my free time.

[Blaidd Drwg]

The sharpening thing I can totally get. There's something freakishly satisfying about that. Point out any good primer's on the subject for regular household/pocket cutlery?

Not saying it'll replace the concrete ball fetish....speaking of which..if anyone is near or traveling through the PNW and needs a 300ish stone, I've got molds...will crank them out for cost. (25 bucks typically)

[Blaidd Drwg]

The ghillie suit stuff is a nice cottage side biz if he has the interest. One of my buddies in NC, who worked for me at my kennel was a USMC TOW missile guy and would make suits for hunters as an additional side gig.....his name got around the area and made some nice side cash with that, IIRC.

Interesting...He may very well like that. I know he spends hours on youtube figuring shit out like that. Kind of envy kids these days.

Pursuing Hobbies as a parent is a fascinating process.. On the one hand, there is a fine line between drawing your kids into your madness and letting them choose their own madness. My temptation early was to do what my dad did and just be an example...anymore I'm more interested in just trying whatever it is they are into at the moment. Feel like it keep my mind agile...if not my body.

OTOH, I think it's really important as the kids grow that mom and Dad to maintain individual identities...with passionas and pursuits and interests that are meaningful to them alone. So many parents just give up on all the shit that made them interesting people worth procreating in the first place in favor or nagging/cleaning/sitting with tumbler of whiskey sighing with head in hands...(just me? )

[climber511]

Now that I am retired I actually have time for the things I enjoy - which don't pay so I class them all as "hobbies". My Hobbies are my life these days.
Family time - far and away #1
Working Out
Rock climbing
Mountaineering
Running the local Climbing Wall - non paid and a lot of work but working with the kids makes it all worth while
Coaching the Throws at the local HS (actually make a few bucks for this one)
The "sport" of Grip Strength - competition and old time Strongman stuff - bending steel, horseshoes, wrenches, driving a nail through a board with my hands, tearing phonebooks, Scrolling (the bending of longer pieces of steel into artistic shapes and selling them) and all the other stuff that goes along with it. This is a lot of fun for me.
The occasional Highland Games and Olympic Lifting comp just for fun
I make and sell various Grip Strength training tools once in a while.
Working on the 70 by 70 list is kind of a hobby in itself as well.
And visiting wineries with some friends - some good wines out there at the smaller vineyards.
I could go on but

[The Venerable Bogatir X]

The ghillie suit stuff is a nice cottage side biz if he has the interest. One of my buddies in NC, who worked for me at my kennel was a USMC TOW missile guy and would make suits for hunters as an additional side gig.....his name got around the area and made some nice side cash with that, IIRC.

Interesting...He may very well like that. I know he spends hours on youtube figuring shit out like that. Kind of envy kids these days.

Yeah, I lost touch with the dude but when he got out of the Marines, he drove a Coca-Cola route and still did the suits on the side, as I understood it. His old Top (USMC MSGT) is FB buddies of mine and they were friends (as they were fellow Rottie lovers and I used to work their dogs in protection), will see if I can get a hold of Clarence and see if he still does it after all these years, if/when you want. Worst thing is T.O.M., Stanley, Hank, or others can also weigh in on ghillie suit action, I am sure.

[baffled]

The sharpening thing I can totally get. There's something freakishly satisfying about that. Point out any good primer's on the subject for regular household/pocket cutlery?

Not saying it'll replace the concrete ball fetish....speaking of which..if anyone is near or traveling through the PNW and needs a 300ish stone, I've got molds...will crank them out for cost. (25 bucks typically)

I'll try to post some resources that have helped me along the way.

Trick will be distilling it down, but I think I have one video in mind that made me rethink my approach. Will try to explain more in the thread I'll post.

[DikTracy6000]

Playing jazz and rock piano, occasional wood working, recreational physical stuff(no comps) and technical analysis. In the past I was also an avid handicapper of horse racing, but kind of lost the itch for that after 30 plus years. Oh, I also hunted for 40 years, but no longer. My shoulder surgery in 2005 kind of put of the kabash on the archery league I used to compete. Was just too vain to lighten up on draw weights, but might do that again since I've retired. Started pitching wiffle ball to my 3-1/2 y.o. grandson, and he seems to be a natural compared to my own kids and another grandson and granddaughter, so I might just go get him his first ball and glove. He seems to be a little adhd, so physical activity might just be the answer.

[Bobby]

The ghillie suit stuff is a nice cottage side biz if he has the interest. One of my buddies in NC, who worked for me at my kennel was a USMC TOW missile guy and would make suits for hunters as an additional side gig.....his name got around the area and made some nice side cash with that, IIRC.

Interesting...He may very well like that. I know he spends hours on youtube figuring shit out like that. Kind of envy kids these days.

Yeah, I lost touch with the dude but when he got out of the Marines, he drove a Coca-Cola route and still did the suits on the side, as I understood it. His old Top (USMC MSGT) is FB buddies of mine and they were friends (as they were fellow Rottie lovers and I used to work their dogs in protection), will see if I can get a hold of Clarence and see if he still does it after all these years, if/when you want. Worst thing is T.O.M., Stanley, Hank, or others can also weigh in on ghillie suit action, I am sure.

It is fun making ghillie suits.We ahd to do our own when I went to a sharpshooter/spotter course in the forces a decade ago.Still got mine down in the basement somewhere.Changed to shooting machine guns now.

[powerlifter54]

The past 12 months my new hobby was anesthesia. Hopefully done with that for good. In no order besides lifting, i cook (translated go all OCD on a specific recipe until i hone and master it. Examples in last year include Spaghetti Carbonara, Thai Peanut Chicken, Steak Cooked in an Iron Skillet, and Bacon wrapped shrimp stuffed Jalapenos), read-mainly detective fiction. In past year have reread Travis McGee and Spenser series and a huge fan of Jack Reacher Novels, and landscape or as i like to call it, yardio. I am the Charlie Daniels of the Hedge trimmer. And grow enough flowers to to fill the vases in our house every two days all summer.

Oh yeah, and kicking ass. Lots and lots of kicking ass.

[DikTracy6000]

The past 12 months my new hobby was anesthesia. Hopefully done with that for good. In no order besides lifting, i cook (translated go all OCD on a specific recipe until i hone and master it. Examples in last year include Spaghetti Carbonara, Thai Peanut Chicken, Steak Cooked in an Iron Skillet, and Bacon wrapped shrimp stuffed Jalapenos), read-mainly detective fiction. In past year have reread Travis McGee and Spenser series and a huge fan of Jack Reacher Novels, and landscape or as i like to call it, yardio. I am the Charlie Daniels of the Hedge trimmer. And grow enough flowers to to fill the vases in our house every two days all summer.

Oh yeah, and kicking ass. Lots and lots of kicking ass.

Had bacon wrapped shrimp last week, might be a new favorite for me. Instead of Jalapenos we had hot jack cheese melted over top. All those dishes sound like real food, meaning something I'd like. Glad you're over the anesthesia thing, it was my hobby in 2014, and no wish to repeat.

[The Venerable Bogatir X]

The past 12 months my new hobby was anesthesia. Hopefully done with that for good. In no order besides lifting, i cook (translated go all OCD on a specific recipe until i hone and master it. Examples in last year include Spaghetti Carbonara, Thai Peanut Chicken, Steak Cooked in an Iron Skillet, and Bacon wrapped shrimp stuffed Jalapenos), read-mainly detective fiction. In past year have reread Travis McGee and Spenser series and a huge fan of Jack Reacher Novels, and landscape or as i like to call it, yardio. I am the Charlie Daniels of the Hedge trimmer. And grow enough flowers to to fill the vases in our house every two days all summer.

Oh yeah, and kicking ass. Lots and lots of kicking ass.

Caronara done well is a delight.....POWER TO YOU, COMRADE!

[syaigh]

A bacon wrapped jalapeno recipe that's awesome. And you can make it with those mini sweet peppers or banana peppers if people don't want so much heat.

So, it goes like this.

2 lbs of bacon, 1 lb cooked and crumbled
About 1/2 cup finely chopped sundried tomatoes
About 15-20 fresh basil leaves finely chopped.
Just enough softened cream cheese to glue it all together. (about 1/2-3/4 cup)

(If you don't use all of the above, it makes a great spread for a bagel or a meat sandwich.)

Anyway, slice your peppers in half from the bottom up, but leave the top in tact so its all still connected (if it breaks, no worries, you can glue it back together with bacon. Remove the seeds and membranes if you can.

Fill the peppers with the filling and then wrap 1-2 slices of bacon around the entire pepper (you may need 2 slices for banana peppers, but one is enough for a jalapeno). Secure the end with a toothpick.

Grill over high heat, turning regularly, until the bacon on the outside is cooked and the peppers are relatively soft. I've done this under a broiler from time to time, but the grill is way better as the hot fat cooks the peppers.

Anyway, its fucking awesome. You should try it.

PL54, would you share the shrimp stuffed recipe?

[seeahill]

The past 12 months my new hobby was anesthesia. Hopefully done with that for good. In no order besides lifting, i cook (translated go all OCD on a specific recipe until i hone and master it. Examples in last year include Spaghetti Carbonara, Thai Peanut Chicken, Steak Cooked in an Iron Skillet, and Bacon wrapped shrimp stuffed Jalapenos), read-mainly detective fiction. In past year have reread Travis McGee and Spenser series and a huge fan of Jack Reacher Novels, and landscape or as i like to call it, yardio. I am the Charlie Daniels of the Hedge trimmer. And grow enough flowers to to fill the vases in our house every two days all summer.

Oh yeah, and kicking ass. Lots and lots of kicking ass.

Good stuff all. In the detective fiction genre, may I suggest James Lee Burke.

Also, what happened to William Blake? I thought you were on some quest to get the guy all figured out.

[johno]

In past year have reread Travis McGee and Spenser series and a huge fan of Jack Reacher Novels.

Good stuff all. In the detective fiction genre, may I suggest James Lee Burke.

If I might, I recommend Robert Crais, whose Elvis & Pike novels are very much in line with Spenser & Hawk. (The early Elvis Cole novels, not so much.)

******

Myself, I find watching my dogs at the dog park hugely entertaining & soothing. (Unless there are stupid people acting stupidly around the Airedale. But he's mellowing.)

Reading - Right now absorbing Nassim Taleb on three fronts: Black Swan, Fooled by Randomness, and Antifragile. And I just reread Gruber's Night of the Jaguar, which I enjoyed immensely. Tim, Jack, you might like.

Grilling stuff, red meat & salmon. My wife & I rarely order steak in restaurants because I grill them better.

Napping - take one each day.

[Blaidd Drwg]

Also, what happened to William Blake? I thought you were on some quest to get the guy all figured out.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzd2-g_8h6Y[/youtube]

[Turdacious]

In past year have reread Travis McGee and Spenser series and a huge fan of Jack Reacher Novels.

Good stuff all. In the detective fiction genre, may I suggest James Lee Burke.

If I might, I recommend Robert Crais, whose Elvis & Pike novels are very much in line with Spenser & Hawk. (The early Elvis Cole novels, not so much.)

IMHO Parker's Cole/Hitch westerns are also very good and in the same vein (Parker really only does one thing, but he does it very well). John Sanford's Prey and the Virgil Flowers series' are worth a look too.

[Turdacious]

Kayak fishing. Looking to get into fishing the bays (will probably require some upgraded gear though).

[nafod]

[

Reading - Right now absorbing Nassim Taleb on three fronts: Black Swan, Fooled by Randomness, and Antifragile.

His stuff changed my view of how the complicated world operates.

[powerlifter54]

A bacon wrapped jalapeno recipe that's awesome. And you can make it with those mini sweet peppers or banana peppers if people don't want so much heat.

So, it goes like this.

2 lbs of bacon, 1 lb cooked and crumbled
About 1/2 cup finely chopped sundried tomatoes
About 15-20 fresh basil leaves finely chopped.
Just enough softened cream cheese to glue it all together. (about 1/2-3/4 cup)

(If you don't use all of the above, it makes a great spread for a bagel or a meat sandwich.)

Anyway, slice your peppers in half from the bottom up, but leave the top in tact so its all still connected (if it breaks, no worries, you can glue it back together with bacon. Remove the seeds and membranes if you can.

Fill the peppers with the filling and then wrap 1-2 slices of bacon around the entire pepper (you may need 2 slices for banana peppers, but one is enough for a jalapeno). Secure the end with a toothpick.

Grill over high heat, turning regularly, until the bacon on the outside is cooked and the peppers are relatively soft. I've done this under a broiler from time to time, but the grill is way better as the hot fat cooks the peppers.

Anyway, its fucking awesome. You should try it.

PL54, would you share the shrimp stuffed recipe?

Since i don't write the recipes down i just recall what worked here is what we do.

Fry bacon until meat is almost cooked but fat is still white. Fat should still be soft and pliable.
Get as many large jalapenos and large shrimp as you need. The fresher the better.
-Shell and devein the shrimp. Put in a bowl of ice water.
-get some food prep gloves to cut the ends off the Jalapenos and clean out the seeds. The gloves matter!
Mix some softened cream cheese with Monterey PL54 cheese to taste, but i make it half and half of each.
Lay the shrimp in the jalapeno, fill with cheese mixture, and wrap tightly in a whole strip of bacon. Pin with a toothpick.
Put on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper and cook until bacon is crisp, bake at 375 for 20-25 mins.

This will make your traps huge!

[powerlifter54]

The past 12 months my new hobby was anesthesia. Hopefully done with that for good. In no order besides lifting, i cook (translated go all OCD on a specific recipe until i hone and master it. Examples in last year include Spaghetti Carbonara, Thai Peanut Chicken, Steak Cooked in an Iron Skillet, and Bacon wrapped shrimp stuffed Jalapenos), read-mainly detective fiction. In past year have reread Travis McGee and Spenser series and a huge fan of Jack Reacher Novels, and landscape or as i like to call it, yardio. I am the Charlie Daniels of the Hedge trimmer. And grow enough flowers to to fill the vases in our house every two days all summer.

Oh yeah, and kicking ass. Lots and lots of kicking ass.

Good stuff all. In the detective fiction genre, may I suggest James Lee Burke.

Also, what happened to William Blake? I thought you were on some quest to get the guy all figured out.

Still knocking the I &E around. Big fan of JLB and also Randy Wayne White. David Poyer for seagoing stuff. Micheal Lewis and Malcolm Gladwell for non fiction. Bernhard Cornwell and both dad and son of the Shaaras for historical fiction. Shaara's books about Vicksburg and Sherman's march to the Sea and up the east coast really opened my eyes about the civil war.

[theoverman]

I don't think anyone said "golf". I'm 33, just thankful I won't have to learn to golf. I'm on my last rugby season right now with a club I have no business being on. I am about 1500 online chess turn based. I love the game but I dont have any skill at it. I make some "farmhouse" furniture using what could only very loosely be described as carpentry. Thinking about getting into gardening a lot more, landscaping the yard. Son number 2 is due in January. I tried the BJJ thing but my background is folkstyle, a little in college even, and it was too difficult a transition.

[Really Big Strong Guy]

having read others responses, I realized I do a good deal more than just hunt.

My sport allows me to travel. A lot. Normally out of the country twice a year at the minimum. Work allows me to travel a lot too - only in the states. I really enjoy visiting gyms I've never been to before; When travelling in states, I enjoy going to the good shit hole iron spots. I also enjoy the aforementioned hiking at these crazy places.

the sport requires me to work on sharpening axes, crosscut saws, and chains for chainsaws. I'm good at axes. I can stone, but can't file crosscuts. I can file chains but I defer to those that are better at it than me.

Every night, I read about physics, mostly theoretical stuff, science and history. I only read nonfiction. However, if and when I watch movies or TV I only watch Science Fiction. I've spent a great deal of time learning how to make shit - gun powder, explosives, concrete, (in case shit hits fan) - and survivalists stuff.

Love camping. But don't get to do it often. Hoping that once my kids go off to college the wife and I can get back into it.

[Grandpa's Spells]

I don't think anyone said "golf".

The problem for me with golf is you can't go golf for an hour. I can go to a poker room and play cards for 15 minutes or a day. I don't even want to try something that may turn into a huge time suck.

Folks I know with sailboats, that's their thing. They wanna sail. They better, because that's a shitload of commitment. Small boats are way, way easier to manage as a hobby.

[The Venerable Bogatir X]

I don't think anyone said "golf".

The problem for me with golf is you can't go golf for an hour. I can go to a poker room and play cards for 15 minutes or a day. I don't even want to try something that may turn into a huge time suck.

Folks I know with sailboats, that's their thing. They wanna sail. They better, because that's a shitload of commitment. Small boats are way, way easier to manage as a hobby.

Yeah, long story, but my wife has a horse. Talk about a time suck. Thank God the barn is only like 4 miles from the house.

[Blaidd Drwg]

Folks I know with sailboats, that's their thing. They wanna sail. They better, because that's a shitload of commitment. Small boats are way, way easier to manage as a hobby.

For sure. El Toro's are bang for the buck fun over time. Anything over 20 feet is exponentially more time suck.