Ask HN: What new hobbies have you developed in the last two years? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What new hobbies have you developed in the last two years?

33 pointsnowherebeen42 comments

I got into cycling and whiskey drinking. Both are going to stay with me for the next decade.

I've started doing breathing exercises by wim hof.

Also started doing ice cold baths and now i can stay in the chilled water for many minutes without feeling any cold. It feels soóoo good.

I also feel so much happier and energetic and no longer take any meds or ssri like before.

I think wim has discovered something really amazing and I have so much gratitude that he shares this knowledge on yt.

What’s a good resource on these you’d recommend?

You could start by reading his book, which explains enough to get started

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wim-Hof-Method-Potential-Transcend/...

Youtube is the best resource to get started. He has his own yt channel with everything you need to learn.

Just type the following on youtube, "wim hof breathing technique", "wim hof cold shower", "wim hof flexibility/yoga exercises"

Focusing on life itself and what comes after it, the big picture. Reading ancient scriptures, occasional meditation, walking in nature, thinkering about the multiverse theories, post-materialist science, holographic universe, simulation theory, electric universe, time-space relativity, letting go of the ego, stereotypes and all kinds of dogma. Also, lots of physical pain and regular illness, which strangely enough helps with these kinds of things.

> Also, lots of physical pain and regular illness, which strangely enough helps with these kinds of things.

Turn your pain into art. For me, pain is the impetus for most of my art. A lot of people won't like hearing that, because they're not in pain, so can't relate. You can of course create art without having pain. It's a conundrum.

Good idea! "Great art comes from great pain". Not sure if I would create anything special, however, being able to express yourself is a bliss. Care to share anything?

Beat Saber. Anybody who fenced with a stick in their childhood is bound to love it.

I also lost more than a few pounds thanks to it.

Have you played Blade and Sorcery? It's pretty violent but definitely captures that using a stick to swordfight as a kid feeling.

I have moved beyond hobbies into METAHOBBIES. Specifically: Collecting Hobbies. I find that following my ADHD hyperfocus until the next shiny thing comes along has led to a massively diverse array of introductory knowledge and mediocre skills (as well as a garage stuffed full with bins of unfinished projects). Specifically in the last two years I have dabbled in; home automation (incl. Node Red, LoRa, MQTT on Raspberry Pi), terrariums, greenhouse climate control, making wooden boxes, Minecraft, mechanical pencils, fountain pens, notebooks, bookbinding, weather stations, Dungeons & Dragons ... Oooh look, a programming language called Rockstar? I'll finish this comment up in a bit. Be right back...

Expanding my woodworking by using a CNC and programming --- first effort is making boxes (working on the theory that all furniture fits one of two categories, a platform or a box):

https://community.carbide3d.com/t/as-funny-as-a-3-dollar-box...

which I've been documenting in a book I need to finish:

https://willadams.gitbook.io/design-into-3d/blind-miter-box-...

Listening to audiobooks while playing American Truck Simulator. It's like taking a road trip without leaving the house.

Drinking whiskey and bourbon and growing mushrooms.

Electric and gas powered bicycles. I gave up on the electric bike because of problems with the battery but definitely would get another one if I could afford to get a different brand. Right now im working on building a gas powered bicycle. I live in a small town with a not so great public transit network and don't own a car.

Virology. Having coffee in my kitchen.

What does virology as a hobby look like? Can you elaborate on it please?

This could be a joke, based on a recent, but now long forgotten pandemic.

What are your favorite whiskies? I like most Scotch (particularly peaty ones) and Rye. Don't really like Bourbon and other non-Scotch whiskies. A particular treat is Rye and Sweet Tarts. Great pairing. :)

Cooking, video games (normal for tech people but I used to never play any; I finished Spiderman and Ghosts of Tsushima, and played a bit of City Skylines and Valheim).

And I bought a car so I could do more exploring of the broader NYC metro and go hiking more easily. Lots of trips out to Long Island (Huntington, Stony Brook, Cold Harbor, and the Hamptons and Orient Point), Connecticut (Litchfield County is beautiful) and the Hudson Valley. I've visited most of the big parks in every NYC borough but I haven't been to Pelham Bay Park yet.

If you're getting into the outdoors and want a challenging (but very fun hike) check out Devils pass in the Catskills :)

Thanks for the suggestion! But I actually much prefer a low-key hike with gorgeous views (or gorgeous lake/waterfalls) to a strenuous hike.

No problem, if you're ever out West there's plenty of that! (Or at least much more than I had when I lived in the northeast.)

For e.g. near Seattle there's Kendall's catwalk and Wallace falls which are both quite easy + beautiful.

I started bouldering. I’m getting old and have started to notice my recovering times (about to hit 30) were getting longer. So I started to look for low impact sports (due to knee injury) I could still master in my 30s. I have a high strength to weight ratio and after trying bouldering I figured it was almost perfect for me .. develops torso muscles.. quick work-to-reward feedback loop and so on…

I’m planning to keep on practicing for a few years and then start Brazilian juijitsu as I get even older :)

I've been doing rock and roll cross-stitch. Keeps my hands busy during online D&D sessions. I've finished Freddie Mercury and The Ramones. Next up is Spinal Tap.

I note that you seem to prefer Irish whiskey to Scotch. Would you like to expand on which whiskies you tasted just for some inspiration? Ref. your question, I have not taken on any new hobbies but continued with the ones I was happy with e.g. mountain-biking, kayaking, tree-climbing, chess, puzzles that sort of stuff.

I am a newbie, but I meant to say single-malt Scotch whiskey. Bunnahabhain and Knockando are currently my two favorites. Both very different, but good in their own way.

Expanding my workshop where I build stuff out of wood and metal. I can now 3d print parts and cast them in metal (including gold), build furniture out of wood, fix just about anything. Started a youtube channel, so video/sound/lighting has now become something I think about. I need more time.

Metal work, and I further developed cycling as a hobby by getting serious about MTB. I started language learning as well. I started with German but switched to Japanese as I visited in 2019 and figure I may as well learn a language that is entirely different to English, rather than another romantic language.

German is not a romantic language, it is a Germanic language :)

Maybe it sounds romantic to someone but definitely it's not a romance language.

The pragmatic conjugation of the German language maybe does not lend itself to an air of romance, but yes I definitely got that wrong.

Oh boy do I feel silly for that mistake. It's there in the name.

Learning bass guitar. Building a self bow (flat bow style, low draw weight, now I need to build a better one). Not completely new, but started growing mushrooms inside (previously foraged and grew some on logs, so an expansion of that).

Powerlifting. I used to workout without any goal just bodybuilding style. Having clear goals and metrics due powerlifting helped me to progress a lot even if I'm now +40 years old, most important I enjoy it.

Racing/Freestyle FPV Drones. It's a wonderful fusion of building them, electronics, software (betaflight is open source), cinematography, and just tinkering in general.

Decided to build (and have been building) an amateur space telescope CubeSat.

It’s been one of those projects that spawns sub projects and and has overall been quite rewarding.

Cooking at home daily and got one of these desk bikes that I ride for a few hours a day. Lost 20lbs in a month after gaining my COVID 15

I play poker now. I really enjoy it as a leisure activity and I feel like it has improved my critical thinking and decision making.

Fermentation and mycology.

Indoor bouldering.

Any details on those?

I ferment beer, wine, mead, and sometimes veggies but I pgenerally prefer the vinegar pickles. I started beekeeping a few years ago so I could have good honey to make mead with. I planted hops last year and am planting wheat and barley to make truly homemade beer this year.

I hunt mushrooms, grow them on logs, and grow in bags (shiitake, lions mane, king oyster, black poplar, and trying nameko and maitake).

Like Submerged Liquid Fermentation of mycelium?

Only crossfit (no veredict yet). Thinking about trying BJJ next.

Drawing.

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