Ask HN: What are your (non-hn-related) hobbies?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=862139

by yan • 17 years ago

39 133 17 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Inspired by a recent thread suggesting recommendations on things not having to do with your interests and expanding your horizons, I ask:

What are your hobbies and interests?

And I don't just mean things directly related to HN.

edit: Hm, if you want to share these hobbies and introduce others, perhaps include your geographical location?

yan12• 17 years ago

And I guess I can start: mine are rock climbing, flying single engine planes (hoping to get into gliders) which is currently on break, and neuroscience (at an extremely amateur level). If anyone wants to get an introduction to climbing and are in the DC, Philly or NY area, I'd love to show you the ropes (har har).

khafra2• 17 years ago

> ...show you the ropes

Along those lines, Shibari. It's a great way to meet girls.

yan12• 17 years ago

Dude. Some of us are at work.

streblo• 17 years ago

If you don't know what Shibari is, don't try looking it up on Wikipedia at work. Do it when you get home.

unalone5• 17 years ago

Rock climbing might be interesting. I'm in Philly, might take you up on that offer sometime.

yan12• 17 years ago

My contact's in my info page. The Philly gyms I've been to are a bit subpar, but should be alright as an introduction.

dryicerx• 17 years ago

Photography, Philosophy, Cooking, Travelling, Driving, Lockpicking, Tennis

(fun fact: my current start-up was put in to gear because of my photo addiction and a few unsolved problems the field had)

jacoblyles• 17 years ago

Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu.

Learning the warrior mindset you need in the ring will change your perspective on a lot of things in life. And it will keep you in excellent shape, minus injuries.

jscn• 17 years ago

Seconded. I spent a couple years training Muay Thai before getting bitten by the BJJ bug. I'm trying to fit in more standup again now, but I still try to spend at least an hour every weekday on the mats.

Having a very physical hobby keeps me grounded in reality after spending most of the day thinking about philosophy or writing or coding (I'm a student). There's a lot of pretty direct feedback about your improvement over time, too, which I find can be lacking in more intellectual pursuits.

mahmud4• 17 years ago

Beer, shooting pool, foreign languages, extensive traveling (~30 countries) and just having a good time. Hate to exaggerate this, but I prefer having fun to everything else in life. Anyone else a creature of comfort? At some point I would like to own a blues bar and design my own award winning steaks and burgers (someone, please, clone Madam's Organ.)

Things I hate. Video games, television, nightclubs with loud "divas" and greasy men (the type where they vomit on each other's fake Luis Vuittons after 2AM; we go to gay clubs just because the crowd is both so much more civil, and far happier and fun, plus the music is so much better), IT books, things marketed at me, hyper-excited "startup" people.

mcantor5• 17 years ago

Upvoted for beer & foreign languages, but at the risk of starting One Of Those Debates; why the video game hate?

yan12• 17 years ago

At the risk of not conveying mahmud's true reasons, I'd like to chime in since I share all of his hates. If I had to pick a reason to hate video games, I'd say because they are mental sugar. They are a huge time sink and when you are playing video games you are not partaking in other things that I (and maybe the OP) attribute more value to, like socializing, exercising, or a number of other activities.

mahmud4• 17 years ago

Two reasons:

1) I am a knowledge-whore. I like to think that after doing something for a substantial time, I will come out of it having learned something. I would consider film culturally enriching, mostly because I watch fringe, independent or foreign films; For some reason, I have a very high opinion of filmmakers as artists. However, I can't say the same about video games or their artistic or cultural merit. I am unable to consider them substantial in that regard.

2) I like to share and talk about my experiences. I can talk about movies, I can recommend albums, I will even take the time to scribble directions and notes on someone's pristine travel book and tell them where to go. But I can't do the same with video games. There is no particular instance that I can think about and reference later; either because the games are dynamically generated, or because the gamer demographic are just not the people that I tend to socialize with, so I don't identify with them.

Bonus:

3) I like realism. Along with video games, I don't tolerate Anime, Fantasy Fiction, or any other type of "geek" entertainment. I was offered two DVDs by my neighbor; The Dark Knight and The Quiet American; I took the later. Hard to explain, really.

P.S. I am a hopeless Soduku addict and play 30 minutes when I wake up in the morning, and 30 minutes before I go to bed. In fact, that's what I use my phone for 90% of the time.

Rickasaurus• 17 years ago

I like most of those things too: beer, shooting pool and traveling adventures.

I also hate most of the same things: television, loud nightclubs, rude people.

I still like video games too though. They can be like a quick adventure in the middle of my stressed out every day life.

steveklabnik• 17 years ago

I play Warhammer, ride bikes, and code things that are totally different than what my startup does.

tptacek5• 17 years ago

Cooking. I mostly suck at it, but that's part of why I like it. I'm doing a lot of charcuterie-style stuff lately, and a lot of playing with sous vide.

plinkplonk• 17 years ago

Miniature Wargaming. Jazz Guitar.

kevinherron• 17 years ago

Mountain biking :)

Trying to train 3-4 times per week (after work) for races coming up in the spring. Getting hard without daylight on my side. Gonna have to buy a light soon. Or adjust my work hours.

ax0n4• 17 years ago

Check out Candlepower forums. There are guys there inspiring me to built an LED kilo-lumen beast for my winter commuter bike. I'm sure you could build something to suit your singletrack fetish. :)

Sidnicious• 17 years ago

Man, 256 lumens ought to be enough for anybody.

davidw2• 17 years ago

Night riding can be a lot of fun. It's best on a nice single track on a summer's night, when it's just cooling off some, but can be fun in winter too if you're dressed right.

unalone5• 17 years ago

I listen to excessive amounts of music. Just today I've gone through an old dreampop favorite ("Treasure" by the Cocteau Twins), gave a neoclassical album a try, listened to both an intense breakcore album and a darker classical album by a guy called Venetian Snares, and now I'm listening to the Kronos Quartet playing African pieces. There's a chance I'll be writing music with a few people in the near future, and I hate songwriting with a fixed genre in mind, so right now I'm browsing furiously.

I also read and watch movies and TV when I can find things I enjoy. I'm rewatching The Wire right now, since it's hard to find new enjoyable shows. I'm trying to get into cooking and fashion: That's my goal for this year. And I'm thinking about giving a rave or two a try later this month.

imack2• 17 years ago

Rugby. Any adversity you encounter in day-to-day startup operations doesn't seem as bad as when it's compared with getting pummeled by Aussie and UK ex-pats.

lil_cain2• 17 years ago

league, or union?

mahmud4• 17 years ago

Aussie Rules! :-P

imack2• 17 years ago

Union. To my knowledge it's all there is in the Vancouver area.

JshWright2• 17 years ago

I volunteer with my local fire dept.

Also, I keep fish (both fresh and salt), and practice Tae Kwon Do.

yan12• 17 years ago

Wow, cool. What sorts of work do you do as a volunteer? How much time do you usually dedicate?

JshWright2• 17 years ago

I'm a Firefighter/EMT.

Time commitment is a minimum of 24 hours per week, but that's not "active" time. For most of it I'm home sleeping, but respond if the pager goes off. We also have several cubicles at the station, with access to power, internet, a printer, a coffee machine, etc, so I'll generally work there if I'm looking to get out of the house for a while.

There is certainly some time involved in training, etc... That probably averages out to an hour or two per week. Occasionally specific classes will take more time (I just finished an advanced rope rescue course that was spread over two weekends).

ax0n4• 17 years ago

Learning, teaching, writing, bicycling, amateurish photography (snapshots, honestly), dorking with Lego stuff, cooking, camping.

Of course, I got to do almost all of that at once this summer, when I led a group of 11 cyclists to a lake about 30 miles outside of town. All of us had packed up with our camping gear on our bicycles, and very few the participants had done anything like it before. I taught them about what kinds of stuff to bring, and all that. I cooked on a makeshift camp stove. We all camped overnight and rode home the next morning after cooking our various breakfast items. I took lots of photos and wrote about it. As it was only my second time "backpacking with my bicycle" I also learned a few things myself.

Basically, it was everything that I love doing that doesn't directly involve programming, soldering or Lego.

edw519• 17 years ago

Bridge, boggle, and foosball. Things that are both hacker and beer friendly.

goodwinb• 17 years ago

I'd like to give a plug for playing bridge. It is the best card game there is. Texas Hold 'Em : Checkers :: Bridge : Chess.

It can be a sociable game and yet it can also be a game that holds you interest as you try to achieve perfection.

To anyone who wants to get started there is a bit of learning curve. There are good guides online, computer games to help practice with (Bridge Baron is good and is even available for the iPhone), and there are local clubs that would love to see you come out (check out ACBL).

(Boggle and foosball also rock.)

mattmichielsen• 17 years ago

Brewing beer and working on sub-$1000 BMWs and Porsches.

Modernnomad84• 17 years ago

where can i find a sub 1000 porsche?

brianobush3• 17 years ago

On craigslist, you can sometimes find cars that are in dire need of repair and as such need hauled away. For example for 1k flat:

1975 porsche 914 2.0 partially dissaembled, has rust issues, complete car with rebuildable motor and transaxel, many new parts also has origanal fuel injection system intact.

http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/cto/1407277633.html

tricky2• 17 years ago

I will sell you an '87 944S with no engine for $500 right now.

tricky2• 17 years ago

I'm putting together an '88 924S for DE right now. The fuel pump went out on my $1400 e36 today at lunch. I'll fix it in the parking garage after work. I guess that means my hobbies include wrenching on german junk, playing synth rock twee core, snowboarding, running, and writing.

tptacek5• 17 years ago

You got an E36 for $1400? How many miles?

aw3c2• 17 years ago

Geocaching & OpenStreetMap are two of my favourite hobbies I recommend to anyone here.

ArturSoler• 17 years ago

Another geocacher here :D

I recommend it to everybody too! www.geocaching.com

jedediah• 17 years ago

Photography and boardgames.

oldgregg• 17 years ago

Snowboarding, hiking, cycling, basement dance parties, photography, making random videos, this american life on NPR, watching geeked out documentaries like helvetica, and getting up on my wife... not necessarily in that order. Oh, and eating, I love eating.

tbrooks• 17 years ago

Really, you're a snowboarder?

davidw2• 17 years ago

Cycling is all I have time for, outside of programming (which is also a hobby) and family life. I used to like to go salsa dancing with my wife, but the baby is a bit of a hindrance to going out:-/ I also love to go out for drinks (spritz!) in the piazzas here - I would miss that a great deal if I ever went back to the US.

keeptrying• 17 years ago

Kiteboarding, snowboarding, beach volleyball.

tjr• 17 years ago

Music production and photography, mostly.

yan12• 17 years ago

What kind of music?

dgabriel• 17 years ago

I write poems and short stories, listen to music (largely indie rock, classic rock, and old folk), bake, and do a little sewing (working on narwal costumes for my baby twins). Then there's python!

Alas, my hobbies are mostly on hold until the babies get bigger.

yesimahuman• 17 years ago

Snowboarding, Snowmobiling, Video Games, Soccer, and I guess I could say "Drinking" is a hobby but I more mean drunken socializing with my friends.

misterbwong• 17 years ago

Basketball - Active hobby of choice. Will play this until my body stops me.

Finance - Learning to actually make money in the market (equities and equity options).

Eating out with friends - Trying different types of food is great, but the company is the best part.

Traveling - Not a frequent flier or anything but trying to make it to Japan this next year.

Learning Mandarin - Trying to learn my "mother tongue." That side of my brain seems to be dysfunctional, so this is one area I need a lot more work.

howardr• 17 years ago

I am a total finance and economics nerd after being a programmer. I find something really interesting about markets, derivatives, et al.

brianobush3• 17 years ago

do you build micro-economy models?

axod• 17 years ago

Roller skating! (Until 5 weeks ago that is - I was skating backwards fast round a corner on one leg and believe I hit a bearing that was on the rink - ouch broken hip).

Photography, building Lego models, Playing the piano, Watching old movies, and most of all playing with the kids.

brianobush3• 17 years ago

Japanese - studying Kanji and grammar (still at basic to low-intermediate level), but have over 2k Kanji down and can read manga. Goals are flency (and yell at my kids in Japanese :).

Video Games - I only play on the Nintendo DS, and at that not often, but I do enjoy it and wish I had more time, but the aforementioned hobby takes almost all my free time.

mcantor5• 17 years ago

I highly recommend fencing. It's a spectacular workout, and the three different weapons provide unique experiences, one of which will certainly cater to your intellect or personality. Foil is highly strategic, épée is much less rules-oriented and the most like a "real" duel of the three, and sabre is extremely fast-paced.

The only downside is that competing can get expensive, but the exposure to so many different fencing styles is worth it. All three weapons are fun and intellectually stimulating to study, and the community is universally supportive. I think it's an excellent "hackers' game."

My other hobbies: drawing & painting, writing & reading (always reading), finding new music to listen to, video games, and poker (another great game with deep strategy behind it).

paddy_m3• 17 years ago

I have thought of getting into fencing. DHH's article about it a couple years ago piqued my interest.

Maybe I'm just elitist, but I think that with more obscure sports/hobbies you meet more interesting people. Anyone can play/talk about basketball, without much effort put in to play/learn about the sport. A sport like fencing though, requires a much more serious investment of time and follow through. Has anyone else noticed this?

tomjen2• 17 years ago

That is funny, I started thinking about fencing (or rather sword fighting in general) a couple of weeks ago.

Do you by chance have the link to his article? My google-fo seems week.

nradov• 17 years ago

I fenced in school and enjoyed it, but as for being a workout I was always bothered by how it's so asymmetrical. I'm right handed and so it didn't work my left arm nearly as much.

mcantor5• 17 years ago

It can be challenging and instructive to fence off-handed. I don't know anyone who regularly swaps between handedness to keep it even, but now that you mention it, it's a pretty interesting idea...

pixcavator• 17 years ago

>>asymmetrical

You can say the same about tennis... I wouldn’t worry. You can also try "period" fencing (look up "SCA"). The rules are different: if you are "wounded" on the right arm, you have to switch to the left. There is also two-handed fencing (longsword).

MicahWedemeyer• 17 years ago

Gardening! Stick plant in ground, just add water, and magic happens. It's great!

icey• 17 years ago

There's a lot of hackery you can do if you like gardening as well. It's a constant battle of fine-tuning.

I've changed my watering schedules no less than 20 times this summer to try to get optimal moisture levels. I also do everything organically, so it's a little more challenging to take care of ants when you can't just shake on some Amdro (the solution is nematodes btw).

There is no limit to how easy or how complex you want to make things. I've made watering helpers with some drip line, bamboo and a 1 gallon milk container for long weekends when I was starting plants out, or planted hot peppers around some plants that one of my dogs insisted on tasting all the time.

It really is a lot of fun and way more hacker friendly than you might expect at first.

paddy_m3• 17 years ago

Sailing and skiing. I have really gotten into sailing recently, especially racing. There is so much beauty, skill, and thinking in the sport.

I am a huge f1 fan. I either go to a meetup to watch the race (normally at 7am). Normally in addition I download a British feed of Friday practice 1 and 2 (speedtv only shows p2), Saturday p3, and qualifying. F1 has a lot of political intrigue, tactics and technology.

I'm not into a lot of traditional geek hobbies. I could care less about comics, sci-fi, or video games. Comics and sci-fi have just never done much for me, I just couldn't get into them. I enjoy video games when I play them, but they are just too much of a time sink, so I stay away. The first person shooters seem to require a large amount of skill and practice, when I play them I fell hopelessly lost.

yan12• 17 years ago

Where do you sail? I have been looking to get into it. My goal was to help out on current races and get into it that way. (I hear people need all the help they can get and will let you come along for free). I'm near Baltimore so there are a few active sailing clubs around here.

paddy_m3• 17 years ago

I sail at the Manhattan Sailing Club. http://myc.org membership is reasonable, about the same cost as a gym membership.

Racing is even cheaper if you know what you are doing. The words you are looking for is "rail meat". When the boat is going upwind it heels over, you need people on the uphill side of the boat on the rail. Being rail meat require very little knowledge. I would try to go out on days with unpleasant weather, fewer people show up. Rosh Hashanah was the first time I got out on Long Island sound (the boat had a very hard time finding crew that Saturday).

Try the Annapolis races, I'm not sure of where they meet, but you could probably get out on Wednesday nights and Saturdays.

domodomo• 17 years ago

Same here for sailing. Just got into it a few months ago. I love how intellectual the skills required for the sport are, and the long tradition of seamanship. Also one thing that appeals to the nerd side of me is there is so much specialized sailing vocabulary to learn, and I'm now beginning to read more on the topic on the physics of sailing

One bonus also is it's a very social sport. I don't have my own boat, so joined a local sailing co-op/club here in Minneapolis. Now that I've passed my "skipper tests" I'm free to take out their fleet of boats (about 12) anytime I like. I get to sail with other skippers twice a week, and learn from their experience. Most everyone is incredibly nice.

Unfortunately the seasons is just about up here, we're pulling the boats off the water this Saturday :(

amohr• 17 years ago

Bonus for sailing - I don't think I've ever partied with anyone harder than I have with sailors.

I lived with the captain of the racing team in college and we hosted the party for our regatta. It lasted the whole weekend and we built a special table to accommodate the flipcup (though, they call it boat racing and it involves a megaphone)

simplify• 17 years ago

Playing Go. I love playing all kinds of one-on-one competitive games, but Go's freedom of style and near perfectly fair grounds keeps pulling me back in.

thismat• 17 years ago

I heard this is a wonderful game, I've been meaning to take it up.

silencio• 17 years ago

Knitting and crocheting and everything fiber-arts related. I love it because it seems tedious or stupid to a lot of people who don't know how to knit, but I get a lot of satisfaction out of creating fun things for my friends and family and myself (see http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/432735303/Photo_on_2009-0... for one ;) ) and I also enjoy using my tech background to convince people on Ravelry (a super big social networking site for knitters etc.) that knitting and designing patterns can be a lot like coding (cause some of them are super intimidated by tech, bah).

I also loooooove playing the piano. And making ice cream from scratch, for the interesting combinations and flavors you can make. And like a lot of other HNers are mentioning, learning foreign languages, even though I don't necessarily get a chance to practice speaking them much :( Snowboarding too, despite living in sunny LA. I wish I could get started with indoor rock climbing here as well, but I haven't really found anywhere good for that near where I live.

tdonia• 17 years ago

flying kites, riding bikes

labria• 17 years ago

Love kites too!

chwolfe• 17 years ago

Hoppy Beer and Golf (preferably together)

teuobk• 17 years ago

Ice hockey. (Hey, I'm a Minnesotan!) Besides that, I like baking, photography (especially sports photography), cycling, and making a really good cup of tea. Sailing was great when I lived in California, and snowboarding will be fun once there's some snow on the ground.

mcav• 17 years ago

Jazz piano, frisbee, running, super smash brothers, age of empires. [des moines]

warfangle• 17 years ago

Violin, speculative fiction writing, bare-running, whiskey. [NYC]

simonsarris• 17 years ago

Thinking, argument, negotiation, strategy games, pacing, stretching, cycling, reading, writing, wandering, exploring places, metaphorical bomb defusal [NH]

HeyLaughingBoy• 17 years ago

Winemaking, electronics (somewhat HN related since I sometimes sell what I make and do consulting), machining metal, raising chickens, gardening, various forms of art, learning to play flute.

I guess baking could count as a hobby since I do enjoy it quite a bit, but the primary driver is hunger, not passing the time :-)

YuriNiyazov• 17 years ago

Argentine Tango

niks• 17 years ago

coaching girls volleyball

jonallanharper2• 17 years ago

Learning Portuguese, studying physics for fun/knowledge, learning how to build an auto engine, and training for private pilot's certificate.

yan12• 17 years ago

How far long are you on your license (and physics for that matter)? I took my break earlier this year right before stage 1 check, hoping to return soon.

jonallanharper2• 17 years ago

Just started the "instrument rating" section in the following book: Microsoft Flight Simulator X For Pilots Real World Training

Excellent book that should end up saving me lots of actual flying time in preparation for the certification test.

As for physics, I'm re-taking the first calc-based physics course (online) at UNC Charlotte this fall. Just enjoying studying the basics again. I'll probably take 1-2 classes per semester until I can get a degree in it. May go for masters, not sure yet.

narag2• 17 years ago

Playing with my son, windsurfing and playing electric guitar. I like to do many more things, but I don't always find the time or the place. I like chess, drawing, billiards, foosball, karate, reading, net games and going out on weekends (or everyday in the summer).

trafficlight• 17 years ago

Bowling. If I had to pick only one thing to do it would be this. My goal is to be competitive on the PBA Tour. I'm averaging 220 right now, but that needs to be closer to 235-240 to be competitive.

My other big hobby is music. http://thesixtyone.com/abledanger

leif• 17 years ago

music, books and girls occupy most of my time

revorad• 17 years ago

Lindy hop, it's wicked fun! I've been going once a week for a few months now and did a half day workshop last weekend.

http://www.swingland.com/

And I do a bit of drumming, although have been a bit lazy lately. Mostly my hobbies have revolved around music. I enjoy hiking too but haven't been out too much recently. Tried surfing for the first time recently. I was crap at it but it was still good fun. Must go back.

MikeMacMan• 17 years ago

Weightlifting, beer, cooking, baseball

brianto2010• 17 years ago

Watching anime; playing Touhou and racing games.

MikeCapone• 17 years ago

Mostly: books, music, my fiancée, COD4 on a tactical server (no blind fire and jumping around).

Wish I had something cool to write about here ("rebuilding pre-1950s motorcycles"), but in fact, "books" includes so many things that it's enough to keep me occupied.

leertaylor• 17 years ago

I enjoy various sorts of hands-on projects when I need a break for the tech world:

Woodworking - building furniture, etc.

Fixing up old pinball machines

Working on the house, minor remodeling sorts of projects

anamax• 17 years ago

Scuba. San Jose, but I just returned from the Galapagos.

lil_cain2• 17 years ago

I do a small amount of pen and paper roleplaying, and the odd bit of computer gaming. Mostly though, I'm a political economy nerd. I read a lot of industrial economics, and a pile of political/current affairs stuff. The Phoenix, the Village, the Economist, as well as a reasonable amount of more textbook type stuff.

david927• 17 years ago

Film making and film direction.

LSalin• 17 years ago

I play poker and I cook. I love the extra money I win at playing a fun card game, and I love to invite people over for dinner parties. Somehow, I wish my hobbies had a bit more synergy! :)

I also enjoy reading quite a bit.

Shooter• 17 years ago

It used to mostly be playing, trading, collecting, teaching, and admiring guitar. And audio production. I owned a boutique guitar store (high-end, appointment only) on the side, and I still own a recording studio and mobile unit. I find that my formal business interests are now crowding everything else out because I simply enjoy it more. I was so into guitar (interest, time, and money-wise) for so long that I'm trying to force myself to give it a rest. [Well, to be fair, I also had some paralysis for a while that helped slow me down.] I haven't taught in a while, no longer play out, and the studio is professionally managed and run by others now...so it has become too difficult to justify to the wife why I need $750,000 worth of guitars to entertain myself. She thinks one guitar and one amp should suffice. Philistine! ;)

mattiss2• 17 years ago

Rock climbing, mountaineering, backpacking, SCUBA, sailing, aviation, traveling, snowboarding, having fun!

yan12• 17 years ago

Whoa, I share every one of those except scuba (Trying to get into sailing now). Where are you physically?

Edit: based on posts, I guess Seattle.

Haha and objc dev also.

mattiss2• 17 years ago

Yeah in Seattle area atm, thinking about moving to San Francisco though. Where are you located?

chops• 17 years ago

Beach volleyball (doubles) was my obsession this summer. I spent 10-15 hours per week at the beach. It helped me to be more social (I made a lot of new friends), got in better shape, got a tan (that's something new to me), and everyone I know kept asking if I did something to my hair because sun gave me natural highlights.

But yeah, doubles volleyball played by the proper rules (no-spin sets, no open hand dinks, no setting on one, no setting over the net) is so much more fun than "gorilla ball" (where it doesn't matter how you hit it, as long as the ball stays in the air), as one of the other guys affectionately calls it.

Oh, and I'm from Milwaukee, Wisconsin (play at Bradford Beach), so this unfortunately can't be a year-long hobby (at least Beach volleyball can't be). Given my obsession over this, I'd seriously consider moving somewhere nice like Florida just to play BV year-long.

varjag4• 17 years ago

Documentary photography. It is in large part about social skills: getting access, asking questions, talking people in, negotiating through police fences etc. Something totally opposite to my dayjob.

yan12• 17 years ago

Do you do this for yourself or for a second employer? Is it mostly social engineering or just being very steadfast? I'd love to know more about it.

varjag4• 17 years ago

Aside for a short stint with an agency in 2006, I do everything for myself. Photojournalism is a tough area, with opportunities shrinking, and (if you can afford it) it is best to do the work which genuinely interests you than pick up marginal assignments. Remember, old press is dying, new one is not anywhere in sight :)

One thing to distinguish is long-term, documentary work and current events. The latter is basically reportage, the bread and butter of news agencies and newspapers. On the former though, you can choose your ground and take your time.

I start a project with pulling all information I can from the web: saves time on the ground. Names, history, maps, prior works in this area. If necessary finding the initial contacts. Over there, it's approaching people, asking questions (not necessarily identifying yourself as a photographer), you can get a lot of context just from casual chit-chat. Good thing is that most people love being heard, so give them all attention you can. Start a neutral conversation, listen, nod, let them pour out: very few people are generous listeners, so your attention will be appreciated and you can ask the questions you want afterward.

In case of hot events, various police and security troops are a major challenge and great test of your social skills. There it's best if you can start small, attending fenced but calm events, just to get the gist of unspoken rules, protocols and routines. Obviously you can't generalize this worldwide, but. Be attentive, observe police, observe protesters or other people interacting with law enforcement, see how much can work with them. Read faces, in case of militias face is a good indicator how much problem you are going to have with a given person. If he looks like a scumbag he probably is. There are weak points in most of cordons and often ways to sneak past fences. It is best if you stay calm, neutral, and project confidence; especially confident, you can pull nearly Jedi-like tricks with it. Do not insist on eye contact but do not avoid it either. Don't smile, it shows your weakness and reduces your chances to successfully communicating with people in power dramatically.

It may sound hard but the skills build up quickly once you start doing.

Tichy2• 17 years ago

Anything to look at on the web? I have a lot of respect for people going into the trenches.

varjag4• 17 years ago

Let's see.. here are couple of shots from post-elections protests in Minsk, Belarus, March 2006.

The night when results were announced. People look happy but really they were not, just reacting to a sarcastic joke off the stage. For whatever reason, this photo ended all over Chinese blogs in 2007, captioned as "people rejoicing New Year". http://www.thespiderawards.com/2007presentation/photoshow/no...

Paramedics working over a protester after a clash. He was delivering a portable toilet to the tent camp encircled by riot police. Broken ribs, concussion. I was the only photographer hinted to his coming, due to good networking with protesters; however I got caught up amidst the melee, so action shots turned lousy. http://s3.amazonaws.com/lightstalkers/images/60557/23_2_640....

Now, a less dramatic story. An agricultural fair in Orsha, Belarus. It was an old Pagan celebration of harvest, revived by the president. A dissonant mix of pseudo-folklore and 3rd world style heavy policing in classic Soviet entourage. A total insider show, where local brands and enterprises are mandated to participate (sort of a national exhibition), and with the president de-facto assuming the role of Harvest God. http://pa.photoshelter.com/gallery-slideshow/G0000vbMKecuSr4...

So nothing groundbreaking really, but remember, we're talking hobbies here :)

mahmud4• 17 years ago

How does one get in touch with documentary filmmakers and photographers to get them a scoop?

varjag4• 17 years ago

Cannot speak with authority here. If your lead is of importance to big global or regional events, a best bet would be approaching someone from a news agency. One place to find those folk is lightstalkers.org, although it is by no means comprehensive.

For local news, try starting with the best newspaper in your area. Editorial contacts is usually listed in paper's exit data, sometimes along with a contact for tips.

twp• 17 years ago

Paragliding and ultramarathon running. This year I took part in one of the hardest adventure races in the world, the Red Bull X-Alps. http://www.redbullxalps.com/ I'm GBR2.

tjpick• 17 years ago

fishing, free diving, building bicycles, cycling, tramping (hiking, not standing on corners waiting for a 'ride'), music (keys/bass), reading, gardening, family, travel, cooking, eating.

I'd like to do more drawing, but I can't say I actually do it very often.

garcara• 17 years ago

If beer counts as a hobby (drinking it) then count me in there.. But more seriously I take cooking pretty seriously as well as fly fishing and running.

chaosprophet• 17 years ago

Aircraft modelling. Particularly the executive jets. Time passes by in a whirl. Either that or Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Ask HN: What are your (non-hn-related) hobbies?

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