I just graduated optometry school and I feel like I’ve lost a bit of my identity. I didn’t have much free time to focus on the things that make me happy and now I’m lacking inspiration. I can’t work until my license is approved so I’ve had days of doing nothing since May 7. It’s been great but it’s starting to get boring; I can only play so much Zelda and doom scroll so often.
So whatcha got? What do you like to do? What are some hobbies or passions everyone has? What are non-drinking related activities to do with a partner or friends?
Have you heard of lemmy? It’s s pretty good time waster. Also, crochet, woodworking, reading, pets, duolingo, learning a fun cheaper instrument like bongos, ukulele, or cajon.
I like embroidery, baking and cooking, exercising, and jigsaw puzzles. I just started my biggest one ever – 5000 pieces. It takes up about half of our living room floor, but we don’t have a table big enough.
My husband and I play Scrabble together, and have for the past 19 years. I even made our wedding cake topper to be two people playing Scrabble. We also have a notebook that keeps up with our scores, and unfortunately it notes that I’ve been on a losing streak lately!
As a family, with our 14yo, they like to go birding (it’s not my thing), or we play cards or board games.
Art - for me, usually painting. It sucks time away like no one’s business. You look at the clock and hours have gone by.
Hiking, cycling, photography, reading, video games, chilling in a hammock, going out to eat, cooking, writing, watching movies or shows, and obsessively learning about some new hobby I will inevitably lose interest in and then pick back up in a year or so.
Man I felt that last sentence in my soul. I am constantly picking up different hobbies and dropping them. I like the idea of cycling. My husband used to and he’s been wanting to get back into it so that would be something we could do together sometimes.
I enjoy building LEGO sets. Unfortunately, I can’t afford too many and don’t have space for large ones. Instead, I buy minifigures, use BrickLink Studio to design “habitats” for them, and then buy the pieces to build these sets.
My husband loves LEGOs and has started buying the Mould King brand on Amazon. He says they’re just as good but are a fraction of the price.
I’ll admit that I’m a “LEGO snob” in that I only buy actual LEGO bricks. (I don’t look down on people who buy other brands, though. I’m not that kind of “snob.”) What I do to reduce costs is order used bricks from BrickLink. Some of the bricks look like new. Others have tiny scratches or are very slightly discolored, but are good enough that you wouldn’t notice in the build unless you really looked at them brick by brick.
Are you married to LEGO for nostalgia’s sake? We all have preferences to brands, myself included. I love that you’re also “recycling” by buying previously used sets. That’s amazing, I had no idea that existed and I’m going to look into it!
It’s more of a brand preference than anything else. That and when I design sets with BrickLink Studio, it uses LEGO parts and names. Also, I’ll go to Rebrickable to look up alternative builds for sets (or custom builds) and those use LEGO also. It’s just easier to stick with LEGO with all that.
Hiking, kayaking, swimming, gardening, and mycology! I love growing Gourmet mushies to eat, as I’m vegetarian and some of the varieties I grow I can’t get in my area easily. It’s not too hard for some basic mushrooms (blue and pink oysters are where I’d start), and it is fascinating to see the mycelium grow.
Gourmets would be so fun to grow! I did some actives awhile back for microdosing and it was so hard not to check on the tubs every couple hours. I had my eyes in lions mane at one point but never ordered any. What are some other ones you like and how do you like cook/prepare them? I’ve also wanted to get into wild foraging but need to do more research for what’s in my area and ensure I don’t bring home poisonous ones.
I love eating lions mane as well (taste and medicinal properties), also king blue oysters seem to be the most reliable strain I currently have. Lions mane can be used as a sub for crab, or you can press it for a steak sub. King blue oysters are a relatively newly bred strain, good oyster taste with maybe a hint of shrimp. I generally either fry mushies in butter with some salt and pepper, or actually follow a recipe if I’m trying anything more complex. If you are planning to grow them, the main equipment is start with is a pressure cooker for sterilizing spawn (I use a wild bird seed tek for my grain jars). Then just use hardwood fuel pellets and pasteurize them with boiling water in an autoclavable bag for when moving to bulk.
I’ve got most of those things already. I need to procure some sort of small greenhouse-like chamber to maintain humidity. For my actives, I covered my tubs with plastic bags which worked fantastic but not sure that would work with gourmet. Perhaps this will be my winter project later this year!
Should work the same, so long as you cut smallish holes on the autoclave bags the moisture will remain pretty decent. The more finicky bit is making sure there is enough FAE (fresh air exchange) as well. Would open the bags at least once a day, fan it, mist and close back. Also, not really much of a winter project, more of a late spring through autumn one.
With friends: D&D or board/card/tabletop games. Pick a night and get together every week or whatever works for everyone. Play the same game or something different each week. Settlers of Catan and Cards Against Humanity are other games that jump to mind for me.
Generally: read, write/paint/draw/model/etc., learn to play an instrument, cook/bake, learn something new via podcast or videos. Most of these things can be done with others if you choose.
Solving Rubik’s cubes ! There is always more to learn and 100s of different shapes and sizes. I have a pretty large collection myself
Pick up guitar lessons.
I actually bought an acoustic to do some self lessons on during my externship year but couldn’t commit to one thing. I guess I need some guidance on the best way to approach it. Any suggestions for YouTube channels or books to follow?
If you’re going self taught, you can’t go wrong with JustinGuitar.com. He has some great lessons and it’s all free. You can upgrade and he has paid stuff, but I’ve never done them. If you are in the right place and can swing it, take some classes. If you find the right instructor it’ll be awesome. I didn’t take lessons for years but finally sprung for them. I don’t think it’s made a difference that I can tell but my wife says I’m paying much better.
JustinGuitar is the shit for free Find a School of Rock or an instructor to on-ramp faster.
I’ll check the site out, thanks for sending it. I do have an old buddy that opened his own studio so I’ll look him up and see what his openings are like! I am a decent self learner but there is always things you can learn better with proper instructions!
Good luck dude. I’ll add one more thought…I just switched instructors and it is like a breath of fresh air and I am so excited to get after it. Not that my first instructor was bad, they were just not for me at this point in my journey.
