what is the Funnest Hobby You've Gotten Into?

We have the post for the stupidest hopbby you've gotten into, now what is the funnest?

For me, I would have to say it has been my photography. Because of it, I've taken long train trips and explored more of my state than I really know existed. I've taken pictures of eagles, planes, trains, ships, lighthouses, forests, waterfalls, etc. It has also morphed into my blog and a few other things. Ocassionally it has overlapped with my gaming because I've taken pictures of some of the cooler looking games.

Making out!

Or gaming I guess.

Most things I get really into, I turn into kinda jobs and as such the line of what makes a "hobby" gets blurry. Like playing in bands was awesome, and for some people that's a hobby, but I toured full time for a few years, put out a bunch of records and all that, so it's not really a hobby for me. I went to art school and did wedding photography, so that's not really just a hobby. I teach fighting, so that's out. Same with climbing. Games are almost hitting that point too, where I actually make money on my involvement in the scene, though I think I have a much longer way to go with that.

Even making out has earned me a lot of free drinks and sweet breakfasts!

One was 5-Color Magic. This was a midwest phenomenon with some ties to #mtgwacky that made competitive MtG fun again. This was in the Urza/Invasion block days, so a MILLION YEARS AGO, and that was a tough time for competitive MtG. Card inflation had made tuned decks just crazy. Adn for folks into environments like what-is-now-Eternal-and-Legacy it was crazier. Turn 1 kills were easily achievable.

The essence of 5-Color was: Your deck had to have at least 250 cards in it. It had to have at least 18 cards of each color. You played for Ante. IT WAS AMAZING. The smallest game between buddies could matter, depending on what ended up in the Ante pool. You might lose the game, but feel like you won because you managed to Jeweled Bird your dual land back into the graveyard on the last turn. Cards were routinely windmill slammed, Chaos Orbs were dropped, and The Most Broken Card Of All Time was a 4-of in every deck. CONTRACT FROM BELOW. And the game worked. It was crazy and awesome and I will never forget it.

The other hobby I love is Ultimate Frisbee. I am a terrible exerciser--I need a competition to feel like I am doing something. And Ultimate is just right for me. Non-contact, no refs, insanely aerobic, and you learn how to throw a Frisbee in totally impressive ways. Codified above all other official rules is Rule #0, called "Spirit of the Game," in the parlance. Players should be having fun. If you are not having fun, you are doing it wrong, and should take a break.

I am still playing now, 18 years on, and loving it. If you can commit to showing up twice a week for say, five weeks, you'll love it too.

Besides gaming? Playing music. I love playing music. It's brought me so much joy and is actually how I met my wife. Never underestimate the power of the guitar.

I'm with stormseeker on this one. I've met more good people and had more great times thanks to playing music. In fact it's my brothers birthday today and there's a musician party at his house. Just jamming and recording all night long.

When I was in Brazil I couldn't speak Portuguese but I could play... Which meant that I got to meet a bunch of cool musicians, went to house parties, stayed at a doctors mansion and played live shows in some shitty little towns. All thanks to a single skill. Although I was led to believe that they would have liked me even more if I played soccer instead.

Gaming is the other one.. of all stripes, and downhill skying.

After gaming, I will have to say dancing. Not any kind of formal or specific dancing like ballroom dancing or square dancing, though I have enjoyed trying both of those. No, I just really like going to a club with with a good DJ and spending most of the night dancing. Sometimes with friends, sometimes with random women I meet there, often just dancing by myself on a crowded dance floor. It's great when I know and like a given song, but I'm also quick to pick up on the beat of something new.

I'm a bit old for the club scene, but I'm a fitness freak too, so I can keep up with anybody at the clubs. I'm in a serious long-term relationship, so it's nice to just go for the dancing and the hanging out with friends and drinking, without feeling any pressure to talk to women and get phone numbers. My two favorite dance nights right now in the Twin Cities are also places where I often run into friends. Wednesday night is Transmission, an 80s dance night at Club Jagerhouse that has been going strong for eleven years now. Saturday night is Bondage-a-Go-Go at Ground Zero, the local gothic-industrial night club. Transmission is generally a joyous event, while Bondage-a-Go-Go is of more dark and edgy, with the DJ also showing film clips of weird old horror movies up on a big movie screen. The people watching is great there, because the freaky-looking people are there to dance, but the real freaks are the generic-looking suburbanites who come only to watch the bondage sideshow.

There's too many good ones but if I had to give them all up for just one it'd be fishing, specifically fly fishing. Nothing beats wearing out your soles while exploring a stream you've never been on before to find that perfect spot... its even better when you actually end up finding a fish there. There's nothing wrong with drinking on a boat with a few buddies and casting the day away either, that version of fishing just hits different notes.

Oddly enough its a hobby that I spend a relatively small amount of time on. Generally I restrict it to spring and summer and have only taken a few trips/vacations specifically to fish. Plus I don't peruse or post to sites like Fortress Amerifish either. Thinking about how much I like it, maybe I should be over there posting instead of here...

One of my big loves is stage acting. I'm not sure if that's a hobby or not, but it was kind of my "thing" before I became the guy who writes too much about games. I've also had a chance to direct a couple of shows (just amateur stuff) and I genuinely love that experience. It's very time-intense for about 10 weeks, which means it's not really possible while I have a two-year old and another kid on the way. Otherwise my wife ends up being a drama widow.

But yeah, it's still my main form of artistic expression when I can fit it into my life.

Rugby although I am starting to get "too old". I hate the new jeresys, my teammates and opponets tend to be 10 years younger and my knees complain, but I am headed to practice tonight. After all its as much about the social as sports side. When I was younger Rugby was for spring and fall, boardgames for winter. Not sure what I did in the summer, drink I guess.

I do have the game, Crash Tackle to combine these two hobbies.

My answer is the same as the one I gave for stupidest hobby and that is motorcycles.

In all the world there is nothing better...and I mean nothing...than getting together and cruising around with two or three buddies on your bikes. Ok I lied, there are two things that make it better. The first is to have a girl on the back and the second is to have some beers while your doing it.

There is a problem of course. A few beers easily becomes a few too many and not only is that illegal but it's deadly. Which is what happened to me one hot summer day when I was having the time of my life until I lost it coming around a corner, slid across the blacktop in my best flying superman pose and hit a telephone pole in the manner of a horeshoe hitting a ringer.

After that I cut out the booze from my biking life style and most of my "buddies" for whom the fun of drinking was more important than the riding.

Which makes Board Gaming the BEST hobby I have ever had. I've said it before and I'll say it again (and even get a little bit choked up). I have met more grade A, solid, awesome, generous, and fun people in this hobby than anywhere else...ever.

i hear you repoman. Motorbiking is pure awesome, crisp early spring mornings, open winding A roads. Unfortunately my bike got stolen and set fire too, and i havent stumped up the cash to replace it yet (2 years now, it was an Sv650).

I guess I'm into classic scooters. For about 7 years I didn't own a car and just rode one of the Vespas around. Rain, snow, whatever. Kinda sucked when it was really bad out in the winter. Dunno if it's really a hobby though?

Gaming by far. Be it Magic, ASL, D&D or boardgames I've met more cool people and made more friends through gaming than anything else.

-Will

Besides gaming, I agree with Dabid on fishing. There's no time of year you can't fish, and right now it's the nicest season for icefishing and putting nets and hooks. Most of my holidays I spend fishing, it runs in the family.

Watching and commenting on movies and TV and playing video games. And bitching about my weight gain.