We all frequently introduce ourselves (and RE-introduce ourselves) based on what we do in the industry, what we want to achieve, etc.
But that's not all we're all about, right?! We all have hobbies and other interests? Maybe it's some sport your play or some organization you donate your time to.
So? What do you do for fun? (and it CAN NOT be something related to the industry - no "watching movies", "writing TV", etc.)
Here's my answers:
1) PLAY CHESS. I've been a chess player since the age of 12. Many tournaments. I've won a bunch of prizes. I've been a chess coach. I used to write a chess blog. I've sadly plateued long ago, but I still love to play whenever I can (OFTEN online, occasionally in person at tournaments).
2) READ. I read novels, comic books, self-help books, screenplays, magazines, and more. Sadly, I'm a very slooooooooooooooooow reader. I have a "want to read" list that's thousands of titles long, and I know I'll never get even close to finishing them all.
3) EAT. I'm a total foodie. Love to try new restaurants. Love to try new recipes. I love to eat.
4) BUG MY WIFE. I love to spend time with my wife whenever possible, no matter what that may entail.
5) PLAY GAMES. This kindof goes with chess, but my love of chess puts it in its own category. I also love to play board games and card games. I have a huge fondness of the Ascension deckbuilding game, but euro games and other card games are fun too. I USED to belong to a gaming group, but it's been a while since I've had people to play with.
6) COLLECT SUPERMAN. I have a massive collection. Thousands of pieces. Sadly, I've run out of space for more until I can afford a larger place... but that may be quite some time away.
2 people like this
I mainly watch movies, shows, sports, and funny videos for fun, Travis Seppala. I also play mobile games and listen to music for fun.
2 people like this
1) READ (paper books primarily) -- Currently rereading the first Dune book, and The Screenwriter's Bible. 2) STRIKE INANIMATE OBJECTS -- Otherwise known as "martial arts". Very cathartic when dealing with humans on a daily basis. 3) COOK -- I mean we all gotta eat right? Possibly a gourmand, mayhap not. 4) PLAY GEETAR -- METAL WILL NEVER DIE! 5) CONSORT WITH MY FELLOWSHIP OF THE NERDS -- A few friends and I decide on shows and series to watch, and later discuss via video chats (given geographic spread-outedness). Basically devolves into an open-topic forum on everrrrythang. 6) LIFT HEAVY THINGS...AND PUT THEM BACK DOWN AGAIN -- Obeisance to The Temple of Iron and Crom aka "weightlifting". 7) LISTEN TO MUSIC -- "Without music life would be an error.". 8) ANNOY FAMILY AND FRIENDS -- Mostly with obscure pop culture, historical, car enthusiast, and film references... "Are you not entertained?! Are you NOT ENTERTAINED?!" 9) WORK ON MY CAR -- Although admittedly much harder to do now that autos are essentially computers on wheels... 10) PLOT GLOBAL DOMINATION -- Mwaahahaha. "Gee Brain, what are we gonna do tonight?"
2 people like this
1) Hiking
2) Film Photography. I have vintage medium format cameras, just finding time to use them.
3) Woodworking. I enjoy building furnutre from reclaimed wood.
4) Riding my e-bike.
Travis Seppala what games are you into? I tried to get my son into board games, but he said it was lame, lol. So they are collecting dust.
3 people like this
Maurice Vaughan I literally said "and it CAN NOT be something related to the industry - no "watching movies", "writing TV", etc." and you immediately break the rule as the first person to post by saying watching movies and shows. Sheesh. Can't take you anywhere! lol
3 people like this
Haha Travis Seppala. I know you said that, but that's what I mainly do for fun.
2 people like this
Mike Childress I used to do martial arts as a kid. I used to do a LOT of sports as a kid, despite having been a fat kid my whole life (I don't know HOW my metabolism was so slow as to keep me fat when I was doing baseball, basketball, hockey, karate, tennis, kickboxing, track, soccer, dance... but whatever). I don't do much exercise at all anymore. I need to.
1 person likes this
Stephen Folker Games I enjoy (and this is by no means an exhaustive list):
Chess
Ascension
Star Realms
Thunderstone
Dominion
DC Deckbuilding Game
Monopoly
Ticket to Ride
Settlers of Catan
Agricola
Sentinels of the Multiverse
Legendary Deckbuilding Game (I have the Buffy one, but I also like the Marvel ones, and any others)
Uno (any version)
7 Wonders
and I can keep going. The only game my wife is really into to play with me are word games (bananagrams, scrabble, etc.) but - despite being a writer - I'm terrible at them! lol
3 people like this
Travis Seppala I KNEW you would call Maurice out BWAHAHAHA. Yeah man, got to exercise more than those fingers at the keyboard! I get it though. A lot of my friends are in the same boat. I try to softly encourage them when I can haha.
2 people like this
I’m a big sports fan. Football at any level (I support a team that played Ryan Reynolds’ Wrexham before the money arrived), rugby, Formula 1 and hockey. I also enjoy jigsaw puzzles and word games to keep the mind active.
2 people like this
Travis Seppala nice one, Travis.
Mine is a love of reading books, on various subjects: Quantum Realities, Eastern Spirituality, arcane collections like the Pseudepigrapha and mystical writers.
I have two grandsons and I spending time with them and love playing games too. Ones that the eldest has made up, where he dictates the rules and changes them if I win too much! my favourite is ‘Find the Dinosaurs’.
Each working day there’s an exercise regimen, plus a walking distance target, but I take the weekend off for good behaviour! ;-)
Then there’s my love of finding a good whisky: Swedish, Japanese and of course Scottish, as well as this I have a taste for dark ales and micro-brewery beers.
2 people like this
Haha that's a great point! Well, as others, indeed a little bit of sport each day to stay away from the screen :) I enjoy walks and spending time in nature too, it's invigorating
3 people like this
Alex Winstanley "There's only one team in Fulham!" Go Blues!
3 people like this
@Mike Childress Since you wrote that comment, Chelsea have signed 4 players.
3 people like this
Alex Winstanley BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Well-played Sir, well played...
4 people like this
... Yes, I play chess online very badly! PS, love bad boy Hans Niemann, sue me for it!
3 people like this
Hey Travis Seppala - loving this thread. For me it would be golf and fishing out in the gulf stream (before it became a competition to boat the tuna/mahi before the sharks get it). But since all of my life experiences have led me to this place within and without the industry, even while chasing rainbows, in quantum terms, is there really any "Outside" of the industry?
Just an example of way too much overthinking at 6am on a Sunday while trying to wake up to plot beats for a story idea involving the multiverse :-(
3 people like this
Rutger Oosterhoff Do you play on Chess.com? Or ICC? Or somewhere else? What's your rating? And what's your username (if it's on chess.com) so I can friend and play you!
4 people like this
I garden, play in my flowers, maintain my lawn, and walk most everyday when the weather is good.
4 people like this
I am a competition ballroom dancer, and I have lessons and training three times a week, especially when preparing for competition. I do a lot of walking and hiking whenever I can. I read voraciously, anything and everything, I knit for family and friends, and I do jigsaws for a different way to exercise my brain.
3 people like this
Yes, but not on a level that would be interesting to play you, trust me!!
2 people like this
Ingrid Wren I read often, but sadly my reading speed is impossibly slow. It takes me anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks per novel. :( My wife, on the other hand, literally reads a novel a day!
1 person likes this
Rutger Oosterhoff All chess is intersting and fun to play. But to have a looksie, my ratings right now on Chess.com's app are:
1118 for long games
1042 for rapid (10 min) games
832 for blitz (under 5 min) games
692 for bullet (1 min) games.
My official USCF rating for over-the-board tournaments (as in, in person) is 1204
2 people like this
I'm all in on #4.
2 people like this
Photography, painting, campaigning for equal human rights, and sometimes play retro videogames.
2 people like this
This post made me smile, Travis! I love all of your answers. I love take photos, paint, draw, various DIY home projects usually centered around reusing into something, times in nature grounding, reading, hanging out with friends, meditating reading !
2 people like this
Board games too if its the winter, and cooking!
3 people like this
Stefano Pavone I recently (well, I guess almost 6 months ago at this point) bought a device that is basically a thumb drive that you plug into your TV and there are 2 wireless controllers, and it lets me play oldschool games (Nintendo, Sega, Atari, etc.) with like 40,000 games on it! I almost never play video games, but I've found playing these games I was adicted to as a child to be far more entertaining than PS3.
3 people like this
Sydney Summers I enjoy painting but a) never seem to find time to do it and b) I'm pretty bad at it. I'd love to try to SELL the paintings I've done (because they're just taking up space in drawers that could be used for other things) but I doubt anyone would buy them even if I priced them at like $5 each (to recoup my supplies).
3 people like this
Travis Seppala I have an old X-Box 360, and bought an HDD for it so I could play original X-Box games on it, and hardly ever play it. I have specifically avoided an emulator because as much fun as those old school games are gaming is such a massive time-suck! When "Halo" came out my buddy and I would play for HOURS at a time, and I thought it was like an hour or so that had gone by.
3 people like this
Mike Childress I USED to play video games like crazy. As a young child, I was straight up addicted to Mario to the point my parents would often hide my system and bring it back on Saturdays for me.
Then in college, I got into PS2 games -- mostly WWE (WWF still?) and DBZ games (plus SSX Tricky and Bloodrayne).
in 2011 when I moved out on my own, I got a PS3 and played that a bunch, often renting games from gamefly.
But now-a-days, with a backward compatible PS3 (with both PS3 and PS2 games on the shelf) and that oldschool game system I mentioned, I still only play for maybe 2-4 hours A YEAR. It just doesn't hold the thrill for me anymore to be an adequate time suck (to use your own vernacular).
4 people like this
I love hiking and exploring
2 people like this
Travis Seppala Not sure why I am admitting this on an open forum on the Interwebz, but I went to computer camp for multiple summers, and started out as a massive PC game guy who morphed into a console addict, eventually. It's fun to occasionally fire up the 360 like with your PS3.
Erik Meyers Hiking is GREAT, but I always find myself wondering how many bears are sniffing me out like I'm a Chateaubriand at any given time... There was a black bear spotting in my neighborhood not too long ago, and that made me go, "If the bears are taking leisurely jaunts into the city, how many of them are just lounging in their actual homes?..."
2 people like this
I'm usually either reading (often about the production of certain films or franchises such as Halloween or Scream, as well as detective novels), running/weight lifting (love running around the California beaches in particular), and exploring the entertainment sites such as deadline so I can find out any interesting news upcoming films or tv shows.
2 people like this
I powerlift, used to do Jiu-Jitsu and box...
2 people like this
Fix private jets
2 people like this
I forgot to mention! I don't watch much television and have a book by my side when things get dull. I guess by reading a lot a person enters places where you wouldn't be able to learn otherwise. A book is a true companion.
2 people like this
Samuel Lebow If anyone ever sees me running, they need to do the same because something scary is on the way! lol
2 people like this
Haha Travis Seppala!
2 people like this
In my life, watching my music friends perform and learn from them. In film / film music world, it’s constant learning and doing - … Fun … what’s that ? ;-). KK
2 people like this
I've been called many things in life, but "Pop" is the one I cherish most. So I spend time with my grandkids and going to events they are involved in. My grand daughter is the captain of the cheer team and my youngest plays little league. Love going to the ball games and taking Rosie ( my pup). One of life's greatest joys.