Imitation of Life
October 21st, 2007
Our black tie optional event was about a 70-30 mix of suits to tuxes, and given that the event was at 6 p.m., I’m thrilled we opted for the dark suit option, because again, unless we owned a suit-like tux (who is this we?), it would have been wretched. And did you know that the cummerbund is not dead? There were LOTS of cummerbunds which surprised me, although I guess if you’re buying a tux, you’re not buying a new one every time the tux trends sway in the breeze. Mercifully, no one was wearing a ruffled shirt, so there’s that.
There was, of course, that small issue of it coinciding with the Sox game, which excited no one, and ensured an early exit on our part, because not only do I go to bed at a ridiculously early hour, but we had a Sox game to watch and a dog starving and crossing her legs. We were home by 10 p.m. because we’re rock stars, and also, because the last thing I want to be is That Girl from Editorial who drank too much and laid her boobs on the table while singing karaoke and telling the corporate vice president how much she loves him, she really really loves him.
Have any of you ever been that girl? I think I was her when I was 22-ish, and hadn’t yet realized that corporate events did NOT mean that you should drink for free just because you could. I distinctly remember somehow finding myself dancing with a client (A CLIENT) while he sang Frank Sinatra in my ear and told me I was unlike any 22-year-old he’d ever met, and gee, maybe we had a special thing going on, despite the fact that he was 56. I didn’t like him — nay, I found him repulsive — but I’d drank too much to gracefully extricate myself from the situation, and I can distinctly remember thinking that wow, there was no way out of this, and I guess I was going to have to accept my fate as Mrs. Al Heinen.
Ah, growing up. Remembering those times makes me far less nostalgic about my early twenties. Getting older is good.
Most importantly, however, was that we survived Saturday night, and no one wore a tux or sequins and all of our boobs remained in our respective clothing.
That was, however, not the highlight of my weekend. That honor went to hanging out with Lawyerish on Saturday (pre-gala) and it’s not fair — it is SO NOT FAIR — that we don’t live near each other. Our relationship transitions so smoothly from e-mail to real life, and I can name maybe three people I’ve met in my whole life, seriously, who are that easy to be with. I’m also compelled to add that her mom is a total hoot, and I’d be happy to hang out with both of them for many, many hours every day, if they’d let me.
However, here’s a question: do you have any hobbies? Because I realized with somewhat abject horror that we really don’t. I’m sure this makes us staggeringly boring individuals, at least in small talk-related conversation at things like black tie-optional events, because when someone new asks us, so hey, what do you like to do for fun, we usually return a blank stare for at least a full 20 seconds before answering, “Uh, pop culture. Reading. Farting around? Does farting around count?”
Honestly, I don’t know what to say. In my spare time, I’m usually working on a freelance project, cleaning the house or, if it’s before 7 a.m., running. And that’s kind of it. I mean, I read and watch television and hang out with friends, and discovering new music can suck up hours of my time, but I’m not one of those people who runs out of the office to go sea kayaking amid the reefs, and the last sweater I knitted ended up with baby arms and an elephant body, so crafts are out. In other words, I’m more likely to race out of the office because Dirty Sexy Money is on TiVo, and Project Runway is on the horizon. I accept this, but bringing it up in conversation is utterly pathetic.
So, a question for you: What are your hobbies, if any? And if you don’t have them, what do you like to do? Catching up on TiVo and surfing the Internet are perfectly acceptable answers, as is staring blankly into space, if that’s your thing …
*REM
Entry Filed under: Nuttin'
42 Comments Add your own
1. Assertagirl | October 21st, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Alas, I am one of those gardening/knitting/reading people but these things are as boring to non-gardening/knitting/reading people as staring into space.
I did buy some books about Nazis lately…is that something?
2. Lawyerish | October 21st, 2007 at 3:15 pm
The pleasure was all on this side of the table, I can assure you. Although I think I talked too much YET AGAIN. It’s just so EASY, you’re right.
Are we, like, *supposed* to have hobbies? Aren’t hobbies for retired people? I have…*interests*, I guess, like reading about Vietnam and traveling and running, but…hobbies? Are we supposed to be whittling or latch-hooking or painting by numbers? I think maybe you need to get out of Florida.
I know you have interests, too, so I think you’re fine at least until you turn 65, at which time you may have to take up crocheting if no other hobbies have come your way.
3. theotherbear | October 21st, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Does it count if you have a list of things that you’d like to become hobbies, but have been too busy lately watching TV and reading and generally blobbing out to get around to them yet? Maybe not. However, when I am ready to get hobbies, I have a pre-prepared list ready!
4. Orange Peacock | October 21st, 2007 at 4:22 pm
Hmm…I have no hobbies either. I generally tell people that after working and schooling and writing as much as I have to every week, I like my free time to be as devoid of actual value as possible. I read a lot of trashy historical romance novels (I swear, if you get the right authors, they are REALLY GOOD…nobody ever believes me and I’m apparently a 21-year-old post menopause housewife), drinking copious amounts of wine, watching “Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team” or “The Girls Next Door”, and trying out good-smelling body products. And then they back away slowly and look for someone not quite so destined to one day be devoured postmortem by her 37 cats.
I don’t much care, though. I work in politics. I study politics. You know what? Most of that shit is DEPRESSING as all hell. I want my free time to be light and fluffy and always have a happy ending. If I have a long weekend, I might be able to find the depth of soul to enjoy an art gallery or philosophical movie, but that’s about it.
Own your hobbyless life, I say. Wear that Tivo badge with pride! I would, if I had a Tivo. At least getting my first TV has made me a more exciting person!
5. Suebob | October 21st, 2007 at 4:44 pm
I am with theotherbear. I have a rich hobby fantasy life, wherein I garden, cook gourmet meals and do improv comedy. In reality, my yard is one big weed patch, I have not cooked anyone a whole meal in over 2 years, and I stopped going to improv in May.
Hey, BLOGGING is a hobby, no?
6. TwoBusy | October 21st, 2007 at 5:02 pm
For the past week or so, my hobby has been sitting on my couch for 4+ hours at a time, twirling a baseball endlessly in my hand and trying not to get nauseous from the anxiety.
I’m getting pretty good at it.
7. Sadie | October 21st, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Oh God, I have been That Girl also, at age 23. One drunken Christmas party is all it takes, ladies, and SEVEN YEARS LATER you will STILL be getting the occasional “wink wink, nudge nudge” from some indecorous male coworker who was in attendance. Gah! The FIRST thing I ever tell a young new coworker is, “Never get drunk at a work function. Ever.” I wish someone had told me that when I was 23.
Also, I don’t really have any hobbies either. I do like to cook, but I hardly consider eating a hobby. Also, you know how people get pigeon-holed because of a hobby? Like my former boss, who was “the skiier,” so everyone gave him skiing-related calendars and paperweights and shit? At least that won’t happen to me.
8. Angella | October 21st, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Hobbies? Hmmm…photography, pretty paper, and blogging.
In my spare time I wipe the bums of my children and if I’m lucky watch one of the billion shows on my DVR.
9. Jess | October 21st, 2007 at 5:46 pm
I wouldn’t say that I have any hobbies per se, except maybe photography. I like to write, and read, and watch baseball and some other TV, and sleep, and take walks, and just generally sort of… do things. Also, I was never that girl.
Now, back to the Sox game. Rooting for Dice-K to keep it up…
10. Josh | October 21st, 2007 at 6:16 pm
Yeah, booze can put you in some sticky shit quicker than you can pop the top. I remember once I got woken up by a loud knocking on the front door, which was at the end of my bed. (we used the back door) I woke up in my boxers with my roomates fat sister next to me, empty cans all over my bed/room, and who am I greeted by when I finally get the door open? My probation officer. And I was underage at the time. Talk about akward.
Hmmm, hobies? I enjoy art. I play video games. I absolutely love MMA. (watching not participating) I blog and make videos to post on YouTube. I’ve always thought it would be cool to start chainsaw carving like my uncle, but I don’t have a chainsaw. Sadly, until recently most of my spare time was centered around partying. But you could say I’m really really good at it. My brother just bought a boat that we’re gonna be fixing up. So that will be like a hobby this winter.
11. Danell | October 21st, 2007 at 6:49 pm
I shall be extremely disappointed if I ever find out that “farting around” does NOT count, as that is how MANY MANY hours of free time are spent around here. I would hate to think that I have wasted so many hours on something that doesn’t count. Hmph.
12. -R- | October 21st, 2007 at 8:12 pm
Luckily, I did not start my career until I was 25 (thank you law school!). Otherwise, I may have been That Girl. There are some 40-60 year-old people in my office are still That Guy or That Girl at the annual party, and it is kind of sad.
I hate the hobbies question. Hate. My hobbies are reading, blogging, bike-riding (during the summer), and daydreaming.
I think instead of “watching TV” you should say that you “study the cinema.”
13. Blythe | October 21st, 2007 at 11:10 pm
I’ve found that, when people ask about hobbies at those kinds of events, what they really want to know is, “Do you enjoy the same things I enjoy so we can both relax and talk about something besides the food and the weather?” Unfortunately, many times these people are also trying to get me to confess that I enjoy athletic pursuits and/or outdoor activities. And I hate to tell them that good grief, no thank you. Sometimes I say I do yoga, which means that I did yoga for a while a few years ago but all that BREATHING became too much work.
14. no name slob | October 22nd, 2007 at 1:54 am
I spend an OBSCENE amount of time Internet surfing, and it’s beginning to make me hate myself. Reading my standard blogs is fine, but the games…and the youtube…yeah. It needs to be curbed.
In more legitimate hobbies, I really like photography and going to movies. And in my fantasy life, I read and write a lot LOT more than I actually do. But ever since I began doing both as a career (I’m a freelance editor and writer), I have trouble doing them in my off time. I also super super love travel but I suppose calling that a “hobby” is extreme unless you have much more disposable income than I do.
The thing about so many popular hobbies is that they require at least some measure of physical intelligence, of which I have NONE. Even knitting, which sounds sort of fun to me in theory — I love mittens and scarves! Yarn is pretty! — would be, I suspect, tricky for my stupid fingers. And the sports….no. I hated gym class with every single subatomic particle in my being.
15. blacksheeped | October 22nd, 2007 at 5:12 am
Well, I’m an artist, so I don’t count making art in my free time so much a hobby as a burden. Yes! A burden! A guilt causing one! I think my hobbies are gardening, feeding the birds, reading, writing, taking photos of our walks and of our pets, being obsessed with blogs. I think “hobby” is a strange notion, though. I always think of model trains and stamp collecting when I hear the word “hobby.”
16. Swistle | October 22nd, 2007 at 5:19 am
My hobby is blogging: writing and reading. But my blog is a secret. And “reading blogs” doesn’t sound good, even though it is. So I usually say that I like to read.
I think if people ask, you can say “running” as one of them. Also that you read and you like the Red Sox, and you like music and you hang out with your friends, and you watch “movies” if you don’t want to say TV.
So so funny:
1) who is this “we”?
2) every time the tux trends sway in the breeze
3) all of our boobs remained in our respective clothing
17. H | October 22nd, 2007 at 6:33 am
I like to garden but not obsessively, just enough to have chemical free veggies during the summer. I also spend a horrific amount of time harvesting and freezing the veggies to use in the winter. It’s not a huge garden, though — it’s not like I’m farming or anything. I love TV and I almost always have a book that I’m reading when I’m done with “my shows”.
Other than that, my kids and my dog keep me busy with their activities and I don’t have a house cleaner, so there’s always something that needs cleaning.
Also, I make lists and I love to cross things off the lists. I’m not sure if that’s a hobby or personality disorder.
18. Heather B. | October 22nd, 2007 at 6:41 am
A man who might one day be the father of my children, asked me about my hobbies the other night and I sat their dumbfounded and trying not to say “Uh, drinking wine”. I also mentioned shopping and ‘writing’ and that was about it. So there went my chances of having absolutely stunning babies with this man because the only thing I do with my time is drink fermented grapes. Awesome.
19. Cobwebs | October 22nd, 2007 at 7:49 am
Erm…as some of the others have suggested, don’t you count blogging as a hobby?
I do various crafty things, usually in the scary-goth vein, and also maintain two or three informational Websites, which…hm, are also mostly in the scary-goth vein. (I’m friendly! I swear!)
20. Andrea | October 22nd, 2007 at 7:49 am
Wow, lots of gardeners. I hate gardening, except I do it, mostly because of the same reasons as H. Though I’m a novice so I overplanted, didn’t space things far enough apart, and often times forget to check my veggies enough and find that I’ve let a tomato rot on the vine. That grates my cheese. I like tomatoes and they’re expensive at the store, so to let a “free” one go bad just frustrates me.
As for other hobbies, I’m very old ladyish in that I like things I can do with my hands that allow me to sit down for hours at a stretch. I cross stitch, scrapbook, read, write, play piano, and I used to play softball, but a car accident ended that for me. I can’t run on a gimpy foot. I tried knitting when I was in grade school and liked it immensely, but I didn’t have the patience to learn how to do anything other than a washrag or a scarf. I think about taking it up again because I can also watch TV at the same time, but then I think about how busy I am and how much busier I’m going to be in three months when I have my second child and I decide that I don’t have time for another old lady hobby. I’ve gotten on a healthier eating kick in the last year and I spend a lot of time in the kitchen relearning how to cook. Basically, I’m learning to be vegan, and that takes up a lot of time, just the sheer amount of chopping veggies involved and trying to figure out how to cook something without any dairy.
Plus, since I’ve now entered my third trimester (woot! though not really because bring on the swelling and the sleep deprivation and the exhaustion) I have a feeling my cooking/gardening will be temepered by more than temperatures as I get cankles and snausage fingers and it’s hard to sew with puffy hands.
21. jonniker | October 22nd, 2007 at 7:53 am
Cobwebs: I do count blogging as a hobby, for sure, but though I am generally not afraid of people I work with finding my blog (I wouldn’t do it otherwise, as anyone who knows me in real life would identify me in about four seconds), I don’t bust out with it at work functions.
22. Janssen | October 22nd, 2007 at 7:56 am
I’m a reader. . .and that’s about it. Also I read a lot of blogs. And sometimes, I cook.
23. Jen from Boston | October 22nd, 2007 at 9:02 am
Up until mid-summer, I’ve played soccer year-round in a co-ed league. I’ll be going back now that I’ve gotten hitched and am no longer carng if I break a wrist or bloody my face – well, I care, but now I don’t have to worry about “Oh, the pictures! I’ll ruin the PICTURRRES.”
Also, photography and travel. Noteable: Dancing like an asshole.
24. Kristin H | October 22nd, 2007 at 9:52 am
I like to run triathlons — well, okay, one triathlon a year, and a short one at that. I don’t take it very seriously (my motto: try not to finish last!), so that could count as a hobby. And reading. Does that count?
What I need is a way to multi-task with hobbies. Cross-stitching while running? Sign me up!
25. TB | October 22nd, 2007 at 11:11 am
I think running definitely counts as a hobby, although unless you’re talking to another runner or you’ve just finished a marathon it doesn’t make much for conversation.
I don’t really have any day to day hobbies. Mine are more weekly or monthly – live music, boating, diving.
26. Leah | October 22nd, 2007 at 11:21 am
While chatting with some strangers at a wine tasting this weekend, they asked what we liked to do for fun, and Simon said, “Well, she really likes to watch t.v.” What else could I do but nod? It’s true. Horribly, pathetically true.
27. mar | October 22nd, 2007 at 12:08 pm
13 theotherbear- ‘blobbing out’ muahaha! how accurate a description of what i do.
after work, i don’t want to do much. veg on the couch in front of the tv & occasionally get up to do a chore here & there. eating & lately cooking for the bf & myself. it’s definitely more fun when you have someone to test the recipes on.
4) orange peacock-i read, but it’s been a while since a trashy historical romance novel passed my hands. my mother raised me on that stuff, regency especially.
17) h- i love making lists & crossing things off. it may as well be a hobby.
28. kerrianne | October 22nd, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Farting around totally counts. Or, well, it does in my book.
29. Amie | October 22nd, 2007 at 5:40 pm
oh Jonna, I was THAT girl last week, karaoke and everything but the boobs part. I don’t even remember most of it. eegads, it was horrifying. I woke up 10 minutes before my training class the next day so everyone KNEW. 31 year olds just don’t do that. I sometimes forget I am not 22 when given free drinks!
hobbies? hmmm, I just got a Wii, does that count?
30. Jennifer | October 22nd, 2007 at 6:08 pm
Blogging’s totally a hobby, and if not for the internet we’d call it “writing.” Creative writing, journalism, publishing, whatever. Putting your thoughts in order so to put them out there for others to read? Major work required! And engineering your way around keeping a web page published and nice-looking? Wow. More than I could handle.
I manage to spend a fair amount of time riding my road bike (spring/summer/fall) and swimming (winter). I used to think of that as “working out” but really it’s a hobby because it is my freedom away from the desk and the house and the obligations. I also do a slightly focused version of “farting around” which is home-improvement projects. Including setting up a workbench, labeling the jars of nails and screws, arranging the screwdrivers from short to long, with philips and flathead each in its own category. OK you are starting to recognize the “type A hobby” now aren’t you?
31. Trina | October 23rd, 2007 at 11:31 pm
Gawd, I *hate* when people ask about hobbies. Or when family members ask “what’s new?” Um… nothing, just the way I like it.
Hobbies? I watch a LOT of tv, while simultaneously fooling around on my computer in various ways – blogs, email, solitaire, searching for recipes. I compulsively collect recipes, though I try very few of them. I read a ton of trashy novels (Orange Peacock – you are SO right!). Can I count my pets as a hobby? They certainly keep me from doing “real” hobbies – I spend so much time and space on them, there’s no room for anything else! I’ve tried taking up “real” hobbies – scrapbooking, quilling, gardening – but I get lazy about making time for them. I do minimal gardening just so I can have my “free” calla lilies in the summer.
32. Lara | October 25th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Okay, I’m soooo late to this party but jumping in anyway. I am completely random when it comes to hobbies. I decided a few years ago that i needed to get some. Hobbies, that is. Well, and “some” in the traditional sense, but, well, that’s not part of this discussion now, is it? Anyway. Here are my hobbies: sleeping (I am good at it and I love doing it, so why not count it as one?). Reading. Knitting (or, more appropriately, attempting to knit little baby sweaters that come out looking like weird trapezoids). Making compilation CDs. Drinking wine. Throwing theme parties (who cares if I only do this once or twice a year?). Ukrainian egg decorating (sweet! Took a class last year). Playing with Chester. Petting the kitties. Loafing. Cooking, but only on occasion. Trying not to nag my husband. (this is an improvement, as I used to say “nagging my husband” was a hobby.)
Hi, I am rambley.
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