Former Hobbies?

We already had a thread about our non-boardgaming hobbies.

So this thread is about former non-boardgaming hobbies.

What hobbies have you given up on? Was it to make time for more boardgames? Or was there some other factor?

Me:

1. Volleyball. At age 7, I crashed a backyard party a couple of streets away in my neighborhood, to watch them play volleyball. I had probably seen volleyball played before, but this was the first time that it interested me. Everybody there assumed I was somebody's kid, so eventually they let me play. I was terrible, but I was hooked. I played in community rec groups for 20 years before finally retiring due to an increasingly bad knee. I was great at setting up other people for the spikes, I was a decent blocker, and my underhand serve made up in precision what it lacked in backspin. I liked trying to serve the ball to the perfect psychological distance between two opponents, to see if I could get them to collide.

2. Bowling. From age 8 until 17, I played in afterschool leagues every winter. It wasn't especially fun until I recruited some friends to start our own team in 7th grade. By 11th grade, we had to split into two teams because we got enough of our gaming group hooked. My own technique lacked finesse. I was a skinny youngster with big hands, and I didn't own my own ball. So I tended to find a really heavy ball with big fingerholes, and just aim straight at that sweet spot between the front pin and either of the next two pins. My scores were generally nothing to brag about, 120-140 range, though I once bowled a 184. In my 20s, I bowled sporadically with my friends. I gave up bowling because accounting was putting increasing demands on my bowling arm, particularly the elbow. (Heavy mouse usage on the computer.)

3. Racquetball. In my early 20s, two of my friends and I got a big, new apartment at a complex that also had several racquetball courts in the clubhouse. We all bought racquets and started a small league with five friends of ours. I took tennis lessons when I was younger, so I had all the basic skills that I needed, plus my long arms made it tough for opponents to score on me. I gave up racquetball after a few years for the same reason that I gave up bowling.

4. Partying. I don't know if this counts as a hobby as such, but I used to party hard, starting in college. I experimented a little with drugs, but mostly just drank heavily a few times a month, at the bar or at parties. I liked to dance when I was drinking, it was the easiest way for me to meet women. Ten years ago, I cut back... around the time it was becoming obvious that my dad had become an alcholic. These days, I'm averaging maybe one drink a week, and that's usually just a glass of wine with a nice dinner.

I didn't give up any hobbies for gaming, but I have let gaming fill up the free time as I abandoned other pursuits for various reasons.

I too was a youth bowler. I was in YABA leagues for years, at least until I got old enough to realize how freakishly weird 15-16 year olds wearing shirts covered in bowling patches and strutting around Brunswick Lanes with those bionic arm things on. I think the last time I bowled in a league I got yelled at because I was in the arcade when it was my turn. I was pretty good, I had 140 average and my team was top ranked in GA at one point (we were called M.O.D.- Method of Destruction- we were all big into thrash metal). I'm pretty fucking great at Wii Sports bowling, but my dad won't bowl less than 250 every damn time he plays. He's awesome, he rolled a 300 game once.

Games have _always_ been a hobby for me. Literally since I was small. I don't know that I have any "former" hobbies really, except for maybe being a goth and skateboarding, but do those things ever really leave you?

I was really hardcore into martial arts for a while, but there again once I realized how fucking weird a lot of people into that are I got out. Tubby middle-aged men strutting around in karate gis like they're going to wreck some shit but be very disciplined about it is almost as bad as what goes on in board gaming.

I was into Airsoft for a while, but once again, when I realized how weird the people who were really into were I didn't care to stick around. You get these Tom Clancy motherfuckers in head-to-toe fatigues who think they're reliving BLACKHAWK DOWN, barking orders and conducting these manuevers they read about in the SAS handbook. I just wanted to mow people down with a machine gun.

Why the hell am I still into boardgaming then? I've seen enough of this freakshow too...

Juggling. After a few years it became apparent that chicks just don't dig it.

Sag.

I listed kayaking/waterskiing/whitewater rafting in the current hobbies thread but its really been three years since I was out there every weekend so that one is probably in the twilight between former hobbies and current ones. I'm hoping the weather cooperates since shitty economy means I won't have tons of work to do this year and I might get a lot of time outdoors.

I did the paintball thing for a long time, but got bored with it. Gave my gun to a 12 year old cousin, who within five seconds shot my carpet with it.

Vandalism was a hobby in high school, lots of good stories came from that. Beer pong in college. I haven't given up the beer but now there is no grass or infectious disease carried by a ping pong ball in my cup.

I used to play poker in person 3 times a week and constantly on computer, don't do that anymore. I used to really love to cook and eat out, my wife now does most of the cooking and we don't eat out very often.

I used to do playstation probably 10 hours a week, now its the wii for maybe an hour every couple of weeks.

I used to read a lot of philosophy, especially political philosophy, and some legal philosophy but I almost never read that stuff now.

Jeebus, what the hell do I do all the time?

I also used to play the drums. Sold my set to buy a car to take to college. That one seems so long ago I nearly forgot. I was in a series of crappy garage bands. We ripped off Green Day until around 96, when we added a few other people and became a nine inch nails ripoff band. One of the guys we added at that time played bass and drums, even though we already had a bassist and a drummer. This resulted in me playing keyboards for a while (I played piano when I was a kid) but unfortunately also resulted in our band getting corrupted by Marilyn Mansonites. Before we knew it we had 3 untalented piercing laden goth backup singers and I was wishing for the days of dookie. We broke up not long after that.

Michael Barnes wrote:

I too was a youth bowler. I was in YABA leagues for years, at least until I got old enough to realize how freakishly weird 15-16 year olds wearing shirts covered in bowling patches and strutting around Brunswick Lanes with those bionic arm things on. I think the last time I bowled in a league I got yelled at because I was in the arcade when it was my turn. I was pretty good, I had 140 average and my team was top ranked in GA at one point (we were called M.O.D.- Method of Destruction- we were all big into thrash metal). I'm pretty fucking great at Wii Sports bowling, but my dad won't bowl less than 250 every damn time he plays. He's awesome, he rolled a 300 game once.

My high school bowling team was called The Wrecking Crew, and we spent just as much time in the arcade as we did in the lanes. More, probably. While bowling, we were kind of a freakshow, reasonably skilled but with weird styles. One guy had such extreme spin that he had to start his approach way off to one side. Another guy lofted his ball so hard that he once hit the Do Not Loft the Ball sign with his ball. And we were always more concerned with outscoring each other than whether or not we were beating the other team. Good times.

One time in college, a group of us went to the local thrift shop and picked up used gas station attendant shirts, complete with sewed-on name badges. We got the only empty lane during a serious Friday night league and whooped it up, role-playing that we were blue collar types from Joisey or rednecks from Kintucky. Shouted out each other's badge names... Hey Billy Bob, I done rolled me a gutter ball! Big Barb, youse is a lousy bowler! We were pretty obvious, so the locals were very annoyed.

I've given up on a big Magic: the Gathering habit. The cards are there, but who has time to organize/sell them? I have zero desire to spend more there. I'll still play with the cards I've got, but I'm reading them now--I just knew them all at sight way back when. I used to hang around with Bob Maher, Ped Bun, Brian Kowal and some other dudes. Hell, I judged a draft with world class players in it (Bram Snepvangers won as I recall). Loooong ago.

I played Ultimate a lot in college (U of Redlands). Our team suuuuucked, but we always had a good time. Dabbled in grad school (Cal), but couldn't stay motivated with Kinetics homework to do.

I debated (policy, "NDT style") throughout high school, coached a year after that, and then did one more year at college. That was fun, I traveled extensively, but it kind of makes you into a dick. I'm glad I let that go. I can speak really fast when needed though.

Michael Barnes wrote:

Why the hell am I still into boardgaming then? I've seen enough of this freakshow too...

Is it because it's easier to avoid the tools? You play a board game with your buddies and maybe invite a stranger or two who seems OK, whereas in martial arts or airsoft you're usually forced to interact with everyone, tools and all.

Here's what I dropped:

1. RPGing. Had a brilliant game group when I was a kid until my late teens. Fantastic friends, imaginative DM and players. Everyone knew how to shower, and nobody spoke Ye Olde Englishe. Fucking dream group. Played as much as we could and, to this day, remain the best times I've ever had gaming. Left it behind when I left for university, because it was never the same without that group.

2. Fencing. Enjoyed it, got too competitive, badly strained a tendon, didn't want to put the money, time, and work into training again. Moved to refereeing, loved it for a while, then got sick of wasting my weekends being paid a pittance to travel to strange cities and get yelled at for every point by obnoxious pricks.

3. Handicapping. Like a bit of a gamble, love the races. Too much like work.

4. Poker. As I said, I like a bit of a gamble. Actually lived off the proceeds of internet poker for about half a year while between jobs. I haven't really given up poker, but I don't play it anywhere near as much as I used to. Too much stress.

5. Magic: The Gathering. For obvious reasons.

I do less raw digital hardware scratch building and hacking than I used to. A part of that was mostly that I was living on very little income in college. So all of my geek toys were mostly hand built and hacked out of assorted bits.

I can just buy them now.

The only hobby I gave up is magic. Used to even perform shows. Mostly drifted away from that when I was 11 or so and got into the whole computer thing.

CCGs - Got out of those while still in high school. Picked the Pokemon CCG up the summer after my freshman year of college. Then got into Magic Online when that first came out.

Miniatures - Also got out of that in high school.

Anime - Used to watch this back in high school with my two buddies. We formed an "Anonymous Anime Club" that we were going to use on college applications. I doubt any of us put it on there though. This was back in the VHS days when it was hard to find anime anywhere so most of it was ordered over the internet. Then we realized most of it sucked.

Camping - I was in Boy Scouts. But once I graduated high school, I just haven't really gone out much since.

Hip hop/music in general - I used to really be into hip hop and other forms of electronic music. Went to shows, raves, etc. Even bought turntables with some prize money I won in a research paper writing contest in college. Never bought speakers or a mixer though. Then sold them so I could buy an engagement ring.

jeb wrote:

I debated (policy, "NDT style") throughout high school, coached a year after that, and then did one more year at college. That was fun, I traveled extensively, but it kind of makes you into a dick. I'm glad I let that go. I can speak really fast when needed though.

This is very true. I did the same, and it basically can turn you into a dick -- but you can talk like the micro-machine man when needed

Otherwise --

1. Magic: The Gathering. I don't really play that much anymore. Still play Type I with a couple of friends and each set that comes out I usually just see which cards work good in the Type I environment and pick up those.

2. A lot of hard drinking in college. Probably four to five times a week. I quit once I went to grad school just because I figured the two wouldn't mix (which turns out is true), although I still enjoy a good beer.

Horses. I got my first horse when I was 12 years old and spent my high school years riding in horse shows, mostly hunters/jumpers. I didn't have time for it in college, but once I graduated and settled into the routine of working, I got another horse. I wasn't interested in competing anymore, but spent all my free time for about 10 years trail riding and hanging out at the stables with my buddies.

I decided to quit my job to stay home when I was pregnant with our second kid and we moved cross country which meant I didn't have the time or money to keep my horse. So, I gave him to a friend. I've never gotten back into it and now have other hobbies. It's weird to have been so obsessed with something for so many years and yet not care anymore. The ironic part is that I now have the place to keep a horse and wouldn't have to board it and I'm not even interested.

I wonder if the same thing will happen to my gaming obsession someday.

Comic Books. Too fucking expensive. I still remember the days that Marvel's Annuals (double sized!) cost 50 cents. Now a regular comic starts at $4.00, fuggedit!

Collecting Action figures. Waste of space & money. My last fig bought was Chris Pronger when he played with the Edmonton Oilers, he left after one season 'cause he got caught with his pants down, by his wife. I was PISSED, I wasted 15 bucks for nothing. I took the whole lot ( Resident Evil, Macfarlane Oilers & Marvel Comics figs) down to Sally Ann.