Re-awakening interests

I'm either cursed, or blessed, with a disparate range of interests: music (playing, recording), woodworking, computers (to a finite extent), and martial arts.

For the last few years, all of them have been lying fairly dormant, as I tried to focus on finishing my Ph.D. dissertation -- which, I finally did, about a month ago.

Martial arts stuff has totally fallen by the wayside. However, when my brother visits me in about a month, I'll go check out a dojo or two with him (we used to take a kung fu class together).

Computer stuff has simmered at a low-lying but consistent level: I subscribe to a Linux magazine, and I engage in episodic, task-prompted ''reading up'' on things -- such as when I need to choose a laptop for work.

Woodworking has percolated at a moderate level: there's three woodworking blogs I follow; I usually browse through the woodworking magazines at the newsagent's, and sometimes pick one up; and I semi-frequently ''dumpster-dive'' for offcuts at construction sites -- and will spend 10-15 minutes here and there pulling nails out of salvaged wood.

However, the biggest resurgence has been in music. I'm pleased with this, as music was the original -- and central -- interest. I'm still not playing much -- but I picked up three guitar magazines at the library a few weeks ago, and I'm pleasantly surprised at how much the guitar, amp, and effects pedals reviews engage me. Jotting down a few notes on gear that I need to look in to, for (eventual!) possible purchase.


I didn't include criminology or research methodology on that list. I **am** interested in that stuff -- but as it's work-related, I'm not counting it (even though I sometimes geek out on nifty new (to me) statistical techniques.


--GG