283 - dabbling 🎲⌚🛳️
hobbies and life lessons. also, the start of The Story!
Hey there, !
In my unceasing attempt to better understand myself, I have tried new things over and over. There are some things that I know I'll love forever (like boardgames!), and some things I won't ever love (like running a marathon) but in the most part, there are things that I don't really know whether I'll like or not.
So, I dabble.
More often than not, when I was younger, I was insecure about what people would think if I got into particular hobbies (lol, was?) so I tossed a lot of things in the trash heap of 'nah that's lame I'd never do that' or 'pfft really you do [X]? I'm way too cool for that'.
Yuck, cringe, dislike - what a weird attitude to have about things.
It's extremely refreshing to have grown up, be able to say 'fuck that' and just go do the things that I enjoy. Dungeons and Dragons, for example, is my most recent example of something that I freakin' LOVE that I thought I would cringe over. I remember thinking, after my...what, second session of DnD ever?, 'why is this so bloody enjoyable and extremely me and why did it take me so long to get through to it?'
Shame, simply, is the answer. Sigh.
The thing is, though, that hobbies often cost money - they aren't free - and hobbyists are extremely good at gatekeeping their own hobbies so that they can have their own space to enjoy things...even if the enjoyment is 'I know more than you ner ner ner'. The more hobbies you try, the more money you spend, and the more...well, poor you get.
Boardgames was (and still is!) one of the first big hobbies that I got into after I started to earn Big Boy Money, and could acquire any game that I really wanted to. I would trawl the forums, Facebook groups, Kickstarter - anything to be able to find the newest games, the best bargains, the 'grail' games that were out of print...it became an obsession and yet it was so fulfilling! Is this what they call purpose?
I remember being hungry to acquire more and more and to have games just because I knew that it was what other hobbyists would expect you to have them. To be a #real fan and become discerning. Like 'oh, you don't have Blood Rage? The newest, hottest boardgame that just came out on Kickstarter? okayyy 👀' or 'I just got my grail game - it's out of print and limited edition so you can't get it 💅'. I think it came from the then still unmet fears of insecurity.
But as I started picking up more and more hobbies (cooking, DnD, 3d printing, watches!) I realised that there were a lot of lessons and guidelines from my boardgaming era that helped to reduce the...becoming poor-ness (that's not a word but whatever):
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If you like doing the thing, do the thing - if you aren't doing the hobby, then you aren't doing the hobby. All the actions you should take should be oriented towards doing the hobby. If you're spending all your time on subreddits reading what others are thinking about, or comparing against other people's collections, it's not really the hobby. It's hobby-adjacent, but don't confuse it with actually doing the hobby (kind of like how watching a sport isn't the same as doing the sport). Most hobbyists, though, would say that reading all that leads to them thinking they need [something] to be able to continue that hobby (i.e. a nicer knife, or a better game, or cooler accessories), which leads to my next point...
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People were able to do this hobby in a cave! With a box of scraps! - seriously, do you need all that stuff? These hobbies were born out of the crudest, most simple version of what you think - boardgames probably came from Ur-like formats in 2,400 BC, and people still had fun. Cooks have used shitty ass pans and ingredients for their whole life and you're worried you don't have a five-ply 12-inch stainless steel Made In pan?? My guy, the acquistion is replacing the actual doing of the hobby. PLEASE...
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Like the tortoise... - SLOW DOWN. Do things one at a time. Squeeze the sponge of enjoyment as much as possible before you move on. Did you know that creativity loves constraints? If you only have like 3 games to play, then you're gonna find SO MANY WAYS to play those 3 games. House rules, longer competitions, people understanding how to play them more since you play them more often - the LESS you have the MORE you get. It's similar to how the infinite content of the internet accessed through our phones, has trapped our attention spans in digital worlds rather than forcing us to imagine and enjoy the meatspace around us. Y'know? GO SLOW.
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It's for you - enjoy things because you enjoy them. Hobbies aren't for everyone, and no-one's going to love everything you do. In actual fact, lots of people won't even notice that it's something that you care about. DND is so niche, even though it might not feel that way when you're in it, but enjoying it for yourself makes it more likely it'll stick around. Intrinsic enjoyment, not extrinsic, ya feel me?
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More practically... - Make excel spreadsheets and track everything so that you can make a comedy bit out of it later. Hunt for bargains because you know the market better and can arbitrage the hell out of it. Don't buy things that you can't justify (i.e. that you can't afford). Track your dollar per use to squeeze out value. Do it often, and do it well.
Most importantly, hobbies are where you trade money for enjoyment on this hellish thing we call existence, so trade away!!!
All this to say that I bought my first Big Boy watch for myself and I love it <3
Chat soon :)
(P.S. If you've got any feedback for the newsletter, just hit the reply button!)
📋Today's Question...or Story?
Well, my friends, the story of a lifetime begins...
...well, someone's lifetime, anyway.
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BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
You wake up to the sound of a blaring alarm inches away from your face. The intercom system has decided with some humour, today, to flood your body with adrenaline just as you're waking up from a nap.
Groggily, you tap on your eyes and flick through the flood of updates. Most of them are automated, but a bunch of approvals that seem like they've been confirmed, including your permit to fly.
Huh, you think to yourself. Looks like we're pretty much ready. The adrenaline burst really did help.
A crackling message blurts through on your comms, "Hey Cap'n, Jimmy here - need your final approval on supplies, and then we're ready to go. I've sent across the manifest, give it a once over before we head out, yeah?"
"Yeah, no worries. We good with the job?"
"Aye aye, don't stress Cap'n. Should be an easy one. Zap into 2050, disable security, Sayla swishes in this way and that, you swipe one of the bombs from the NK vault, yada yada yada, we're back in town for a nice supper at Tony's," he drawls with what you imagine is his normal disfigured grin. "I'll be getting the negroni again, aye?" You chuckle in response.
"Sayla," you say. "Everything ready on your end?" While waiting for her reply, you scan the manifest - disguise tech, hacking equipment, emergency meds for time sickness, time beacons, mimic modules, chrono-safes and timeline maps - looks like everything's in order. You enter your approval and submit it to the system.
A pause.
"Sayla? You there?" you tap your communicator a few times, as if it would help.
A muffled, high-pitched voice replies, "Yes Cap'n just getting fitted into this damn suit. The 2050's are real tight around the waist."
"Yeah, fine - aren't we going to do that when we land?"
"Can't be too prepared, Cap'n! It's best practice, too, you know."
Sigh. "True that - fine, fine."
You look over and see a time-suit hanging down from your closet. It shimmers in the ambient light of your spaceship cabin, a slightly dusty looking, slim-line overall that changes to camoflauge into the time-surroundings required.
And of course, just for luck, you pull on your time-accessory so that your team can track who you are...
You walk out of your cabin and fall heavily into your seat, with your terminal sitting in front of you. Squatting out just on the dark side of the moon, you see other ships docked at the same stealth station as you, some zipping off, some returning...mostly intact, of course.
You yawn, wiping the last of the sleep out of your eyes, and punch in the timespace co-ordinates of the heist location - 2050, Pyongyang, landing in some of the neighbouring forest areas. Intel says the vault entrance is going to be open for an hour or so as there's a malfunction with the door, but it'll be guarded heavily.
Should be easy, right?
You put your hand on the big red button, ready to launch.
"Ready, everyone?"
"Yes, Cap'n," Sayla's neon scrunchie bobs up and down in agreement.
"Aye aye, Cap'n!" the flashy silver ring Jimmy's wearing dances in the light as he conducts a farewell to the stealth station behind them.
You look at the panel in front of you, and take a deep breath to steady yourself.
You punch the button, and the world goes red.
✔️Real Life Recommendations
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Serai - this place SLAPS. Filipino food done extremely well - we had a tasting menu and every. single. dish. was delicious. The vibe was real nice and the food was real tasty. Get the sisig tacos and the lechon pork belly because they both were so balanced and dripping with umami. Also they had this banana-flavoured magnum popsicle thing which was also such a great end to a beautiful meal. Highly recommended!
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Surasang - genuinely great Korean food. Yes I just came back from Korea but this place was bangin'! Good crunchy fried chicken (most important) and also the stews and banchan were high quality, the tteokbokki was smooth and delicious. Recommended!
🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway
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My website is ugly because I made it - ya see? Just do it cos it's fun!
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Will Jesus Christ return in an election year? - this was such a weird read, but also a fun read, on how Polymarket (an online prediction market) incentivises particular behaviour on crazy predictions like whether Jesus Christ will return this year. Essentially, it's a bet on the fact that others will want to 'sell out' of their bets because they want to go and bet on better trades (e.g. during an election year). Fascinating stuff.
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Password Basket - need a new password? I gotchu fam.