Casual Conversation

Hope you're doing better now! Sounds like no fun. I'll send good vibes your way! 🙏

I enjoy gardening, cleaning/tidying things up, vacuuming, basically making everything look neat and fresh! My parents fondly remember that when I was little, I would randomly clean the bathroom and they would always remark how they knew I'd cleaned it because they could see the reflection of their faces on the tiles. I write from time to time, mostly short stories that would fall under the definition of creepypastas or horror short stories.

I also love drawing, here's some of my work! No AI is used in my process, and you can look at the progress pictures I've uploaded to get a gist of my technique!

I've used Paint Tool SAI 1 for as long as I've been drawing digitally, and I honestly wouldn't settle for anything else! It's very lightweight and also old, but it's a very good app for drawing.

Does your hospital room have one of those 0-10 pain scales? I hate those!! I'm so bad at them! I need something more objective so now i use 4 wakes you up and 7 makes you teary/cry. For 10 they say 'worst pain imaginable' so i always think it's like my arm was ripped off and I'm in a car fire with shards of glass. Nothing has ever been a 10.

I'm a newbie in photography. Just got a second hand Fujifilm X-S10 and Sigma 18-50 lens a few weeks ago, making time to go out and explore new places is now the harder part haha.

I’m sitting in the airport lounge in Accra after spending a week here in Ghana.

I’ve taken so many pictures and I think this has been a life-changing journey. Before this, I used to write daily, but whether from aging or just fading desires, I’d all but stopped writing anything in the last few years. This trip has renewed my fervor for writing again, so I’m just excited to pursue my lifelong hobby writing just because I can once again.

If you’ve got nothing else better to do, I made some daily posts in an old-fashioned blog I’ve kept for a while: https://kaitco.wordpress.com/ (Maybe skip the post where I wallow in depression from Tuesday… 😅).

I've been really interested in pre-colonial american history recently amongst other ancient societies. I even wrote an essay recently on the origins and meaning of the cave motif in Olmec altar thrones. In short, I believe it materially comes from the fact that the Olmecs had only relatively recently left cave dwellings and temporary housings to form the first cities in the Americas. However it also served the purpose of legitimizing the power of the Olmec rulers as caves were very religiously significant. Other mesoamerican mythologies viewed caves as a place that is close to Xibalba, the Mayan form of underworld. Xibalba was viewed as a place like earth that resided within the primordial sea through which the middle world (viewed as a creature drifting in the primordial sea) floats. Xibalba was full of people and creatures which could be communicated with and even bargained with. The shaman-rulers of Olmec society would likely consume hallucinogens and/or deliriants like Datura and then either enter or sit at the entrance of the cave to communicate with Xibalba. Knowing the effects of Datura and plants like it, this had to have been an incredibly unpleasant and probably terrifying experience. I am doubtless that the feat was considered brave. Anywho, the Olmec rulers would have a cave carved at the front and center of their throne, often with someone standing in front of it or exiting it. Fun fact: Sometimes, likely after or slightly before the death of that ruler, their throne would be turned on its side so that it is vertical and carved into what may be the face of that ruler. You can still see the scar of the cave carving on the side of the head for some of them. Here's some pictures!

pics

I also love the Incans but I know less about them. Their textiles are wonderful though.

pics

Out of interest, how does one "collect hobbies"? What does that involve/look like?

My wife got me a drone for an early Christmas present. Been flying it and I'm scared it'll kick off another string of expensive hobbies. Also why the hell is DJI so ahead of other drone manufacturers. So if the US bans DJI, I'd have to build my own or pay more for less.

I bought my parents iPhone 16 pros since their phones are getting old (not really they have Pixel 6s). They're Asian so even though I put them on pixels, they clearly want iPhones. Hope this will get them through for 5+ years. But I know if I don't upgrade them, I'll never hear the end of, my phone is slow, my phone is hot, my phone can't take good photos.

My mom takes so many photos on her phone and always complains about the pixel phone, however IMHO pixels take better photos than iPhones. So either she'll complain or she'll complain. She's rarely super happy about anything. But since she got what she wants, she can deal with the consequences.

Sorry for a little bit of trauma dumping lmao

Shameless plug

https://pixelfed.social/i/web/profile/593007045638062285

I also have an Instagram (but I've stopped posting there so I can be more active in the fediverse)

https://www.instagram.com/wu.nef/

I also have a bunch of hobbies. D&D (well, roleplaying in general, mainly Pathfinder 2e these days); video games, primarily the Age of Empires franchise and survival crafters like Raft, DST, and Factorio; triathlon, as well as running and cycling as separate sports; photography; and music (I play piano, clarinet, and saxophone).

But perhaps the most unusual/unorthodox of my hobbies is fencing. I did sport fencing back in high school, but these days it's HEMA. Historical fencing based on texts & treatises written during the historical periods. Using weapons that are more familiar historically accurate than the weapons you see in modern fencing. But with modern protective equipment for safety. I do mainly rapier in the Spanish and French styles, as well as some sabre.

Great post !

I literally just this week picked up a kit for carving 印章 (those Chinese seal stamps) and carved my first one last night.

I botched it.

Thankfully it's really easy to erase and start over. 🤣