Friday OT: Surprise hobbies

[CysRage]

Happy Friday Fanatics! It is hard to believe we are just over 3 weeks from another Cyclone Football season. Besides following ISU athletics, what are some hobbies you enjoy that your fellow posters may not know about.

I'll start, I enjoy musicals. I have seen at least a dozen shows at the Civic Center over my life but saw my first NYC broadway show in 2022 and it was Iowa's own "The Music Man" with Hugh Jackman as the star. It was awesome seeing a star on the screen perform in person a show rooted in Iowa and now he is back in the news with the "Deadpool and Wolverine" movie.

Another defunct hobby that I am looking to start back up is retro video gameing. We moved last year and all of my old retro game systems are still boxed. I still have a Nintendo Wii and I might bust out the Zelda Collector's edition for Gamecube that has all Zelda console games through Majora's Mask. I am looking to setup a section of my garage with a TV and Wii/N64 setup. Anybody selling Mario Kart 64?

 

[Cyclonepride]

Avid reader. I read every night whether I'm sick, hammered or whatever for the last I don't how many years. I alternate between history and fiction to keep it fresh.

I love golfing. If left to my own devices (and healthy), I'd golf every day. As it is, I get out 1-2 times a week.

Archaeology nerd. I love watching any show about it. It was my passion growing up and what I wanted to do for a career, but I just didn't think there was enough opportunity in the field to try it.

Movies/video games/board games

Dogs. We have 3 pups, and I never thought it would be a life goal to provide a carefree life to my dogs, but here we are.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

I glanced around my house this morning as I was leaving for work.

I am apparently an avid collector of dust.

 

[CysRage]

I glanced around my house this morning as I was leaving for work.

I am apparently an avid collector of dust.

There are more dust collectors out there than you think! We also are collectors of dog fur

 

[Al_4_State]

I don't know that there's anything all that surprising about my hobbies, but just general outdoor recreation is my main hobby. Mountain biking in particular has been at the top of my list for about 5 years, but I also really enjoy road (paved trail) biking, hiking, and kayaking/canoeing. Living in the Driftless Area gives me fantastic access to all of those things in my daily life, without having to fight a lot of crowds in the process.

My wife and I love to travel to places that are within an easy day's drive that have these kind of options too. In the past 5-6 years we've hit the Black Hills, Ozarks (NW Arkansas - not the lake), Cuyuna (northern MN), Door County, Hayward/Cable WI as well as lots of days just going places within a 2 hour drive (gets us well into Wisconsin, down to Dubuque, or up to the Twin Cities). I love going somewhere new and exploring the area. Parks, restaurants, bars, breweries, etc.

 

[Angie]

I like to do creative stuff as a challenge! Photography is sort of my longest love. But during the pandemic I picked up embroidery for a while, cross stitch, decoupage, etc. I made coloring books for the Ames human relations commission last year and commonly do them for Christmas gifts. I love to travel and plan trips! Music is a passion.

 

[CRcyclone6]

I collect Starting Lineup figures from 80s and 90s. I have 150 in my collection. Mostly Dodgers, Vikings, Lakers. Plenty of misc players as well, including a couple of Jeff Hornacek.

 

[JP4CY]

Boating. While fun with kids, kids activists do limit how much we're able to get out.

 

[CysRage]

I don't know that there's anything all that surprising about my hobbies, but just general outdoor recreation is my main hobby. Mountain biking in particular has been at the top of my list for about 5 years, but I also really enjoy road (paved trail) biking, hiking, and kayaking/canoeing. Living in the Driftless Area gives me fantastic access to all of those things in my daily life, without having to fight a lot of crowds in the process.

My wife and I love to travel to places that are within an easy day's drive that have these kind of options too. In the past 5-6 years we've hit the Black Hills, Ozarks (NW Arkansas - not the lake), Cuyuna (northern MN), Door County, Hayward/Cable WI as well as lots of days just going places within a 2 hour drive (gets us well into Wisconsin, down to Dubuque, or up to the Twin Cities). I love going somewhere new and exploring the area. Parks, restaurants, bars, breweries, etc.

It is a bit further than 2 hours from NE Iowa (I think that is where you are) but I would highly suggest checking out the Indiana Sand Dunes off the South Shore of Lake Michigan. We had a great time hiking the dunes and enjoying the views of Lake Michigan. If you have the time, do the whole Lake Michigan loop through Wisconsin, upper and lower Peninsula Michigan, then Indiana (obviously there is an Illinois section of the lake but it is much more urban). There is a TON of great hiking, beaches, and mom & pop shops and restaurants (especially the more northern you go on the loop). If you enjoyed Door County, I would highly suggest going around the whole Lake.

You have already hit a lot of the areas I would have suggested otherwise.

 

[JP4CY]

I do have to mention probably seeing ISU @ away football games. I've got the Big 8 covered, most of Big 12 minus the really new ones.

 

[Clonefan32]

I started collecting whiskey 3-4 years ago and my collection is somewhere around 70-80 bottles now. Definitely a Covid hobby that stuck, and the wife even enjoys looking for rare ones when we are out and about.

 

[Al_4_State]

It is a bit further than 2 hours from NE Iowa (I think that is where you are) but I would highly suggest checking out the Indiana Sand Dunes off the South Shore of Lake Michigan. We had a great time hiking the dunes and enjoying the views of Lake Michigan. If you have the time, do the whole Lake Michigan loop through Wisconsin, upper and lower Peninsula Michigan, then Indiana (obviously there is an Illinois section of the lake but it is much more urban). There is a TON of great hiking, beaches, and mom & pop shops and restaurants (especially the more northern you go on the loop). If you enjoyed Door County, I would highly suggest going around the whole Lake.

You have already hit a lot of the areas I would have suggested otherwise.

The UP is very high on my list of places to get to next. I've heard good things about Indiana Dunes, but have just never felt compelled to check it out for whatever reason.

 

[Dandy]

Still into gaming as I age into my mid-30s.

 

[Al_4_State]

I do have to mention probably seeing ISU @ away football games. I've got the Big 8 covered, most of Big 12 minus the really new ones.

This (as you well know) was one of my favorite hobbies before my job made it impossible.

ISU road games are an absolute phenomenal time and I couldn't recommend it more to any Cyclone fan who enjoys traveling.

 

[JimmyChitwood]

From a young age I have enjoyed collecting blow up dolls.

 

[JP4CY]

This (as you well know) was one of my favorite hobbies before my job made it impossible.

ISU road games are an absolute phenomenal time and I couldn't recommend it more to any Cyclone fan who enjoys traveling.

Yep!
We are scoping Utah this year and maybe Ku @ Arrowhead.

ISU travels really, really well.

 

[CascadeClone]

I've taught taekwondo for 15 years now, 4th degree black belt so technically a Master.

Sometimes the time commitment is a drag, but class is usually fun. Only thing is once you start teaching, you work out less yourself, so I feel kind of like a slacker and less capable than I should be.

The reward is really seeing kids grow up, and gain confidence in themselves. There's no self-esteem or self-confidence more real than when you learn to DO something challenging.

 

[MJ29]

Writing and reading are my two main hobbies. I read at least five days a week. I don't find as much time to write now that I have a kid, but I'm trying to MAKE time because I do really miss it.

 

[Gonzo]

I've started collecting (and wearing) tshirts that were worn in movies and TV shows that I like. Not the actual shirts that were worn in the films, obviously. But you can find replica print versions of most of them online pretty easily. So far in my collection I have:

- Spicoli's "Colt 45" shirt from the final scene of Fast Times at Ridgemont High
- the "I Ate a 96er" shirt John Candy won in The Great Outdoors
- a long-sleeved "Ampipe Football" tshirt from All the Right Moves
- the "Surf Nicaragua" shirt Val Kilmer wore in Real Genius
- a "Camp Northstar CIT" shirt worn by the camp counselors in Meatballs
- the light blue "Win Rocky Win" shirt from Rocky II
- a "Rose Apothecary" shirt from Schitt's Creek
- a white "Welton" hoodie from Dead Poet's Society
- the shirt with Richard Pryor's face on it that Jonah Hill wears in Superbad
- the Michael Scott Fun Run shirt from The Office
- the Stovington Eagles shirt Jack Nicholson wears in The Shining

Many more on my running list.

 

[Sousaclone]

I'll add a small wrinkle for someone you know with unexpected hobbies. Two examples that always make me smile/laugh a little still:

1. We had a general superintendent who was this old-school, massive, angry, stereotypical German/eastern European. (came over from Germany when he was really young). Big guy, was a laborer and mason in the trades, turned bright red, had a wicked temper (was good at controlling it), etc.

I was sitting at a table with him at his retirement dinner and it turned out his two retirement hobbies were RC race cars and watercolor painting. He was actually pretty good at it to based on the pictures he showed me. Talk about an unexpected hobby. The RC cars weren't a huge leap, but the watercolor thing blew my mind for some reason. Although we did all get a laugh at the thought of him trying to put in tiny little screws in the cars and holding delicate little paintbrushes with fingers the size of sausages.

2. The other great was an old crusty ironworker superintendent (he was probably 70 at the time) making a comment that he was glad that the next day was most likely going to be a rain out because the new Call of Duty was coming out and he wanted to play it (this was round 2010-2011). We laughed for days imagining Al in an online match absolutely trash talking a bunch of kids online. All we joked about was some kid making a comment about how they slept with somebody's mom and Al responding with something along the lines of yeah, well I slept with your grandma.