Odd Hobbies

[inkbloom]

Do you have a favorite pastime that's a little outside of the norm? Something you do that makes you happy that others would consider odd or silly?
Of course you do! You're all furries!
But aside from that, I would like to hear about your weird hobbies and odd activities.

To offer myself up as first tribute, I enjoy scrolling through housing listings in my free time even though I am not looking to move. Sometimes I will go on the swankiest realtor website I can find and search by most expensive, critiquing the design choices of the wealthy while simultaneously dreaming of what I would do with such lavish surroundings. Or I will peruse the antique homes catalogs, looking for that perfect farmhouse or cottage on the coast that I could summer in if only I had the expendable income. For awhile I was googling old churches for sale, fantasizing about total remodels to make those holy buildings into beautiful living spaces.

My friends have teased me for it, saying that it would just make them more depressed about their own situations, but I find it fun and relaxing. It's fun to see what is out there and imagine all the "what if"s.

 

[kittyfuzz]

I think any hobby/activity that makes you happy and doesn't hurt yourself or others is great.

I have a tendency to collect things. I have always felt unfulfilled if I don't collect something. Right now I collect bird feathers, interesting nature finds (rocks, seashells, seeds) and video games (I have a huge collection and haven't even played half of them). I would collect action figures, books and comic books if I had space. I get a lot of flack for wasting money on these things. I don't know if these are strange hobbies or not.

 

[aomagrat]

I have a nice collection of gas station roadmaps, some of them almost a century old. I like comparing the old maps to what exists today. Seeing a gravel road on an old map where a six lane highway is now somehow fascinates me. I also like to read the yellow pages in old phone books. Businesses long gone, fascinating!

 

[Tacoshark]

Got a few but will start with the animals I keep. Most go for the cute and cuddly but I go for the scaly and slimy. Been keeping reptiles, amphibians and creepy crawlies for over 20 years now. I connect with these animals far better than any cat or dog. What I have right now ranges from chameleons to pythons to beefy tegus and sleek monitor lizards.

 

[Simo]

Do you have a favorite pastime that's a little outside of the norm? Something you do that makes you happy that others would consider odd or silly?
Of course you do! You're all furries!
But aside from that, I would like to hear about your weird hobbies and odd activities.

To offer myself up as first tribute, I enjoy scrolling through housing listings in my free time even though I am not looking to move. Sometimes I will go on the swankiest realtor website I can find and search by most expensive, critiquing the design choices of the wealthy while simultaneously dreaming of what I would do with such lavish surroundings. Or I will peruse the antique homes catalogs, looking for that perfect farmhouse or cottage on the coast that I could summer in if only I had the expendable income. For awhile I was googling old churches for sale, fantasizing about total remodels to make those holy buildings into beautiful living spaces.

My friends have teased me for it, saying that it would just make them more depressed about their own situations, but I find it fun and relaxing. It's fun to see what is out there and imagine all the "what if"s.

Oh, I tend to do these things as well! And also: to browse sights of art/design/antiquities aucions. Architecture, design and decor have always fascinated me...especially the stuff I'll never be able to afford.

Odd hobby:

Used to collect and restore old pinball machines, from the 1960s-1980s. Still have a few that I'm selling; of about 10 machines, will be keeping two of them. (Gottlieb's Genie and Gottlieb's Target Alpha) Just not enough room, or a way to move them...and, they are heavy. But it was a fun hobby, when we had space for them and a station wagon, to pick them up, and haul them around.

What's nice is now there's more and more collections open to the public as arcades, with vintage games, and really, the main thing I like, is playing them. Collecting was mainly a way to be able to play, at a time when it was really hard to find anyplace that had decently restored games. Now that this is changing, the need to own them is a lot less.

 

[zandelux]

old maps

Well, you know who doesn't need a map? You, because you found the secret entrance to my heart. <3

 

[Rayd]

i have lots of hobbies that i rotate in and out of all the time, but i would only consider a decent few of them "odd". i too browse real estate, hoping to one day be able to invest in various homes and businesses. i like watching videos about fishing, bushcraft camping, survival and gourmet cooking, even though i'm in no living situation to be able to do any of them. i also play basketball in my freetime, which wouldn't be too odd if it wasnt for the fact that i have no real interest in playing with anybody else, at least not yet. i also like to critique the animation and writing of cartoons in my 20's, and debate with people about stupid shit that doesnt matter for fun, like which super hero would win in a fight. i'm also a gaming masochist and achievement hunt in games, most recently being completing all the halo games on legendary solo. i also enjoy meditating to peaceful music.

yes, that's what i consider "a decent few".

i've also always had an interest in collecting various things, such as trading cards, movie props, merchandise of various media, board games, relics of my childhood, antiques, etc. - but since collecting appears to be a relatively common hobby nowadays (i mean just look at every reply to this thread), i chose not to really count it, but maybe i might as well just go deeper into what i'd consider a bit more on the rarer side of thing to collect.

having been fascinated with arcade machines at a young age, whenever i'm not poor, i plan on collecting, and potentially restoring vintage arcade machines, mainly ones from midway since they've made favorites such as NARC, NBA jam, pitfighter and many of the mortal kombats.

what makes it odd, at least in my view, is that i'm probably not exactly in the age range one would expect to want, understand the appeal of, or know a lot about vintage arcade machines, only being in my early 20's, but growing up with various arcade game collections on the gamecube, and going to lots of vintage arcades during my childhood, i've become obsessed with arcade machine collections, and marvel in the possibility that i could one day have my own.

it would also be cool to be able to build custom arcade machines for modern games, shit like this.

 

[Simo]

i have lots of hobbies that i rotate in and out of all the time, but i would only consider a decent few of them "odd". i too browse real estate, hoping to one day be able to invest in various homes and businesses. i like watching videos about fishing, bushcraft camping, survival and gourmet cooking, even though i'm in no living situation to be able to do any of them. i also play basketball in my freetime, which wouldn't be too odd if it wasnt for the fact that i have no real interest in playing with anybody else, at least not yet. i also like to critique the animation and writing of cartoons in my 20's, and debate with people about stupid shit that doesnt matter for fun, like which super hero would win in a fight. i'm also a gaming masochist and achievement hunt in games, most recently being completing all the halo games on legendary solo. i also enjoy meditating to peaceful music.

yes, that's what i consider "a decent few".

i've also always had an interest in collecting various things, such as trading cards, movie props, merchandise of various media, board games, relics of my childhood, antiques, etc. - but since collecting appears to be a relatively common hobby nowadays (i mean just look at every reply to this thread), i chose not to really count it, but maybe i might as well just go deeper into what i'd consider a bit more on the rarer side of thing to collect.

having been fascinated with arcade machines at a young age, whenever i'm not poor, i plan on collecting, and potentially restoring vintage arcade machines, mainly ones from midway since they've made favorites such as NARC, NBA jam, pitfighter and many of the mortal kombats.

what makes it odd, at least in my view, is that i'm probably not exactly in the age range one would expect to want, understand the appeal of, or know a lot about vintage arcade machines, only being in my early 20's, but growing up with various arcade game collections on the gamecube, and going to lots of vintage arcades during my childhood, i've become obsessed with arcade machine collections, and marvel in the possibility that i could one day have my own.

it would also be cool to be able to build custom arcade machines for modern games, shit like this.

Ooooh, vintage arcade games would be fun hobby! I had an Atari Centipede machine that somebody gave me, but I ended up giving it away before getting a chance to fix it. Sometimes, you can come across 'as is' games pretty cheap, or even free, and if your luck holds, maybe a few hundred $$$ will get them up and running. Also, with arcade games, even though one can now emulate them on a computer, they lose the feel of the original controls/cabinets. Playing games like Tempest, Centipede, Defender, Street Fighter, and on and on just feels 'off' to me, on other controls.

Hope this hobby works out; when I fixed up some old pinballs, it was really fun to see them come back to life, and look nice again, after spending years in a barn or garage.

 

[Rayd]

Ooooh, vintage arcade games would be fun hobby! I had an Atari Centipede machine that somebody gave me, but I ended up giving it away before getting a chance to fix it. Sometimes, you can come across 'as is' games pretty cheap, or even free, and if your luck holds, maybe a few hundred $$$ will get them up and running. Also, with arcade games, even though one can now emulate them on a computer, they lose the feel of the original controls/cabinets. Playing games like Tempest, Centipede, Defender, Street Fighter, and on and on just feels 'off' to me, on other controls.

Hope this hobby works out; when I fixed up some old pinballs, it was really fun to see them come back to life, and look nice again, after spending years in a barn or garage.

the majority of people i explain this dream to just question why i wouldn't just buy a cabinet with windows installed with a rom library on it and then i have to explain that exact thing to them. it just isnt the same, and that would especially be the case with racing and shooting games. just imagine having a vintage house of the dead or time crisis or daytona in your house.

i love watching people restore broken cabinets but i don't think i would be savvy enough to do it myself, at least not enough for me to jump into it without prior knowledge. they also need a lot of maintenance which is also super scary. thanks, though, i would have to agree that its always nice seeing these machines treated with the respect they deserve.