My Hobbies - An Essay

My Hobbies – An Essay

Today I will tell you about my hobbies. Webster defines hobby as a pursuit outside one’s regular occupation, engaged in for relaxation. Interesting. In that case, I guess you could say I have LOT of hobbies. Right now, my main hobbies are scrapbooking and making altered books, sort of an offshoot of scrapping. I think this is a great new field, especially with all the cool new products. But it really also dates back to my teen years. Recently I started making Artist Trading Cards, or ATCs. Oh, wow, this has got to be the greatest hobby ever. I have finally found an art form I truly love, and which gives vent to all of my creative explorations. Other hobbies include: reading: I love to read the old Harlequin romances. Also I am and have always been a sci-fi fan. I can still remember the first two sci-fi books I ever read. “Space Ship Under the Apple Tree”, by Louis Slobodkyn is now a classic, and “Space Cat” by Ruthven Todd. Come to think of it, I actually have copies of these books. One of my all time fave books is “Orphans In the Sky” by Heinlein. And with that I will move on to the next subject. I have so many fave sci-fi books!

Another great hobby is Astronomy. I am a fairly good amateur astronomer and I have had some great adventures. They would easily fill a whole letter.

I love doing needlework of all kinds, and was a member of EGA for over 10 years. I am an accomplished seamstress and like to quilt (in my spare time). The biggest (and hardest project) I ever worked on was my sister Rachel’s wedding dress. It turned out quite lovely.

I have been an avid pen-paller and armchair traveler for most of my life, and love making new friends.

I love the Internet, and all the opportunities it has opened up to me, like this one.

I guess that pretty much covers my hobbies, except for a few other things. I hesitate to say they are hobbies because they both really go way beyond the parameters of mere hobbies.

The first is my music. I started playing piano when I was 5 ½ and cannot even imagine not being able to play, or having to live without a piano. The piano I have my Uncle bought for me when I was 11. Of course, I play professionally in church, but I love to just sit down here at home and play. I can literally play for hours, so I do not let myself indulge often. Otherwise I do not get anything else done. I guess on the hobby side of my music are the other instruments I play, or play at, LOL. That is the accordian, guitar and soprano recorder. I played violin ‘til I was in 6th grade and plan to take it up again when I retire. I also want to learn to play the timpani and the Celtic Harp. LOL I am very ambitious.

The second is my cats and my wonderful online Cat Club, Catuary. That is a whole story in itself and one which is dear to my heart.

The last thing I will mention is my writing and photography. I am a fair amateur photographer, and last year I was inducted into the International Society of Photographer’s hall of fame for excellence in Amateur Photography. My fave subjects are cats, of course. My goal is to have at least one picture on the cover of Cat Fancy magazine. You can see my work at www.picture.com.

And last but not least is my writing. I love to write, and it is a real passion with me. I write mostly short stories (for children) and poetry. Much of my work is about my wonderful cats. I know it is just a matter of time until I am published, and I know that will be such an exciting day. I love to put pen to paper, and I love to know that there are people out there who are reading my stories, and thinking “I really love this.” But more important to me is the fact that I love what I write. I read my stories and poetry over and over again, and still find that I am inspired by them.

In 2005 I was in a poem per day challenge, and it really was very interesting. I am challenging myself to really learn all about the different forms of poetry. LOL. If you are interested you can see my work at www.writing.com/authors/noelanicat.

Well, I hope you aren’t bore to tears yet, and hope you have enjoyed reading about all of my hobbies.

Hugs, Cynaemon