Yes, at least for me anyway. Turns out my UAS was really just me searching for the right ukulele all that time. Once found, my UAS pretty much disappeared.
Total Immersion Hobbies before Discovering Ukulele
- Thread starter Wiggy
- Start date
Yes, at least for me anyway. Turns out my UAS was really just me searching for the right ukulele all that time. Once found, my UAS pretty much disappeared.
OP
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I haven't found one. But then, I haven't been looking very hard
TheresaSC
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Thanks 😊 It was a fun one to weave.
TheresaSC
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Those are all great bands! What a fun variety!
captain-janeway
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I'll admit to looking at one because I'd like to try a koa. I absolutely love my solid cedar top Kala. The sound is great to me. I have a few others but don't play them. They weren't expensive so I may give them to a school.
captain-janeway
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I love fountain pens too. My favorite is a Parker released for the Queen's 50th anniversary on the throneLarry, I had the fountain pen bug bite me a couple of years ago. They are still pretty much the only pens I use in my house. I just fell in love with vintage Esterbrook pens, there is a desk model on the table besides me
thehappypm
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Personal Computer - how could I not get into this. I was a mainframe systems programmer in the late 70s and the original 8088 based PCs gave me a chance to poke and probe and program all on my own at home. I "tinkered" a lot. The last 5 years or so though, I am happy just to "use" a computer and not think at all how they work inside or how to change anything. Oh, and I taught my 3 year old to boot the PC on his own and play his Sesame Street games. He's now a programmer for Wordpress.
Guitar playing - really just dabbled at it for many decades, took a few lessons just before I retired.
Woodworking - making wooden cars with wooden wheels (game many away as gifts), small furniture, equipped my workroom with tools.
Model Trains - HO gauge, had 3 sheets of plywood with an elaborate layout, many engines and freights cars and many unbuilt structures still in their boxes. I abandoned it when I realized if I ever moved I would have to trash it, could not get it out of the basement. Recovered about $1K of the $3K I had invested after selling everything off, but I had many good years with it.
Cigar box guitars - well, this one is still going. Wandered into this when I was discouraged from buying an electric guitar kit because it might be garbage. I had the workshop, so I built my first CBG out of big box lumber, made my own fretted necks and 20 guitars and 3 ukuleles later still at it. A few custom builds, gifted a few, have kept about 10. I was planning to go whole hog building and selling at a large Christmas craft fair in 2020 then COVID hit. That craft fair still has not resumed. But then I had ....
Vocal lessons - it was on my bucket list and took 6 months of lessons when I retired. Man, has that ever been helpful. Two great teachers, one trained in opera, followed by one in contemporary vocalizing.
Ukulele - started in mid 2019 attending a Ukulele Jam Session with a friend and realized, hey I love this. Pandemic lockdown hit and 5 of us decided to meet on Zoom, each of us suggesting songs that went into a weekly songbook. We are at it monthly now, and when the weather allows, we meet in nearby parks to play in person. We're regulars at a nearby Farmer's Market, and have played at a Fall Fair. I'm taking weekly online lessons / open mic with a local teacher, meeting a great bunch of like minded people. I do solo open mics whenever I can and participate in a circle jam at a local senior's centre. Yes, I've got the BUG!!!!
Guitar playing - really just dabbled at it for many decades, took a few lessons just before I retired.
Woodworking - making wooden cars with wooden wheels (game many away as gifts), small furniture, equipped my workroom with tools.
Model Trains - HO gauge, had 3 sheets of plywood with an elaborate layout, many engines and freights cars and many unbuilt structures still in their boxes. I abandoned it when I realized if I ever moved I would have to trash it, could not get it out of the basement. Recovered about $1K of the $3K I had invested after selling everything off, but I had many good years with it.
Cigar box guitars - well, this one is still going. Wandered into this when I was discouraged from buying an electric guitar kit because it might be garbage. I had the workshop, so I built my first CBG out of big box lumber, made my own fretted necks and 20 guitars and 3 ukuleles later still at it. A few custom builds, gifted a few, have kept about 10. I was planning to go whole hog building and selling at a large Christmas craft fair in 2020 then COVID hit. That craft fair still has not resumed. But then I had ....
Vocal lessons - it was on my bucket list and took 6 months of lessons when I retired. Man, has that ever been helpful. Two great teachers, one trained in opera, followed by one in contemporary vocalizing.
Ukulele - started in mid 2019 attending a Ukulele Jam Session with a friend and realized, hey I love this. Pandemic lockdown hit and 5 of us decided to meet on Zoom, each of us suggesting songs that went into a weekly songbook. We are at it monthly now, and when the weather allows, we meet in nearby parks to play in person. We're regulars at a nearby Farmer's Market, and have played at a Fall Fair. I'm taking weekly online lessons / open mic with a local teacher, meeting a great bunch of like minded people. I do solo open mics whenever I can and participate in a circle jam at a local senior's centre. Yes, I've got the BUG!!!!
rustydusty
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I've always been a "motor head". Boats, cars (mostly hot rods and few classics), and motorcycles. Just in the 16 years I've been married I've had 9 collectible cars. Currently I have a '63 T Bird and a Harley.
I've played in bands since high school...
I've played in bands since high school...
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Most recently I was into RC helicopters. This is the sport/"3D" side of the hobby, which means doing tricks and whatnot in the air, hoping you beat out gravity in time and don't lose orientation of the heli in the air. Very fun. If you go deep into the hobby, it can really make $1300 ukuleles look reasonably priced by comparison.
This is definitely NOT me flying, but gives you an idea of what this side of the hobby is about...
This is definitely NOT me flying, but gives you an idea of what this side of the hobby is about...
Last edited:
LOVE it!!
WOW!! Wonder how many helo's he wiped out learning to fly like that!?!?
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Woah, that really does look fun!
Jan D
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The way that thing flies around, it looks like a very confused, or highly agitated, dragonfly.
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Hah! That's exactly what I was thinking! Actually, actively hunting dragonflies behave like that, when there's a lot of prey for them to be snatching from the air.The way that thing flies around, it looks like a very confused, or highly agitated, dragonfly.
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Nice. I've been flying for awhile now, mostly fixed wing. Build in the winter, fly in the summer. Here is a picture of a show my club had.
Squirrel40
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The way that thing flies around, it looks like a very confused, or highly agitated, dragonfly.
Dragonflies think so too. They will actually go up and chase the helicopters if they're low enough to the ground.
Rllink
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I would have to say hunting, fishing, and camping. I grew up doing all three and pretty much most of my life up until fifteen or so years ago, other than work, revolved around it. About fifteen years ago I sold my farm, which I didn't farm myself, and for some reason just gave up the "outdoors" life. Just like that, I lost interest.
I've played guitar off and on for years. I took up the ukulele when I was travelling a lot and we had two homes, one in Iowa and the other in Puerto Rico. It just fit into our lifestyle better. I would not say that I am immersed in either, it is just something I enjoy doing.
I've played guitar off and on for years. I took up the ukulele when I was travelling a lot and we had two homes, one in Iowa and the other in Puerto Rico. It just fit into our lifestyle better. I would not say that I am immersed in either, it is just something I enjoy doing.
badhabits
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You want time sucks?
Golf (played since childhood, some competition made the tour, one still on the sr circuit), requires playing or practice at least every other day to be/stay decent. 18-hole rounds are a 5-hour commitment, not including travel and post-round libations.
Cycling, also requires lots of saddle time to achieve and maintain form, even more if racing or training for an event, 2 hours minimum per ride but at least there are rest days. Can often require travel to different trails (mtn) or starting points, and then post-ride eating and drinking.
Both activities require daylight and good weather, and both can suck you down the gearhead rabbit hole (and money drain) if you let it. It's almost impossible to excel at both at the same time.
Golf (played since childhood, some competition made the tour, one still on the sr circuit), requires playing or practice at least every other day to be/stay decent. 18-hole rounds are a 5-hour commitment, not including travel and post-round libations.
Cycling, also requires lots of saddle time to achieve and maintain form, even more if racing or training for an event, 2 hours minimum per ride but at least there are rest days. Can often require travel to different trails (mtn) or starting points, and then post-ride eating and drinking.
Both activities require daylight and good weather, and both can suck you down the gearhead rabbit hole (and money drain) if you let it. It's almost impossible to excel at both at the same time.
ailevin
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Up until I was in my early 30s, it was the violin--orchestras and chamber groups, with a small accompaniment of HiFi/Stereo obsessing. I never collected instruments other than keeping every instrument that I ever owned, a couple that my father owned, and a couple that one of my sons played. I was blessed with a fine instrument as a teenager and acquired a couple fine bows through my teacher who more or less tried to keep such things within his family of students. The violin is Roth made by the old man (E.H. Roth) in the 1920s., a Guarneri copy. The bows are made by Fetique and Pfrezshner (spelling?). I never have had the slightest urge to upgrade or change my violin, any more than I would consider replacing an internal organ electively.
Somewhere in my 30s children, work--you know, life intervened. When people asked me about my investments or planning for the future, I told them that most of my assetts were in food and children's clothing (five boys). In my 40s and 50s hobbies were either triggered by or were joint endeavors with kids. However, there were several where I fell far down the rabbit hole even after the kids lost interest. First was amateur astronomy. While I never succumbed to astrophotography, a particularly virulent and expensive aspect of amateur astronomy, I did collect several excellent telescopes, eyepieces, and an extensive library, and spent what free time I could find observing from dark sites. I still enjoy astronomy, but the difficulty of getting to and camping out at dark sites has lost much of its charm in the last several years. Once again, after an initial searching period that lasted several years, I settled on a range of equipment that I simply cannot top. Like the violins, I have found it hard to with two telescopes that I almost never use.
I did go through a brief two or three year RC helicopter phase. I never did 3D other than the occasional unintentional upside-down hover that I could manage just long enough to control the crash landing. Luckily I enjoyed workin on the helis, because in my experience, if you fly 'em, you crash 'em eventually. All of that I sold except for my controller and one very small helicopter that I take out every year or two.
I collected fountain pens and I am still a daily user of fountains pens.. Oh, and don't forget the obsession with paper. I acquired many, including vintage pens, but I was always searching for daily drivers not trophies. So it was more like evidence of a search rather than a collection. But I still probably several dozen fountain pens in storage folders. For the past several years I've mostly using modern Japanese pens.
I was part of the headphone/earphone high fidelity community for a while. This was back before the earth cooled in the days of portable cassette players and very early digital music devices, back when real estate was cheap and memory was expensive. The iPod had not landed, and the big question was how to compress effectively. I collected pocket knives for a while, again until I found what I liked and I haven't bought a knife in five years? I know that most people don't consider shaving a hobby, but I have a collection of double edged razors, brushes, and soaps that I use regularly. Learning the technique and finding just the right equipment was an interesting adventure, and there is an active online community.
My most recent "new hobby" prior to ukulele was birding. It is much easier than amatuer astronomy logistically, and at least pre-Covid it was much easier to find local group that go birding regularly. It does not depend on phases of the Moon (that I've noticed), you can do it during the day even in bad weather, and there is no need to travel great distances. It also scratches many of the itches of amateur astronomy: learning about and acquiring good binoculars, learning how to see things, and gaining experience in the field; and of course the comradery of others in the hobby.
And now here I am at UU. I have three ukes at home and one in the mail. But it's OK, James Hill answered the question of how many ukuleles you need in his $1 intro course. He said that if you know how many ukuleles you have, then you don't have enough!
Alan
Somewhere in my 30s children, work--you know, life intervened. When people asked me about my investments or planning for the future, I told them that most of my assetts were in food and children's clothing (five boys). In my 40s and 50s hobbies were either triggered by or were joint endeavors with kids. However, there were several where I fell far down the rabbit hole even after the kids lost interest. First was amateur astronomy. While I never succumbed to astrophotography, a particularly virulent and expensive aspect of amateur astronomy, I did collect several excellent telescopes, eyepieces, and an extensive library, and spent what free time I could find observing from dark sites. I still enjoy astronomy, but the difficulty of getting to and camping out at dark sites has lost much of its charm in the last several years. Once again, after an initial searching period that lasted several years, I settled on a range of equipment that I simply cannot top. Like the violins, I have found it hard to with two telescopes that I almost never use.
I did go through a brief two or three year RC helicopter phase. I never did 3D other than the occasional unintentional upside-down hover that I could manage just long enough to control the crash landing. Luckily I enjoyed workin on the helis, because in my experience, if you fly 'em, you crash 'em eventually. All of that I sold except for my controller and one very small helicopter that I take out every year or two.
I collected fountain pens and I am still a daily user of fountains pens.. Oh, and don't forget the obsession with paper. I acquired many, including vintage pens, but I was always searching for daily drivers not trophies. So it was more like evidence of a search rather than a collection. But I still probably several dozen fountain pens in storage folders. For the past several years I've mostly using modern Japanese pens.
I was part of the headphone/earphone high fidelity community for a while. This was back before the earth cooled in the days of portable cassette players and very early digital music devices, back when real estate was cheap and memory was expensive. The iPod had not landed, and the big question was how to compress effectively. I collected pocket knives for a while, again until I found what I liked and I haven't bought a knife in five years? I know that most people don't consider shaving a hobby, but I have a collection of double edged razors, brushes, and soaps that I use regularly. Learning the technique and finding just the right equipment was an interesting adventure, and there is an active online community.
My most recent "new hobby" prior to ukulele was birding. It is much easier than amatuer astronomy logistically, and at least pre-Covid it was much easier to find local group that go birding regularly. It does not depend on phases of the Moon (that I've noticed), you can do it during the day even in bad weather, and there is no need to travel great distances. It also scratches many of the itches of amateur astronomy: learning about and acquiring good binoculars, learning how to see things, and gaining experience in the field; and of course the comradery of others in the hobby.
And now here I am at UU. I have three ukes at home and one in the mail. But it's OK, James Hill answered the question of how many ukuleles you need in his $1 intro course. He said that if you know how many ukuleles you have, then you don't have enough!
Alan