# I need a pastime. What's yours? or can you reccomend one? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 29, 2003, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179 "2003-10-29T05:17:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179/1 "2003-10-29T05:17:06Z")
I won’t be specific as I don’t want to limit the replies, or steer people’s minds in any particular direction. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179/2 "2003-10-29T05:28:14Z")
Well, see if your local university has a [Campus Crusade for Cthulhu](http://www.locksley.com/cthulhu/index2.htm) chapter. Many good times can be had delving into eldritch mysteries. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179/3 "2003-10-29T05:28:59Z")
I’m very much in favor of hand-crafting stuff. Doesn’t matter what. Useful, decorative, just-because. Pick a medium, hell, pick a couple - paint, papier-mache, clay, yarn, fabric, beads, buttons. Whatever you pick, play with it awhile and get to know how the material responds to different things you do to it, THEN seek out someone else who plays with the same material and see what they’re doing with it. Find out about anyone who’s made a career in that media and compare them to one another - what do you like, what do you hate? Check out books from the library, peruse magazines. Relax and have fun with whatever it is. Me, I work in polymer clay. I picked it up to make some beads to match a specific outfit. Three years later I was published in the field as an authority on the stuff. I have had to exercise my brain in all kinds of directions I wasn’t planning on, and it’s been a TON of fun. You can start pointing yourself in any direction and just see where the material takes you. ---
**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179/4 "2003-10-29T05:33:16Z")
I collect Star Wars action figures and assemble little dioramas to recreate movie scenes. You’d be astonished how many websites are out there devoted to this hobby. There’s a guy in Montreal who created an accurate action-figure scale of the Death Star docking bay with several hundred Stormtroopers. I collect comic books, but I’m selling off huge lots of them as I’m unemployed and need cash. I take karate classes in the evenings. ---
**Author:** ![Forbin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@Forbin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Forbin)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179/5 "2003-10-29T05:33:29Z")
Try marquetry. Here’s a link to a marquetry site: [http://www.staffsmarq.freeserve.co.uk/](http://www.staffsmarq.freeserve.co.uk/) ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMule](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@MonkeyMule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMule)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179/6 "2003-10-29T05:47:23Z")
I’ve found much Joy in being Bitter and cyncal. You have not tasted heaven untill you’ve crushed someones dreams. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179/7 "2003-10-29T05:53:52Z")
How abot photography? Get a cheap digital camera to start with; especially if you’re just starting out, you want the instant gratification of a digital camera to help get you totally hooked. If you want to, get a book on some basics of shooting and such, or if not, just go start shooting; the great thing about hobbies is there’s no right or wrong way to do it. Feel free to send me an e-mail if you want some more specific suggestions, such as sites you can join (for free) with good, supportive, on-line photography communities. I’m an obsessed shutterbug, as you can probably tell; I don’t even go to work without at least one camera. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179/8 "2003-10-29T06:19:16Z")
Want a pastime that will consume all of your idle hours? And then some? Not to mention offering the opportunity to experience bankruptcy? Get a horse. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179/9 "2003-10-29T08:12:20Z")
I forgot about photography, I already have that as a hobby. I have an ok camera (fuji finepix s602zoom, great except for the megapixel rating - 3 effective) But I would still like another hobby. Photography fits all the requirements of a hobby, but only just. I am slightly pleased when I take a good photo, I am slightly occupied when I am out ‘shooting’. I take mild pleasure in browsing my photographs afterwards. But ‘slightly’ and ‘mild’ are not enough. I need something with a more potent thrill. I am thinking of something like archery (yes I will look into it), something that I can get an instant thrill from, I feel like I would get a thrill from shooting an arrow at a target. Something _like_ that. **MonkeyMulep** Being cynical for a brit is not a hobby, it’s a national requirement. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179/10 "2003-10-29T08:14:03Z")
**EddyTeddyFreddy** I take it you have one? What’s it called? Does it race professionally? If so I will look out for it at work. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179/11 "2003-10-29T08:59:58Z")
_Star Wars Galaxies_. Great time-sucker. ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179/12 "2003-10-29T09:00:18Z")
I have a PS2, PC and a modem. Who needs a pastime? Go to an art, history or science museum. If you have the right mindset they’re pretty cool. If you have too much free time, learn a musical instrument. It’s impossible to have too much practice 🙂 I miss playing the piano. I’m thinking about learning classical acoustic guitar once I get a job to pay for tuition. ---
**Author:** ![pierre72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b2d939/32.png) [@pierre72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pierre72)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179/13 "2003-10-29T09:00:37Z")
I can heartily recommend team sport as an all-consuming pastime. Not playing (heavens, no! Too energetic), but watching. Find your nearest football club (on the Isle Of Man? Ummm… [Onchan Athletic](http://www.onchanafc.com/)? No reason… just popped up on a websearch) Or rugby (how about, just 'cos it’s first in Google on “IOM Rugby” the [Vagabonds](http://www.vagabonds.iofm.net/)?) You may not know anything about rugby… (in fact, if you don’t the joy of discovering it will be a thrill in itself - there’s a zen-like moment of clarity when you suddenly “get” it), but a few hours on the internet will give you a vague understanding (essentially, we need to get the ball down their end, and they need to stop us), then go and see it in action. Buy a season ticket. Make sure it’s amid the noisy die-hard fans. Buy all the independent fanzines. Buy the replica shirt. Go to as many home games as possible, but also make the effort to travel away, for a true bonding experience. Just don’t go for a “good” team, as you’ll never understand true despair. Nothing beats the visceral feeling of seeing your team lose yet again, of holding your head in your hands as another rare effort goes crashing against the bar, of abusing the referee for no other reason than he (perfectly fairly) gave a decision against your side. But the rare moments that your team actually achieve something of note… an unexpected victory against the local rivals… a cup-run… topping the table (albeit briefly)… can - and this is why you need to choose a team of plodders and donkeys - can, when set against a season of despair or history of mediocrity, give you the greatest thrill you may ever experience. Or, pretty damn close. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179/14 "2003-10-29T09:02:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by EddyTeddyFreddy \* > \*\*Want a pastime that will consume all of your idle hours? And then some? Not to mention offering the opportunity to experience bankruptcy? > > Get a horse. 😃 \*\* Or a boat… that would be… a hole in the water to pour money into. ---
**Author:** ![DaToad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@DaToad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaToad)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179/15 "2003-10-29T14:07:30Z")
Get an old Studebaker and restore it. It will take up all the spare time you’ll ever have and will suck up some cash as well. To find a model you like go here: [http://home8.swipnet.se/~w-85663/index.htm](http://home8.swipnet.se/~w-85663/index.htm) ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179/16 "2003-10-29T14:20:33Z")
**Lobsang** , I’m insane enough to own two – a 21-year-old Quarter Horse and a 13-year-old Thoroughbred (never raced), both for pleasure riding. Since I do most of their care myself (must soon depart for mucking out on a rainy day, oh, joy, oh bliss), their ownership absorbs vast quantities of my time. I’d estimate for every hour in the saddle I must spend at least double that on feeding, cleaning, grooming, etc. :eek: But I gotta tell you, when you’re feeling down, there’s nothing like hugging your horse’s neck and burying your face in its mane, while it nuzzles your pocket for treats. 🙂 Of course, if it’s just rolled in a muddy, unmucked paddock… 😉 **picunurse** , I sometimes refer to a horse as a boat with four legs. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179/17 "2003-10-29T14:23:37Z")
Learn to tap-dance. It is way too cool to be able to do such complicated rhythms with your feet. I’ll second **LifeOnWry** ’s suggestion on doing handicrafts – my medium in needlepoint, which I can do while watching TV, but I enjoy puttering around with other little projects as well. I have a whole drawer in my sideboard filled with craft stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179/18 "2003-10-29T14:27:53Z")
You can come over and clean my apartment—it is _such. fun_. Especially the vaccuuming. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179/19 "2003-10-29T15:14:52Z")
**Lobsie** (if I may be so bold as to call you by my pet on-the-boards name for you), carpentry/furniture making (not as detailed as marquetry) might be fun for ya. Or sewing. Or cooking. Or not. What do I know? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179/20 "2003-10-29T16:36:15Z")
I think it’s time for you to get a motorcycle and see the country, whatever country that may be. Best waste of time I can think of. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-pastime-whats-yours-or-can-you-reccomend-one/210179.md?page=2)