Interests - Hobbies Besides Spanking
 

Hey Gang,

Well I can safely assume that all of the marvelous guys and gals on this forum share one interest in common....but beside spanking, what are your interests? What kinds of things do you enjoy?

I love to go to the gym and get a good workout...fortunately for me, the fitness center is four blocks from home...I'm there by 5:30 a.m. for a half hour on the bike...then on the way home from work, another half hour on weights.

Reading is a big interest....wife and I love mysteries...she's re-learning Spanish so she reads some romance novels in that language. I'm a huge history buff so any history stuff fiction or non-fiction is on the reading list.

My new bride (last March....1st anniversary is coming up) bought a new home and we're having fun (and going broke) fixing it up.

I used to have boxer dogs but two of them are in doggie heaven now and the third went with the ex in a divorce but I love to raise them...they are almost human-like.

Movies....well I could spend my next life in the movie theater....I love good flicks....especially old black and white classics.

Okay...enough about me....what do some of the rest of you like to do between spankings?????

rangerboy

In no certain order:

I like nature, hiking, and camping, and it comes out in severel different ways. I used to be a big hiker, going on overnight/multiple night treks deep into the wilderness, in addition to day hikes. An ambition of mine is to do a through hike of the Appalachian Trail, north to south. In the past 20 years or so, though, my hiking activity has been much reduced, though I still do get out a few times a year for some kind of day trip into the woods. (It doesn't mean I've given up camping, the form has just changed, as you'll see below.)

Photography is a big pursuit. The past three years I've snapped about 20,000 digital pics a year, though this past year the number will be down considerably. I do unique photos, pictures in nature that I like, events (not professionally, but ones which are part of my life), holidays, everyday living life pics for anything that we do, and more. I also have some experience at video editing and will be emphasizing more of that aspect in the future.

I love history! I wallow in history. There's almost nothing historical that I won't do: go to museums, go to historical sites, watch history on television, collect historically accurate movies, read history mags.

And then, a spin-off of this general interest is my main hobby: I'm a living history reenactor. I portray an American Civil War era (1861-65) cavalry soldier, primarily in the Confederate (Southern) army, but also the Union (Northern) army. Sarah, who is also a history reenactor, and I go to quite a few events each year at which reenactors gather, live the lifestyle for a weekend, and participate in a number of events, ranging from battle reenactments, to period ballroom dances to music of the era, to lady's teas, and more. As part of doing this, we actually put up a tent (also authentic to the period) and camp out all weekend, with a nice campfire to keep us warm while we sit outside and talk to late hours of the evening under starry skies unmarred by city lights (in most cases). Most often, though, Sarah sleeps in the tent at night while I will put a saddle blanket out on the ground by the fire and sleep there, using my saddle for a pillow. That's the way cavalry soldiers spent the great majority of their nights during the war. Sometimes, if I'm keeping a closer eyey on the horses, I'll put my blanket down near them.

A related interest that takes me over into the movie interest hobby is military history. As Sarah can tell you, whenever I'm watching TV about 95% of my time is spent on The Military Channel. And while I like to collect movies (my interests tend to be narrow rather than wide), by far the largest genre that I have are war movies. In fact, I keep them segregated to the other side of the TV console in their own rack so that they are easily and quickly accessible.

And another history-related interest that I have is genealogy. I have researched and studied my family to great depth, having pushed some lines back many centuries. I also catalog all of the living relatives, and collect stories, both great and routine, of my family. Some day I plan to write a pretty comprehensive account of my family's history and even if I do say so, it's quite an active and interesting history, from documented gunfights back in the 1800s, to a very famous name or two, to some interesting connections in history. I'm known throughout my family as the guru of our family's detailed history.

Science has been an interest from my earliest years. I buried myself in the study of science from my earliest contact through my college years, finishing with a heavy minor in biology (my original major), including significant study in human health, physiology, genetics, and virology. I significantly helped my first wife through her nursing school careers. I probably studied her courses more than she did. ;) I later landed in a highly technical career for a few years that I dearly loved and greatly miss today, in the nuclear field. I still stay in touch with it today, browsing bookmarked sites that discuss aspects around nuclear energy generation, reactor physics and operations, heat transfer and energy transformations and cycles, and more. I love astronomy and the stars. I can walk outside and recognize and name most of the constellations, and point out and name many of the stars in the sky, as well as know the history behind them, the myths and how they came by their names, and what they meant to the ancients and those who came before us. When I was a kid one of my dreams was to be an astronaut, and I pursued that dream avidly until my eyesight started going bad in junior high school. (I read the entire set of World Book encyclopedias when I was a kid, sometimes staying up late at night to do it. That may have been a big contributor to my bad eyes!)

I used to be a voracious reader, consuming the materials mentioned above, as well as hard science fiction. However, my life has become so busy that there just hasn't been time in recent years, so I confine most of my reading to hard history or current news. I'll confess to a little quirk. I keep reading material in the seat beside me on the car. I hate sitting at traffic lights, or in a traffic slowdown, and so keep something that when the car stops I can pick up and make good use of my time with. I've read through several books this way. I usually do this with history books, reference books, or a foreign language book because they can be taken in smaller bites without losing much of the context of the story.

I have been working for several years to learn a foreign language. I have a collection of books, shorter materials, and audio resources that I can listen to on an MP3 player while driving to help advance my mastery.

I like classical poetry. I have many poems memorized, so that I can "read" them at my leisure at times that are particularly appropriate. For example, I've been camping, as noted above, and have watched a gorgeous moonrise come up over a body of water. When it does I can recite aloud the words from Longfellow's Hiawatha's Childhood, which contains:

"Saw the moon rise from the water,
Rippling, rounding from the water,
Saw the flecks and shadows on it..."

Or when at one of my events, the stirring words from Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade, or when considering the impact of war Sandburg's Grass, or McCrae's In Flanders Fields, or Seeger's dark I Have A Rendezvous With Death, or when thinking about the passages of life something short but meaningful like Stevenson's Requiem, or when deeply reflecting on the meaning of life and it's transience Shelley's Ozymandias, or ... ok, I got carried away with that one. Don't be worried. If we ever meet I won't hit you with a bunch of poetry. I almost never share it with others. But I will say that having it in your head for recall and enjoyment without being tied to the written page gives it a depth, meaning, and fulfillment that cannot be achieved otherwise.

And, finally, of course, there is THIS special interest! :D But, of course, you knew that.

Now you can see why Sarah might get exasperated from time to time living with me. ;)

And if that was way more than you wanted to know, I apologize.

Other Interests
 

Whooaaaaa.... RG,

You've got a ton of interests. I love poetry too... I especially like Alan Seeger...ah, he died so young. Did you know that was Pete Seeger's (folksinger) uncle?

You must love Band of Brothers....one of the greatest war movie series of all time.

I'm very interested in the Spanish Civil War....I've even met a few of the vets...all in their 90's now.

You've got a full and rich life my friend.

rb

I started collecting comics in 1979. I still collect today, though I'm trying to quit. It's too expensive at $3 an issue and my apartment just doesn't have enough room for them. My favorite writers are Frank Miller and Peter David. And yes, I'm looking forward to seeing Ghost Rider in February.

I have a PS2 and a Nintendo Wii, but I hardly ever get to play because of my work schedule and the amount of time I spend here online ;)

I get my exercise through pilates. It works :) Been doing it for four years now and I'm closer to a six pack than I ever was in my whole life. If i could lay off the 2-liter-a-day Pepsi habit, I'd be there by now.

Congrats folks. We now have 800 members on this site. :)

[QUOTE=rangerboy;2160]I especially like Alan Seeger...ah, he died so young.

Yes, he was one of three famous poets to die in WW1, the other two being John McRae, whom I mentioned, and Joyce Kilmer, who wrote, among other works, Trees.

Not a clue! I'm glad that you told me that. I forget which battle -- I think it was a minor action within a larger campaign--but Alan Seeger died during a charge in an attack, probably from machine gun fire. Given the content and nature of his poem that I mentioned, it makes the poem even more meaningful for me.

You've got that right! It's just absolutely outstanding. It's in my collection, of course. I would love to see a work of that quality do the same thing with a Civil War regiment, i.e. trace it's entire war history, from formation through the end of the war.

Isn't that an interesting conflict? It seems almost lost to modern consciousness regarding history, I suppose because it was so quickly historically overwhelmed by the subsequent WW2. Yet, it continued to have ripple effects on the development of Spain after WW2 all the way down to our times. Another war that has been almost completely buried by the conflagration of WW2 is the Japanese action in Asia, principally China and Korea, in the 1930's, resulting in the puppet state of Manchukuo. Who knows about that now? Yet, it still affects politics incredibly today, with the animosity and political friction between China and Japan resulting from it still causing diplomatic flare-ups that make our daily world news.

Thank you. I think so. I like being me. Our mutual interest in this little hobby that brings us together on Gary's board only makes it richer. :)

I have many interests, and often hop from one pasttime to another, trying out different things. I like painting, reading, writing, and sewing, but they come and go. I do Mary Kay for fun and a little extra income. Currently, my favorite pursuits include hiking, cooking, yoga, and doing puzzle magazines or crosswords.

Interests
 

Adelina,

Crossword puzzles??? I love to do crosswords!!! One of the best I've seen is the one run every week in "American Way" the inflight magazine of American Airlines. I used to travel a lot on business and always looked forward to working that puzzle.

The New York Times puzzle is WAY over my skill level but the local Dallas paper runs a couple of good ones on weekdays and three on Sunday....in fact we're ice bound here in North Texas so.....I think I'll go sit by the fire and work a crossword.

thanks for posting

rb

I'm more of a sudoku person myself. I've gotten really good at doing the difficult ones.

Sudoku
 

BV,

Never heard of sudoku....just Googled it.....wow...looks difficult. I'll bet you're good at abstract thinking and math....I'd think one would have to be to work those puzzles. I'm gonna try some of the easy ones and see how I do.

My wife was teasing me yesterday....."How is it that someone who thinks he's so smart is so lacking in common sense?" Hee Hee......wish I had a snappy comeback for that one.

rb

like RG i am an avid backpacker. i have hiked sections of the appalachin trail many times but not all the way. our country is so beautiful but you have to be willing to find it. as i age i find myself doing less of it though <frown>.

my inside hobby is computer graphics. i love photoshop, illustrator and layout programs. i loved it so much i majored in it. unfortunately after 9/11 i was laid off too many times and forced myself back into school. i got a science degree in medical technology and enjoy it. very stable job because most of us want to live, right? should always have a job. and i still love video games, the technology is amazing.

finally i am way into sports. my gf hates it because i'll watch almost anything except the NBA. i hate it. i played division 1 baseball as an undergrad and may have gone somewhere if not for two elbow surgeries. after the second one i was done. please if you have kids do not let them throw curveballs until they are in high school. it killed my arm.

finally finally, i am addicted to the television show 24. it's like crack. i have all the seasons on dvd. season six starts tonight and can barely contain myself. i'll be watching. will u?

Vice

Wow...I hadn't heard of sudoku either (sounded like some sort of bondage thing hee hee), but it's a logic type puzzle! Oh fun!

I adore logic puzzles (my fave)...so now I've been off happily playing sudoku online...although just easy ones and apparently I'm about 5 times slower than the average.

Well, I'm new to this site, but this looks like a good place to jump in. :D

I adore word puzzles/games. I absolutely love Scrabble and Yahoo Literati, and also crossword puzzles. Nowadays, I am more into Sudoku, simply because I have easier access to it. The campus newspaper prints one Sudoku game daily so I grab a copy one my way to class or work.

I also love cooking. I'm constantly trying out new recipes. I hate cleaning up the kitchen or doing the dishes afterwards, so my boyfriend gets stuck with doing those. :D

I'm also an avid reader; mostly romance and mystery (or a combination of both!) novels. I enjoy reading self-improvement books too (influenced by my mom; she's in that line of profession) and have tons of them.

Other than that, I also love bowling, movies, and photography.

But my favorite hobby, absolute, absolute favorite (next to spanking, that is), is traveling. I've been to almost every state in the US, and also visited Australia, as well as a few countries in Europe and Asia.

I think I covered everything. :rolleyes:

Oh, and hi everyone. Nice to see a few familiar names, and looking forward to get to know the rest. :)

Ahhh...that dotty just needs spanked!

DOTTY!!!!!!!!!!

You made it, girl! :)

Incredibly glad to see you here.

Is Batman going to join us?

I hate the interest question cuz it never seems like I have any....now I know why....RG has enough interests for everyone!

Oh, iggy!

Just think of me as being afflicted with HADHD - Hobbyist Attention Deficit Disorder. I can't just focus on one thing. ;)

On the good side, it does give me something to talk about with a variety of other people.

On the other hand, the great majority of people find most of what I like to just be boring.

Dotty,

Adelina, who also loves Scrabble, is bringing her game down to the SSC in June, so she and I can play while enjoying the sun on the balcony of the chalet. You should join us!

Thanks, RG! It's good to find a new playground. :)

Batman has been quite the busy bat lately, so it's just me (for now at least).


LOL Iggy... looked in the mirror lately? :D

Oh cool! I would absolutely love to! I'm already planning to spend most of the daytime in the main cabin anyway, instead of being there only at night.

Hmmm...I didn't realize Adam West was a spanko.

Now if we got Julie Newmar to join our group, then THAT would be something!

Hey Dotty
 

Dotty,

Welcome

We few, we few, we happy few, we band of spankos, we.

rangerboy

I have! And amazingly enough it said "Dotty needs spanked OFTEN"

I know...I was shocked too! :D

:-)
 

My biggest hobby... being the cutest brat I can be...LOL

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...ess/Snoopy.jpg

Lisa's Peanuts cartoon is worth a few spanks in my book. ;)

Welcome aboard Dotty. I'm kinda curious too, who is the Batman you refer to?

Thanks for the welcome, guys.

BV, Batman is the name that my boyfriend and spanking partner goes by on another spanking website :)

Ah. Tell The Dark Knight that a comics fan is waiting on this forum to compare notes on Frank Miller etc. ;) Nice to meet you.

Dotty's the coolest! So glad to see you here! Smooches to Batman :)

I'll look forward to playing Scrabble out on the deck with you!

Hobbies and Interests
 

I know for me my top interest is music, playing writing recording arranging and Basically just entertaining anyone I can get to listen to it. I love motorcycles and Big Trucks driving. Although I can't really do that anymore because of illness I haven't lost my taste for speed. I have also found helping others to be of great interest as that is a gift that just keeps giving and giving. Recently I purchased an RV and am moving into it so that I may be able to get out and meet new people in this lifestyle and learn new techniques as well as teach older ones to the newbies. Yes, life does go after retirement.:)

Tanherhide - What Kind of Music?
 

THH,

What kind of music do you play? Have you recorded anything commercially?

I'm a guitar and mandolin picker....good enough to entertain myself and jam with a few buds....not nearly good enough to appear before a crowd of strangers.

You are right about helping others.....I would say the most fulfilling times in life are when you are living outside of yourself and doing something for someone else. It just plain feels good.

Good on you sir!!!!

Rangerboy

Tanher,

You're way too young of a man to retire!

My biggest hobbies outside of being such a good girl/angel would be movies, computers, and NASCAR.

I have faltered lately in my movie knowledge but used to be the go to girl for all things movies....it was a requirement for work. ~smiles~

I wish i was more knowledgeable in computers....i do my best though.

My biggest hobby is probably NASCAR for now though...I have been hooked for many years.

Sherie

So who's your driver?

Keep in mind that "Jeff Gordon" is a spankable offense. ;) That guy enunciates too much.

My number 1 hobby is college football. I am a huge fan of my alma mata and former team, the Fighting Gamecocks of the University of South Carolina. But I love most all sports.

I also love running, working out, watching movies, listening to music and reading. And count me as another crossword puzzle freak. I love all types of word puzzles and trivia games. Part of my daily ritual is to work the crossword puzzle, the jumble and cryptoquote in the newspaper.

hehe guess i'm number one on the to be spanked list because Jeff Gordon is my driver.

I think that Jeff gets a pretty high percentage of the NASCAR girls for fans. ;)

I have a cousin who drives a big rig for one of the NASCAR racing teams.

tsk tsk Jeff Gordon fans. ;)

I hate to put this under "hobbies" but until I get this working where I can post my own threads, this is the spot for this announcement.

Tonight (1/17) on ABC there's a sitcom called The Knights of Prosperity. In tonight's episode, the Knights wreck their cab alongside the highway. A car pulls up to give assistance. The guy driving that car is me. :D I'm only onscreen for a few seconds if I'm lucky, but "smallest acorns, biggest trees".

I've been a jeff fan ever since he was ugly though...so i'm not a typical girlie fan.

Hey RG...which team rig does the cousin drive?

Sherie