Wednesday, 25 November 2009

Geek Pursuits


I have just returned from farewell lunch in hall with my two of my oldest Oxford friends. They're great. They're the ones who first taught me to love or at least be open to geeks. (I have had many other teachers since then). They mentioned that one of our friends has become more seriously interested in twitching or bird-watching. (No, I didn't know what twitching meant til about an hour ago.) I asked them for ideas of geek pursuits for me to take up once the thesis is over with. Brian wasn't too pleased about twitching being called geeky, but, as I told him, to me it means a lovable obsession, just as most geeks are, I have come to realise, adorably obsessive. Here is the list:
  1. Warhammer
  2. Documenting lichens in the forest/bush
  3. Battle re-enactments
  4. Chess club
  5. Coding
No. 2 has the most appeal at the moment, truly. I like the idea of being outside with a notebook. No. 5 is out as I need to vary my focal distance. Please send me some suggestions. I have a few months to decide and none of these is quite right.

4 comments:

Kate said...

Stamp collecting could be a winner: slow, relaxed afternoons poring through catalogues and albums sounds soothing.

That said, I'm sure you'd be a mean battle-re-enacter: your competitive side would come out!!

xxxx

Bavardess said...

From my experience, the Renaissance Fair is to the geek what the open flame is to the moth. Such 'fayres' also usually feature plenty of alcohol, dodgy fairground food and corsets. What's not to like?

Anonymous said...

I second the Ren Fayre suggestion! Also: collecting and painting small figurines, memorizing and quoting the Star Trek and Star Wars franchises.

Good Enough Woman said...

You could get a metal detector to take to the beaches when you're at home. That would get you outside.

Bug collection and identification.

Fan-fiction.

Stand-up paddle boarding. I don't think it's supposed to be geeky, but compared to surfing, it looks pretty geeky. And it's build core strength!