Non-nerd hobbies?

So, with it being summer here and having gorgeous weather I haven't spent a whole lot of time nerding out compared to when the weather sucks. That got me thinking, what kind of non-nerd hobbies do you guys have?

I think it'd be kinda cool to build up a knowledge base for non-nerd stuff so if anyone wants to branch out into something they know someone here they can turn to to ask about.

For me aside from being a huge sci-fi nerd, I also love shooting (right now I own 9, and waiting on the 10th to be shipped to a local gunshop), and I'm slowly getting into mountain biking and hiking again. Once I get fully moved into this area and settled into my job I'm hoping to get started doing some action shooting.

Right now, I'm starting to rediscover some of the things I love doing. I really enjoy biking and hiking. Some have called nature, "God's Cathedral".

I agree. I love nature and spending time out in the woods.

I also write fiction (most often scifi/fantasy . . . but not always) . . . and that's about it.

For my family, this has been the Summer of Minor League Baseball. We've been to see the Louisville Bats, the Nashville Sounds, we have plans to see the Lakeland Flying Tigers, and natch the Evansville Otters - my home town team. In fact, the Otters play at historic Bosse Field, used as the primary location in "A League of Their Own". We've probably been to a dozen games since the season started; we only get to go as a family on weekends.

I enjoy hiking and "exploring" in the woods. Occasionally canoeing. I've dabbled in cheesemaking.

I've been reading a lot lately I'm currently going back and forth reading Left Behind Young Trib Force series and the Alex Rider series. I'm also a big Disney geek so I go to Disneyland a lot. I also enjoy working on puzzels working out and playing and watching Volleyball

WhiteBoy wrote:I've dabbled in cheesemaking.

Blessed are the cheesemakers...

Anyway, with it being summer here, the weather sucks, so I haven't been able to do my thing which is driving my Mini and going to car shows.

And I write sci-fi too (although that probably counts as nerdy!)

I journal all kinds of stuff, mostly geeky stuff, admittedly, but these days the story structure and world-building is as interesting as the sci-fi/fantasy tropes.

I haven't kept up on it, but I've done martial arts, which is fun and good exercise.

I swing dance: East coast, lindy-hop, charleston and a little bit of balboa. A dash of ballroom here and there.

Since we're including reading, I like to read non-fiction about authors going through the process of writing, the creative process is captivating. I suppliment it by tracing the reading interests of authors I like, and follow those roots back to earlier authors. I also read history; areas of interest include: WWII, British History, Roman Republic/Empire, and something I'm going to call "threshold" history, at the edge of pre-history (I honestly don't know what it's officially called). I like doses of mythology and anthropology, too.

Also an amateur enthusiasm for Chess.

non-geek, non-geek... hmmm...

I like to bake now and then. Only really simple recipes and usually just desserts.
I like reading theology texts (currently on volume three of Norman Geisler's Systematic Theology) and books on various Christian apologetics (logical defense of the Christian faith) topics. And when I'm looking for non-geek entertainment online I usually gravitate toward stand-up comedy. (Brian Regan is my reigning favorite.)

I hunt rabbit, squirrel, and occasionally pheasant. But I haven't gone hunting this year. I also cook no bake chocolate cookies for church potlucks (mainly because they are my favorite kind of cookie and you are always running around for ingridients and stuff because you have limited time before it is over cooked.) I listen to a lot of podcasts but mostly just geeky ones.

Oh, and I go to concerts and "collect" music CDs! Just got back from the last Cornerstone Music Festival a couple weeks ago. It was a blast!

DNArington wrote:Oh, and I go to concerts and "collect" music CDs! Just got back from the last Cornerstone Music Festival a couple weeks ago. It was a blast!

How in the world did I forget about music!? I love music, of all sorts, of all kinds, of all genres, from classical and opera, to hip-hop and heavy metal, and everything in between.

Non-geek activites for me include running. I've finally gotten into it, and can now run a 5K successfully. I enjoy cooking and grilling whenever possible as well.

Drew.Rub wrote:Non-geek activites for me include running.

I'm a "tread-miller" myself, though I wouldn't call exercise something I "enjoy". (Except for the "angry music" I listen to to get me through it.) In fact my two boys have had to adjust to the crazy death-groans I let out as I do my girly "knee push-ups".

Paeter wrote:

Drew.Rub wrote:Non-geek activites for me include running.

I'm a "tread-miller" myself, though I wouldn't call exercise something I "enjoy". (Except for the "angry music" I listen to to get me through it.) In fact my two boys have had to adjust to the crazy death-groans I let out as I do my girly "knee push-ups".

Granted, with the heat we've been suffering lately, it's been easier to get in the gym on the treadmill myself. I'm up to a good steady 3 miles, and pushing for a regular 4. Matter of fact, I did 4 miles this past Sunday in preparation for my half-marathon in October.

Cool! Congrats!

Non-geek hobbies? With the heat here in Arizona constantly in the triple digits, I have no choice but to stay indoors and write, game and read. Those can be considered geek hobbies, but oh well.

Currently I'm playing through Divinity 2: The Dragon Knight Saga on my Xbox 360. Seems to be a great RPG so far. I'm also reading through the first Hunger Games book to see how similar or contrasting it is to Battle Royale. Oh, and I'll occasionally make a random attempt to get back into cooking - I took many cooking classes in high school and my wife loves it when I cook. Scoring brownie points is non-geeky, right?

Pickling. I've started pickling eggs this year, inspired by the combination of a Woot podcast, a mound of hard boiled Easter eggs, and this thread over at The Smoke Ring.

http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=481463

So far, my recipes have included:
English Pub - made with ginger, allspice, peppercorns, cider vinegar
Jalapeno Business - w/jalapenos, carrots, onion
Steak & Eggs (thanks Smoke Ring for the idea!) - w/steak seasoning, celery, onions

I'll shortly be experimenting with chili seasoning, cajun spices, BBQ rubs, and oriental spices. If the eggs in the photo look a little flat, it's because I hard poach them instead of boiling in the shell. I can't seem to peel a hard boiled egg to save my life!

Winst, I love ya like a brother, but those really don't look all that good. Do they taste better than they look?

Drew, I knew I could count on you to volunteer for the taste testing! I only lost one taster out of four on the last batch.....

Non-nerd hobbies:
breeding guineapigs (and finding cool biblical names for every last one of them)
taking loving care of my huge rabbit Shalem
writing for and maintaining the website for my caviary Desert Garden
listening to several kinds of podcasts - most about geeky topics, but also about tech, movies and "alternative news" (i.e. non-mainstream)
Singing (in a choir, and I've recently started singing lessons to learn how it's actually done )
digital photography, incl. editing the pics in sometimes playful ways
writing prose and occasionally poetry
decoupaging all kinds of materials (wooden stuff, plates & cups, but also lampshades, candles and my latest project: shoes)
designing cool skins for my gadgets (and skinning them) - although that borders on nerdy hobby I guess

Below my only poem in English so far (I usually write them in Dutch of course). Also an example of the digital stuff I do with my photos and other kinds of pic. It's called Anointed Scribe - I hope it's readable in this format.



And one of my other poems, in Dutch, but to get an idea of the graphics. It's about how we long, yearn, for our Lion Lord (subtly visible on the left) - crying out from the bleak desert our lives can sometimes be. To be clear: I'm not the actual painter/penciller/photographer in this one, I just combined some pics I found on the net (unfortunately without the original sources/creators mentioned so I can't give them the credit that they're due) to illustrate my poem. It's just a hobby of course, and it should be viewed as such.




Well, and that's just the non-geek hobbies

Don't know if anyone wants to call it a "hobby", but I have recently taken up the physical activity of running.

I've been training to complete one of the items on my unofficial bucket list; run a half marathon. So far, training is going well. Tomorrow (Sat Aug 4th) is the Evansville YMCA 5K warm up run. The Half Marathon is on Oct 7th.

Since this is my first ever attempt to run a full half marathon, would you all mind praying that God keeps me healthy and safe between now and the end of the race, and that He gives me the strength to complete the run with lots of energy?

ComiKate wrote:
And one of my other poems, in Dutch, but to get an idea of the graphics. It's about how we long, yearn, for our Lion Lord (subtly visible on the left) - crying out from the bleak desert our lives can sometimes be. To be clear: I'm not the actual painter/penciller/photographer in this one, I just combined some pics I found on the net (unfortunately without the original sources/creators mentioned so I can't give them the credit that they're due) to illustrate my poem. It's just a hobby of course, and it should be viewed as such.

Not sure, but whoever did the artwork in your image might have used Jessica Alba as their model for the woman. It's a cool pix you pulled together.

ComiKate: I checked out your site and clicked the video, thinking it might include your voice speaking Dutch. (Since I don't read Dutch, I couldn't read the page and had no idea what to expect.)

It would be fun to hear a greeting or sign-off in Dutch if/when you submit something for the podcast again!



Mindspike: I think I've seen too many horror movies with "disturbing basement collections", because those jars are creeping me out.

Paeter wrote:Mindspike: I think I've seen too many horror movies with "disturbing basement collections", because those jars are creeping me out.

Creep you out or not, the contents were delicious. Winst, when's that new batch ready to crack open? I want to try the sausage.

Paeter wrote:ComiKate: I checked out your site and clicked the video, thinking it might include your voice speaking Dutch. (Since I don't read Dutch, I couldn't read the page and had no idea what to expect.)

It would be fun to hear a greeting or sign-off in Dutch if/when you submit something for the podcast again!

Haha, will do next time!

By the way, my homepage does have an English translation, perhaps you missed it? It's two-fold:

1. Straight under the welcome ("Welkom") there is a small English/American flag with the meaningful words "click for English". You could try that
2. If you scroll down on the homepage, it has a short introduction in English, with the main menu translated, with links to pages that are already completely translated.

I haven't translated my complete site yet since I didn't know if there were even any English-speaking visitors (so what would be the point), but I might still, if there are some of you who would really really like to read it.

In all seriousness, the second part of my site, the so-called "alternative homepage" (which you can easily find once you've clicked the English/American flag on my homepage, and then click the button Home 2) leads up to the gospel by way of a parable that I wrote myself, aimed to ease non-Christian visitors slowly and gently into the Story of the gospel. It has a little test, and even some minor fantasy elements; it might be nice to read - if I ever translate the rest of it, that is

So, if people are seriously interested in reading this thing in English, I'll make it a point to translate the other pages the coming weeks.