Video games are my other hobby. Right now it's World of Warcraft, and I've been addicted to that on and off for three years now. I also love film festivals and old movies. I've been to the Sundance film festival three time, the Wisconsin Film Fest every year (this year we are seeing 12 movies over the four days of the festival), and Ebertfest twice. I'm hoping to be able to go to the Toronto film fest this year but I'm not sure that's going to happen since we have to get a new roof.

I wish I had time for more obsessions. Right now, besides the garden, it is:
--indy music, discovered and downloaded from my favorite web site (totally legal)
--bird watching, mainly in spring
--for some odd reason, despite being much to old for it, I have become fixated on China and adoptions from China
--dogs, too!
Kathy

I have too many... I ride jumper horses and am at the barn as much as I can be!
Also Formula One racing (though I don't do that myself...yet)
Greyhound adoption (hence the name).

Dogs! Dalmatians!

Jeri

I'm an avid knitter and reader.
I collect Antique Furniture.
I have to admit I have become a political junkie during this primary election......very interesting.
(That's all I will say about that, don't want to get too political.)
I guess gardening in general is my serious hobby. :o)

I really miss the eclectic radio station that I used to listen to in the Bay Area. KFOG - Excellent! It almost has a cult-like following.
I can stream it though and usually listen while surfing the net.

Here is a link that might be useful: KFOG

What's the fun of having a hobby if you're not obsessive about it?

Obsessions: Cats, books, roses, designing the perfect house.
Hobbies/interests: Wildlife rescue, antiques, travel, cooking, games (board, card, computer), jigsaw puzzles.

I love to design garden spaces and create landscape designs.

I love watching my boys play little league ball. I really get into it....cheering on all the boys.

Reading. Novels and books about gardening.

I consider myself very content...but as far as my garden and the interior of my house ...they will always be in progress. I am always thinking of ways to improve things.

Ronda

My first obsession: Orchids
Then
- Cats
- Roses
- Gardening in general (pond plants, bog plants,etc)

Interest/activities (obsessive,as well):
- Cat rescue, feral cat rescue, TNR- Trap Neuter Release

Very little time left for school :(
Olya

Obsessions? Hah! I'm a serial collector. Altho, I have to admit, I've really toned it down alot. I used to collect Lenox porcelain birds, but I think I have them all now and they don't plan on adding any new ones anymore from what I understand... so I'm glad about that!! I used to collect Beanie Babies. OMG, that was a short-lived, expensive, idiotic era, back when I needed another distraction. Thank heavens I came to my senses and stopped that one. Now I need to sell all those dang things and get rid of them! I guess right now the only "other" obsessions I have are the irises and perennials. I do tend to collect a lot of glazed ceramic planters tho too.

Hobbies would include digital photograpy, sewing (and collecting fabric)... and truthfully, I haven't really sewn much in a few yrs. Other hobbies are: watching movies (love horror, sci-fi and the really bizarre-twisted story-line ones), TV (Lost, Men in Trees, Desperate Housewives, Boston Legal, Moonlight to name a few... and stuff on Animal Planet). Other interests would be bird and squirrel feeding/watching, and of course cats. My husband is the dog person, and iguana person (don't have any anymore tho). I'm sure there's other stuff I could mention, but lately I haven't had the time or energy to do much more than deal with the roses and other plants. As I get OLDer I seem to be dropping more and more of those interests. Too tired anymore.....

18th century flowers, herbs (esp. that I can cook with), Golden Retrievers, fast cars with 5-speeds, whitewater rafting. Visiting arboretums, botanical gardens, hiking trails, wilderness areas. Dream trip: Isle Royale, to see wolves in the wild. Also love Big Bend.

Travle would be if...

Reading. Warching good films. Having good discussions (rare). Classical music. The best combination is to garden while listening to classical music then I truly enjoy myself.

I can't call my cats an obsession exactly. They are just at the tip top of my priorities. If I have any obsession it's as a result of my cats; trying to get a good nights uninterrupted sleep without one of them padding across my chest or scraping back the covers looking for a warm hidey hole..... Other then ornamental gardening, my interests include books (mostly historical non-fiction with a few "cozy" mysteries thrown in for summer fun). And I'm with Beth about the horror-Sci-Fi venue. If you haven't seen the movie (just now out in video) '30 Days of Night' you should. Every muscle and fiber of my being went rigid from the tension of watching that movie.

Obsessions, reading, roses, more reading. I should own stock in Amazon and Borders with all the books I buy each month. Collectibles, especially miniature sized, hummingbirds, bells, perfume bottles with stoppers, vases and lately antique small coffee grinders and clocks. My animals and lately 3 fish tanks, 2 of those since Christmas.

Hobbies, I've tried most things in my search for what I can be really great at. It's not possible but I've tried. Currently, lettering signs for out in the garden and stepping stones made from scratch with cement. Going to try plant stakes next along with plant signs. I do like to crochet also, one winter I got 3 afghans made and 6 scarves. Painting pots for toad houses in the gardens so they'll keep cool. Crafts with grandkids.

Ronda! You designed mine. LOL.

Obsessions: Making kitchen remodel decisions. Corian vs. granite countertops. Molded sink vs. traditional. Input, anyone? Also obsessively collect hostas, daylilies, irises, clematis, hydrangeas, peonies, heucheras, etc. My two cats are also my babies. I also have 2 big fish tanks with HUGE goldfish that I bought for the cat's viewing pleasure that they now ignore.

I love abstract art and pottery and have several nice pieces. Luckily our daughter is an art major and has contributed to my fetish.

Hobbies: Beth, I also owned every Beanie Baby also ever made. Had a whole room with shelves, just like a shrine. Drove for miles and stood in line for hours to get certain ones. Those were the days.

Hooked on Jericho; hope it makes it to Season 3. Love Sci-Fi films and thriller movies. Driving around in the Solstice convertible on long trips (might be a thing of the past if gas doesn't go down tho!). Sitting outside in the evening listening to the owls hoot and the coyotes howl.
Watching my grandson grow. Just simple things in life.
-t

My hobby - learning foreign languages.

There are other hobbies besides gardening? I'm so glad someone told me:)

Sewing, Classic Horror Films, tinkering with computers, trying to learn to be a better photographer and it used to be working on our house. However after several years of home improvement projects since buying our semi-aged house the shine has really fallen off working on projects every weekend. But our house looks better.

Camping, my furry kids (cats) and I like to cook no matter how little I do especially with spring preparing to unfold. During the summer my husband's best friend is the barbecue since I just cannot be troubled. We bot eagerly anticipate Thursday nights during summer so we can walk the three blocks to the Farmer's Market and get hot food!

Fun thread RS. I cannot believe with this visual group that so far we have no pictures of our 'hobbies' yet.

Kate

Hobby? Obsession? What's the difference?

Gardening of any type! Give me dirt, and I'll plant something. Roses are a relatively recent addition to the mix. I have a serious facination with antique bulbs -- I rescued some from a soon-to-be commercial construction site just the other day.
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Greyhounds . . . and collecting greyhound stuff. I spend quite a bit of my spare time working with greyhound rescue to help find homes for retired racers.

Emma
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Daniel
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My office:
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Collecting and restoring most types of antiques. Started in the '80s with Grand Rapids oak furniture. Chairs, trunks, and clocks are my favorites. I don't descriminate -- antique stores, thrift shops, flea markets, eBay, curb shopping . . . the loft of our garage is full of things waiting to be renewed. Speaking of the garage . . . one of its occupants is my '66 Mustang convertible. Restoring cars was one of our former hobbies. The trophies on the shelf above the door in the office photo are from car shows.

Carpentry and remodeling. I started learning how to build things when I was a teenager. (My mother is quite proud of the fact that I was the first girl in our school system to take junior-high shop class.) We're in the thick of renovating and restoring our old house, and these skills (along with my collection of power tools) have been very good to have.

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Kitchen decisions? I'm right there with you. We replaced the kitchen here last year. (Corian, all the way. With a cast iron drop-in sink, not yet installed as of this photo. The color we chose is called 'Earth' -- it looks a lot like soapstone.)
{{gwi:240654}}

Photography, Genealogy, Sewing, knitting and crocheting, needlepoint and cross stitch embroidery . . . and playing on the Internet. :)

(Maybe we should have called this thread "Getting to know you"?)

Connie

I don't think I would call my ceramic artwork an obsession, or Mozart, playing the piano, or reading. The garden is absolutely my grand obsession. There is hardly time for anything else.

hobbies: raising three kids, roses, reading, cooking, growing tomatoes, playing webkinz (don't ask it's a kid thing!), web surfing........

just started vermicomposting so that may soon be an obsession.

lots of other interests, but my kids are small so I'm fairly homebound at the moment. I guess that's why I'm such a garden junkie right now!

Samoyeds, Koi, and a lot of reading.

Here is a link that might be useful: The koi have a snack

Hoov, nice Koi! Believe it or not, they are illegal in Maine unless you have a special permit. The Warden service is afraid they'll escape into one of our lakes or streams and take over the fish population. There was a Chinese restauranteur who was heavily fined because he had koi in an aquarium in his restaurant!

Connie, what a nice kitchen and a lovely home! We just did some remodeling in our kitchen--bright red countertops and stainless steel backsplash, black granite sink. I love it. Although it took dh more than 2 weeks to finish it.

Gardening is my only obsession, not only roses but perennials and vegetables too.

I do love cooking, esp. Indian, Chinese, Thai, or anything with lots of flavor.

I also always have to have at least one book going. If I don't have a book to read in the evening I am totally lost.

Obsessions: Gardening, playing, singing, and listening to music, Freddy (my doggie),

Hobbies, reading, exercise, hiking/camping, sailing/boating, hanging out on Gardenweb.

Kathy

Great thread idea.....

Obsessions:

Roses/Gardening- & breaking those pesky zone rules
Karate - we run our own school in addition to both working full time
Renovating/building

Hobbies:

reading - currently have both "Eat,love,pray" & "The Ghosts of Medak pocket" on the go ...very strange combination there
Music - DH has a recording set-up & 3 bands take turns living in the basement...lol
Photography - especially B&W & strange artsy stuff
travel - especially to places we can scuba dive

This summers adventure...

DH is going to teach me welding...yippee!

Cathy

Besides my roses and the yard, it would be my cats. Lately they've been having lots of health problems (for the past two days I've been nursing my boy who had a dental and an extraction poor thing), but they are very important to me.

Then the Yankees, computer, watching movies, and certain TV shows. I have two orchids (one is reblooming now!) and would like to get more.

I haven't been doing that much on the inside of our house, and it shows. We are hoping to start that this fall. Cats and carpets do not go together.

Hey Connie, nice to see you here. And your house is beautiful! You should be proud.

Hi,

I wouldnt say I'm obsessed with anything in particular. Whatever strikes my mood, and my budget, is what I do. Gardening is by far my favorite hobby, will be til I fall over dead. I love to exercise, sometimes too much. And eat healthy. Other fascinations are cats, reading, bowling, fishing, family, and being outdoors. I get a little crazy over work now and then, I take it too seriously at times. I work w/the elderly, and I just want the best for them. My life has been a whirlwind the past few months, I'm ready to settle down and relax for a while. Gardening will let me do just that. If we could only get rid of this darn snow...

Jen

Great thread. Thank you redsox.

Corian vs granit. I'll do corian this time. I did granit in my last house. If you don't wipe/polish it, it looks smeary. Or, in my case, it was it was a mosaic of cat tracks.

Fish ponds for cats. I have a little garden fish pond, just goldfish, and every evening the cats and I feed them. I yell, "time to feed the fish," and they all come running. Then we all go in for dinner. Needless to say, the cats, too, have worked very hard in the garden--supervising. Each cat has a rose, usually by color or name, ie. Alistair is Alister Stella Grey, Mia-Nina, who is buff, has Buff Beauty, Marlena has Lili Marlene (until I can get hold of a real Marlena, not available in the US), Amber has Amberlight....

Roses are my top obsession. If I lived closer to available ice rinks (I'm 1 1/2 hour's drive away), then figure skating would be equal, but I've had to give most of that up since becoming a parent 5 years ago. (sigh...)
Movies are a semi-obsession. And playing piano, really just a hobby. I wish it were a little bit more of an obsession so I would be better about practicing dilligently. But I really enjoy playing well-known pieces better than practicing stuff I'm just learning.

Reading, garden design, interior design, animals, some reality shows (mostly crime like The First 48 hours), Boggle, intelligent conversations, art, walking, nature.

Have you noticed how many of those who posted love horror movies. Perhaps they also like being attacked by thorny monsters??

Ruth

Yes, Ruth, I DID notice that! Interesting.

I am obsessive about leopard geckos. I have 11 of them and each are a separate morph (color/pattern). We also have chameleon, birds, fish and 2 dogs - a bedlington terrier and a standard poodle.

Roses are my absolute obsession, but I can only garden for a few months of the year, so I have to have SOMETHING to obssess over in the winter. LOL

Carol

Piano, music composition, ballet, gymnastics, voice, ceramics, painting, crochet, sewing, reading, writing, poetry, jogging, bowling, web site design, obstetrics, psychology, interior decorating, switchplates, accounting, internet mail-order, rose photography, rose propagation, property management, tiling and the best never ending obsession: Âshopping :)

Sports - used to play rugby, ice hockey, football, baseball, ski, run. Coached the kid's teams. Now I just watch.

Birds - winter birdfeeding and hummingbirds

Woodworking - I make furniture, even though I have no idea what I am doing.

Aquarium - still have one 36" tank left.

Music/stereo - live bands at sleazy bars! Bob Dylan, Grateful Dead, The Eagles, Neil Young, etc. played on speakers DW feels are too big for our house. Yes, remote speakers in the garden.

Work can be. When I first got out of college I worked for four years as a department store manager, covering work clothes, a girl & boy's department, and domestics. We had many successes; 400% increase in piece goods, and the highest $ volume / floor space of any store in the nation. Alas there were those 55+ hour weeks, I did the book work sitting in bed ordering new stuff - not alowed to it at work for some reason, continuing education, and the community service that was demanded by the company.

DW was unhappy with one daughter and another child on the way being alone all the time. She up and went and left me and returned home to her parents.

I don't know why spouses try and change their mates. I took a good hard cold look at myself and found a job that would let me spend more time sharing the domestic chores and spend time with the wife. It was about 1/2 or less (much less) of the money but DW wanted me to be there.

Our first major obsession occured with horses. It was at least something the family could do together. I must admit I did spend some time alone at the local "rent a hack" where the horses had two switches off and gallop like mad through a forest trail in a Girl Scout Camp. They did have tamer beasties and DW did join me a time or two and enjoyed it. When the kids got older we all took riding lessons together. We bought a horse when I got a chance to manage an office. As a family we got to muck out the stalls and go across country showing our dorky beast in Country Pleasure. It was a beautiful saddlebred, it just would rather crow hop than stand. We got lucky a few times. DW did not enjoy standing in the rain every Mother's day. At least it was together.

When we sold the horse to save money to get the kids through college, I took up Martial arts with my son. Wife was not interested. He did better than I did. He was younger of course, smarter, and better reflexes, on and on.

When he continued on to Tree Hugger U, I also continued in Martial Arts and DW became a Martial Arts Widow. I did not plan on it, it just happened. I did not do it to spite her it just became a part of me. She did help when we put on our local tournament, and joined in on our banquets. 6 years after my 6 way by-pass the Doctor suggested Tai Chi.

Now we have found this wonderful "Obsession" with roses, which is something we can do together. Only local rose shows as DW remembers all of those rain soaked Mother days and likes to sleep late.

I don't think I have hobbies, just a life. I support the growth of quite a few things: child, plants, two cats, the resident flora and fauna of our property, and whatever comes my way I can lend a hand with. I'm a student of human nature (I don't know of a less stuffy way to say it) which explains a lot of my reading, and I respond to art, which is my other reason to read and why I enjoy the occasional museum or gallery. I like discussion. I like foreign languages, and traveling when I can. I like home life, which benefits from my being a decent cook. I like to keep things simple.

Melissa

Travel.
Buying shoes.
Movies.
TV.
Listening to music and ESPN Radio.
Reading (books when I can, an illness 12 years ago makes it difficult for me to hold a book for any length of time and no, books on CD or podcast are just not the same thing!).

Work can be. Tell me about it. Took me a lifetime to grasp that it isn't worth it, unfortunately; I wish it were.

Hobby? Obsession? What's the difference?

I guess the difference - for me - is that, I spend too much money, way beyond our means, on plants (not only on roses) so gardening has become an obsession, not a hobby any more. Gardening and rose forums I am obsessed with despite the fact that I should not lift, carry heavy stuff or band a lot nor should I spend too much time sitting in front of the computer. Or, when I was in high school and got money from my parents for a pair of shoes I spent on a book instead.

Hobby is, in my interpretation, that enriches your life or makes it more interesting but does not destroy your health or make you financially bankrupt.

Gardening, in general, is my hobby, but roses in particular are my love. I also enjoy working out - especially taking ZUMBA! And I enjoy skiing and playing tennis, but I just don't get to do them as often as I'd like.

Hope

Besides rose? There is the rest of my garden. I also like to collect things with fish on them, sew a little, work crossword and jigsaw puzzles, and then there are all these online forums....

Let's see...gardening, catfishing, reading, gardening, hunting whitetail, remodeling house, gardening, mowing and weedeating yard,....Does anyone know which is my favorite?

Great thread. My DH always tells me I "obsess" when I find a new interest. I call it a "pleasurable challenge". :)

Among those are (in random order):
Roses
Gardening in general
Bernese Mountain Dogs (my Maximus in particular)
My 2 Amazon parrots
Reefkeeping
Woodworking
Wildlife Rehabilitation (especially native songbirds)
Research and learning new things

---
Wendy

Yes another great thread

My obsession are cameras and buying accessories
This is just one hobby I'm passionate about
and that is photography.
Butterfly and Bird Watching
Gardening- not just roses, but any kind of plants.
Going to the gym-not really a hobbie, but enjoy going.
Niecey

Hmmm. the list may be long but in no certain order goes something like this.
Gardening- Roses,clematis, brugmansia, japanese morning glories

Backyard bird-watching

Barbie dolls- I have a little over a hundred now.

reading- biographies, and true crime. Also tons of books and magazines on gardening and birdwatching

Gardenweb

myspace

ebay

daydreaming, when theres time

Thats about all for the moment,lol.

Tammy

I'm not sure the difference between hobbies or obsessions. When I'm enthusiastic about something the line is blurry.
In addition to being passionate about roses, I also play in a rock band and spend a lot of money on musical instruments and equipment, and time practicing.

I also practice and study yoga.
Lori