[Outdated, please look at pinned post] Casual Conversation

The only sport I watch is Sumo wrestling.

I think I have quite a few perfectly ordinary hobbies that share a couple common odd quirks/common themes.

1. I like to make things for myself, and

2, I quite like small, compact things.

For example, I built my own computer, a Ryzen 3600/GeForce 1080 machine...in a very small case, a Fractal Node 202. I have a gaming PC the size of a VCR. Hell even my keyboard is surprisingly compact. I'm not one of those nuts with like a 64 key board or whatnot, i use a Cooler Master Masterkeys Pro M. It has a numpad, but lacks the arrow keys. They've been grafted fairly cleverly into the numpad to preserve the layout you're used to. It's a fully functional board with 13 fewer keys.

My wood shop is a 10x12 shed on the corner of my property, into which I have crammed a table saw, jointer, planer, drill press, router table, miter saw, a laundry list of hand tools, measuring and layout tools, clamps, cans of finish, a rack for stock, and a decent workbench. It can be a little difficult to work inside the building, but unpacking into the hard just in front gives me a very functional workspace in which I've turned out a couple of birch bookshelves and a pair of oak and pine end tables, among other smaller projects.

I have this weird art medium I came up with where I take things in the fridge and cabinet that are past the date and turn them into art materials. It began because people I know always debated over what to do once something in the fridge lived its lifespan. Throwing it away always seemed wasteful, and throwing it outside for the animals to eat sounds generous to nature, but you end up poisoning the ecosystem.

The hobby began as I was cleaning out the fridge and wondered if a certain sauce that was forgotten about in the very back of the fridge would make a good paint. It then kicked off from there. In our world where we never know where what we eat comes from or is made of, sometimes something makes a surprisingly good paint when expired, sometimes it makes a good texture builder, sometimes an aroma enhancer, sometimes a good clay substitute, etc. I then find a way to make it last as long as possible, or at least long enough to show people. It sounds weird, but I have created some of my best masterpieces this way.

Collecting snail shells. Turns out there are hundreds of land and freshwater snail species, many that are easily identifiable by even as an amateur. Some are common but many are in narrow habitats or restricted ranges, making collecting an adventure. The microsnails might be the coolest. They're insanely small but under a hand lens they can have very intricate shells and they are everywhere! It's like pokemon but irl.