

Ask HN: What do you do for activities outside of work? - b3b0p


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mindcrime
Exercise / Sports (participating) - mountain biking is my main thing, and I
sometimes dabble with a little trail running. In the past, I wrestled,
practiced jiu-jitsu, and messed around with some amateur powerlifting. I still
lift weights from time to time, but not so seriously these days.

Sports (spectator) - I am a huge NFL football fan, and I make it a point to
watch all the Miami Dolphins games that I can. #PHINSUP

Reading - I read a lot: fiction, nonfiction, whatever. I read everything from
pulp-fiction crap like those Jack Reacher novels, to more "serious literature"
like Dostoevsky, Melville, Pynchon, etc.; non-fiction spanning topics from
Arduino, to electronics, to string theory and cosmology, from philosophy and
mathematics to history and folklore... biographies, etc., etc.. Right now I'm
working on the 3 James Bamford books on the NSA.

Movies: I watch movies from time to time, whether it means going out to the
theater or just bit-torrenting something, or watching something I own on DVD.
My movie tastes are fairly typical male hacker fare, I suppose.

Music: Going to live concerts is something I enjoy, but don't do nearly enough
of. I think the last live show I saw was Steel Panther at the House of Blues
in Chicago last summer. If all goes well, I hope to catch the Iron Maiden show
in Raleigh in a couple of months. I'll go take in a performance of the NC
Symphony Orchestra every now and again.

Comedy: I'll go to somewhere like DSI Comedy Theatre in Carrboro for some live
improv on occasion.

Political stuff: I attend LPNC meetings every once in a while, but not nearly
often enough these days. In the past I've done crazy shit like running for
Lieutenant Governor of NC as the Libertarian Party candidate. Right now I'm
working on getting a Cypherpunk meetup organized in the Raleigh/Durham area,
and doing some education/advocacy work around crypto and anonymity tools.

Hackerspace: I hang out at SplatSpace (Durham, NC) sometimes and work on
various projects. Sometimes I go there to work on the startup, but other times
I'll go up there and tinker with other shit... I started building a coilgun,
but that's kinda paused right now. I keep planning to start a Mantis PCB mill,
but never seem to have time. Eventually I want to build one of those, then a
3D printer. Right now I'm looking into starting on a project to build a neat
case to house about 8 Beaglebone Black boards, so I can make a nice small,
self-contained HPC/Hadoop cluster to play around with.

TV: Doctor Who. I also like Grimm and a couple other series, but don't really
have much time for watching television. :-(

------
GuiA
Going out: my girlfriend and I enjoy going to concerts/comedy shows a few
times a month.

Reading: everything, from teen fiction to Feynman lectures. That's definitely
my most expensive hobby. I collect a lot of books :o

Maintaining topical side blogs: currently www.ui-animations.com, more in the
works.

Research (preparing my return to academia): mostly reading papers from
conferences, although working on related side projects as well, some paper
drafts in the works.

Games: MTG, board games, video games.

Sport: indoors rock climbing, I try to drive down to Santa Cruz to surf every
weekend, longboard when I need to get around town

Hackerspace: I've been going to Noisebridge in SF recently. If you avoid the
tribal drama, lots of good stuff.

Video watching: lectures and conference talks on youtube, the standard movies
and shows.

Software dev: small indie games/iOS apps/web side projects, fucking around
with new hardware (excited about the Oculus rift)/electronics/etc.

I also listen to a lot of music/radio (esp. while working/commuting), but
that's more of a "passive" hobby.

Stuff I'd like to start doing (or do more of): hiking, cooking, gardening,
running.

------
karolisd
Stand-up Comedy: I don't care too much if I don't have professional success in
stand-up, it's something I'm going to do for the rest of my life. Also, I want
to do more improv/acting.

Basketball: The gym I go to is great and there are pickup basketball games all
the time. It makes me wish I played organized sports in high school. Also,
it's made me realize how important getting enough sleep is.

Exercise/Biking/Swimming: I try to bike to work whenever the weather is nice.
After work, I go bike to a beach. Maybe see if there's a volleyball game I can
join.

Cooking: I like to learn how to cook new things.

Reading/Writing: I used to read more. Now, it's harder to find something I
like. I'm trying to force myself to write stuff, whether it's comedy or
something more serious.

Bars: I probably go to bars often enough for it to be considered an activity.

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b3b0p
Wow, cool! Thanks for posting responses. It's interesting to know what others
enjoy and get ideas.

The reason I posted this was because my friends and mom kept mentioning i need
to get out and do something other than programming and working on my
startup(s).

Lots of good ideas and hobbies I could try to get into from the posts so far.

Right now, my other activities aren't much and are more selfish. Working on my
startup, video games, movies, reading. My goal is to get out more, meet
people, and have fun, relax, and enjoy life more.

What I would like to try so far from reading these posts that I never thought
much of:

Hackerspace (meet more people with similar interests) - I found a few in
Tulsa, OK (where I live) so far and they seem to meet regularly.

Renovating - I just bought a condo a year ago on the Riverview View area in
Tulsa. It needs some work and updating. My dad said he would help on weekends.

Writing more - Whether it be personal or blog posts.

Sports - I badly want to join the Roller Hockey team. I used to play ice
hockey (lived in MN and WI and was on the high school selects team). Up front
costs are a bit much though.

------
agscala
Usually one of three things:

Cooking: It's great to try and cook amazing new foods. I also spend the time
to try and plate it nicely and take a photograph. Dish presentation really
does make it taste better, even though it's all in my head.

Competitive Gaming: Detroit (and a lot of other cities) has a pretty big
community of people who meet up monthly for fighting game tournaments (Street
Fighter, Smash Bros), and more often to just hang out.

Poi Dancing: Below is a link to a little music video I made of me poi dancing.
Hope you enjoy :) I'm much better now since I've been practicing 5-6 hours a
week ever since I recorded that video 6 months ago. It's a great meditative
hobby and I love that it's challenging and rewarding all at once.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjweOZotRwY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjweOZotRwY)

------
kadabra9
Exercise - I try to lift, run, or some combination of the two at least three
times a week. It really helps to clear my mind, especially after a stressful
project.

Read/Write - It took me longer than it should have to realize how critical the
ability to write well is.

Games - Chess, poker. These are more just hobbies for fun, but I think both
rely on some really useful principles in life, such as the importance of a
plan, decision making with limited information, etc.

------
lsiunsuex
more programming. i can work on more creative projects outside of work.

When I need a break from that, you can find a hammer in my hand; I love house
renovations and can do electrical, drywall, plumbing, tile, etc... I've even
become quite the mason!

[http://diy.blogoverflow.com/2012/08/building-a-brick-
pizza-o...](http://diy.blogoverflow.com/2012/08/building-a-brick-pizza-oven-
into-an-existing-space/)

------
lgunsch
Exercise - I lift weight twice a week. It really helps reduce stress, and
keeps my mind sharp.

Hobby: Marine Aquarium - I keep a salt water aquarium as a non-technical fun
hobby. Its enjoyable, a lot of fun to build up and maintain. And its non-
technical.

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antonio-R
1\. Run 2 times a week and swim 1. 2\. Going out with the wife, even if its
just a simple walk. 3\. Do side projects. 4\. Cook, everyday, it's something
that i like and relaxes me at the end of the day.

My 3cents friend.

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chrisbennet
When I'm not at work I can be found mountain biking, working on air cooled
Porsches and neglecting my lawn. I also like to program on my own projects and
hack hardware once in a while.

------
jakespencer
Complicated board games.
[http://www.boardgamegeek.com](http://www.boardgamegeek.com)

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noitcudni
Competitive Foosball.

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swayvil
meditation, yoga, science fiction, hiking, software projects, art projects,
yard projects, house projects

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schiang
a lot of sports

