# Quirky hobbies/pastimes which you suspect only you partake in **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 27, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278 "2015-07-27T00:55:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278/61 "2015-08-05T11:31:00Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > You’d be surprised! > > Put some music with it, though. The commenters will tear you apart if you don’t have music. 🙂 Well, [here goes one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QwP9XJn_3I), not much to see but a short glimpse of a mama bear with two cubs as they crossed the road. We saw lots of deer too, but they were in the forests to the side of the road and were not captured by the camera. I made 1600km in five days around Hokkaido (driving a pink Nissan n-One, oh the shame), with speed limits between 30 and 60 km/h in most places it was a lot of driving; nice driving though, well maintained, mostly empty roads through forests and mountains. It would had been more enjoyable if I wouldn’t had been so tired all the time, the Sun rising at 4AM local time made a mess of my sleep cycle. At some point I couldn’t keep driving and stopped to take a nap. I dozed off on the seat and, perhaps ten minutes later, I woke up with my last memory being feeling sleepy behind the wheel followed now by seeing a wall right in front of the car… :eek: Nothing like a bit of panic to rouse one up. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278/62 "2015-08-05T13:35:08Z")
Lots of people do medieval re-enactment like the SCA Of those, a smaller subset re-enacts fringe cultures that had contact with period Europe - Japanese, Mongol, that sort of thing. I’m the only one I’ve ever heard of in the re-enactor community who does Khoi-khoi, though. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278/63 "2015-08-05T14:51:14Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I’m the only one I’ve ever heard of in the re-enactor community who does Khoi-khoi, though. Are you required to provide an explanation of how you got from Southern Africa to Europe? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278/64 "2015-08-05T15:11:48Z")
When I was a teen, me and a friend devised a game with chess pieces placed on a patterned rug. They were placed in a grid on certain parts of the pattern, serving as a modified chess board. We would take turns flicking a piece at an opposing player’s piece to knock it over. I think we were bored of playing Avalon Hill Feudal, and wanted a chess game with more action. I always wanted to get into Napoleonic gaming but never did due to lack of gaming budget and lack of opponents. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278/65 "2015-08-05T15:18:59Z")
I believe that [H.G. Well’s game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Wars) would be enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278/66 "2015-08-05T16:12:53Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Are you required to provide an explanation of how you got from Southern Africa to Europe? 🙂 Not required, but history [has me covered.](https://books.google.co.za/books?id=LCXghzX-lmUC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=Xhore+khoikhoi+chief&source=bl&ots=PAlv-5d67J&sig=u7yPe4nU0bQ64Ov1XK0DbiY9pMQ&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Xhore%20khoikhoi%20chief&f=false) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278/67 "2015-08-05T17:18:03Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I believe that [H.G. Well’s game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Wars) would be enjoyable. Done that. Kinda simple as wargames go, but still fun. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278/68 "2015-08-05T18:26:13Z")
a) Thinking of time in millidays and as day-of-year instead of using months; designing and using conversion tables (originally laboriously worked out on graph paper, nowadays as a computer app), using them to express date and time. This post was composed at 208.34688 using my birthday as day 1 and sunrise hour averaged @ 6 AM as the start of each day. b) Using the International Phonetic Alphabet. Another computer app in which each IPA symbol is expressed as a computer kbd keystroke (some with modifier keys) and then converted to either real IPA or XSAMPA or HTML CSS or in this case vb CSS (code that works correctly for posting in vB based bulletin boards like this one): juziŋ ∂ǝ Intɚnæʃǝnǝl fǝnɛtIk ælfǝbɛt ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278/69 "2015-08-06T00:11:38Z")
I make my own graph paper. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278/70 "2015-08-06T03:37:10Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > I make my own graph paper. Backstory? ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278/71 "2015-08-06T03:51:42Z")
I’m far from the only one, but it’s also far from a common hobby: I breed corn snakes. [Here’s a pic of my most recent clutch](https://scontent-lax1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/11752577_1627806487504595_3920258885694001339_n.jpg?oh=3d3849cd4c161bf153da05f7c8680187&oe=564DB0D8)–the genetically (well, phenotypically) diverse group hatched just last week. They are starting to have their postnatal sheds and thus first feedings now. I love it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278/72 "2015-08-06T09:01:44Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > …some little town like Gna Bone Indiana a… It is/was GnaW Bone. I used to drive through it to work - where I worked with a man who lived there. Yes, he was a bit strange… And don’t forget French Lick IN. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278/73 "2015-08-06T14:19:39Z")
I collect CDS of non-English musical cast recordings. Spanish Starlight Express or CATS? Japanese Phantom or Evita? German Wicked or Avenue Q? Got it. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278/74 "2015-08-06T15:12:15Z")
I collect, paint, and sell miniature figurines, which is a quirky hobby, but I know that I am not alone. There are, in fact, a hell of a lot of us. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278/75 "2015-08-06T17:11:24Z")
When I was in junior high, I used to design mazes. I gave it up when someone swiped my notebook and did my mazes. In pen. Badly. I’m a Wikipedia editor, but I suspect a lot of Dopers are. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278/76 "2015-08-06T17:17:17Z")
> [@Master\_Wang-Ka](#): > > I collect, paint, and sell miniature figurines, which is a quirky hobby, but I know that I am not alone. There are, in fact, a hell of a lot of us. I used to do that myself. Won a award one year. Switched to those crappy prepainted guys, so now I dont get bent out of shape when some clumsy oaf destroys one.☹ ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278/77 "2015-08-06T17:26:06Z")
Two things I did while growing up were (presumably) unique: 1. I built a scale model of Yankee Stadium using baseball cards. I used a wristwatch for the scoreboard clock. 2. I used to “race” buttons by lining up several on a ruler, then flicking the ruler and pushing the buttons down a hallway. Not surprisingly, flat buttons were predictable and round ones were random. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278/78 "2015-08-06T19:49:45Z")
I think we have a thread winner over here in the [Off Center Belt](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18579586&postcount=26)thread. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278/79 "2015-08-06T20:13:45Z")
I’m a huge fan of professional bull riding and travel the country to PBR events. I know I’m not the only one as there are lots oif people at the events but in my social and work circle, it’s considered weird. ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278/80 "2015-08-06T20:57:04Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I search Google Maps Street View to find the locations of photographs. For example, [this image](http://s2.dmcdn.net/Jp5wc/1280x720-Thu.jpg) from the new _Man From UNCLE_ movie. After a lot of searching, narrowing down countries and then cities and then recognisable landmarks, I found it was [here](https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Palazzo+Valentini/@41.896727,12.4770567,584a,20y,90h,41.58t/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x132f604d35b560af:0xb9795d4d7e020f01!6m1!1e1). I do this, also. I’m absolutely smitten by older photo postcards of houses and commercial buildings. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirky-hobbies-pastimes-which-you-suspect-only-you-partake-in/726278.md?page=5)