Do you have any unusual hobbies?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m curious about odd or unusual hobbies that Dopers are involved in. Anything out of the ordinary, or even an atypical version of a common hobby (ie. you garden, but only certain types of pepper plants, or collect a really specific type of stamp, etc.).

I’ll lead off with mine…

I’ve become interested in old structures and settlements from the past. I find them intriguing for some reason and have used our truck and/or UTV to roam the woods in search of old settlements. So far, I’ve found several old houses (sometimes just the foundations) and even old stills and root cellars from the early 20’s, I think.

I’ve now officially turned this hobby in a weird direction, and have become interested in *submerged towns. A lot of the lakes in the US are man-made, and the dams often submerged entire settlements. I’ve encountered what I think are the remains of an old town, due to the oddly perpendicular-line returns I’m getting from my boat’s sonar. I bought a submersible remote video camera and am trying to see if any recognizable remains can be filmed. I probably look weird to the fisherman as I drift back and forth staring at a little TV screen. :stuck_out_tongue: If I actually film anything interesting, I’ll post a link on the SDMB.
So, there’s my odd hobby; What are yours? I’d love to hear about it.

*confirmed thru other records that a village was at that lat/long prior to the lake’s formation

2

It’s only unusual because of who I am. I’ve always liked music, but have never played (in the past) any instrument. Or showed ANY interest in playing.

At 50 years old, I bought a banjo and started taking lessons. My family was quite surprised.

3

I collect Hard Rock Cafe “Hurricane” glasses. But I have to there and drink the Hurricane myself. (I don’t want someone to bring me back a glass from where they’ve been.) My husband collects the Pilsner (now Pint) glasses so we actually plan our vacations around getting to the nearest Hard Rock. So far I have 32 glasses, all displayed in 2 cabinets in our dining room.

4

I make primitive wood bows and arrows and compete in an ancient sport called flight shooting. It has both modern and primitive classes.

5

I’m taking accounting classes as a hobby. It’s possible that sometime in the future it might come in handy on a resumé, but that’s not why I’m taking the classes. I just think it’s fun to learn new things, and a local community college has an online program that’s convenient.

6

I should post this in the “Surreal Experiences” thread: I just read about a guy who takes accounting classes* for the fun of it* :smiley:

7

I haven’t started the lessons yet. Or bought the banjo. But, otherwise, this is mine too.

8

I’m posting mainly because I like the idea of the thread and want to see others’ replies so maybe I can at least ditto somebody else’s idea of “unusual.”

At present my main pastime is SDMB! That can’t be unusual, can it?

At various points in my 8-decades lifespan, I’ve had sustained interest for more than a few months in:

Archery
Knife throwing (and collecting)
Backpacking
Family Camping
Macrame’
Haiku Writing
Poetry experimentation in other forms
Golf
Amateur Theater acting
Jazz music record collecting
Chess
Word Games and Puzzles
Guitar
Drums

and probably others that are slipping my mind at the moment.

9

GF and I belong to a mushroom club and several fungus forums. We collect, identify, and where appropriate eat wild shrooms.

10

I collect rubber duckies, and assorted fowl wishbones.

11

I never throw away my movie ticket stubs. I have stubs going back maybe 20 years

12

I go curling. This would be normal in Canada but is still fairly rare in the United States. However the sport grows with each Olympic cycle; who knows, eventually it may be as common as bowling.

13

<Tom Lehrer>
Some have a hobby,
like tennis or philately
I have a hobby
Rereading Lady Chatterly
</Tom>
Sorry, couldn’t resist.

Collecting science fiction
Doing massive numbers of jigsaw puzzles
Various crossword puzzles/cryptics.

And as soon as I retire, I have lots of fun programming stuff to do

14

Building dolls’ houses, although I’ve had to take a hiatus for a bit.

I’d also like to learn the bagpipes.

15

That’s hot. No, seriously.

-gigi, accounting type, sort of

16

We overlap on these categories. Do you have other favorite sites beyond these:

17

Good for you! I took up the electric guitar at age 44, and have been playing (mostly badly) for 5 years now.

I used to be involved with a group that did theatrical combat / stage fencing. That probably would be my most unusual hobby, but I haven’t done it in years.

Beyond that, I play Dungeons & Dragons, build model rockets, and collect Star Wars toys. Those aren’t unusual; they’re just nerdy. :slight_smile:

18

In the past I’ve done fencing, shinkendo, and bellydance. Recently I’ve been dabbling in paper marbling, letterpress, and bookbinding.

19

I also have a facination with accounting. I have been considering taking some classes myself recently. I find it challenging to walk into a company and identify exactly why costs occur as opposed to just charging costs out in a dept they relate to.

20

I fly sailplanes, aka gliders. Aside from it being the most amazing thing a person can do (I mean really, how can you top flying among the clouds accompanied by a hawk or eagle?), its a great conversation starter. I rarely bring it up myself but often times someone who knows me will say, “Hey, tell him/her about flying gliders.” Most people have no idea its possible to fly for hours and hundreds of miles w/o an engine. I’m always quite happy to explain and have taken quite a few “former strangers” for rides. I wish spring would get here.