So tea lovers, what are your other interests? Do they relate to tea in any way?
In all honesty, tea is not top of my obsessions!
Coffee is first and foremost at the moment – I work in speciality coffee and have been a coffee geek for years before that.
Beer – I enjoy good (and interesting) beers, but I’m not so interested in learning about how is made and so on as I am with coffee and tea – I just stick to appreciating the end result!
Food – I’m not a fan of complicated, but I like tasting good quality ingredients.
So lots of tasting, but I’m also in to films, reading, music and philosophy.
I get occasional exercise too – I’m a fencer and practice Tai Chi Chuan (and I’ve also done little bits of other Chinese martial arts). There’s no substantive link with my tea interest, but a theme with the chinese martial arts and chinese philosophy.
I have a love and passion for quite a few things: (in no particular order)
Reading and collecting books (I pass them on through Bookcrossing but at the moment I have 3 large bookcases full).
Making and wearing jewellery (which I also do for a job as I am self employed).
Animals and their well-being is another one, I currently have 4 cats and have been a strict vegetarian for over 10 years now. I also donate money to many different animal charities.
I love tattoo’s and see them as a way to express myself. I am currently planning and designing another one to add to my total so far of 7.
Make up has to be on the list as I have always enjoyed making my own blends and colours. I love to be bright and colourful.
Tea is an obvious one :)
The last one I shall mention is my love of horror films. I have a very large collection and watch films almost everyday whilst making my jewellery. It’s odd really because most people say I am the sweetest and friendliest person they have ever met and it shocks them to know how much I love the genre but it’s one of my biggest obsessions. :)
Oh wow, I haven’t heard the name Bookcrossing in years! It’s great to know that they’re still around. =)
Bookcrossing is still going strong :) I love sharing books and knowledge, it’s much better than them staying on a shelf for years and years. Plus I want to say hello to you Nik as I do not believe I have had the pleasure of meeting you yet :)
Oh, and I have to add learning for the sake of learning. This ties into he interest in non-fiction books I mentioned. I’m almost always trying to learn something new whether it’s taking classes at a nearby university or just googling a subject. I try to keep my brain working and my minded growing.
Traveling. The jobs I have had past and present, have taken me all over the world. Finland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Thailand, countless times to Korea, Taiwan, China, all over Japan and the US.
Photography. It’s not my profession but my DSLR has travelled with me all
over the world. Am considering trading in my DSLR for a CSC.
I love tea, and I love sharing it with people. After years of feeling like I didn’t know how to invite people to my home or what on earth to do them (my mom was raised in an orphanage and we never ever had guests because she was convinced people really didn’t want to see each other), I have found that most people love to be asked to tea, so that is what I do! But I would say it is as much about sharing stories and friendship as it is about tea!
I have been homeschooling for over twenty years now, with the oldest three graduated, and two out of college. I love teaching my kids and I love teaching my music students!
I used to do a lot of theater and was on tv a bit when I was a child. I was in a Josh Logan musical when i was a teen, directed by Josh himself. If you haven’t heard of him, look up Paint Your Wagon!
My rescue doggie is a HUGE part of our family, and we have rescue turtles as well who are given a life as close to “in the wild” as they can get, shy of actually being eaten by a raccoon.
We have bird feeders and bird baths everywhere, and love to bird watch. A hawk likes to dine on our sparrows, hmmmm. We used to go bird banding at a nature reserve an hour away and got to see many species that one doesn’t normally see in our neighborhood. That was fun!
I love making cards, and I adore writing and receiving letters!
I host a writers’ group in my home that meets every two weeks but I don’t write professionally. I wish I could, though!
I am so impressed by all of you who are actual foodies. I don’t think I will ever attain that level! We do grind our own wheat into flour and make a lot of homemade bread. But most of you have a knowledge of spices and exotic foods that I can not imagine!
That is awesome – I haven’t actually seen Paint Your Wagon yet (adding it to my list) but I love the song They Call the Wind Maria. Almost every time I pick up my guitar that’s one of the songs I play.
I love that song, too! It is so haunting… The musical I was in was the stage version of Bus Stop, which starred Marilyn Monroe, and Josh directed that, too. I played the role that Debbie Reynolds played in the movie. LOL! Almost everyone on here is probably too young to know who that is!
- Playing piano
- Photography
- Travel
- Postcrossing (addicted to the site)
- Writing (all forms from letters, to working on a novel)
- Reading
- All things food & Wine
- Flying airplanes
- Golf
- Sailing
I think that’s all I can think of right now.
I had never heard of postcrossing. I am so glad I looked it up! HVe you seen the book called Good Mail Day? My dream would be to get some of that really “good mail” sent out somewhere every single day! What fun that would be! I love writing letters. Of course, that means loving getting them, too!
@asmanra – it’s a really great site. It’s a lot of fun to get postcards from all over the world. Also their forum has all kinds of neat stuff like; traveling notebooks, penpals, swaps, etc. etc.
Oh, no…another potential addiction! (Mail carrier’s daughter here; juggled tons of pen pals; courted my hubby partially by correspondence—-real mail absolutely makes my day.)
I have way too many interests. I suppose one of my biggest hobbies is just learning things! (And talking/typing too much. I tried to pare this down, I swear).
-Languages. I studied Spanish and Arabic in college with a little bit of translation theory as well. I took a few courses in some other languages just to sample them. I’m studying Welsh right now which I love almost as much as Arabic – it is the best mix of logical and illogical conventions.
-Modernist literature. Okay, so I’m an English dork in general. I love Eliot and Yeats most but I’ll take anything, not exclusively modernist from ~1880-1920 – especially the Sherlock Holmes canon and WWI poets. I do enjoy more modern books as well – I’m rereading Aurorarama at the moment.
-Animals. My longhaired dachshund, Mycroft is perfect. He will walk off-leash with me and is always considerate and caring when I’m sad (either that or he’s salt deficient and that’s why he’ll give me kisses when I cry…)
-Dog grooming. Kind of the same as above. I own a dog grooming business with my sister. And yes, tea saves my life here! I’m not a morning person and tea helps me stay awake and focused while I’m at work.
-Writing. I write poetry – usually really annoying experimental poetry. I’m working on a poetry cycle about Ganymede, Zeus’ water bearer. And yet, I don’t have a single poem that mentions tea!
-Filmmaking. I’m slogging through pre-production details for a film right now. Tea is necessary for obvious reasons (staying awake and staying positive are at the top of the list).
-Spinning. I love making my own yarn for knitting (this is a lie – I would spin even if I didn’t know how to knit, it’s that rewarding). I love a nice technically sound yarn as well as crazy art yarns. (I’m on Ravelry with the same name as here, if there are any other knitters/spinners out there.) There is a yarn to spin up for any mood.
-Music. I enjoy listening to and playing almost everything. For listening I prefer 60s rock, but I have a weakness for Halim (an Egyptian 50s singer) and gamelan music too. I principally sing and play guitar, piano, and sax, but I’ve dabbled with (among other things) flute, trumpet, the Erhu… yeah. I think my main interest is collecting just enough skill in something to be passable and move on. Jack of all trades here!
-Lest anyone think I’m some kind of bookworm, I also enjoy target shooting. Although, since my grandfather (who taught me) developed Lewy Body dementia I just haven’t been going to the range.
I like by the phrase my fiance coined “I’ll try anything twice – I might not have been in the right mood the first time” so I end up going places in my life I never really expected :)
Do you sell the yarn you spin? The lady I normally buy from is on hiatus while she has her first child (and probably for a while after that). I went ahead and stocked up, but I’ll be out of yarn before the year is over.
Off to check you out on Ravelry. I’m jerseygirl over there, but I haven’t posted anything in a long, long time.
You ‘n’ me, both! I see other people’s beautifully concise responses, then my own dissertations, and just shake my head in resignation. :D
Yay, another polyglot! =)
Oh my gosh, your bit about poetry reminded me of a poem I wrote when I was in school. I must’ve been, um, 11 or 12 at the time. We were reading the Odyssey and had to compose something on Odysseus. And the reason your bit reminded me of that is because what I submitted was a poem, and that poem did mention tea! Now I’m wondering if I’ve still got it somewhere; I’d love to dig it up and blog it for a laugh.
Fellow dog groomer here! I have been grooming for five years (I know not very long but I’m only 23) and I have to agree a cup of tea really does help get me through the day! Especially those moments when things start to get a litle crazy!
@Veronica – I sometimes include it in swaps/trades. I’ve been thinking about opening up a shop but then life got crazy! Have you checked out the handspun destash/sale thread? http://www.ravelry.com/groups/hand-spun-yarn-destash
It hasn’t been super active lately but you can browse through the “recently shared stash” box on the right.
@Nik – The gift of being concise passed me by! I can admire something like haiku and try to emulate it but it’s not my default! I’d love to hear your poem – I have a weakness for greek myth poetry :) Post a link if you do blog about it!
The first time I heard it, polyglot became one of my favorite words, though I doubt I really live up to it! My translation professor was remarkable. She spoke over seven languages fluently and was so modest. She would say something like “oh I’m not fluent though” about Russian and then several days later mention that she had majored in it and done several professional translations. In her mind though, she hadn’t used it much in a few years and didn’t think in the language and therefore didn’t count it.
Which languages do you speak?
@Mrnixonpants – Wonderful! I love your avatar btw, my sister has two rats at the moment, Bonnie and Barrow. Her previous crew was Sam Dean and Jimmy (the Rat Pack). I’m not that old either (25). I really love the moments when we can give a dog a minute on the floor after drying before the styling and let her decompress. I grab a cup of tea, we have a moment and then we go on – it’s like a breath of fresh air! Do you live in the New England area? I was really sorry to still not have been able to make the Hershey convention.
I’ve got four rats at the moment. Three boys and one girl all neutered of course! Brinkley is the little ham in the avatar.
I haven’t made it to the convention either even though I’m not very far (Ohio). I’m saving every extra penny I have at the moment as I’ll be moving in the next 6 months. I have been to a few shows, but haven’t made it up to Hershey. Seems like it would be a really cool experience and I’m sure there’d be a lot to learn and observe. Not to mention the vendors…
Love your description of the Welsh language being the best mix of logical and illogical conventions. And a long haired dachshund named Mycroft, how appropriate!
Also very interested in your poetry, my poems and songs mostly have mythic themes and are inspired but ancient hymns. I have one to Persephone up on a podcast: http://adfpodcast.libsyn.com/webpage/march-2010-tribeways Just follow the link at the bottom for the direct download. My song starts around 0:16:20 and there is another one to Kore by ADF Bard Laureate, Emerald starting at 10 mins.
I think/dream in Hindi, English and Spanish. I can shyly, haltingly stumble through a conversation in French and Punjabi. I can mostly understand, but not really speak more than a few words/phrases of, Gujrati, Bengali, Italian and Portuguese. I can read and speak a few words of, but not understand or speak properly (I know, really helpful, right?), Russian and Greek. Erm, I think that’s it. I still don’t think I’m truly proficient in any language but English and Hindi, but I do love them and want to keep learning and getting better.
my interests have changed alot over the years, i now enjoy much quieter things than before most of which i enjoy doing alone these days
TEA
MY DOG
READING
COOKING
ALONE TIME-MEDITATION/REFLECTION
BASIC BUSHCRAFTING
GARDENING
SLEEPING/NAPPING
COLLECTING-SILVER COINS AND STONES
WATCHING/OBSERVING THE ACTIONS OF OTHERS
SINGING
ONLINE CHAT
AND A FEW OTHER BORING THINGS LOL
bushcrafting! Awesome! I have a deep irrational fear of insects, but other than that, so interesting! I’m rather interested in wild plants and their uses. Do you have any experience with this?
I’m very new to the bushcrafting actually, im still learning the basics like making shelter and foraging so I’m currently learning about wild plants and mushrooms and such right now :-) oh yeah and insects too you can eat most of them ;)
Words are my number one passion – I love to read, write (in my journal), do crosswords and even word searches. I love to debate topics with friends (and non-friends, though that leads to trouble) so I like to try to learn at least a little bit about everything I can. I have been known to read terrible books just so I can argue about them better (cough 50 Shades cough). I strive to learn more every day – I come from a fairly argumentative and intelligent family, we are all encouraged to keep learning and doing more.
I love to cook, and to eat – the beau and I get most of our fruit and veggies from the local market and would love to raise our own veg and livestock someday. If cost weren’t an issue, we would probably buy all of our food locally. A few months ago I started making all our bread and I get a great sense of pride from making food from scratch – Friday is homemade pizza day and Sunday is when we do a soup and bread, typically.
Family is very important to me and I like to visit them as much as I can. My parents split when I was 3 so I have a lot of sections to visit (especially when we add in the beau’s parents) but I enjoy it. Much of my family lives in what I lovingly refer to as “the country” (the beau and I very much want to live there too) so we like to get away and visit there. There are wonderful opportunities for photography there as well, I love nature photos. If I had lots of money, I would get an excellent camera and a Macro lens and have at ’er.
I really enjoy board games and group activities that prompt launghter, silliness and the occasional argument – Just Dance (for the Wii) is one of my favourite activities to do with friends. Video games in general are fun, I particularly love Doctor Mario and Tetris. On that note, id you also play Doctor Mario and want to battle me, we should become Wii friends so we can do that. More people need to play that game!
I got a record player a few months back and gleefully play whatever vinyl I can get my hands on – between the ones we’ve bought and my scavneging from my father and step-father, we have almost 200 records. It’s a great time.
Crosswords make me feel dumb, but once in a while I get bitten by the bug and I muddle through them. I love word finds, though, and would spend hours as a child doing them with Mum. They used to make me feel like a superhero, because the words would just jump out at me.
I love the NY Times crossword! But only Monday to Wednesday. The rest of them are too hard!
Me too, Mercuryhime. I grab the latest puzzle with the NYT iPad application but can’t always make it all the way through. I’m getting a little better with practice, though. =)
I love this! Everyone is so interesting!
I love all the food lovers out there! I wouldn’t describe myself as a foodie as I’m not entirely sure what that stands for, but my sister has called me that because I’d rather not add herbs to a dish than use dried ones. Unless you dry it yourself and know how old it is, you might as well be adding dust, I say. I also go through stages of food obsessions. I went through a bread phase where I even attempted my own sour dough, but it was too much work in the end so I just baked the whole thing at some point. I also cultivated some kefir grains until I accidentally blended it into a smoothie one day. It was good while it lasted. :) These days, I have barely any time to be creative with food. sad.
Another favorite hobby of mine is reading. I devour books and certain sections of the NY Times. I mostly read fiction but the occasional nonfiction book will catch my interest. I absolutely love having tea while I read. There’s nothing better than a weekend morning with a hot cup of tea, a cuddly puppy and a good book. Ideally, I’d read until I get sleepy and then take a nap. :D
I’ve got a deep interest in plants, wild and cultivated. I’m mostly interested in how plants can be used medicinally and culinarily. I enjoy foraging and gardening, but mostly just useful plants.
I enjoy singing, but i’m self-conscious of my voice so I only do it when I’m alone. I let my puppies listen cause they’re loyal and keep opinions to themselves. :) I’ve also sung in a choir, so I’m ok with singing if I can blend in with the crowd.
I have an amateurish interesting in drawing. I’m not too good at it, but it really helps me get out of my head.
and I love animals. I love watching them, and if possible, getting to know them. Animal behavior fascinates me. My sister makes fun of me because I could be watching a movie where hundreds of people are getting slaughtered, but I only protest when a dog dies.
Aaand, that’s it for now! Off to bed! :)
I once had a sourdough project, which I named Fred. We had fresh sourdough bread, english muffins, all kinds of things all the time. Unfortunately, Fred became infested with fruit flies one day during the summer (several years ago), & that was the end of our sourdough bread. :(
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