I'm am artisan maple syrup maker. I build all of the machinery and make maple syrup.
this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2025
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Is hi-fi audio and CD collecting a fun hobby? I love it even though everyone I've talked to about it couldn't care less it seems xD
If you’re amused amd having fun, I’d say so!
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Mine's a bit more than a hobby, basically a second career path at this point, but I'm a professional fire and sideshow performer. I love it.
Sounds fun! Do you ever get nervous before a performance?
I don’t see why they’d be nervous, when their performances are always lit.
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Depends on the gig. It's more likely if I'm doing a large gig or a new act, but overall not really
You know the joke, My real hobby is shopping for my newest hobby ...
I picked up the guitar again after 24 years. $10 thrift store nylon string classical, set a goal to learn a full song, which is something I never did, and then I'd buy an electric which is something I wanted but never got. I went with Nirvana - About a girl, and honestly think it was a bit too easy so I'm going to bump up the difficulty to also singing at the same time, something that really stumped me all those years ago.
I also make noise art so already have a large selection of guitar pedals and amps ready to be very loud.
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I recently took up lock picking as a hobby. It’s fairly cheap (you can get a beginner pick set from Covert Instruments for $25) and it’s fun. It helps me disconnect from screens and I slow down a bit. You can pickup a bunch of used padlocks and practice on those, or you can buy practice locks online for pretty cheap.
Yeah, I've gone down that rabbit hole before. It can be very, very relaxing...but also insanely frustrating when you find a lock you just can't seem to get.
Well, it's on my mind because I'm missing it lately. Haven't had the stamina to do anything in weeks.
And, tbh, the degree to which I'm able to do it is way below what I used to, and what I wish I could.
But martial arts. I mostly miss the weapons based stuff nowadays, what with getting too old to hit the ground and get back up fast lol. But I miss that stuff too. Up until fucking covid, I had been back training as my body and that of my teacher's allowed. Then, for while after covid, I was teaching a small group of kids. When that had to stop because of school needs (except my own kid), I switched to mostly solo stuff.
But between my body deteriorating, having extra stuff to do that's higher priority, I just can't do it like I want. Most weeks, if I get in a total of an hour fucking around with something, it's a good week this last year.
Back before Christmas, I had some time where I could use my stamina for that almost exclusively, and it was fun. Just fucking around, doing knife and cane practice a few times a day, maybe twenty minutes at a go. Then I fucked my back up doing something unrelated lol. Mind you, it's always fucked up, but I pulled a muscle on top of that.
And that's the sucky part of passing fifty. Even ten years ago, I would be better at this point, and I was disabled then too.
Could be worse though!
It could always be worse and it's good to remember that. I'd love to spend time exercising, but I just haven't figured out how to make it fit/work...but that is a self-fulfilling cycle.
Just started learning how to play the ocarina today! It will take some time until I'll be any good, but I'm hoping to have fun while learning.
Ocarinas are loads of fun, and then the next step, once you've mastered them, is to use the ones without the fipple like this one:
Or, alternatively, the multi-barrelled ones with multiple fipples:
Both have their charms and frustrations.
Well, those two are certainly ones to blow, alright
Fipple! Fipple, fipple, FIP-ple. That’s great. I want an ocarina now.
Nice. I've got a ukulele that I've been learning to play off and on for several years.
Archery is pretty cool, and kayaking and stealth camping are recent faves.
Riichi Mahjong. Got a local club that meets every wednesdays, I finished 2nd in our league standings last season.
Riichi Mahjong
Huh. TIL.
I'm trying (and currently largely failing) to learn seal carving. I'm also translating a bunch of little-known games into English for broader exposure.
If you are a reader at all, I want to recommend the novella "The Emperor's Soul" by Brandon Sanderson. It's a fantasy story where the magic is all based around the carving of these types of seals, that are then called soulstamps, and used to alter an object's history. So for a very basic example, one might carve a seal that indicates, "I am a chair, I have always been a chair," and whatever other signifiers make up the soul of a chair, then you stamp a trash can with that seal, and if it's good enough, it overwrites the history/soul of the trash can and it becomes a chair.
Or don't, this hobby just instantly reminded me of that book though.
What material do you carve in?
Stone. There's a particular kind of stone similar to soapstone that's prized for this, but the really hardcore can carve in granite or agate or the like as well.
Cheaters use those little rotary tool things, but I'm going old school with chisels.
Nice. I sometimes come across some stones that feel like vert firm, compacted sand. Very stable, can hold its shape, and easy to work with tools like pen tips and wire. But it will shatter if dropped, or if it suffers a good impact.
The stones I'm practicing with need a really sharp and solid chisel to work. And I have no idea how people get those straight, clean lines with them!
You can buy a good handpan on Temu for like 100$. Incredibly easy to learn and very satisfying to play!
Look for Kurd tuning and around 45cm size and avoid tongue ones (one with holes) and you'll have a blast, especially if you have an edible or some acid.
Why avoid the tongue ones?
They're a bit worse overall. The tongued ones are easier to manufacture and tune but somehow that also means the quality is just worse in general. It also has a bit of this metalic tone which is harder to play nicely but you can hand cover the holes to manipulate the sound as an advanced technique. Also tongued ones are better played with sticks rather than hands so the instrument just feels different overall and smacking the handpan with your hands (thus the name) is much more fun.
That being said, tongued handpands are still cool and can be very flexible though for first handpan I'd go with the traditional one.
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Had to google it. Then upon seeing it, I had to youtube it. I might have to buy one for my wife
it never goes out of tune either so you can just store it somewhere and keep it for special ocassions with no hassle!