The working week grinds on...

But that's a rather boring thing to talk about. So instead, I think it's time for a little reminiscing. Teen Boy Hobbies Having once been a teen boy, I can dimly recall some of my hobbies from my teenage years. I was a little surprised to find that, when talking with some students yesterday, many of the hobbies that I engaged in 'back in the day' are still fairly common now (or at least were among the sample of teenage boys I was talking to yesterday). Wanting to be in a band This is the starter hobby for many youngsters who actually do end up being in a band. I spent quite some time 'wanting to be in a band', and then a tiny amount of time actually being in a band. And an even smaller amount of time performing. Actually, I can think of only 2 occasions when I performed 'in public' as a teenager, and neither of those was anything remotely resembling 'cool' or even, really, 'public'. One was over live radio during a call-in show, the other was busking. That's pretty low when it comes to rock-star dreams, but that didn't stop me practicing the guitar and reading about bands and pursuing the hobby of band aspiration. (In my post teen years I repeated a similar level of band-success, but with a lot more actual practicing. Performances outside the lounge of the flat = one). Wargaming Playing Warhammer 40K, and Fantasy Battle, took up a fair amount of my time when I was in high school. It was a fun hobby, and though I was never very successful (I lost a lot, and was both beaten and mocked at the one tournament I played in when I was 13 - but that's a grudge far deeper than this blog post could hope to encompass), I had a great time playing war with little painted figures. Painting Little Figures This goes hand-in-hand with the wargaming, and was a nice bonding experience with a couple of my friends - we'd thrown on some Sisters of Mercy or Metallica, grab some paints and miniatures, and chat for an hour or so. Much like fishing, I guess, but with more eye-strain. Playing Computer Games And arcade games, and Nintendo and Sega games, and later on Playstation. Actually, I don't remember whether Playstations were around when I was at high school - wikipedia to the rescue! ...and... no, Playstation was not available when I was in high school. So it must have been, maybe, the Sega Megasystem? Back to wikipedia... Yes, the Sega Mega Drive was a popular rental from our local video store. In my latter teens, there was a quantity of recreational drinking and so forth that went along with console gaming, as well as a general 'drop round and chill out' kind of vibe. Caring what kind of music people listened to This wasn't an all-consuming hobby by any means, but finding new bands to listen to, discussing musical styles, and generally being nosy and judgmental about the music people listened to kept my mind occupied and my conversations flowing when I roamed the suburban streets of an afternoon or evening. Falling off a skateboard I never developed any skill at skateboarding, but I did like riding around on a board, and falling off from time to time. The falling off usually happened when I tried to a) do something more interesting than go round a gentle bend or b) had been indulging in recreational beverages. Making Stupid Videos Such as Death Chicken 2, Goldilocks and the 3 Beers, and videos of my friends being drunk. What's changed? Um, the games are a lot cooler on consoles and computers. Video editing has become a lot easier, what with computers being all highly specced and easy to use. And... um. I'm older and wiser than I used to be, and no longer judge people based on musical taste. Now I look at their DVD collection ;)