Yeah, board games. We like researching them! Buying them! Putting their pieces in little bags! Taking things out of the bags! Writing about them!
I feel like our other threads; writing, gardening, cooking, music, etc. are a little quieter than they used to be.
So, coming up for air. What other hobbies? Interests? What else do you collect? Past, present, or even aspirational is fair game.
With my childless colleagues, I usually joke that I have kids, but thatās wearing thin given theyāre 7 and 11. More importantly I know thereās some of you here with younger kids with waaaaay more needs than mine.
Anyway, most of my other pursuits are mainly solitary affairs. I quite like reading contemporary Sci-Fi, I tried the older stuff and well itās of itās time. Always after recommendations, currently reading Children of Memory.
I own a switch, specifically to play Nintendo exclusive titles such as the Mario platformers and Zelda games. Still need the newest title of both though!
Other than that I am a man of faith so church takes up a non-zero amount of time. Iāve found myself in a position of taking the lead on all things PA for that, so that also takes my time. Itās fun to come up with creative solutions for a shoestring budget.
Most of the other things I do (3d design and print, computers, books, films) have their own threads. I;m currently sharing a house with two excellent cooks, one of whom Iām married to, so I donāt do much of that at the moment, and I havenāt had a batch of homebrew work since I moved here. Donāt know whatās going on with that; every time, the primary is fine, but when I pitch the yeast for secondary it just sits there in the bottle. Itās not getting infected, it just dies. Oh well.
In recent times some of my other hobbies have lapsed a bit.
There is more: yoga, skiing, traveling, bicycling, metal music. I would have NO trouble at all filling all my time with hobbies.
Cricket, NFL, Stand Up, eating, cooking
Will possibly add to that when Iām less tired!
Add āsleepingā at the very least
Being a parent means most of my free time and energy is spoken for. But it does come with some sub-hobbies, such as ābeing furnitureā, ābeing playground equipmentā, āhaving headachesā, āhugsā, āasking questions that nobody should have to askā, e.g. āwhy are there 5 different shoes here but none of them match? Why is their glitter in the light fixture? why is this sticky? whatās the smell?ā
I used to have a whole bunch of computerized hobbies; but working on a computer all day has basically zapped that. But I still do a fair bit of home network and home lab stuff (home lab virtualization). That dovetails fairly often with my amateur programming hobby, where I write about 200 lines of a new program and then it sits on my harddrive for 8 years before I go back, read it and think to myself, āWhat idiot wrote this?ā.
Iāve also dabbled with 3d printing a bit, something I want to get back to. But itās sort of on hiatus because the area I had my 3d printers setup is a storage/stating area while we reorganize the garage.
Speaking of reorganizing the garage: thatās mostly to make room for two things: our minivan (sure would be nice, especially in cold weather) and my woodworking workshop. I used to design (in an old version of SketchUp) and then make things out of wood. I havenāt really done this since my kids were born; at first because of the noise of running power tools in my, then, basement workshop, and since moving, because the portion of my garage that was designated for my workshop has been filled with boxes like it was some sort of storage locker.
Iāve also done a bit of print-and-play for board/card games, as well as some insert/organizer work; but a lot of that is on hold until I get more free time and/or tools. Last Christmas I got a Cricut machine (computer-controlled Xacto knife, like a CNC); Itās neat but the software is trash and the computer interface proprietary (or, at least, not supported by a 3rd party library that you can plug into other CAD/CAM pipelines)
In my very lazy freetime (which is pretty often), I watch YouTube videos. Iāve cultivated, over the years, an eclectic variety of channels that I watch. A poker vlog, an offroad recovery company, a couple of automotive fabrication channels, a few hobby machinists, a few woodworkers, a music theory/popular music expert, a minecraft letās player, an language/etymology channel, a hobo, a travel vlogger who makes a lot of content about trains/trams, a covert camping/camping challenge vlogger, a Farming Simulator letās playerā¦ and others. Also plenty of solo board gaming, of course, as well as general boardgame channels.
Iāve given up on keeping up with all of them, though, and Iāve fallen way behind because Iāve been more active in my other hobbies recently. When the new baby comes in March, Iāll probably revert back to YouTube-watching as my primary hobby outlet.
Letās seeā¦
I play video games, though not NEARLY as much as I used to. I started Persona 5 Royal in 2019 and have yet to finish. I should, itās SO good. It just takes so much timeā¦ Maryse and I have started a Super Mario Bros. Wonder game, thatās always a great time.
I listen to a lot of heavy metal and Iām enough of a geek about it that it counts as a hobby, LOL.
I read a lot less than I used to. Used to be big into comic books as wellā¦
I started watching wrestling again (AEW only due to time constraints, and not live at all).
I started Brazilian Jiu Jitsu again back in April after three years on the couch (there was a plague going on, donāt you know). Got my second stripe on my white belt last week. Iām improving!
I collect spores, mold, and fungus.
Okay, not really (though this year we had some odd mushrooms growing in our front yard for the first time ever. No idea why).
I feel like most of my hobbies have kind of dried up. I used to be a voracious reader and video game player. Now Iām lucky if I finish maybe a dozen novels and all of four to five games in a year. I like to draw and occasionally dabble in it, but nothing really focused for years now. I like to paint miniatures, but havenāt raised a brush in over six years. I canāt even keep up with television shows anymore. And even board gaming, while probably my most practiced hobby, still does not get all that much of my time.
Once upon a time I practiced kendo, iaido, and even further back, archery, all of which Iād consider picking up again if I had the time and I didnāt always feel exhausted. I have some Gundam models that I need to get to, as I used to have fun assembling those, and I also enjoy putting together LEGO, and have some sets that I could build, but I have nowhere to keep them once they are assembled at this time.
Funny enough, over the past number of years I learned that I enjoy karaoke, and feel Iām actually a pretty decent singer, whereas back in the day I would have been way too embarrassed to even try singing in public. Probably just part of getting older and not caring what other people think about me. 
So, I just sing a lot in the car.
What?? Was this mentioned? Youāre going quattro?
I canāt keep track of where Iāve brought it up before or not. Girl #4 arrives in March!
Some joke revolving around multliple copies of Roads and Boatsā¦
Limiting this down to what I do currently, or will be resuming in the next year or two ā¦
I play darts twice a week for two different local bar teams. This yearās goal is to get my three-dart average up over 50 - not that unreasonable as I averaged over 46 last season but I have started slowly this autumn/winter so far. They are fun nights out, with many mixed-sex teams including some good female players, as well as some former pros and semi-pros to give us a tough challenge. Itās a sport I definitely prefer playing to watching, and get more enjoyment(?!) following various football, american football and cricket teams who I support.
I love keeping up with political news and current affairs, especially from Spain, the UK and US. My partner and I host a fortnightly Facebook video show talking about the local area we live in, and as part of that I get to deliever a brief ādeadpanā news summary so can add some quirky āand finally, ā¦ā stories to the mix from things I have found over the previous two weeks.
I quite like photography but am not really into the technical side of it. From 2025, Iāll get to resume taking stills from concerts my partner is organising, this time at a big venue further up the coast so will get to meet, socialise with and photograph a few stars from the 1960s through 1990s on stage then.
I suppose my last mention is caring for many local cats. I have seven cats currently sharing my home, my partner has eight indoors plus we feed 20 or so outdoor cats in her garden and other corners in the neighbourhood. We have known many of them for several years and nice to have them come and greet us or follow us around the square we live.
Stray thoughts came together into some categories:
The Ocean
I grew up in San Diego. Given that I now live next to a sporadically polluted river, this is a āvacation onlyā thing but growing up was sailing (Sabots, Lasers, Cats), body surfing (and boogie boarding; Iāve done the board surfing but my family is body surfers so it always comes back to that), scuba and snorkel. Aquariums. Nature specials. This also spilled into swim team and water polo but water polo is rough and JV was ok but when I made Varsity I quit a few weeks later. Too much.
Music
First was piano, then guitar. Starting in High School I led music for church until my mid thirties (fist bump with @raged_norm for the pew gang). High School was also choir, then a cappella in college (oh gosh I just checked and Iām on youtube no Iām not saying where). Tried a garage band which was about as bad as it gets. Solo coffee house gigs were easier to plan and control.
Stories
I just like stories. The medium tends to change. Books, movies, story driven video games. It goes in waves and cycles, and whatever is easiest to access. Right now its books (or nothing) with the crowded house.
Making
Whatever I love, I want to make. I like music, so I try to write music. I like stories, so Iām writing. About 12 years in and Iām literally looking over at the last 50 pages of my last draft and I canāt get to them. Before Christmas? Thereās been disruptions. I also like building legos. Designing games or solo modes which are mostly in notes form as once I get to the mocking/playtesting stage I donāt have the raw time for the iterations. If I have time for this now, itās the book.
Parenting / Physical Therapy
As with all the other parents of young kids here, most of these have dried up. Video games stopped when I got married, as I could literally feel the eyes boring into my back when I tried to play. I donāt fully understand why she dislikes it so much. Similarly, the guitar has dried up since I donāt have a quiet place to play undisturbed. Movies and books will pick up again once bedtime becomes standard (youngest is 6 months, maybe three more months to do it?).
Parenting basically becomes your hobby when the kids are little. With my kids, Iāve also been taking up all kinds of physical therapy - feldenkrais, integrative manual therapy, traditional manual therapy, movement therapy, anat banielā¦ at this point some of her therapists have offered me a job. Despite the five years of ātrainingā Iāve had now, the proper degree would still take three years of school, and more time to replace my income, so itās not going to happen, but itās just how far into this thing you get. I think this is a hobby, or at least a side hustle by now.
Iām not doing music anywhere either but performance art still needs its place. My wife goes a bit batty reading Aladdin for 50 nights in a row, but I slip into the role and feel like Iām rehearsing and perfecting a performance. Working the cadence and intonation each night, nailing that one sentence, etc. I donāt know if Iām any good, but engaging with the process keeps it fresh
Collecting
I do like collecting. When I was a kid it was bottle caps. We have a good coin collection (Europe was a lot more fun before the Euro). The most expensive thing I collected was guitars, and I got up to about 6 at peak. Coasters turned into a homebrew Skull. Movies and books, if I like them I want to own them.
*
Out of all that, modern day its physical therapy and writing. If/when the world opens up again Iād like to finish my game designs. Get back into fighting shape. Work through the list of movies Iāve written down. Iām itching to pick up the piano or guitar again.
Even longer term, Iād really like to live next to some water again.
You recall Iāve got three. Weāve got to have a family summit somewhere in Kentucky.
I donāt know what the joke is. He just needs a fourth copy to keep up.
Edit: Roads & Daughters & Boats.
This happened for me as well. And weāve talked a bit about it. My partner tends to have hobbies that can be done while sitting near a TV thatās on. Knitting, crocheting and, recently, jigsaw puzzles. I donāt fault her for that; itās how she was raised. And, admittedly, my family spent most of their time watching TV than doing anything else, but Iāve learned to despise TV, especially the modern television drama mini-series format (which, I admit, is currently one of the best formats available for telling complex stories with nuance).
I want to be doing something with my brain and with my hands. And, normally, I find TV/movie drama too emotionally exhausting to watch (this is something I had to develop a vocabulary around because for the longest time I just felt anxious when watching serious TV shows and movies). Naturally, as a teen growing up in the 90s, video gaming became that for me.
But the problem, I think we discovered, was that video games are demanding and isolating; she didnāt want me being in a different room, and if she wanted to tell me a story about something that had happened that day, she didnāt want me to have to somehow signal that my attention was freed up.
Also, I think there was some amount of envy involved; feeling unsatisfied watching TV while I was genuinely enjoying whatever game I was playing.
Oddly enough, board gaming sort of came around as part of this: a way to get away from my computer to spend some intentional time with my partner. But, these days, we never get a chance to play board games together because sheās usually too exhausted and just wants to watch TV.
Yes I used to do this! Accents and everything! (the trouble was trying to remember what accents I used last time. My wife thought it was odd that a mer-people in a particular book had Welsh accentsā¦)
Like most people so far, being a parent (and because of wifeās Long Covid fatigue, often a more or less single parent in a lot of things) has meant that I donāt have a great deal of spare time.
Butā¦
I have started getting into DIY and have been trying to do the odd thing around the house. Iām not sure about getting TOO ambitious because weāre hoping to get an extension done and donāt want to do stuff that will get replaced before long! I also do some woodwork although that has gone by the wayside a little.
I assume the box lid for Roads & Boats acts as babyās first crib in the pillbox household.
I do like the 6-8 episode miniseries, especially as in the earlier days of streaming the whole series would arrive at once. This allows you go at your own pace. Of course the way itās going now is 3 episodes upfront followed by a weekly drip to get subscriber moneys. Iām too lazy to figure out how to sail the high seas so miss anything that isnāt on my current subscription(s).
I should add TV to my hobbies, but I donāt really think of it that way. Like what has been mentioned, itās the thing I do when I need to be ready to drop it quickly, or am too tired to engage in other things.
Iāll add proper journalism. I have a standing subscription to Private Eye, for those not familiar with it, itās a fortnightly journal known for it provocative covers and satire. In all that though is some excellent journalism thatās happy to go after anyone, both good and bad.