What are your hobbies or side skills?

I was recently part of a really interesting discussion about hobbies and ‘side skills’ in another community that I manage. It’s amazing how diverse and interesting people are.

Outside of your UX related skills, what else are you good at or interested in?

I’m pretty good at interior design and I’m a certified gym instructor.

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My major interest is in people, which doesn’t actually count as a hobby, but I can’t think of anything specific and I didn’t want to be left out of the conversation. :wink:

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It doesn’t always show very well, but I love being active. I lift weights 3-4x’s a week, and play softball on Sundays. Saturdays in the Spring through Fall are usually spent hiking one of the many great trails in the Denver area.

I do a ton of photography, which is a vestige of my former career as a journalist. I’ve never been able to afford anything high-end, but I did just get a Canon T6i that I’m super stoked about. I have a huge backlog of pictures I want to print, frame, and put up in the house. If I actually did that with all the pictures I wanted to print out, I probably wouldn’t have much in the way of wall space.

I’m a beer enthusiast. I don’t mean that I like to drink a lot, I mean that I enjoy exploring the wide variety of breweries and styles available to me. I’m able to articulate the differences between styles and brewers, and I’m usually able to recommend a specific beer for someone with a few questions. Denver is packed with craft breweries, so I picked a great place to live for this hobby.

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I make birthday cakes for friends and family. Not often, just as the need arises but it is a great outlet for a love of colour and design. I bask in the feedback - maybe that’s the part I am particularly drawn to. My other love is understanding child development - I do hope I’ll find a way to use that in my new career.

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I’m going to a craft beer festival tomorrow!

Love this. :slight_smile:

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I do stop motion animation (my first degree was actually in film, I partially left that because I felt I’d grow to hate it if I tried to make a living at it, and I would rather love it as a hobby), theatre (I build sets and do a bit of acting as well), and I enjoy photography, mostly landscape or urban decay. I do some urban exploring (when the odds of getting nicked for trespassing aren’t too high.) Recently I’ve taken up canyoneering (and I really want to do some rock climbing if I can find the time to get back in good enough shape.)

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I’ve never heard of this but I’m intrigued! What does it involve?

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Here’s my list (I’ll post photos later- I was just really excited when I saw this thread!!)

  • Colouring in!! I was doing this long before it was cool - although the colouring craze did open up a plethora of new colouring books, techniques and tools so I’m grateful for that :slight_smile:

  • Vintage hair and make up and creative hair colouring. I only do it on myself but I love everything about it from the 1930’s to the early 1960’s- I was born about 60 years too late! I get better with practice and I do a mean wet set pincurl! I also do all my own hair colouring including that time I went platinum blonde - my hairdresser says I missed my calling and that there’s one frustrated hairdresser living inside me!

  • Knitting, sewing and pretty much all hands on arts and crafts. I can only knit in a straight line (scarves and blankets mostly) but I know 4 different stitch types (garter, moss, rib & basketweave) and I’m sure I could easily learn how to add and drop stitches and get really creative. For now I enjoy experimenting with the different ways of applying knit and purl. Before I studied industrial design, I spent a year in a fashion design course.

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I actually had you in mind when I started it. Def photos please!

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My hobbies are philately (collecting postage stamps), collect & listen to music (learning djing too), collect coffee table books, design posters and illustration projects, sketching/prototype ideas, talking, thinking about random things, gaming, mentoring.

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Here you go:

Wonder Woman finished with coloured pencil

Tattoo style colouring page finished with coloured pencil

Supergirl finished with coloured pencil- I was experimenting in this one with the sepia like background

Tattoo style work in progress in coloured pencil

Finished flamingo postcard for a friend in coloured pencil

Vintage hair fun:

When you screw up your victory rolls, make three!

Stuffing around with a hair rolling tool that makes life so much easier!

That time I absolutely killed the Betty Bang fringe and do-rag combo and haven’t been able to replicate it since!

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Urban exploration is investigating the ruins of our modern society. Abandoned factories, malls, hospitals, mental institutions, subway platforms, train stations, theatres etc. I thought know people have lots of different reasons they’re into it, it’s a little bit dangerous (okay maybe a lot dangerous), eerie, fascinating, often beautiful, appeals a bit to photographers, history buffs, and I would guess the design anthropologists, materials anthropologists, because there tend to be a lot of artefacts just left strewn about, especially in shops and hospitals when they’re abandoned. I like it for all those reasons.

I do a lot less of it now that I’ve moved to the Midwest, but I was really into it when’s i lived in Massachusetts and Connecticut, there are some really spectacular ruins of mental institutions and a hospital or 2 there. Security at those types have places has really gotten much tighter because it’s gotten kind of popular so they’re especially worried about lawsuits if people who don’t understand safety fall through a floor on top of the usual vandalism and crime fears.

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What a talented bunch here :slight_smile:

My main hobby has always been drawing, been stuck to a pencil (or a Wacom tablet these days) since I was a little girl. It’s all casual although I have done some commissions through the years and been part of a few shows. While it’s related to my love for design, pure illustrative work is my main way to relax and I like to keep it that way. I find it really different from visual/graphic design. I also have a Tumblr sketch blog, updated somewhat sporadically.

I also practiced the piano for 10 years and have one at home, so classical music has always been a big part of my life. Yet another way to zone out, mostly, but I also feel richer for having learnt music history and theory.

Mythology and ancient history/languages is yet another hobby, although somewhat related to my studies in Historical Linguistics–my Master’s thesis was an etymological research on various nature-related female deities in Norse Mythology. But I’ll eat up anything that’s ancient and languages with a foreign alphabet get brownie points!

As for more odd “skills” (hesitant about that word here!), I’m a big geography nut and love learning various facts about countries, be it cities, nature, typology etc. Reciting the top 30 cities in China or India is a good brain exercise, at least!

Ending on a more convenient note, I love cooking, travelling, doing yoga, long conversations with close friends and reading, mostly non-fiction.

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Beautiful.

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I agree with @Piper_Wilson – your work is gorgeous!

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#Wow
You are all amazing! Well, I like to dance. I love West Coast Swing, Samba, Forró, Bolero and many other dance styles. I wish I could take more WCS lessons, but now I am short of time and here in Rio de Janeiro there aren’t many WCS classes. Or at least near where I live.

I like to read about food/nutrients(!) and how our body reacts to them. Also about different types of diets etc. I am still overweight though (LMAO!). I think I have some knowledge now, but put them in practice is another thing.

Not a hobby, but I love to play board games. I really really really enjoy them.


As always… please be kind with my english mistakes… :slight_smile:

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Better than my Portuguese so you have my respect. :wink:

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I feel a bit woefully inadequate reading all these hobbies. I am afraid I succumbed to motherhood and the exhaustion that comes with it so my hobbies are almost long forgotten memories.Not sure if this is a hobby, but staring out of the window at clouds can keep me amused for hours… especially if the kids leave me alone.

An old favourite was lampshade making. Nearly every room in our house has a unique lampshade. When buying curtains recently the person helping me commented that they would have to tie in with the shades and I gleefully replied they didn’t because I could make a new one!

I am about to delve back into having a hobby though - I am all set to try cross stitch, which starting with Ms Holly Golightly in all her outfits.

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Love these comments. Here are some of mine:

I have 4 kids.

I play drums from time to time (mostly with my husband, who plays bass and guitar).

I’m fascinated by the history and theology of the Protestant Reformation. Did you know that this October 31st marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s nailing the 95 these to the church door at Wittenberg?

I dabble with the ukulele a bit. Not very good, but you can play songs without a lot of work, which is fun.

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Hang on a sec! You say you feel woefully inadequate and then you come out with:

That’s amazing! Have you got photos? I’d love to see them.[quote=“melanie_seibert, post:19, topic:4004”]
I have 4 kids.
[/quote]

Legend. I have two and it’s hard, can’t imagine 4!

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