HN Explorer

Ask HN: What are your hobbies?

46 points by kcindric ↗ HN
Inspired by the post about being 35, confused in life and without a purpose a lot of folks talked about how they find joy in life through their hobbies. I would like to know what are your hobbies! I'm currently selling a lot of equipment I used for music production because I find it hard to sit in front of a DAW and produce after a 8 hr workday in front of a computer.

84 comments

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chrisaycock
Traditionally: fencing

Now: golf and squash

I was a fencer for a long time. I've even competed on the national circuit in the past. Ever since the pandemic though, I've looked into other sports. So I've recently started lessons in golf and squash.

I spend most of my day in front of a computer, so any kind of social or athletic outlet is a must for my sanity.

pyrrhotech
Running, reading, gaming and algotrading
victorstanciu
I build and repair bicycles: https://tegowerk.eu/posts/bicycle-repair/
kcindric
That was a great read, thanks! In my town we have a volunteer bike repair shop that is only open on Thursday afternoons and it's one of the mosz wholesome places out there.
prosaic-hacker
As I mentioned above I teach IT for $, I fix things for fun(not bicycles, yet?) Satisfaction ROI much higher fixing. Tears of joy for a rewired glazed pottery lamp they made themself 50 years before From teaching :tidbits from Admin, occasional complements from students.
kif
Lately I’ve had an increased desire to learn things. Usually I’d be gaming or watching tv shows, now there’s so many shows to catch up on because I apparently like learning. Maybe I was depressed — I don’t know.
kataklasm
That put a smile on my face. That's good to hear, friend. Have fun in your newfound learning journey. Take care!
ketanmaheshwari
Long walks. Reading Technical books as leisure (reading Michael Kerrisk's Linux Programming Interface now). Brewing teas and coffees.
resonator
I have many. Mostly woodworking, restoring old bicycles and playing guitar (delta and chicago blues).
kulikalov
Why woodworking exactly? I read about various cs engineers having this hobby surprisingly often.
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resonator
I pretty much only use hand tools and I construct things using traditional joinary. It is challenging on a lot of levels. Finding a design that works, the joints you choose, the order you alter each piece of wood and the skill in which you weild your tools.

It's hard. There are so many ways to get it wrong and it's obvious when you have. It's usually a fixable when you or cheap enough to do again, so it there is low pressure except from yourself to be good.

The basic skills are highly transferable so it makes sense to invest in yourself.

I find this combination suites my personality. I've been doing it for 7 years and love it just as much as when I started. Probably more.

bladegash
At least for me, I like wood working for many of the reasons I like engineering - I like building things! One aspect of wood working I really enjoy is how peaceful it can be, in that it can get you away from your phone and other electronics and requires pretty significant attention/focus at times (e.g., using a saw, chiseling, using a lathe, etc.). It’s also really cool to have something to show for and that is functional when you are done (my first project was an 8 foot picnic table).
chillpenguin
Reading, Guitar, Piano. I used to go to the gym a lot too before the pandemic disrupted that hobby. I've been meaning to get back into it.
prosaic-hacker
Day Job: Training Programming and Sysadmin (between 500 and 1000 workdays till retirement) Hobbies: Repairing thing for others to save money and not throw out stuff too soon (rewired lawnmower battery for $50 instead buy new $500 mower. working for 3 years, untangled badly knotted fine link gold chain,melt value $40 retail $250) Breadboard circuits for amusement not a side hustle. Wado Karate : Stopped formal classes 10 years ago(just life). Just repeating the training positions and katas I know to make sure the joints don't go bad on me. Might try Tia-chi in retirement.
specproc
Painting miniatures for tabletop gaming, and almost no tabletop gaming.
alifbae
Making music, DJing and Production
bhub
Family, brewing beer, lock picking, repairing stuff (which ties in with learning new things), cooking.
LandR
Hiking & photography mostly.

The photography I'm not very good at, but I enjoy it and I'd like more time to do it available to get better at it.

vgeek
Best way is practice. The photo per day challenge makes you accountable. Plus it is a reason to go places you otherwise wouldn't.
alar44
Or people can just enjoy things in an organic way. I'm tired of "challenges". It's ok not to practice something every day. We don't need to be constantly working on ourselves. It's ok to just be.
kataklasm
Seconded.

I too call photography one of my hobbies and when I started out back then (it's been 7 or 8 years now) I'd run into creativity blockades all the time. So I did what most would do and took to the internet, especially forums, which told me to just do the 'Photo a Day' challenge for a year straight. Well, suffice to say it just made me feel even worse about the hobby and nearly made me sell my gear back then because it just drained every bit of creativity I had left.

My anecdotally-based advice in this situation: take a break, put your gear somewhere it is easily accessible and in arm's reach but, most importantly, out of sight. You don't want to be reminded of it every day if you need a break. For me it went so far as to me selling every piece of photographic equipment I owned which wasn't a smart decision financially but after two years of not shooting at all i suddenly had the urges again, bought all the necessary (and none more) gear and got back to it, better than ever before!

Long rant, point being: take a break when you feel like it. Hobbies are just that: hobbies. They shouldn't feel like a job, you (hopefully) already got that covered; don't make it one.

And lastly: have fun with whatever you deem fun, don't stress out too much :)

vanilla_nut
- reading (in particular, I love long, epic series, which keep me from having to decide on another book when I finish one)

- bicycles (repair, improvements, and, more importantly, touring/getting around my city)

- coffee, in particular espresso

- writing, though admittedly I haven’t produced as much fiction as I’d like

- hiking

- running

- DIY repair, from laptops to ovens to dishwashers (or maybe I’m just cheap?)

- building out and managing my music library and self-hosted streaming setup

kradeelav
design manager in the day job, I consider playing with tech to be a hobby.

otherwise - reading, drawing, gaming (almost exclusively on nintendo consoles).

kcindric
What are your favorite Nintendo consoles and games? I'm thinking of buying a Switch for the exclusives but I'm wondering if Steam Deck will provide good enough emulation for the Switch.
kradeelav
thanks for asking! :) I'm a little old school; the nintendo gamecube (mine's still working) would be my favorite for the tactile quality and games that don't try to make an addiction habit out of your attention. I do have a switch though, and there's plenty of indie offerings along with their main titles. Can't go wrong with Fire Emblem for strategy-and-story, Super Smash for sensless fighting fun, and Zelda for the exploration.
davidwparker
Fitness:

- Trampoline wall

- Aerial Straps

- Handbalance / Handstands

- Calisthenics

- Breakdancing (though not as much since Covid)

Reading way too many books

Creativity:

- Making chocolate truffles

- Making ice cream

- Slowly introducing myself to Kintsugi

- Watercolor

I also like to work on side projects and I wanted to get into Pixel art and making music, but I agree with OP about it being hard to sit in front of the computer after being in front all day for work.

powersnail
Job: Programmer

My biggest source of happiness comes from playing the violin and listening to music. I tried getting into making electronic music, but I too hit the wall of not wanting to sit in front of a computer anymore after workday. That's why I like the violin's pure analog-ness: absolutely raw and crude, no abstraction, no interface, fret-less, zero-config, no knobs to be _fiddled_ with. You sound as good as you can control your muscle.

Cooking is both a necessity and an absolute joy.

I also read books for entertainment (and for learning English). I especially like reading good prose aloud, and feel the rhythm of the language. And I sometimes write short stories.

At times, I hike with my SO and friends.

I also jog, but only for the health benefit. It's a torture, but the lesser evil compared with my nascent obesity.

f0e4c2f7
I'm not very musically inclined but I really enjoy playing with this little device as a way of making electronic music without sitting at my PC.

OP-1 https://youtube.com/watch?v=yuXq3gBQ0dI

squarefoot
Very powerful, but the pricing is insane. With a lot less money one can buy a full keyboard synthesizer plus a multi track recorder. I don't think that portability alone can justify that price tag.

Examples: https://www.thomann.de/intl/yamaha_mx61_v2_black.htm https://www.thomann.de/intl/zoom_r20.htm And I didn't choose the cheaper ones.

Also, for those into diy electronics, check out the Electrotechnique Tsynth at https://electrotechnique.cc

Demo here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCA2L7CeWSE

kataklasm
Just like user f0e4c2f7 said in the sibling comment, I'd advise you to check out hardware synthesizers if you are looking to create electronic music without being in front of a monitor. Maybe take a look at Teenage Engineering's Pocket Operator line, a bunch of synthesizers in pocket calculator size. They are extremely limited but if you know how to work them they can create suprisingly complex tunes ranging from hip-hop beats and R&B to industrial and hard techno; and of course everything in between.

Currently I am toying around a lot on an Elektron Model:Cycles, a roughly Letter-sized FM-Synthesizer (Frequency Modulation) box that harnesses great potential, much more than I can dream of using right now; but it's a journey, right?

Beware, it's easy to fall into the rabbit hole of modular synthesizers because they allow the maximum degree of control, meaning full, over the sounds you can call into existance.

kcindric
I'm not powersnail but I'm the OP - I tried going the DAWless route and bought myself a synth and a drum machine/sequencer Digitakt. Generally I enjoyed the process but I still feel it's too much of a programming approach to creating music which made me feel fatigued too fast (after a workday). I'm genuinely happy playing an 'analaog' instrument like a guitar without an aim to creating something, just fiddling around.
kataklasm
Totally understand your viewpoint, sometimes I do feel the same way. It tends to feel a lot like programming because in a sense, it is. It can feel very deterministic and absolute, especially when you are fatigued and stressed out from work/studies. Sometimes you have to take a step back and reconsider what is possible. If handled the 'right' way (there is no right way, just what sounds good to the creator) you can create some quite unexpected stuff, almost feeling like you are distancing yourself from the absolute, deterministic and hard-edged nature of it.
jeffreygoesto
Keeping a Triumph Spitfire 1500 from 1978 in good shape and driving it (best tour ever were 18 passes in the alps in 3.5 days). When I did not have kids I went on sea kayaking tours. A bit of guitar (I'm really bad, but it's fun and relaxing).
howenterprisey
juggling, piano, learning how to draw, editing wikipedia, biking, hiking, running, reading
mrfusion
Pickleball! Give it a try. Like tennis with all the worst parts removed and a gradual learning curve so you’re always having fun.
mmierz
Combat sports. Right now I train judo and armored combat (I.e. fighting in full armor with blunted swords and axes)

As a side benefit this forces me to stay fit. I find few things as motivating as knowing there’s a set date in the near future when I will be locked in a ring with someone who is going to try to hurt me

A lot of 30-something programmers like jujitsu since is has the same competitive aspect and a little bit of danger without the heavy impact and attendant risk of brain injury

guidoism
Meta: It’s so awesome how many of these hobbies are essentially free these days. For example,

You already have a computer and all of the best languages and libraries are free so programming is now free.

You already have a quality camera on your phone and you don’t have to buy film and have it developed and print it on physical paper so photography is now free.

So much of the world’s literature is now available online for free, sometimes not-so-legal, but if you live in a poor country or out in the woods reading is free too.

If you want to learn about new hobbies or watch others do then beautifully then YouTube has amazing videos to watch. More than you could consume in a lifetime.

What a time to be alive!

cliffwarden
My hobby is hobbies! I'm notorious for picking up new hobbies all the time. For me the enjoyment is diving into something as a beginner and building up a basic mastery. Normally, at that point it get a little bored and move on. Granted, i do not feel like a master of anything i pick up, but i feel like i have a grasp of the basics and enough to more fully enjoy the topic. For example when i was really into photography i took it to the level of building my own dark room and developing my film/prints. For me its all about the learning process and not necessarily even the end result i care about.

Current obsessions - Leather working - Watching making / repair

Prior hobbies - kayaking - homebrew (beer) - making bread - lock picking - various electronics - photography - knitting - welding - every programming language ever - wood working

If you are interested in any of these i'm happy to chat you up

jsnodlin
What exact welding machine would you recommend for someone that has never done it before but wants to build a significant structures (a greenhouse, bunk bed, work table etc.)? What YouTube channel or books/other resources do you recommend?
cclark00
I would suggest finding a community college or hardware hacker space like The Crucible in Oakland, CA to take a class. Nothing like hands-on instruction and having the machines set up perfectly so you can concentrate on your skills and get immediate feedback.

A MIG welder is probably easiest to learn. I haven't watched YouTube videos but see there are many. Learn to Weld by Christena is a popular beginners book. Have fun!

jsnodlin
I have a lathe and CNC machine and want to make a clock from scratch out of brass. Do you have a specific design you can recommend? What additional items do I need (I assume an indexing wheel for the gears)? I know of clickspring, was looking for something a little bit simpler.
AdamJacobMuller
Same!

> homebrew

> making bread

> lock picking

> photography

> every programming language ever

> wood working

Never really done knitting, and oddly i'm not a huge fan of electronics work (I seem to burn myself every time I pick up a soldering iron) but I've done each of these to varying levels!

Started brewing Kombucha as well in the past year or so, that was something fun to brew which I can drink a lot more of than I do with homebrew beer since I don't drink that much anymore.

MandieD
I’ve learned a lot of textile arts to a “basic mastery” degree and moved on - wasn’t a waste, because I now better understand and appreciate things I see in museums and old churches, and a lot about the economics of pre-industrial/early industrial Europe, especially women’s work. For example, learning how to make bobbin lace, hanging around the old ladies whose mothers actually still got paid (pennies) as girls to make lace at home, making a few Christmas ornaments and visiting a bobbin lace museum [0]. Now when I see elaborate old lace around an altar cloth… Someone put hundreds of hours into that! And probably just got enough money to keep eating! Certainly not enough to actually wear lace like that!

[0] general museum info: https://www.museen-abenberg.de/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-315... awkward gallery of amazing artifacts: https://www.museen-abenberg.de/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-312...

kataklasm
My 'day job' is being an engineering student so I'm kinda short on time and energy as well.

Currently my main hobbies consist of riding bicycles (fixed-gear, singlespeed), analog large format photography, bouldering, and hardware synthesizers making mostly hard techno/industrial tunes.

I am saying 'currently' because these do tend to vary over time, sometimes some of them fade out, others take their place or maybe the others take over their spot. Hobbies are somewhat fluid for me and I think this is beneficial for me as it prevents hobby burnout somewhat, I found.