Other Hobbies Besides Sports?

[saltydad]

As the baseball season is slowly winding down, I wondered if anyone shares any of my other passions/hobbies. For example, I am seriously into saltwater and reef aquariums (used to be my business). I also am into gardening, with an emphasis on pushing the zone limits. In my garden I have bananas (2 varieties), palms (4 varieties), and assorted other semitropical plants that I leave in the ground year round. I also have a number of tropicals that I bring inside for the winter, such as tropical hibiscus, bougainvillea, alamanda,Desert rose, etc. Music is a constant, usually listening but ocassionally playing too. I would love to chat with folks about these other interests, in addition to my beloved Nats and Skins and DC United.

[ronnynat]

I play music A LOT....mostly acoustic. You can usually find me writing (screenplays) no matter what time of year it is. Even when I'm on here, I have my writing programs open and am switching back and forth. I am planning on getting myself to the theaters in DC more often this year. That's about all I've got . Oh yeah, sports all year round for me!

[CALSGR8]

I too like going to the Theater.  Haven't been in years!

Also Concerts.  If Bruuuuce is coming, I'll want to be there!

Craft Fair season too.

Hanging out with friends.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

We need to talk about those year-around bananas...that's wicked! 

I used to scuba dive a lot, but have not for some time due to sinuses...will need to try again.  Best dives:  Cayman Islands, BWI; Inhambane, Mozambique; Ras Mohammed, Egypt.  Also the New Jersey Coast...strong currents, murky water, but HUGE sharks!!

Nowadays I'm into skiing and cycling..I no longer race, but I do a lot of both. 

I would love to get a saltwater aquarium going...50 gals and a small shark or two ;-)
 

[kimnat]

Wow, bananas, huh?  That's NEAT!!  And Dan loves music too.  He's big into recording his own on the computer.  He loves his guitars, too.  He's into jazz and country.

Me?  You all know that I write.  But like Calsgr8, I love hitting craft fairs.  (Hey gal - we have an awesome Holiday one right before Thanksgiving at Fairfax High School!)  I enjoy (but haven't had any time for) counted cross stitch and hardanger projects, that's a type of needleweaving -intriquite petite designs.  I love to read, would enjoy baking more.  And I just have a blast spending time yapping w/ folks!  Oh and I really enjoy history.  But being a mom, I usually just run the gamut of whatever mom stuff is needed.  PTA will probably take over this year, volunteering in their classrooms, etc.  Hence lack of time for my sewing.  If I pull it out, little people tend to get into it.    Now, I also find local politics and issues to be extremely interesting.  I'm more into that that national stuff. 

[Dave B]

Snowboarding, but I guess that is a sport

[metssuck]

Music. Chess and girls. I like goin to go-go concerts. I luv go-go music. I'm also a  huge dipset fan


ANybody here a huge Chuck Brown fan?


I prefer skiing over snowboarding.

[Dave B]

Music. Chess and girls. I like goin to go-go concerts. I luv go-go music. I'm also a  huge dipset fan


ANybody here a huge Chuck Brown fan?


I prefer skiing over snowboarding.

I'm not a huge chuck brown fan, but I am going to the concert tomorrow at 930 club.  I like his music but dont listen to it enough to speak intelligently about his songs.

I skied for about 22 years and started snowboarding a couple of years ago. I like it much better.  Perhaps I got a sense of accomplishment from learning something new.  If you stick with it through the bruises for the first few days, you can get good quickly

[saltydad]

We need to talk about those year-around bananas...that's wicked! 

I used to scuba dive a lot, but have not for some time due to sinuses...will need to try again.  Best dives:  Cayman Islands, BWI; Inhambane, Mozambique; Ras Mohammed, Egypt.  Also the New Jersey Coast...strong currents, murky water, but HUGE sharks!!

Nowadays I'm into skiing and cycling..I no longer race, but I do a lot of both. 

I would love to get a saltwater aquarium going...50 gals and a small shark or two ;-)
 

As you may remember from our tailgate, I also used to dive a lot. School, family constraints, etc. have cut that to nil for now. Your dive spots sound wonderful! I mainly did wreck diving in the Atlantic off of NJ and LI, overseas was Martinique, St. Lucia, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama (many, many years ago, don't know what it's like now). Would love to one day do a live aboard for the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea. Also want to do the Red Sea at Eliat. We may have dove some of the same wrecks off NJ!

Setting up a salt tank is loads of fun. However, a 50 just won't cut it for a shark; you need to think more of 200+. Those cute little bamboo, leopard and nurse sharks get awfully big surprisingly quickly, and the nurse can take over your swimming pool! But a 50 or 75 can house a number of fascinating and beautiful fish and invertebrates. If you get serious on this let me know; I'd love to help.

[saltydad]

Wow, bananas, huh?  That's NEAT!!  And Dan loves music too.  He's big into recording his own on the computer.  He loves his guitars, too.  He's into jazz and country.

Me?  You all know that I write.  But like Calsgr8, I love hitting craft fairs.  (Hey gal - we have an awesome Holiday one right before Thanksgiving at Fairfax High School!)  I enjoy (but haven't had any time for) counted cross stitch and hardanger projects, that's a type of needleweaving -intriquite petite designs.  I love to read, would enjoy baking more.  And I just have a blast spending time yapping w/ folks!  Oh and I really enjoy history.  But being a mom, I usually just run the gamut of whatever mom stuff is needed.  PTA will probably take over this year, volunteering in their classrooms, etc.  Hence lack of time for my sewing.  If I pull it out, little people tend to get into it.    Now, I also find local politics and issues to be extremely interesting.  I'm more into that that national stuff. 

There are a few banana species that can be grown as die back perennials in our locale. A banana is composed mostly of water with some structural tissue, and the leaves and the pseudostem (what would be a trunk in woody plants) die back after the first hard frost. But the plant grows back from the extensive root system. You trim them down to about a foot, and mulch them with leaves to about 2 feet. The cold hardy palms have to be mulch protected also, but it is possible to save part or all of the leaves with more extensive protection (wrapping, Xmas lights, etc.) until they are established (more than 3 years in the ground). I love it to see a 10 ft. tall banana plant in my backyard in Maryland! And there is a stand of needle palm at Brookside that is decades old (see pic below I took the other day with my Mom at Brookside). A pic of one of my bananas and juvenile palms is also attached.

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[Nat of the Living Dead]

Writing/Screenwriting, reading, baseball card collecting (year round), deer hunting, independent filmmaking, theater work.

[saltydad]

Damn, keep them coming guys. We have some really fascinating, ceative folk on this board!

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

that is amazing!!!

There are a few banana species that can be grown as die back perennials in our locale. A banana is composed mostly of water with some structural tissue, and the leaves and the pseudostem (what would be a trunk in woody plants) die back after the first hard frost. But the plant grows back from the extensive root system. You trim them down to about a foot, and mulch them with leaves to about 2 feet. The cold hardy palms have to be mulch protected also, but it is possible to save part or all of the leaves with more extensive protection (wrapping, Xmas lights, etc.) until they are established (more than 3 years in the ground). I love it to see a 10 ft. tall banana plant in my backyard in Maryland! And there is a stand of needle palm at Brookside that is decades old (see pic below I took the other day with my Mom at Brookside). A pic of one of my bananas and juvenile palms is also attached.

[2k6nats]

Fantasy sports, golf, tennis, basketball. In the winter, It's pretty much working and being holed up in my house playing video games

[JMW IV]

Video Games and Watching Movies is pretty much it for me.  nothing exciting or exotic.

[nospinzone1]

Video Games and Watching Movies is pretty much it for me.  nothing exciting or exotic.

HOW ABOUT PSYCHIATRIST? BARTENDERS ARE GOOD AT THAT.

[WSHNATFAN]

base jumping and knitting

[tomterp]

I like outdoor sports, such as spin / fly fishing, canoeing, bicycling, hiking and camping.  My son joined the boy scouts this past year, so I end up doing a lot of those things just to support his troop's activities. 

Like Salty, I like keeping fish, but I'm a freshwater guy 100%.  I have a 75 gallon with mostly South American species of fish, and live plants.  My son and I also keep a 55g native fish aquarium.  Unfortunately, he brought back a couple of tiny little catfish (without my say-so) when visiting his grandparents, and now these tiny little catfish have completed the process of eating all our nice shiners and other native minnows, and are about 7" long and growing.  I'm not sure what the end game is here.

[tomterp]

base jumping and knitting

All your base are belong to us?

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

end game=breading and a skillet?

I like outdoor sports, such as spin / fly fishing, canoeing, bicycling, hiking and camping.  My son joined the boy scouts this past year, so I end up doing a lot of those things just to support his troop's activities. 

Like Salty, I like keeping fish, but I'm a freshwater guy 100%.  I have a 75 gallon with mostly South American species of fish, and live plants.  My son and I also keep a 55g native fish aquarium.  Unfortunately, he brought back a couple of tiny little catfish (without my say-so) when visiting his grandparents, and now these tiny little catfish have completed the process of eating all our nice shiners and other native minnows, and are about 7" long and growing.  I'm not sure what the end game is here.

[tomterp]

end game=breading and a skillet?

LOL, I have threatened such.  I'm gonna give them about 4 more months, but then.....

[kimnat]

Movies...ahhhhh, what fun. Give me a good old Cary Grant or John Wayne & I'm happy!

[NatsAddict]

I can't walk past a bookstore without making them declare dividends.  I do a lot of research, but also like the thrillers and the comical Florida mystery novels.  I'm convinced Triggerfish Twist is based on my neighborhood.

I like to snorkel and golf.  I play golf in a way that more resembles comedy than any sport.  It does have its adventures, as the only life-threatening injury I've ever suffered was a subdural hematoma when I got hit upside the head with the flagstick while putting.  I see golf as a social event, and used to play over 200 rounds a year.  I've cut way back over the last couple years, though, and really miss it. 

We travel quite a bit, and I love to cook.  For Christmas several years ago, my wife enrolled me in a culinary school.  I'm not sure if that was a present to me or to herself, but it's worked out well for both of us.  She still does most of the baking.

[kimnat]

You are welcome to come and experiment your cooking pleasures on any number of us, I'm sure!

[CALSGR8]

Count me in too!