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Cartooning: I've been drawing
since I was old enough to hold a pencil. I still consider myself an amateur,
as I've never successfully built a career out of this, but I have managed
to self publish a couple books. I hope to do more with this in the future.
I have a very modest Youtube
channel on this topic, and a dedicated Instagram
page as well. Look for a future page about my characters, worlds,
and imprint. |
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LEGO: I am more of a builder
than a collector. I have an extensive parts collection that I use to build
and rebuild models. I am a big fan of the classic themes of Town, Space,
and Castle. In spite of being priced out of the adult fan collector sets,
I still keep myself busy with making things. I even have an Instagram
page dedicated to this. |
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Collage: An occasional hobby, mostly done in old books,
as a creative outlet for when I want to create something abstract versus
pouring myself into drafting a story or something more involved. A bit
of a fan of Seth Apter and Tim Holtz, but not necessarily one to mimic
their style. |
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Music: Back in my late teens,
I formed a band with my best mate, and we crudely cobbled together an
album using electronic keyboards, samples, and sound effects. We cultivated
a fan base among our college friends. We still create things that are
humorous, irreverent, and quirky. See my Troop
Groop page for more. Recently, I have experimented with a Vaporwave
genre known as Signalwave or Broken Transmission. It's very weird stuff.
See my Bandcamp page for
more. |
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Naturalist: Having spent
most of my life in Southern New England, I learned to find my peace in
the woods. Often, I would load a few field guides into my day pack and
go hiking. I'd photograph wildflowers and non-flowering plants. At one
point, I got very deep into the geology of the area, and supported this
interest by going "rock hounding." Before we moved away, I was
well on my way to constructing a pseudo cabinet of curiosities. It will
be some time before I have the same level of knowledge about our current
locale, so I consider this hobby to be very much on ice at the moment. |
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Radio: My Dad used to have a gorgeous tube radio that
could pick up short wave. I used to spend hours listening to stations
around the world. In my teen years, my interest spilled over into the
AM bands. I would camp out in the back yard with my sister's boom-box,
and see how far away I could hear with it. My personal record was Fort
Wayne, Indiana. Fast forward to the COVID era, I combined a few interests
and started an internet radio station, that had a couple dozen followers
at its height. As the world opened up, most of those people dropped
off. Around the time of our move abroad, I put this one on ice, until
I can find a way to resolve the local licensing requirements needed
for broadcasting legally. |
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Scouts: Being a kid who was comfortable outdoors,
but not terribly into sports, I found my way into the Boy Scouts. I
enjoyed the self-study aspect of earning badges, and the self-reliance
that it taught me. As an adult, I found myself on the outside of the
BSA's restrictive membership requirements of the 1990's. I eventually
discovered the independent scout movement, which kept me busy thru the
2000's. During COVID, I joined a Rover Crew from Yorkshire, and have
had the pleasure of camping with them in the Yorkshire Moors. A lot
of us in the crew are pulled in different directions at the moment,
but I stand ready to rejoin their adventures when we are back on the
same page. |
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Stamp Collecting: This was something my Dad and I
used to do together. We both collected U.S. stamps together, and later
I went on to start a very modest Scout stamp collection. When my Dad
eventually passed, I inherited his collection. It is in good hands.
At some point, I would like to get back into my Scout stamp collection,
and eventually (re)post it online. Look for a future page on this topic. |
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Weather: My dad was a Navy
meteorologist, so naturally, I picked this interest up from him. I eventually
built my own analog weather station and took daily readings. I eventually
got good enough to predict weather a couple days out, with results rivaling
the National Weather Service. With the move abroad, I have much to learn
about the local weather patterns and reading the sky here. As such, this
hobby is definitely on ice at the moment. Which is fine. I need the time
to work on my aforementioned cartoons. |
