Hobbytown

hob·by (hŏb'ē) – noun, plural -bies - An activity or interest pursued outside one's regular occupation primarily for pleasure.

You know that I have never had a hobby before, at least not as far back as I can remember. I played with games as a kid, and I played some ball way back in college, but I can't think of anything that one might classify as a hobby that has been part of my life for the past 20-some years. Strange, but there were always other things that seemed more important that needed my immediate attention. Things like graduate school, thesis work, find a postdoctoral fellowship, getting a permanent job, dreaming up new experiments, marriage, raising a family, earning a living to pay for every danged thing under the sun. Hobby, whoa there, not for me thank you. I've got a full load already that is fixin' to pull me under as it is.

This past year the notion of a hobby took on a different perspective in my life. It kind of snuck up on me when I wasn't looking and grabbed a hold of me. It all started with some questions that I raised in Community Group. A couple of books were recommended to me. As I pored through the volumes that were given to me, this naturally led me to other books and other authors and on it went. Now I have read more than 30 books in the past year, am in the middle of another few, and have a mounting to-read list. Bang, there you have it, an unplanned hobby that was cleverly foisted on me by my very own Community Group. Now the wall that separated me from Hobbytown had developed a breach.

Of course my Community Group could not leave well enough alone. I was minding my own business when I heard them huddled in the corner whispering in clipped and hushed tones about "blogging". This sounds like something young, sk8er-boi types with asymmetrical hair cuts partake in as they sketch a diamondz pumping mongo. Before you know it, dancarman.blogspot.com was born and I have written over 70 entries. Another hobby and more debris falls from the Hobbytown wall. Thanks folks for helping me find a creative and safe outlet to explore some issues and write about some experiences that have made me laugh, made me think, made me retch.