The Next Big Thing
Nov. 8th, 2013 08:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebI've been thinking I should pick something new to become an expert in. In the past, I've kind of fallen into things (like, most recently, learning about taxes), but now (or soon) I should be able to make my own choice.
Is there anything so fun that I would like to do it many hours a day? That I would like it to mold my perception of other things (like how quilters see everything as possible quilt designs and rock climbers see hand-holds in everything)? That I would like to hang out in discussion boards about? That I would like to go to conferences on?
I've made no serious decisions yet, but :
Ballroom Dancing - I enjoy this and am quite addicted. When my family went to Epcot Center, I would suddenly mumble "Waltz" or "Foxtrot" regardless of the current topic of conversation based on the background music. I've taken lessons for decades. And when I first started, I went to dance competitions, including an international one in Florida (there were some people there from England) where I learned that I like it enough to spend all day long for three days straight (or was it a whole week?) doing nothing but dancing stuff. However, I'm quite clumsy (though, actually, a bit less clumsy than before). I had one instructor who said that when she was learning the proper hip movements for international-style Latin dancing, where you are supposed to land your step with your leg perfectly straight, her instructor would slap her knee from the front if she landed with her knee bent. Even though it hurt her when he did this, she was glad that he did, because she had always thought she was landing with a straight leg, and he showed her the truth. Um, no, I'm not that into being good. I just want to have fun. I enjoy being good enough that people of all (lower) levels can dance with me. I've enjoyed learning subtle things like how to back-lead rhythm while the guy is leading the step. And social things like how to help new dancers have fun instead of being embarrassed by how boring they must be to me--they are not as boring as when I'm just sitting in a chair! And the music is just as fun no matter who I'm dancing with. I don't think I want to get into teaching, though. I just like dancing. Where there's enough space. And where everyone's not drunk or smoking or grabby.
Cake Decorating - In Girl Scouts you're allowed to make your Own Troop's Badge, and I was once in a troop that made a badge on cake decorating. (I can't show you the badge--I only ever got possession of about half the badges I earned--you'll just have to trust me.) As you know, I enjoyed attending a cake show--once anyway. I used to do minor decorating, but now I just go for chocolaty-ness in my cakes. I'm too lazy even to make cupcakes--I just make sheet cakes and am done with it.
Carpentry - I once had a boyfriend who was a carpenter. Sexy. He said I would be good at it because you have to be good at planning. I have, in fact, added some shelves to my broom closet/pantry. But although I love wooden things, I don't really enjoy this work. (Note: My current boyfriend also does carpentry and as a result we have even better shelves in the pantry and the best bookcases every in our living room.)
Crocheting - I once heard it was faster than knitting, so I took a course. My instructor said no, it's not faster. And she kept showing us gorgeous examples of knitting that she was brining to the knitting class she taught after ours. So I later took her knitting class and learned a few cool things.
Embroidery - This may be the first thing at which I became an expert. My mom taught me how to embroider so young that I was already an expert by the time the Girl Scout troop I was in started on an embroidery project when I was in the fourth grade (at which time I was eight years old). So how old was I when I was learning? Six? Five? Holy moly, my mom is amazing. She definitely untangled a lot of knots for me. I still like to look at needlework in museums. Nowadays I mostly use these skills for sewing. I've made up my own ways that I like to do things like sew patches onto jackets and binding onto potholders (so the sewing is invisible). But I don't find much use for embroidery. I did get to embroider Bill and Cindy's names, with hearts between, all around the binding on some potholders I made them (out of towels that were on their registry, so they matched perfectly). It has been a gateway drug, I mean craft, for other needle crafts.
Foreign Languages - In first grade I learned a tiny amount of Spanish. And my mom fell in love with the Spanish version of the book Are You My Mother? Then I took three years of Spanish in high school. Sadly, I did not learn it. In college they said I was ready for fourth-semester Spanish, but I did not want to set myself up for failure.
At that time I was Jewish, so I decided to take Hebrew. We were supposed to learn the entire alphabet in one day. Fortunately, I had already learned it, but I still found it quite difficult to keep up.
I really (thought I) wanted to work at the day car center, which was a morning job, and all the foreign language classes at my college were morning classes (five days a week) except for Latin (only three days a week because you only had to learn to read and write it, not speak it). Plus you only needed 3 - 4 semesters of this language, so after one year of Hebrew I switched to Latin without having to take any extra semesters of language. That is the hardest language I have ever studies. They have three genders. They have random mix-and-match word order. After college I was very happy that I would never have to take a foreign language again.
In grad school I had to take a foreign language in which research was done. That would be not Hebrew and definitely not Latin. There were no courses in my major during the summer, so I looked for a language that could be done in the summer. My choices were: German. So I took German. After the first semester, it really seemed like I was learning German; it was great. However, the second semester was a complete waste of time. We spent most of it trying to translate an article in our field. Let me tell you that German sociology words are, well, long. They are into compound words. That language was probably the easiest and most fun for me, though.
As a prelude to travel, I have also studied some French and various other Germanic languages (Flemish and Dutch). I also took a one-hour lesson in the Russian alphabet.
And I took an informal course in sign language, which was kind of fun.
I suck at languages, but I still want to learn Spanish and ASL because they both seem like they could be useful.
Girl Scouts - I start off in Camp Fire (back when it was just for girls), but then we moved to a place that didn't have Camp Fire Girls so I switched to Girl Scouts. Then we moved again and they had both, but I stuck with Girl Scouts because it seemed more common and, in fact, Girl Scouts were available in every place I ever lived. I stayed in Girl Scouts through high school, because I'm uncool like that (people in band are cool compared to to me--hi Todd and Sherry!). Then I volunteered all though college and part of grad school, first as an Assistant Leader, then as a Leader Trainer, plus I was a counselor at a Girl Scout summer camp for four years. This was a gateway drug, ahem, organization to other service organizations--I later became an instructor for the Red Cross. Girl Scouts has changed dramatically since that time. Last time I checked, it seemed a lot more service oriented and less skill oriented than what I like. Another problem is that boys can't play and I'm not good with sexism these days. To this day, this is my favorite of the organized religions, except for the part about how it's not a religion. But it's still about being a good person, which is what I like in a religion.
Hat Making - I drool over Sherry's creations. However, hard and time-consuming, and I already don't wear the three hats I own much.
Knitting - You can do so many pretty things with knitting. And I like how you can socialize at the same time (during the easy parts). But the counting, the keeping track of stuff, the screwing up and ripping things out and re-doing them, are not my thing. Also, it's very slow going. I think it took the whole year that my ankle was sprained that one time to make a sweater, and it didn't even fit right. I'll just slobber over Lyn's work and do the occasional easy scarf with fancy yarn (in front of the TV!). However, I'm also still enticed by beautiful small projects.
Math Education - After decades of thinking, I concluded that my ideal job would be creating educational materials as part of a team. These materials would have to be a) fun/interesting, b) teaching something useful, c) teaching something that schools require, and d) teacher-proof, ahem, I mean very easy to implement. (Even good teachers don't have enough time, and even students with bad teachers deserve good educational materials.) I'm not sure how to find such teams, but I've thought of starting about by volunteering to tutor at local schools. Then maybe I could work with teachers to make stuff to help them teach the hardest things. Of all the subjects, math seems to be a good compromise between important and scary. (If more people understood basic math, we might not have had the last economic meltdown.)
Playing Musical Instruments - My parents had a piano and I even got eight lessons once before we moved. The instructor just went through my book in order, though, which I could do myself. I like the piano, but I don't love the practice. And I wish my fingers were longer.
In the seventh grade I was in a school where we all learned to play the recorder (a flute-like instrument which is sturdy, cheap, and easy to get a good sound out of, unlike actual flutes and reed instruments and bugles--except for some people are used to playing flutes, reed instruments, or bugles). That year was the only year when I was in a fancy school for smart people, so when we moved away, but not very far, I kept going even though it meant taking two city buses. In between the buses, I would practice. On the sidewalks in downtown Houston--hard to imagine that now. But that instrument is so loud that it's hard to practice politely. I would go to my parents' room, the farthest room from the living room, and close the door, and it still bothered them. On the other hand, I would also use it to play "Taps" at summer camp, and you could hear it anywhere. I quite enjoyed playing "Nights it White Satin" with Don on his accordion (this actually worked). However, when I tried to play Pachelbel's Canon, my roommate's cat used to bite my elbow when I tried for the high notes. I'm not good at high notes, hard keys, or playing fast, and it's not my favorite sounding instrument.
After grad school I bought myself the instrument I most wanted to learn how to play - a guitar. I took some classes. I learned a few pretty things. Now mostly I use it to accompany myself singing songs with easy chords. Again, I wish I had longer fingers. And I wish my fingers didn't stick in these weird shapes when I'm holding down the strings. And the F-chord is so hard. I know I should just practice and practice and I will get better. But I don't like the pain.
Patricia gave Robin and me some drum lessons. Challenging! Fun! I had the same kind of fun with that instrument-playing video game. But no, I don't want to own a drumset. I might enjoy learning to play bongos.
Basically, I'm not currently willing to do the practice it takes to become good at playing an instrument. But I do enjoy keeping up my current mediocre skills.
Quilting - So pretty, but so time-consuming.
Rock Climbing - The Pierces taught me a lot about rock climbing and I do enjoy seeing the world around me in terms of handholds and footholds. And I like the way I can use up all my muscles in about five minutes. And I think it would be cool to have an exterior rock wall which I would learn to climb up quickly which would make a good getaway from non-climbing bad guys. But I don't like belaying other people, and it's not fair to have them belay me--I prefer bouldering ("climbing" sideways so it's not dangerous). It's not an activity I've wanted to go deeply into, however.
Singing - I love singing. Whenever I need to feel better the quickest way to do so is to sing. I especially like singing along with recorded music that I like and otherwise participating in other people's music (dancing or percussion). I participate in the informal music recitals my friends have--if I practice enough and have a guitar to keep me on track, I can do okay. I may still hurt some people's ears, but some people also compliment me. It helps to pick songs that are so amazing that even a mediocre rendition is nice. It also helps to pick songs I am better at. I also sang something ("Road Movie to Berlin") a capello with my sister in public (Travis and Di's wedding) once (everyone at the wedding has blocked this from their memories)--having to cooperate to have matching timing is challenging! And I really enjoyed singing rounds in the Grand Canyon. However, the idea of voice lessons does not interest me. Nor does the idea of forming a band. But I do think I'd like to try writing some songs.
Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) - My sister got involved with this group because it was the only interesting thing to do in Copperas Cove (near Temple, TX), and she has remained involved even after moving to places with more opportunities. She especially likes the costuming and also teaching and even keeping the group's accounting books straight. My fake cousin (son of my parents' best friends) also likes the SCA because it includes all of his favorite hobbies such as making music and sword fighting. Another friend of mine enjoys performing and writing poetry. Sadly, I find Medieval times to be horrifying. I prefer to experience the SCA vicariously through my sister.
Swimming - I once was not almost disallowed from going on a canoeing trip with my Girl Scout troop because I did not have a swim card, even though I knew how to swim. In the end, a Red Cross instructor gave me a test for the required swim card, which I passed (though my legs were quite wobbly after that), so I was allowed to go. The instructor did not, however, give me a card. In college there was a class available where you could get the Red Cross Advanced Swimming card, so now I have one. I also got the Lifesaving card, the Water Safety Instructor card, the Canoer card, and the Canoe Instructor card. I have documentation! Well, I like swimming just fine, but I don't love it. As I learned when I moved to an apartment complex with a pool in it in grad school--even though I'd be fantasizing about swimming when I got home, once I got out of my long pants, I lost the desire. I don't like all of the clothes-changing. And I like swimming laps except that I don't like scraping my arms or face along the lap dividers, occasionally bashing my head into the wall, or staying out of the way of people I'm sharing the lap with.
I do kind of like diving, but I'm too chicken to learn new things now. Plus nobody has diving boards anymore anyway.
Ultimate Frisbee - I met a guy (he crashed at my house a few nights while I was between roommates) who showed me that there is a network of people across the world who play ultimate frisbee and help each other out so that you can always find a place to crash when travelling to tournaments or even just for fun. Just like with the SCA. That's so cool!
I also love how ultimate inspires you to run too hard. I love how you can have bad and good players playing together (unless they're too serious) by having the bad players guard the other bad players and by making a rule that you have to throw to whoever's open even if you know they probably won't catch the disk. However, I suck at sports. And my friend with the new hip tells me that all the sudden stops and starts and direction changing are not good for you.
Volleyball - I used to suck at volleyball. In the ninth grade I was too wimpy to serve the ball over the net even though my PE teacher said I was doing everything right. Fortunately I hit puberty after that and by the eleventh grade I could often get the ball over the net. Still I learned to carefully figure out which other player was closest to the ball and then get out of their way.
Fortunately, Bill and Dave would not tolerate this sort of behavior. Then I got some serious lessons from the folks that Geoff and his dad played in. And it was fun how a lot of the lessons I learned in ultimate applied here as well, such as try for the ball if you know you can't get it (in case you're wrong) and don't stand around admiring your work when you should be back in action. Ow, the volleyball sure hurts my arms though. I enjoy that I am now a mediocre player and can join other people at things like company picnics without bringing my team down.
Writing - I like writing. I tried writing a novel with nanowrimo and learned that I am not good at plot or character development, two of my favorite things about novels. By "not good" I also mean "not mediocre" and "not kind of bad." I suck! So sad! Next I'm going to try writing some kind of nonfiction (besides this blog). I've thought it would be fun to go to conferences of personal finance bloggers, but I don't actually want to write such a blog, so that's out!
So, next steps currently (though perhaps not until after I quit worrying about making more money) is to volunteer at a school tutoring math and see where that leads, try writing some nonfiction books and some songs, and learn some Spanish and then maybe some ASL.
Is there anything so fun that I would like to do it many hours a day? That I would like it to mold my perception of other things (like how quilters see everything as possible quilt designs and rock climbers see hand-holds in everything)? That I would like to hang out in discussion boards about? That I would like to go to conferences on?
I've made no serious decisions yet, but :
Ballroom Dancing - I enjoy this and am quite addicted. When my family went to Epcot Center, I would suddenly mumble "Waltz" or "Foxtrot" regardless of the current topic of conversation based on the background music. I've taken lessons for decades. And when I first started, I went to dance competitions, including an international one in Florida (there were some people there from England) where I learned that I like it enough to spend all day long for three days straight (or was it a whole week?) doing nothing but dancing stuff. However, I'm quite clumsy (though, actually, a bit less clumsy than before). I had one instructor who said that when she was learning the proper hip movements for international-style Latin dancing, where you are supposed to land your step with your leg perfectly straight, her instructor would slap her knee from the front if she landed with her knee bent. Even though it hurt her when he did this, she was glad that he did, because she had always thought she was landing with a straight leg, and he showed her the truth. Um, no, I'm not that into being good. I just want to have fun. I enjoy being good enough that people of all (lower) levels can dance with me. I've enjoyed learning subtle things like how to back-lead rhythm while the guy is leading the step. And social things like how to help new dancers have fun instead of being embarrassed by how boring they must be to me--they are not as boring as when I'm just sitting in a chair! And the music is just as fun no matter who I'm dancing with. I don't think I want to get into teaching, though. I just like dancing. Where there's enough space. And where everyone's not drunk or smoking or grabby.
Cake Decorating - In Girl Scouts you're allowed to make your Own Troop's Badge, and I was once in a troop that made a badge on cake decorating. (I can't show you the badge--I only ever got possession of about half the badges I earned--you'll just have to trust me.) As you know, I enjoyed attending a cake show--once anyway. I used to do minor decorating, but now I just go for chocolaty-ness in my cakes. I'm too lazy even to make cupcakes--I just make sheet cakes and am done with it.
Carpentry - I once had a boyfriend who was a carpenter. Sexy. He said I would be good at it because you have to be good at planning. I have, in fact, added some shelves to my broom closet/pantry. But although I love wooden things, I don't really enjoy this work. (Note: My current boyfriend also does carpentry and as a result we have even better shelves in the pantry and the best bookcases every in our living room.)
Crocheting - I once heard it was faster than knitting, so I took a course. My instructor said no, it's not faster. And she kept showing us gorgeous examples of knitting that she was brining to the knitting class she taught after ours. So I later took her knitting class and learned a few cool things.
Embroidery - This may be the first thing at which I became an expert. My mom taught me how to embroider so young that I was already an expert by the time the Girl Scout troop I was in started on an embroidery project when I was in the fourth grade (at which time I was eight years old). So how old was I when I was learning? Six? Five? Holy moly, my mom is amazing. She definitely untangled a lot of knots for me. I still like to look at needlework in museums. Nowadays I mostly use these skills for sewing. I've made up my own ways that I like to do things like sew patches onto jackets and binding onto potholders (so the sewing is invisible). But I don't find much use for embroidery. I did get to embroider Bill and Cindy's names, with hearts between, all around the binding on some potholders I made them (out of towels that were on their registry, so they matched perfectly). It has been a gateway drug, I mean craft, for other needle crafts.
Foreign Languages - In first grade I learned a tiny amount of Spanish. And my mom fell in love with the Spanish version of the book Are You My Mother? Then I took three years of Spanish in high school. Sadly, I did not learn it. In college they said I was ready for fourth-semester Spanish, but I did not want to set myself up for failure.
At that time I was Jewish, so I decided to take Hebrew. We were supposed to learn the entire alphabet in one day. Fortunately, I had already learned it, but I still found it quite difficult to keep up.
I really (thought I) wanted to work at the day car center, which was a morning job, and all the foreign language classes at my college were morning classes (five days a week) except for Latin (only three days a week because you only had to learn to read and write it, not speak it). Plus you only needed 3 - 4 semesters of this language, so after one year of Hebrew I switched to Latin without having to take any extra semesters of language. That is the hardest language I have ever studies. They have three genders. They have random mix-and-match word order. After college I was very happy that I would never have to take a foreign language again.
In grad school I had to take a foreign language in which research was done. That would be not Hebrew and definitely not Latin. There were no courses in my major during the summer, so I looked for a language that could be done in the summer. My choices were: German. So I took German. After the first semester, it really seemed like I was learning German; it was great. However, the second semester was a complete waste of time. We spent most of it trying to translate an article in our field. Let me tell you that German sociology words are, well, long. They are into compound words. That language was probably the easiest and most fun for me, though.
As a prelude to travel, I have also studied some French and various other Germanic languages (Flemish and Dutch). I also took a one-hour lesson in the Russian alphabet.
And I took an informal course in sign language, which was kind of fun.
I suck at languages, but I still want to learn Spanish and ASL because they both seem like they could be useful.
Girl Scouts - I start off in Camp Fire (back when it was just for girls), but then we moved to a place that didn't have Camp Fire Girls so I switched to Girl Scouts. Then we moved again and they had both, but I stuck with Girl Scouts because it seemed more common and, in fact, Girl Scouts were available in every place I ever lived. I stayed in Girl Scouts through high school, because I'm uncool like that (people in band are cool compared to to me--hi Todd and Sherry!). Then I volunteered all though college and part of grad school, first as an Assistant Leader, then as a Leader Trainer, plus I was a counselor at a Girl Scout summer camp for four years. This was a gateway drug, ahem, organization to other service organizations--I later became an instructor for the Red Cross. Girl Scouts has changed dramatically since that time. Last time I checked, it seemed a lot more service oriented and less skill oriented than what I like. Another problem is that boys can't play and I'm not good with sexism these days. To this day, this is my favorite of the organized religions, except for the part about how it's not a religion. But it's still about being a good person, which is what I like in a religion.
Hat Making - I drool over Sherry's creations. However, hard and time-consuming, and I already don't wear the three hats I own much.
Knitting - You can do so many pretty things with knitting. And I like how you can socialize at the same time (during the easy parts). But the counting, the keeping track of stuff, the screwing up and ripping things out and re-doing them, are not my thing. Also, it's very slow going. I think it took the whole year that my ankle was sprained that one time to make a sweater, and it didn't even fit right. I'll just slobber over Lyn's work and do the occasional easy scarf with fancy yarn (in front of the TV!). However, I'm also still enticed by beautiful small projects.
Math Education - After decades of thinking, I concluded that my ideal job would be creating educational materials as part of a team. These materials would have to be a) fun/interesting, b) teaching something useful, c) teaching something that schools require, and d) teacher-proof, ahem, I mean very easy to implement. (Even good teachers don't have enough time, and even students with bad teachers deserve good educational materials.) I'm not sure how to find such teams, but I've thought of starting about by volunteering to tutor at local schools. Then maybe I could work with teachers to make stuff to help them teach the hardest things. Of all the subjects, math seems to be a good compromise between important and scary. (If more people understood basic math, we might not have had the last economic meltdown.)
Playing Musical Instruments - My parents had a piano and I even got eight lessons once before we moved. The instructor just went through my book in order, though, which I could do myself. I like the piano, but I don't love the practice. And I wish my fingers were longer.
In the seventh grade I was in a school where we all learned to play the recorder (a flute-like instrument which is sturdy, cheap, and easy to get a good sound out of, unlike actual flutes and reed instruments and bugles--except for some people are used to playing flutes, reed instruments, or bugles). That year was the only year when I was in a fancy school for smart people, so when we moved away, but not very far, I kept going even though it meant taking two city buses. In between the buses, I would practice. On the sidewalks in downtown Houston--hard to imagine that now. But that instrument is so loud that it's hard to practice politely. I would go to my parents' room, the farthest room from the living room, and close the door, and it still bothered them. On the other hand, I would also use it to play "Taps" at summer camp, and you could hear it anywhere. I quite enjoyed playing "Nights it White Satin" with Don on his accordion (this actually worked). However, when I tried to play Pachelbel's Canon, my roommate's cat used to bite my elbow when I tried for the high notes. I'm not good at high notes, hard keys, or playing fast, and it's not my favorite sounding instrument.
After grad school I bought myself the instrument I most wanted to learn how to play - a guitar. I took some classes. I learned a few pretty things. Now mostly I use it to accompany myself singing songs with easy chords. Again, I wish I had longer fingers. And I wish my fingers didn't stick in these weird shapes when I'm holding down the strings. And the F-chord is so hard. I know I should just practice and practice and I will get better. But I don't like the pain.
Patricia gave Robin and me some drum lessons. Challenging! Fun! I had the same kind of fun with that instrument-playing video game. But no, I don't want to own a drumset. I might enjoy learning to play bongos.
Basically, I'm not currently willing to do the practice it takes to become good at playing an instrument. But I do enjoy keeping up my current mediocre skills.
Quilting - So pretty, but so time-consuming.
Rock Climbing - The Pierces taught me a lot about rock climbing and I do enjoy seeing the world around me in terms of handholds and footholds. And I like the way I can use up all my muscles in about five minutes. And I think it would be cool to have an exterior rock wall which I would learn to climb up quickly which would make a good getaway from non-climbing bad guys. But I don't like belaying other people, and it's not fair to have them belay me--I prefer bouldering ("climbing" sideways so it's not dangerous). It's not an activity I've wanted to go deeply into, however.
Singing - I love singing. Whenever I need to feel better the quickest way to do so is to sing. I especially like singing along with recorded music that I like and otherwise participating in other people's music (dancing or percussion). I participate in the informal music recitals my friends have--if I practice enough and have a guitar to keep me on track, I can do okay. I may still hurt some people's ears, but some people also compliment me. It helps to pick songs that are so amazing that even a mediocre rendition is nice. It also helps to pick songs I am better at. I also sang something ("Road Movie to Berlin") a capello with my sister in public (Travis and Di's wedding) once (everyone at the wedding has blocked this from their memories)--having to cooperate to have matching timing is challenging! And I really enjoyed singing rounds in the Grand Canyon. However, the idea of voice lessons does not interest me. Nor does the idea of forming a band. But I do think I'd like to try writing some songs.
Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) - My sister got involved with this group because it was the only interesting thing to do in Copperas Cove (near Temple, TX), and she has remained involved even after moving to places with more opportunities. She especially likes the costuming and also teaching and even keeping the group's accounting books straight. My fake cousin (son of my parents' best friends) also likes the SCA because it includes all of his favorite hobbies such as making music and sword fighting. Another friend of mine enjoys performing and writing poetry. Sadly, I find Medieval times to be horrifying. I prefer to experience the SCA vicariously through my sister.
Swimming - I once was not almost disallowed from going on a canoeing trip with my Girl Scout troop because I did not have a swim card, even though I knew how to swim. In the end, a Red Cross instructor gave me a test for the required swim card, which I passed (though my legs were quite wobbly after that), so I was allowed to go. The instructor did not, however, give me a card. In college there was a class available where you could get the Red Cross Advanced Swimming card, so now I have one. I also got the Lifesaving card, the Water Safety Instructor card, the Canoer card, and the Canoe Instructor card. I have documentation! Well, I like swimming just fine, but I don't love it. As I learned when I moved to an apartment complex with a pool in it in grad school--even though I'd be fantasizing about swimming when I got home, once I got out of my long pants, I lost the desire. I don't like all of the clothes-changing. And I like swimming laps except that I don't like scraping my arms or face along the lap dividers, occasionally bashing my head into the wall, or staying out of the way of people I'm sharing the lap with.
I do kind of like diving, but I'm too chicken to learn new things now. Plus nobody has diving boards anymore anyway.
Ultimate Frisbee - I met a guy (he crashed at my house a few nights while I was between roommates) who showed me that there is a network of people across the world who play ultimate frisbee and help each other out so that you can always find a place to crash when travelling to tournaments or even just for fun. Just like with the SCA. That's so cool!
I also love how ultimate inspires you to run too hard. I love how you can have bad and good players playing together (unless they're too serious) by having the bad players guard the other bad players and by making a rule that you have to throw to whoever's open even if you know they probably won't catch the disk. However, I suck at sports. And my friend with the new hip tells me that all the sudden stops and starts and direction changing are not good for you.
Volleyball - I used to suck at volleyball. In the ninth grade I was too wimpy to serve the ball over the net even though my PE teacher said I was doing everything right. Fortunately I hit puberty after that and by the eleventh grade I could often get the ball over the net. Still I learned to carefully figure out which other player was closest to the ball and then get out of their way.
Fortunately, Bill and Dave would not tolerate this sort of behavior. Then I got some serious lessons from the folks that Geoff and his dad played in. And it was fun how a lot of the lessons I learned in ultimate applied here as well, such as try for the ball if you know you can't get it (in case you're wrong) and don't stand around admiring your work when you should be back in action. Ow, the volleyball sure hurts my arms though. I enjoy that I am now a mediocre player and can join other people at things like company picnics without bringing my team down.
Writing - I like writing. I tried writing a novel with nanowrimo and learned that I am not good at plot or character development, two of my favorite things about novels. By "not good" I also mean "not mediocre" and "not kind of bad." I suck! So sad! Next I'm going to try writing some kind of nonfiction (besides this blog). I've thought it would be fun to go to conferences of personal finance bloggers, but I don't actually want to write such a blog, so that's out!
So, next steps currently (though perhaps not until after I quit worrying about making more money) is to volunteer at a school tutoring math and see where that leads, try writing some nonfiction books and some songs, and learn some Spanish and then maybe some ASL.