Hobbies

[Joe Kriston]

A short while ago, when I was in one of my more perturbed snits, I stood in the doorway of one of my grown sons' room, where he, his older brother and some of their friends were sitting, eyes glued to the big-screen television, controllers in hands, playing some crazy shoot-'em-up video game that looked more graphic and lifelike than anything I had ever seen...As this had become a habit of theirs, after a minute or two I snapped "Is that all you guys do, sit around playing video games?"...One of them, without taking his eyes off of the screen or missing a shot on the controller answered "There's nuthin' else to do"...."Well, why don't you guys go get a hobby?" I barked...They all turned and looked at me like I just suggested they shave their heads and go sell flowers at the airport..."That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard" was my older son's response....Okay, it was just a suggestion...Anyway, it got me to thinking about hobbies, my own hobbies in fact, and what and if any purpose they serve...Seems like when you're a kid, your whole life is spent on a hobby or a series of hobbies, that is, doing whatever the heck brings you pleasure or amusement, unless, of course, school, homework, chores or church interrupt them...And I guess when one get's older, one is supposed to put away those childish things, like the Bible says, unless one doesn't, and then maybe they become hobbies...Naturally, as adults, a good deal of our time is consumed with our "have tos", so maybe one qualification of a hobby is a "want to"...As a kid, my main interest, or thing, was baseball...I played it, watched it, read about it, argued about it, dreamt it and fantasized about it...Even though I became somewhat disattached to it as I grew into adulthood, I would still sneak into Anderson Library at the Emporia Campus after supper and read the sports page of the Emporia Gazette and keep up with the pennant races and other vital baseball news...To this day, I still spend a fair amount of time watching baseball...Of course, I happen to have the misfortune of being a Chicago Cubs fan...If you're a baseball fan, and maybe even if you're not, you probably know that the Cubs haven't really won a championship in,like, a hundred years or something...So I spend a good amount of my amusement and pleasure time, hollering at the television, at the left fielder for missing the cut-off man, at the batter for swinging at a 3-0 pitch in the dirt, or the eight million dollar a year pitcher who just walked the bases loaded...One of my other pastimes, or hobbies, is tinkering with old vehicles...A while back, I made up my mind that I was going to learn to sew and redo my own interiors on a couple of my old projects...I bought a portable industrial sewing machine and started practicing my stitching...The bobbin would get jammed and I'd yank it out of the machine and fling it across the room...The machine zigged when I thought it should have zagged and I'd curse the manufacturer...The door panels that I spent about thirty hours making were too thick and the doors wouldn't latch properly on the truck after I put them on...Sure, I like to do things with my hands, but why do I spend my free time on things that frustrate me so?...I've even gotten mad at whoever the guy is that makes the crossword puzzle when I can't figure it out....Then I go to my "have to" on Monday morning and I back my truck over a bucket of tar, getting it all over the truck and driveway, and say "oops---No, prob....I'll just clean it up"...Maybe I've used up all of my anger on things that don't really matter---and nobody got hurt...

[lois gueli]

Frank, Ha, Ha, After I posted it I noticed the picture was sideways! Thanks for the nice comment, I'm glad it brought back some warm memories. I posted it on Face Book and my 28 year old daughter Allison, commented "It's Ugly but Awesome, Think I might want to steal it". Enjoy the Holidays!

[Frank Abissi]

Hi Lois, Beautiful, I especially like Cousin IT standing sideways. Hahaha All kidding aside, My Grandmother whom I really loved used to make these. She gave me one before she fell a sleep and its something I treasure. Seing this brought some nice warm thoughts to me.

[lois gueli]

Vintage!!!
This is something I crocheted when I was a teenager. I still remember going to the Yarn Store (Goldman's) in the Bronx and buying every bright color I could find. That's kind of funny because I only wore dark colors back then. I'm a purger, I get rid of things that I don't use so years later when my mom moved out to Michigan I gave it to her, because it didn't go with my decor. She put it up in her closet and that's where it stayed until she died four years ago. When I was going through her apartment after her death, it was the only thing that made me cry. I said to Tommy "What am I supposed to do with this thing?" (he's not a purger) and he said quite convincingly, "Bring it home". I now keep it draped across one of the beds in a spare bedroom.
Some of you may remember I'm going to "Fiber Night" once a month. I'll post my "Cashmere Scarf" when it's finished. Have a wonderful holiday and enjoy your hobbies! lois

[Frank Abissi]

Kevin, I've been on lots of mountains that have killed people. I've walked by a few bodies minus souls, Hate it everytime. I seem to have a couple things going for me that many of them did not. #1 - Holy Spirit is my top piece of climbing. #2 - I can turn back. As a matter of fact I am batting only 39% on Mountains over 18,500 feet (The Bio Perm, the altitude at which no biological life lives permanently).. Hey, as a Merchant Marine do you ever sail on water that people have died on?
Back about 20 years ago John Krakauer climbed the Devils Thumb. rumor has it it went down into the nearest town looking kind of "Green". Some old timer stopped him and asked if he was alright. John told him he just climbed Devils Thumb. The Old guy then said "You ain't Bull Sh___in me now boy is ya?"

A favorite quote of mine is one from "Old Mountain Phelps" who said "I'd rather be in the mountains thinking about God than in church thinking about the mountains" If I ever make it up to Alaska we'll go climb something together. In the mean time I am stuck home here trying to mend from a concussion I got last week, Wow I have never spent so much time in front of a computer and been this bored in a long while.

[Joe Kriston]

Carol, I liked your journal entry on "play"...And I agree with you about the rippling affect in the human society pool..Not sure about the "needs and wants parallel" thing, though :)...

[Kevin Nye]

Frank, the Devil's Thumb is near Petersberg, Alaska, which is one of a good number of towns and villages situated along SE Alaska's Inside Passage. I used to see it from a distance on a regular basis when I worked on a ship that cruised through those waters. The Inside Passage is also known as the Alexander Archipelago, a collection of islands in the North Pacific that is also home to America's largest National Forest. That is, the Tongass National (rain) Forest. So, I have given you plenty to Google. It's just that, a few have died on the Devil's Thumb, and I don't want to be responsible for turning you on to the place that ended up killin' ya! So, be plenty "keerful". Oh, and I ain't a goin with ya! I'll hike the slippery slopes of Admiralty Island (also here in SE Alaska) to hunt deer and bear, but I'm not going to be climbing the Devil's Thumb in this lifetime. That's a task left for you and the "Likes Of The Heights Crazed John Richeson"...

[Kevin Nye]

Carol said:

"All work and no play (or being told what play "should" be) isn't good for a body. I tend to think we all need more play or fun".

And Carol, I'd have to agree witchoo on that one! :-)

[Ronold F. Wallace]

Yes I remember you well Frank. We had some good laughs hey.

[Ronold F. Wallace]

I read it twice while in residence. I found it more exciting than my research paper in Anderson Library, doh.

[Frank Abissi]

There's two towns in Michigan, One is Cadillac and the other is Techumseh. I thought that it was up here that these incidents took place. Maybe I should read the book again. That time period in history always interested me. Thanks Ronnie, oh BTW. Do you remember that you were my first Twig Coordinator when I went in-res?