Anyone else a serial hobbyist?

[djheater]

I just spent $75 on a CFL rebuild kit for an aquarium hood for no good reason, I'm not that interested in aquariums really.

My 4 year old daughter wanted a fish tank for her birthday (grandma has a nice goldfish tank, and she loves it). My obsessive tendancies went into overdrive and I:
craigslisted a cheap 20 gallon tank while spending hours googling info.
I've got live plants with appropriate substrate (hence the lighting upgrade),
I'm cycling the tank right now and regularly testing the nitrogen levels and ph with a testing kit.
I''ve already spent several hours looking at online livestock vendors for invertabrates and plants, and still am not satisfied, so I'll likely spend hours more.

In short I've adopted this as a "hobby" even though I don't really have a great interest. I like to know things. I'm fascinated by the language and information contained in different subcultures and like to explore it by engagement. I'm a homebrewer, comic-geek, computer nerd, gardener, and now fish-guy...

Anybody else just love figuring stuff out?

High Need for Cognition maybe?

 

[thirtythree]

I'm a serial hobbyist in the sense that I become interested in things then quickly lose interest. However, it doesn't sound like that's what you mean. Good luck with the fish!

 

[SSSnail]

Yes, and I move right on because not too many things can keep me interested for a long time. When I do get into something, I'd devote all my time and resources to it, and I'm equally quick to get tired of it as I get into it. I do have a lot of toys that I no longer play with, and they're littering everywhere, that along with ADD doesn't really help

 

[SlickSnake]

Yes, I have hobbyitis. I tend to bounce around a bit, like an ADD of hobbyists. I think it's common for people to explore other hobbies or preoccupations or time wasters or whatever it might be called.

Some hobbies I kind of start almost accidentally, like collecting snakes. I currently have 2 charming rat snakes that have personalities like Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde. But that kind of makes them endearing to me, since they act so much like I do.

I'm just not so sure I will find them quite so fascinating when they are 6 feet long and see me as a quick snake snack. :Q

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: thirtythree
I'm a serial hobbyist in the sense that I become interested in things then quickly lose interest. However, it doesn't sound like that's what you mean. Good luck with the fish!

I've got a friend like you. He sure pisses me off. Twice now I've bought stuff for his latest hobby only to use it briefly (or never). No longer will he get me to spend money on something new.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: aplefka

Originally posted by: thirtythree
I'm a serial hobbyist in the sense that I become interested in things then quickly lose interest. However, it doesn't sound like that's what you mean. Good luck with the fish!

I've got a friend like you. He sure pisses me off. Twice now I've bought stuff for his latest hobby only to use it briefly (or never). No longer will he get me to spend money on something new.

Sounds like my parents at Christmas. My interests tend to be quite specific, and I need certain items for what I happen to be working on at the time. Once I needed some Linear LT1618 buck-boost converters for a miniature power supply I was working on. Yeah, I'll put that on my Christmas list.

It usually just turned into a check for Christmas, a universal gift card.
Now any money I get usually goes to rent and utility bills. Livin' the high life now.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: djheater
I just spent $75 on a CFL rebuild kit for an aquarium hood for no good reason, I'm not that interested in aquariums really.

My 4 year old daughter wanted a fish tank for her birthday (grandma has a nice goldfish tank, and she loves it). My obsessive tendancies went into overdrive and I:
craigslisted a cheap 20 gallon tank while spending hours googling info.
I've got live plants with appropriate substrate (hence the lighting upgrade),
I'm cycling the tank right now and regularly testing the nitrogen levels and ph with a testing kit.
I''ve already spent several hours looking at online livestock vendors for invertabrates and plants, and still am not satisfied, so I'll likely spend hours more.

In short I've adopted this as a "hobby" even though I don't really have a great interest. I like to know things. I'm fascinated by the language and information contained in different subcultures and like to explore it by engagement. I'm a homebrewer, comic-geek, computer nerd, gardener, and now fish-guy...

Anybody else just love figuring stuff out?

High Need for Cognition maybe?

yup..did that for a ski jacket. spent many many hrs surfing, researching, and going to stores trying on different ones.

in the end, all the ones i tried (<$100) didnt seem warm at 30 degrees. so ironically, i ended buying a $29 ski jacket on amazon.

thinking about it, i spend waaaay too many hrs researching stuff that anything in walmart would be good enuf. why the hell do i waste all that time?

 

[ArJuN]

Deleted

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: thirtythree
I'm a serial hobbyist in the sense that I become interested in things then quickly lose interest. However, it doesn't sound like that's what you mean. Good luck with the fish!

i kind go a mixture of both. if i get into something i tend to go full bore but then might end up losing interest shortly after that.

my hobbies tend to run on the expensive side too.


i also get paralysis by analysis too, especially for expensive items.

some of the big ones more recently were:
learning to play guitar
photography
astronomy


If I can't pick up right away or can't get good at it or produce good results right away, i get frustrated and quit.

 

[tranceport]

RC Cars, Case Modding, Gardening, Jet Engines, C-band Satellite Receiving, Various computer services (this one helps with work).

I could list a few more but I won't. Maybe we all have the sickness?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I've learned to do all the research when I'm excited about something but then wait about a month before I decide whether or not to actually buy anything. Chances are by the time the month is up, I don't really care all that much anymore. It's saved me hundreds of dollars

 

[djheater]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
I've learned to do all the research when I'm excited about something but then wait about a month before I decide whether or not to actually buy anything. Chances are by the time the month is up, I don't really care all that much anymore. It's saved me hundreds of dollars

Ha. I'm not as quick to spend as I was when I was younger, but yeah, I could probably benefit from a mandated "no-spend" time, like a month.

I'm not surprised that people here have the same 'disorder' we kind of have self-selected by spending so much time on this site.

I have made myself a promise to not do any aquarium stuff today, until work is ACTUALLY over.

Wish me luck.

 

[ViviTheMage]

ohhh yeah, I know what you mean.

 

[ghostman]

Yup. Especially those that are relatively challenging. I've dabbled in:

-photography - macro stuff, DIY flash/lighting stuff, etc.
-LEDs - made a step-up circuit to power LEDs with batteries that are normally too drained to otherwise use.
-solar cooking - for a science class I teach, but also because I was genuinely interested in it.
-guitar - always wanted to learn
-piano keyboard/midi controller - to learn to read music notation.

Currently, I'm thinking about either doing some woodwork with some tools I got as a gift or buying a microscope and grow my own live cultures. I do lots of computer things too, but I don't consider that a hobby anymore. I'm always concerned I'm spreading myself out too thin across these hobbies though.

Meanwhile, I know people (mostly female) who can't think of any hobbies they enjoy doing.

 

[djheater]

Originally posted by: ghostman
Yup. Especially those that are relatively challenging. I've dabbled in:

-photography - macro stuff, DIY flash/lighting stuff, etc.
-LEDs - made a step-up circuit to power LEDs with batteries that are normally too drained to otherwise use.
-solar cooking - for a science class I teach, but also because I was genuinely interested in it.
-guitar - always wanted to learn
-piano keyboard/midi controller - to learn to read music notation.

Currently, I'm thinking about either doing some woodwork with some tools I got as a gift or buying a microscope and grow my own live cultures. I do lots of computer things too, but I don't consider that a hobby anymore. I'm always concerned I'm spreading myself out too thin across these hobbies though.

Meanwhile, I know people (mostly female) who can't think of any hobbies they enjoy doing.

Yeah, that's been my experience too. I also know a very successful guy who doesn't really enjoy food or music. I regard people like that with incredulity.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

My very first hobby was deconstruction of small electronic devices and apliances. It was a very long time before I added reconstructing to my repertoire; I skipped straight to modifying.
Drawing/painting
Video games, since video games
Models, starting with little Testors plastic glue and paints to Byron RC planes
Modifying said models with fireworks
Making fireworks!
Modifying "stuff" with fireworks
Pool, as in pocket billiards
Woodworking
Machining
Making pool cues (lol, talk about tedious)
Computer generated artwork
Computers
Writing
Video games
Leather tooling
Molding concrete
Gardening
Printmaking, lithography, etching, engraving
GEMOLOGY!