I’m sitting in the hospital room I’ve been in since Tuesday and can’t even begin to explain how bored I am. Let’s chat about anything except politics, I could use some distraction.
I collect hobbies and may even know something about your hobbies. What do you like to do?
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Does your hospital room have one of those 0-10 pain scales? I hate those!! I’m so bad at them! I need something more objective so now i use 4 wakes you up and 7 makes you teary/cry. For 10 they say ‘worst pain imaginable’ so i always think it’s like my arm was ripped off and I’m in a car fire with shards of glass. Nothing has ever been a 10.
Shattered my thigh once. Didn’t hurt too much. Until they moved me. That’s my 10 now.
Nothing else has gone above a 7 since.
It does! It’s especially difficult when they wake you up at 2am to ask.
That is a really good system, it’s going into effect immediately :)
I’m a newbie in photography. Just got a second hand Fujifilm X-S10 and Sigma 18-50 lens a few weeks ago, making time to go out and explore new places is now the harder part haha.
I love taking pictures, but I’m too lazy to carry my camera around, so I usually just end up using my phone lol
Yeah, that’s also an additional effort lmao. That’s why I was quite firm on not going full frame when choosing a camera. Weight is king after all. The Olympus OM5 and even the EP7 were also quite tempting to me before I got the XS10 (maybe they still are). So small!
I’ve been really interested in pre-colonial american history recently amongst other ancient societies. I even wrote an essay recently on the origins and meaning of the cave motif in Olmec altar thrones. In short, I believe it materially comes from the fact that the Olmecs had only relatively recently left cave dwellings and temporary housings to form the first cities in the Americas. However it also served the purpose of legitimizing the power of the Olmec rulers as caves were very religiously significant. Other mesoamerican mythologies viewed caves as a place that is close to Xibalba, the Mayan form of underworld. Xibalba was viewed as a place like earth that resided within the primordial sea through which the middle world (viewed as a creature drifting in the primordial sea) floats. Xibalba was full of people and creatures which could be communicated with and even bargained with. The shaman-rulers of Olmec society would likely consume hallucinogens and/or deliriants like Datura and then either enter or sit at the entrance of the cave to communicate with Xibalba. Knowing the effects of Datura and plants like it, this had to have been an incredibly unpleasant and probably terrifying experience. I am doubtless that the feat was considered brave. Anywho, the Olmec rulers would have a cave carved at the front and center of their throne, often with someone standing in front of it or exiting it. Fun fact: Sometimes, likely after or slightly before the death of that ruler, their throne would be turned on its side so that it is vertical and carved into what may be the face of that ruler. You can still see the scar of the cave carving on the side of the head for some of them. Here’s some pictures!
pics
I also love the Incans but I know less about them. Their textiles are wonderful though.
pics
That’s really interesting, is it just a hobby, or your day job also?
Just a hobby really but I am taking an art history class and thats why I wrote the essay. Wish I could get paid a decent living to write about it though
How did you get into that? This isn’t a very common hobby!
Honestly it was a natural progression. I got into marxism which means I got into history. So I binged a lot of history youtube and found I really enjoyed pre-colonial American history, especially the Maya. For a time I scratched that itch with youtube videos, podcast episodes, and documentaries but eventually I came to a point where videos were repeating themselves and I wasn’t learning much new. Now, I am a physics major so I read a lot of textbooks and a lot of research papers so I am used to sites like JSTOR and have access to them through my school. So now I spend some of my free time reading about these cultures.
Plenty of alternative sites if you don’t have access though ;)
I’m sitting in the airport lounge in Accra after spending a week here in Ghana.
I’ve taken so many pictures and I think this has been a life-changing journey. Before this, I used to write daily, but whether from aging or just fading desires, I’d all but stopped writing anything in the last few years. This trip has renewed my fervor for writing again, so I’m just excited to pursue my lifelong hobby writing just because I can once again.
If you’ve got nothing else better to do, I made some daily posts in an old-fashioned blog I’ve kept for a while: https://kaitco.wordpress.com/ (Maybe skip the post where I wallow in depression from Tuesday… 😅).
A week is such a short time! I love to travel, but I have to admit, Ghana wasn’t really on my radar. What’s the story behind the trip (if you don’t mind sharing)?
About 20 years ago, my grandmother built a house in Ghana near Cape Coast as a sort of legacy for her children, grands, and great-grands. It’s been on the list to visit while she was still here and also while my dad was still here, so this has been a very emotional journey. My grandmother used to spend about 9 months out of the year in travelling particularly in Africa because she always felt that it was our “true” home.
My aunt goes every other year, and I finally had the time and the means to go. It was a very fulfilling trip because this was our family home, and I was with some of my cousins, too. A week is a short time, but there is so much to see and to do, that even 3 months wouldn’t be enough time. I got a wealth of experiences though even in this short time, and now I can plan better for the next time I come here. ☺️
That’s a great story! Do you travel often?
This was only my second international trip. I travel on average about once a year for work though and occasionally see family in New York and Atlanta areas.
I love to travel any chance I get and New York is one of my favorites.
What is the plan for the next trip?
Well, I’m buying a house in this hellscape market, so this will likely be the last personal trip for a while outside of anything for work. 😅
I’m trying to get a trip to India done, though, for work, but Romania and Dubai may also be work options.
Oof, good luck with the house hunting!
Those are all on my list to visit already, especially Romania. I visited Prague recently and I can imagine how amazing Romania must be.
Out of interest, how does one “collect hobbies”? What does that involve/look like?
Basically, I get into a hobby and I do it until it is all encompassing. Then right about the time I get to where you really have to grind to the next level, I lose interest.
Cool. If you would, can you give an example?
Geocaching is one and Ingress another.
I was a hardcore geocacher for about 3 years until I realized I just wasn’t into it anymore. I played Ingress for a few years as well and just kinda burned out.
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Hope you’re doing better now! Sounds like no fun. I’ll send good vibes your way! 🙏
I enjoy gardening, cleaning/tidying things up, vacuuming, basically making everything look neat and fresh! My parents fondly remember that when I was little, I would randomly clean the bathroom and they would always remark how they knew I’d cleaned it because they could see the reflection of their faces on the tiles. I write from time to time, mostly short stories that would fall under the definition of creepypastas or horror short stories.
I also love drawing, here’s some of my work! No AI is used in my process, and you can look at the progress pictures I’ve uploaded to get a gist of my technique!
I’ve used Paint Tool SAI 1 for as long as I’ve been drawing digitally, and I honestly wouldn’t settle for anything else! It’s very lightweight and also old, but it’s a very good app for drawing.
Doing better, thanks, not out of the woods yet.
Your art is pretty amazing!
Glad to hear! Take it easy and be sure to rest up as much as you can! Also thank you so much! I’m glad you like it!
How are you doing now?
Hanging in there. I’m literally watching someone sleep. Contemplating a nap here as well.
How’s life treating you?
I’ve been doing good but slow due to the holidays.
Work is slow, you mean? What do you do?
I work in a branch of the local news or town law that registers and highlights peoples’ good deeds and contributions (think criminal records in reverse).
That sounds fun, unless you don’t have many good deeds :)
That’s the nice part about the whole thing, that there is some faith in the idea that there is potential good in everyone, in such a way that counters the intended idea of criminal records that unceasing shame deserves to be applied to those who do wrong. A large percentage of clients are people with quasi-ruined lives and we challenge that.
We need more of this in the world!
I recently went down a tornado rabbit hole on YouTube and holy crap they are wild!! Some of the videos are so beautiful and some take the style of a true crime documentary that tracks the growth and path of destruction. Would recommend lol.
It’s pretty wild seeing the path they leave behind. Just seeing a straight path right through houses, but only hitting the one in the middle is crazy.
