Hobby Inspiration from an Unusual Place

It is weird where hobby inspiration comes from.  I get the itch to start a new hobby quite easily.  Often it is from talking to people.  When someone is passionate about something, then you can't help but be intrigued.  Often it is from television.  Exposing the masses to something will certainly catch some people's interest.  Most recently for me, it was from a book.
 

Looks pretty and organized.

I started reading Lawrence Block's Hit Me on a recommendation from a friend.  He had recommended another series by Block, but I couldn't find them in the library so I settled on this one.  The basic story was that of a contract killer who loves..... wait for it...not alcohol.  Not fast cars.  Not loose women......stamps.

 

The character (his name is Keller) had such passion for stamps.  He also had a lot of knowledge to impart on this impressionable reader.  He detailed the equipment and literature, as well as quite a lot of historical information about stamps.





When I was young I shared a stamp collecting hobby until that person took it over and became obsessed with it.  I don't even know what became of it afterward--probably someone benefited from it.  Either way, I do remember looking at the stamps and thinking of exotic places.  I loved the themes--trains, cars, paintings, space travel, .... the ideas were endless.  For some countries, it is really interesting to see what they value enough to put on stamps.  Of course, for some countries, they are hoping other people from foreign countries will value them enough to collect them--hence the Disney stamps produced by some countries--I guess some country has already produced a Frozen stamp.  I wonder if that is a big part of their GDP.  (note...I checked, and yes, a stamp already exists)







I would love to have this one.

As for me, yes, there is an itch....but I won't even scratch this one.  There is just too much out there.  Too many stamps from too many countries.  While the tool collector in me loves the idea of all those specialist tweezers, there is just too much involved.  On top of that, since I really am more interested in the pictures than the collecting aspect, I would be better off buying a full colour catalogue.  I could enjoy the hobby is a much more confined way.

As for the novel....I enjoyed its episodic nature and reading about stamps.  It was entertaining and certainly made my commute more enjoyable.

2013: A Year in Hobbies

The most popular place in Tokyo to spend New Year's Eve--in Nanoblocks (fitting isn't it)

 

 

Despite what people might think, Christmas is not necessarily the greatest time for hobbyists.  Yes, Christmas brings the potential of much wanted presents for the hobbyist.  It might also bring a good boxing day sale (as it did in my case) but that doesn't mean there really is time to actually do anything.  Christmas is so full of stuff that the real hobby season may not begin until the start of the new year.

I know there are people out there who had planned and executed their Christmas shopping and preparation by September.  Those people probably have had lots of time to play with trains or build model cars.  Based on what people on my favourite train site are saying, there seems to have been lots of time to improve their models and run quite a few trains.

I have not been blessed with too many vacation days--yes, I am that guy.  They guy you see marching off to work like some lemming every morning while you are still in your PJs enjoying that first cup of coffee.  While this may sound like sour grapes (and at times it is) I was still better off than the people around here who didn't have power until Christmas day.  Even if those people had the day off, they couldn't have run trains or powered an airbrush.

 

The new year is upon us, and I should take stock of the --in terms of hobbies.  Life has been pretty full, but I'd rather focus on what this blog is supposed to focus on.

• I have enjoyed blogging and while this blog's readership has been growing slowly, the blog that I set up to help my students' English has done remarkably well.  I have even done a good job of preparing and working ahead, so I don't need to panic the day before a lesson is supposed to be published.

• I have reconnected with the Nscale.net website and have enjoyed their advice and stories as part of my effort to build my n scale train layout.

• I have built and painted several models, and can feel good about my improvement in these areas.

• I have spent time running trains and have reignited my passion in this area.

• I have come to love Nanoblocks, but hate that they aren't as readily available as their big brother Lego.  While they are popping up at toy stores, they soon sell out and restocking seems to take months.

• My passion for reading allowed me to read 44 novels this year.  While this is by no means a record for myself, I think it isn't too bad since for a quarter of the year I had my head buried in ESL methodology books.

• I found time to do a few Jigsaw puzzles, but wonder what to do with them after they are built.

• I have watched far too much YouTube, but I am happy that the few things I have posted have seemed popular.  Though, honestly, I am not sure why unboxing the Statue of Liberty Nanoblock kit is so popular.  Maybe one of you could watch it and let me know.

• It hasn't been a stellar year for practicing Japanese, but I still feel good about my ability.

In my next blog, I will look ahead to the coming year and what joy it may bring.   Thanks for reading.

 

 

The Convenience of a Complete Series

I've come to a conclusion--not a shocking conclusion as some would call it, but a conclusion nonetheless.  I would rather watch a complete season of a TV series (or the whole series) on DVD or Netflix, rather than watch the standard TV network offering of one show a week for 24 or 26 weeks a year.

Most people would cite the lack of commercials when claiming that this is obvious.  They wouldn't be wrong....exactly.  I hate commercials just as much as the next guy, and I am aware that they just aren't there when I am watching a series on DVD.  However, I don't think that is the main reason.

The main reason, I believe, is a combination of convenience (as I can watch them at my leisure) and confidence that I will see them all.  Those seem like small things, but they aren't.  They are huge.

I have watched a number of complete series, and a much larger number of TV seasons.  I was lucky that my local library had the first season of Game of Thrones to watch.  I have seen all the seasons of Dexter, Warehouse 13 and Being Erica all on DVD, all in the comfort of my own home. I watched all of Alias, Hogan's Heroes, Buffy, and The Outer Limits.

I generally prefer the library as I do not want to become a collector.  I have talked to some people and they suggested "acquiring" these things from the internet and storing them on a massive hard drive.  While that would be convenient, I haven't reached that line yet, so crossing it seems premature.

If I were to become a collector, I am not sure which series I would absolutely have to own.  I have a great love of Science Fiction, but does that mean I should stick to that genre?  There have been so many great SF series over the years (though not as many lately) that I am not even sure where to start.  Most people take a Star Trek series.  It's a fine choice, but I think of myself as somewhat removed from that.  I would appreciate a vast Dr. Who collection or Red Dwarf more.  I would love a complete Twilight Zone, or Godzilla movie collection.  Maybe I am too esoteric for my own good.

I started this blog trying to extol the virtues of watching an entire season of a series on DVD and ended up talking about collecting science fiction DVD's.  I guess we'll call that par for the course.