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What Do You Guys Do For Hobbies Or Pastime?

CopeForLife

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macaroni said:
lol codecel
that's cool, have you coded any apps? you can make some cash coding apps
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I plan to code something and elaborated it in recent zircon's thread.

Currently, work as some kind of freelancer.
 
Rudiger

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Wow I'm just going to edit your list as I do a lot of these things too.
  • Painting/Drawing
  • Playing Guitar
  • Photography
  • Learning Piano (well I already know it, need to play more often as I picked this up quickly)
  • Learning Japanese (Tsuji-land, say whaaa??) (not actively but I know a lot of Japanese people who teach me certain things and yeah enough to include this)
  • Cooking food and stuffing it in my face
  • Building furniture (again not really "actively" but I have done this from time to time and will again)
  • Writing a screenplay (I have friends who make short films and we're always discussing ideas)
  • Performing science experiments on my scalp
Other interests:

  • Fitness- weight training 4-5 times a week, running over 5k most days, swimming 3 times a week, other forms of cardio (jumping rope, stair climbing) boxing and martial arts (though I'm not actively "learning" martial arts, just have friends who show me things here and there and I spar with them)
  • Go-karting (I'm getting good at this, I'd love to be in an actual race some day)
  • Snooker/pool
  • Darts
  • Poker
  • Clubbing fairly regularly but it's solely to meet women, I must admit I'm becoming aware that the "party" atmosphere is universally bullshit, even though I do sometimes have a great night with good people
  • I regularly read about/follow: politics, more global than regional but both, history, science (albeit not on a functional or "useful" level), football, golf, tennis, UFC, poker, film (less so lately but I'm widely knowledgeable on it), music (more so lately but not as knowledgeable as I used to be) sociology, philosophy, criminology, bunch of other ology's probably.
That was fun and made me feel less boring, I probably missed a bunch of other stuff as well. Thanks Mac.
 
Rudiger

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macaroni said:
holy crap that's a lot of hobbies, nice. I never tried go-karting, i gotta try it one day it sounds fun.
I forgot to add poker, though i haven't played in a long time it is my go to "sport" on the casino floor. I'm having trouble playing guitar and learning piano, but it's fun to try anyways.
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Thanks. But I try to never just do a hobby for the sake of saying I do it. I'm thinking in particular of one guy I know who has like 300 interests, but in reality he doesn't actually engage with them, it's like he picks up a few tidbit stories from an "interest" of his that he can talk about. I swear to god it's like he's read a book on how to be interesting (these probably exist) and it's so false.

For example when the topic of UFC comes up, he would claim he's "into it" but never knows when events are on, doesn't know many fighters past the big names, and if it's been a bit of time since we last spoke about it, I know for sure the same 2-3 "interesting" subjects that he'll bring up on UFC. Every. Single. Time.

So that reminds me to never be lame like that, take an interest in something because it appeals to you. I'm not a "happiness guru" or something but I really do feel like at the end of the day, the only real fulfilment you will get is from self-satisfaction, this is not to say we can't have social traits as well, but ultimately the goals you pursue don't matter as much to people around you, and if you think that doing things will impress others and leave you fulfilled, most of the time you will end up disappointed. Even if others do care, you will never feel truly rewarded that they care enough, going down that road of finding fulfilment from others is just going to end badly.

My advice on guitar (and this is coming from someone who can play some pretty crazy things, I've only met 1 other guitarist who was better than me) is to learn on the couch. Does that sound silly? It's the best way by far for a normal person to learn it, while watching TV or films. I don't know what level you're up to, but for example a newbie learning chords, just memorise the finger shapes of 2 chords, and sit there going back and forth with those 2 shapes until your hand does it without thinking. For a lot of people new to guitar they'll learn this vital change of each chord in only a few days, in the space of watching a few films.

This is so much faster than the half hour of "concentrating" for half an hour a day, people who actively put aside time to learn guitar are more likely to get frustrated. You basically play it by ear (no "pun" intended) take the time to learn something you like, then just let yourself learn it naturally when watching stupid sh*t on TV, and it becomes muscle memory.

Also my one regret with learning guitar properly is not learning scales early on. These may seem dull, and they are, but are so important, and actually if you're up to intermediate level guitarist they're the easiest thing to learn, it takes literally minutes, but you can then sit there repeating these patterns repeatedly until it's second nature and you don't even realise you're doing it.

What you can do as well is use a "metronome" and do scales, with notes per "beat" (I don't know a lot of practical guitar terminology so hopefully this sounds right). For each "beat" you do 4 notes for example, then you progressively speed up that beat, so eventually your hands are moving faster and faster, and a lot of people don't realise this but your picking hand is actually where the speed comes from, not your left hand. Even though it looks like the left is moving at an incredible rate, it's nothing really compared to like piano or violin, it's all looking fast because it's co-ordinated with a perfectly working right hand.

Also tension in the wrists, arms, whole body actually, are vital for mastering consistency in guitar. Here is where I should be taking my own advice, because while I can play some crazy sh*t, it's not consistently, sometimes I sit down and can't play stuff I'd usually find easy. I know I have tension issues and need to resolve these but it's a bit of a bastard to work out these problems. Still though you should google about it, and you'll get some detailed ideas on why tension (or lack of) is so important and what you can do to get consistency with it.

Here's a few things I'm learning right now just to show off, although I'm not as good as this guy, while I can basically play this stuff, he's getting every note and technique 100% correct, I'd be more sloppy and inconsistent.


I've learned about half of this (skip to 1:35)

But talking about "fulfilment" in pursuing interests as before, when I play the stuff above people do react like WTF, and that's nice and all, it's not a bad thing, you put a lot of effort into something and get some praise back from it, however this is temporary. That type of "fulfilment" doesn't keep you going, it's just attention seeking really and we all experience this a bit, but what's important is having that self-determination and focus to keep yourself happy.

Lol the size of this post probably made @sunchyme1 feel queasy.
 
davesmith420

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macaroni said:
damn dude, 5hrs a day? that's fuckin nuts
i can barely play the basic chords :eek:
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Yeah lmao, when I'm into something I go really hard. Music is one of the few things I've ever been really good at. I used to play in bands but I had to quit because of my graduate studies. :/
 
Rudiger

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macaroni said:
damn that's some complex guitar stuff, holy sh*t - i could never play that kind of piece. I just want to play acoustic guitar, just basic strumming really. I play it while watching TV like you suggested and it does help; i have most basic chords down but still learning. I do enjoy it because it distracts me from everything else.
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You never know where things will take you, never say never (lame cliche of the day ding ding ding!).

A few weeks ago I started running again, not with any major intentions, just to get in a caloric defecit and get lean. From my past handful experiences of trying, I just felt like I couldn't possibly run continuously for long periods of time, even after 2 months of trying last time I still couldn't run a mile without getting out of breath. I stopped smoking and drinking, was eating right, trying lots of different things, and eventually gave up.

Then one Monday I just woke up, got out of bed, and went straight to it, I didn't make any conscious decision to improve, I just went out there, and 2 days later I was running 1.25 miles without having to stop. A few weeks on and I'm running over 90% of a 3.5 mile "triangle" back to my house, without stopping. When I get back from holidays I want to master that 3.5 mile without stopping, and move to a road further down, which would increase the distance to over 5 miles, and I'm going from there. I'm still drinking and smoking too, but it's not holding me back (though I will look at this as it surely doesn't help of course).

But once I get comfortable with 5 miles, then I can start to look at improving my time, pacing myself, form, all these things that marathon runners focus on, and I would have thought I "never" would. I just thought that wasn't going to happen, and I'd not have this focus to do that. A short time later and everything's changed (you can imagine how surprised my runner friends are to see the sudden change, considering my past efforts).

It is very possible that some day you'll be looking to learn the same things I am on guitar. It's not even about "time" dedicated to something, it's being smart with the time you spend on it. With that running analogy, for those 2 months I never got anywhere because I just had a mental block, something inside me told me this was dull, a waste of time, it's a useless unrewarding activity and I'm useless at it, and with all this negativity swirling around my mind, the breath in my lungs felt low, and I'd stop. I'm not re-born or anything now, but for some reason that Monday I stepped outside, there was nothing in my brain, I felt like I'd hit a wall a few times, and just picked myself up and kept going.

In those few initial runs I made more progress than 2 months of hard work, just from using the time I spent correctly.

Anyway if you need tips feel free to ask, good luck!
 
Rudiger

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macaroni said:
I recorded myself playing acoustic this afternoon - 4 chords with capo and i still f*** it up - i know I don't have the coordination for fine fingerwork on the guitar but i still play it anyways, screw it it's not like i'm playing for people anyways.
https://clyp.it/jj1mnegd
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Woah did you write this? It's very good, seriously.

Also I think you have high standards set out for yourself (a good thing, though), I only really heard 1 f*** up but you sound pretty comfortable playing.
 
Rudiger

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Pasbrillantebrunette said:
Is this fancy?
View attachment 58885
To me it's modest, full of silence, constricted tenderness and dignity. It's amazingly feminin whereas there are so masculin colors.
But maybe you meant something else by fancy?
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Thanks for re-introducing me to Hammershoi, it's actually been a while since images moved me as these have googling them now.

Does anyone appreciate the photgraphs of Meatyard?

Ralph_Eugene_Meatyard_Untitled_1358_67.jpg


macaroni said:
I suppose you are right, there is something to be said for exponential improvement once you start getting into something. Running is a good example - et another thing i don't think id ever be able to do very well but something i feel like i should try every day. Living in a metropolitan area doesn't make it so easy to go running outside, although i've thought of doing it in the middle of the night at 3 or 4am so there is noone around. I think that would suit me better.
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It's amazing because in a way it can feel so essentially pointless, but in the process of doing it and achieving your small goals, you feel like you've conquered so much in your mind. And in that knowledge comes the feeling that you can really learn or do anything within reason.
 
Stanx22

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- Chess
- TV shows
- Japanese manga and sometimes anime
- Youtube (The filthyfrank show, IDubbbz, lots of videos )
- Imagining things that will never happen in real life
 
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damn mac you can sing and play. and f*****g hell rudiger that shits pretty complex!

@Rudiger what music genres do you like? can you play djent or math rock super technical type stuff? (sorry, idk if what you posted is considered technical lol).

btw i never mentioned it but a while back you said melancholia was one of your favorite movies ever, ya got good taste. it was f*****g great. terrifying as all hell but thats what made it so impactful for me. i related so much to claire in the 2nd half, she represented anxiety i think. most people only focus on the other girl representing depression. that moment when she looked at the planet with the metal thing and saw it was coming closer. HOLY MOTHER OF f***. talk about absolutely f*****g horrifying. that moment was so anxiety inducing. i'm obsessed with apocalyptic stuff and thats one of the best "apocalypse" type situations i've seen

you might like the movie "seeking a friend for the end of the world". similar in being about exclusively the emotional impact of an apocalypse. also some extremely scary scenes.
 
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Exodus2011

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my hobbies:

-video games
-shows and movies
-listening to music
-walks
-cannabis
-fantasizing lol
-internet fuckery. forum posting and reading articles and random stuff online. mainly philosophy, science, and gender politics. i also love looking up fictional universes and characters, and "who would win" type stuff
-p**rn and stalking cute girls from all corners of the web.

honestly i've been wanting to learn an instrument but i feel its pointless doing it while ugly. but mac and rudi, you guys are right in that my intentions weren't geniune. i just love the ego fuel of being an admired musical virtuouso. i guess REALLY i don't want to play

also @Rudiger goes without saying but the song "prelude" on melancholia was f*****g amazing. perfectly captured the atmosphere of the movie. i love listening to it at night and deeply imagining the end of the world lol
 
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