Archive for the 'geekery' Category
Microhobbies
A neologism I’d like to coin: Microhobby.
In these days of constant distraction, hyperactive advertising, media, social networks, cool devices, gadgets, geekery, sport, clubs, activities, short haul weekends away, gigs, shows, films, festivals, and er, the 9to5 work that pays for it all, can anyone really have the time to form a proper hobby? Devote regular time each week to actually turn up and do stuff? I’m not so sure…
Do you sit, as I am now, in front of a film you’ve seen 10 times before, know all the plotlines and aren’t really paying attention towards, because you have your laptop warming your legs, have youtube playing in the corner window and playing with a devastatingly cute bunny? Yep, welcome to the world of Constant Partial Attention.
This is not multi tasking, this is trying to do everything at once, to only a reasonable level gaining broad but shallow experience. A more advanced manifestation is N.A.D.D. which afflicts the geek in all of us - always searching for something new, something cool, the new high thats comes from finding something out, finding out how it links into the world and expands your mental map of everything. Once linked, of course, it serves no further purpose in itself, why should it? Why stop there when it can be used to understand the next cool thing? Time to move onto it. Now, now now!
Which brings me back round to hobbies.
I’ve tried a lot of hobbies in my years, visual, musical, sporting, some even using my brain. But none, save for an unhealthy appetite for new music, seem to hang around for long. I bought a gorgeous racing bike over the summer, rode it around the South Downs for a few weekends and never did it again. The weather wasn’t great, and it demanded a train ride to get down to the club in the first place, but I could have gone if I really wanted to. Tried Capioera, Far Eastern films, long-distance running, playing guitar, snooker, weights, poetry, writing, producing music, swimming, video games, golf, hiking, climbing, badminton yadda yadda yadda. Point is, I’d love to be brilliant at something, anything, but there’s simply too much I want to do. There’s too much I know about, so much opportunity to try new things, that I seem to never build up depth in any particular area… Microhobbies all of them: entered into with much gusto, buy all the kit, get involved, get bored, go home, try something else…
Hmmm.
Microhobbies. What shall I try next?
***
I finally found the quiet steps that lead down to the Thames to let you see this imposing view:
I for one…
… welcome our euphonius robotic overlords.
Everything’s progress if it gets us that little bit closer to Blade Runner: The Final Cut.
I drank way too much coffee over the weekend
Glad someone else feels my pain with myriad options, spilly cups tasting of glue and evil barristas (’barristas’? - they’ve even managed to get to my vocabulary!)
Also, did you vote for Mr Splashy Pants???
Also also, php is one urgly language! Might need some help soon to create widgets for Amazon lists and a Flickr feed. Meanwhiles, time for some ill-educated hacking…
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This is all a bit whizzy…
As a moderately-faring dunce in regard to development, with an L-plate to prove it, this has all been rather simple to get a site hosted and a blog started :)
Apologies to James M who I never took up on his offer to help me out with everything, I’ll definitely be at your door soon enough when I want to do more customisation… The photo up top is a set of farmhouses repurposed into a small museum in Skaftafell National Park, Iceland, the light was brilliant that day.
Time to think up witty content to fill this blog, or else it’ll all be full of eels.
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