Aside From Coins, Do You Have Any Other Hobbies?

Too many hobbies and not enough time or money with a 3 year old son running around. I love automatic watches, autographed books, models, and coins. I've had to force myself to focus on the coins and model building otherwise I'm too spread out. I'm not very good at it but I enjoy WWII models and Star Wars

M4A3E8 Sherman work in progress

1/12 Star Wars

 

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Like so many I have too many collecting hobbies. My main hobby, even ahead of Roman coins, is collecting the US postage stamp series known as the Bank Note Issues 1870-1893: essays, proofs, and experimentals. Here is a composite I did for another list showing some of that kind of material in my collection:

That also got me into collecting obsolete U.S. currency up to 1860. From there I branched into Bible pages from the 12th to the 18th centuries. I already had an antiquities collection for Mesopotamia, Magna Graeca, and the Holyland, which I stopped building when the National Museum in Baghdad was ransacked. My one concession to modernity is a collection of Lord of the Rings movie posters signed by members of the cast and crew (I have some extras of those), signed memorabilia, and authorized replicas of the weaponry used in the series. Adjunct to all that is photography (since early 1970s) and videography (since 2006). Never a dull moment.

 

Amateur astronomy. I've had a Zhumell Z10 Dobsonian for five years and I bought an 18" Obsession Dob last year. I'm a galaxy freak as far as observing goes and I'm currently observing the Herschel1 and Herschel2 catalogs. I've finished the Herschel 400 list and also the Messier list of all 110 Messier objects from my light polluted backyard.

 

I love big scopes but I do not have skies that would justify one.........I am envious.

http://www.obsessiontelescopes.com/telescopes/18/index.php

I just discovered they have a 25" at Chaco Canyon. The darkest skies I have ever seen.

http://www.obsessiontelescopes.com/telescopes/25/index.php

 

I just recently finished my first build of an acoustic guitar. It was the most challenging and enjoyable thing I have ever done. Funny thing is I don't even know how to play yet.

 

Since this thread was originally posted I've sort-of picked up a new hobby. I'd been wanting a 4WD high clearance vehicle for snowstorms and getting out in the mountains pretty much since the day I moved to Colorado. In August I finally upgraded from my 2WD Ford Fusion to a Jeep Wrangler and I've loved it so far:

The rig near the start of the trail


Looking down at Estes Park from near "The Notch", a narrow and rocky obstacle near the end of the trail:

 

I have the Ruger .357 version, as well as the 9" Ruger Super Redhawk .44 mag version (shoot full SAAMI Buffalo Bore). several Glocks and several Longs too. Just enjoy the relaxing aspect of target shooting.

 

Beautiful models, JB! I was a tank, armored vehicle, and heavy construction equipment fan when I was a kid—LOL. My parents didn't have to spend a lot of money to keep me entertained—just park the car at the edge of a construction site with bulldozers and I was in paradise.

 

I have another hobby that I haven't confessed. @lrbguy 's excellent postage stamp collection reminded me. I collect Starbucks stickers. I have a friend who's a manager there and she's been giving me these for years ever since I admired her collection—LOL

 

One day I hope to have a nice setup like that, for now though just this 4.5 inch dobsonian. No fancy computerized mount or photography set-up. Just a plain decent reflector telescope and a hand held chart of the skies to learn my way around the night sky.

Once I master this puppy and have a good grasp of the night sky, I'll treat myself to a fancier and larger telescope with an 8 inch apperture, and a nice camera system, and leave this 4.5 inch dobsonian as my travel scope to take out to the countryside, as it is light and small enough to travel well as a portable field telescope.

 

LOL, mine was any thing that EXPLODED or that I could BURN.

 

My other hobbies are: writing web pages, historical writing, technical document writing, Calligraphy, Bookbinding, growing and researching exotic cacti, collecting and researching Japanese Samurai swords, collecting and researching vintage woodworking hand tools, collecting and researching military flintlock firearms.

 

That is beautiful. My playing fingers are getting itchy just looking at it.

 

I especially liked
Recollections of The Homefront in Lancashire

 

Orfew, are those hurricane shutter mounts on the window seen to the left? Don't you live in Canada??

BIG edit, lol. I thought this was Orfew's post but it is Sallent's... and yep, he does live in Florida

 

Thank you my friend. It was a long time in the building but worth every second. If you were close you could play it to your hearts content. I try to put a minimum of half hour a day but am just learning cord changes so far. I should have started learning when I was 14 instead of 56.

 

Thank you @Orfew -- a labor of love. BTW, tomorrow is the anniversary of the start of WW2: 3 September 1939 (also a Sunday).

 

My advice is to take it slowly. Learn the chords correctly first. Learn a few basic ones that you can play songs with like G C and D. There are thousands of songs that use these 3 chords. Again play them slowly speed will come with time. You are trying to build muscle memory and it takes time. As you progress try for smooth slow clean transitions between chords. Then you can add other simple chords like Em and Am. Once you can play these in smooth transitions in a song, you might want to try barre chords. This can be very frustrating so again, take it slowly. At some point you will have to tackle the F chord. Do not get discourage it will come in time. After a thousand hours or so you will stop thinking about chords and you will just play them. At this point you will want to try some picking lines or adding some embellishments to chords.

Get a good chord book and try to play songs with them, it keeps one motivated. There is nothing quite like being able to hear a song and say to yourself Hey I can play that. Most of all have fun.

It is a stock photo but here is a picture of one of my guitars.

 

Those wise words apply to all hobbies!

 

I am having a blast with it. It's slow for sure but that's ok. I play until I start to get sloppy then quite until later or next day and find what I was doing is easier. Right now I'm building speed going from D to A to E to G. I'll throw in another cord in a week or so.

That's a beautiful Martin. Mine is based off a prewar D-28 with scalloped bracing. The top is Italian Spruce, the back and sides Indian Rosewood and the binding is Koa. Of course the neck is Mahogany and the fingerboard is Ebony.