I consider myself one of the really lucky ones, because one of my favorite hobbies is also my day job: writing. I get to make stuff up for money. How cool is that? But because it is my job now, sometimes it starts to feel more like work. When the words don’t flow the way I want them to, when my characters misbehave, when the plot doesn’t work… then writing feels like a serious drag, and I’d rather do almost anything else than make myself sit back at that computer and pound out more torturous words, one by one by one. That’s when my other hobbies can save the day.
Side note: I didn't include anything specifically about Harry Potter in this post (for once, LOL--well, except for the movie photo...), because Harry doesn't fall under the heading of "hobby" for me, that's more of an obsession. An upcoming post on collections might have a few references, however...
Reading is one of my very favorite activities. I’m not sure
if it qualifies as a hobby, exactly, but it definitely takes me away from the
daily grind. I have my favorite authors—JK Rowling, Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, Nora Roberts, and Celeste de Blasis to name a few—and I reread them often. I also
love discovering new favorites. Now that I have a Kindle, that’s gotten both
easier and harder. There are so many low-priced ebooks that I can gorge on
books without breaking the bank, but now my To-Be-Read pile is ginormous!
Sometimes I start to panic that I’ll never make it through the books I already
have stored on my Kindle, never mind all the new ones waiting out there, and
will miss an undiscovered gem lurking in the list. But then I think, Nah. I’ll
get through them all. I read enough that I know I’ll catch up one day! And in
the meantime, I have a slew of awesome books to keep me company.
Movie watching probably falls into the same not-quite-a-hobby
category as reading, but it’s another love, and something my family and I do together a lot. I love action-adventure movies, romantic comedies, animated films, mysteries, and big block-buster films like the Bourne movies, The Avengers, Sherlock Holmes, and Star Trek. I’m not as into the classics. I do
love Gone With the Wind, West Side Story, My Fair Lady, The Wizard of Oz, and
others like those, but I’ve been told by friends who are
very much into the classics that my movie tastes are hopelessly pedestrian and
my film appreciation education is seriously lacking. That’s okay, though. I’m
happy with my popcorn flicks! Just don’t try to take me to a horror or slasher
movie. I have terrible nightmares and am liable to get sick from the gore. Ick.
Another favorite hobby is scrapbooking. I got hooked on it
when my family and I lived in Wisconsin. We had an amazing scrapbook store not
too far from where we lived, and they offered a lot of fun classes, plus the
store was well-stocked with all the coolest gadgets, papers, stamps, and
stickers, everything a scrapbooker could want. I don’t want to think about the
amount of money I spent feeding my habit in that store—and many others—over the
years, but suffice to say I will never need to buy another single item to
scrapbook every photo and memento currently in my closet, plus those yet to
come. That won’t stop me, of course—there’s always something new! But we’ll
just keep that between us and leave my husband and my checkbook out of it.
These days, I don’t get to spend too much time scrapbooking,
mainly because our three cats won’t leave me alone any time I try. My scrapping
center is in our loft upstairs, and the furballs have commandeered my paper
trays as places to sleep (I’ve covered the trays with beach blankets to protect
the papers), and as soon as I break out any materials, they’re all over
everything. Until I have a space where I can scrapbook behind closed doors,
that’s a hobby that is going to have to wait. That’s a problem, because I’m
already so far behind I’ll never finish.
In my youth, I was a dancer and a cheerleader, and I still
LOVE to dance. Now that my husband and I are old fogeys, and his schedule is
unreliable, we don’t have much opportunity to go dancing, but I still spin around
my family room when the mood strikes. Someday, when the hubby is retired and
can keep a regular class schedule, we’ll take some ballroom or swing dancing
lessons. I also love to swim, but
Music is an important part of my life, as well. I love to
sing, but since I could make a living by being paid not to, I try to refrain
from singing in front of other people. Alone in my car, though, I rock out with
the best of them. Since singing was never a viable option, I became a band geek
in school. I started off playing the violin in third grade, but it wasn’t my
instrument (to the immense relief of my poor parents.) After that, I took piano
for a few years, which I enjoyed—and still noodle on once in a great while—but
it wasn’t until seventh grade that I found my instruments: the flute and
piccolo. I played all through junior high and high school, as well as in college,
and even played for some of my friends’ weddings. I don’t have a piccolo any
more, but I still play on the same flute I’ve had since I was twelve. I love
it.
I’ve mastered a few online obsessions—namely Castleville and
Spider Solitaire. I had to quit both of those cold turkey, as I was doing
nothing but playing pretty much 24/7. Now I try to avoid online games as much
as possible, because I do get sucked into them so easily, but I'm active on
Pinterest. It’s a time suck, too, but I rationalize the time I spend on the
site as being productive because I have found several new recipes and a whole
bunch of organizational tips I’ve put to use, not to mention the makeup and
hair tutorials, the health and safety tips… Eh-hemm. Yes, I know I spend most
of my time pinning Harry Potter related items, shoes, tiaras, and other forms
of bling, but still. Those recipes turned out really well!
So those are a few of my favorite hobbies. Now it’s your
turn—what do you love to do? Tell me in the comments!
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