Unique and passionate interests/hobbies

@Flutterbug9 @Jynx 

Thank you both so much for starting this thread!

One of my biggest special interests is playwriting, especially when it’s woven together with WWI history.

There’s something about that era, the letters home, the sheer scale of the change in the world, and the personal stories tucked away in the trenches, that feels so important to capture through storytelling. I love the challenge of giving those historical 'fragments' a voice on a stage. It’s definitely my version of a 'deep dive' where I can get lost in the research and the dialogue for hours 💚

🤔

@MatchaToad @Flutterbug9 @Jynx 

lol, maybe 40 years ago

unique special interests didn't please adults in the 1980s

so not even i like my hobbies, they are so boring and vanilla

I have 2 areas that I am passionate about that I don’t talk about off the forums due to timing and other things never feeling right.

one area is model trains.  My ultimate goal is to have a working layout in my garage, trains being about 3cm in height (not quite as tall as Lego characters).  More on that another time.

my other area is genealogy aka as family research.  I have always been someone who enjoys researching things, looking for answers.  Searching until I got answers or exhausted all avenues.

I initially starting researching my fathers ancestors as my father knew almost nothing of his ancestral background.  Few verbal things handed down through generations, nothing as verification though.

all my mother could tell me was my dads eldest brother and sister in law were known as Fred and Trix (not their real names, names created as part of post).  Took few years of research, all done well before introduction of internet) for me to find out the actually names.

I was very lucky in Federation year.  Distant family member in another country emailed me and sent me very large, detailed record of one branch on my dads side starting with details of birth and death place plus photo of headstone in England from couple hundred years ago

with assistance of DNA testing I’ve been able to clarify one mystery regarding who was birth father of my maternal grandmother and siblings.

i first started researching my ancestors more than 30years ago.  Lot of initial research was attending local family history centre and spending couple hrs one night a week scrolling through micofische and microfilm on specially designed equipment.  One evening I came across details containing name and few other items of a distant relative during his time at a affluent boys school.

genealogy is an area I can, and do, become complete absorbing with.  Time ceases to exist.  Some days only thing that I have noticed is the room being dull due to commencement of sunset.

family trees are living documents as they are never completed.  One of my direct ancestral family trees having more than 5000 names in it currently with areas in the past I’m still researching and chasing answers and info

@Flutterbug9 3 of my niblings (2 nephews and a niece) got into that, following school projects in late primary school

my dad's side had everyone stumped. My mum said she was pretty sure they were illegal immigrants from russia

a couple of years ago i bought them dna kits for xmas. It's all very much UK based or edges of nordic countries. Following that, they were able to trace it back centuries. Don't know why mum thought russian

@DogMan79 verbal family info was on my maternal grandmothers side their is a connection to Spain.

without DNA I couldn’t prove it.  Everything prior to that kept taking me to Scotland.  2 marriages, few more skeletons in the closest.  All quite complicated, just the type of thing I thoroughly enjoy.

im going to be investigating land titles in various Australian towns as next step

@Flutterbug9 

Thank you so much for sharing that! I completely relate to that feeling of 'time ceasing to exist' when you’re deep in research. There is something so grounding about following a trail of information until the pieces finally click together.

The detail about the microfiche and microfilm is incredible; that’s true dedication! It makes those discoveries feel even harder-earned when you've spent hours scrolling through those records. Finding a photo of a headstone from hundreds of years ago must have felt like finding buried treasure.

5,000 names is an amazing achievement for a family tree! It really is a massive, living puzzle, isn't it?

My Mum has spent years researching our family history, but I decided to take a DNA test myself, and the results were so interesting. I found out I have Romani heritage on my Dad’s side. Since I don't have any association with that side of the family, it was completely unknown to me.

It’s sent me on a massive investigative mission to learn more about Romani culture and history. It’s such a deep, complex area to research, and as you said about your family trees, it feels like a 'living' project 💚

@Flutterbug9  ooo interrsting idea for a thread. Im enjoying and look forward to reading what others write. 

It took me a bit to think of an answer I might like to give to this question. I had to dive into my own head and really think about what fascinates me, and it was a fun exercise. 

I often feel like alot of my interests are niche, as I dont get to share my excitement in real life most of the time. But im not sure if thats really to do with how niche or not my interests are. 

Something I am quite passionate about is film and media that tells a story. Film is the most fun because it combines more elements. But books, and music are also well traversed. 

I love to dig into all the individual pieces of the puzzle that come together to make the final result. Like the art of puppetry in practical effects, or different animation styles and how they make things look fluid/ lively in movement, or envoke a certain feeling. I love learning about sound design, scores, and foley work. Im really into imagery and symbolism and trying to guess what it might represent. 

In animation specifically I looove how the limitations of physics and reality can be pushed and stretched in ways you dont see in live action.

I love to observe different actors and admire their craft in playing a role, like when they can do some amazing physical feats, or nail that perfectly subtle facial tic that sells the shot. 

I like things that are a treat to the senses. Whether its just a solid score/ soundtrack, or a visual feast like when you watch a movie that looks like a living painting. 

I love when I find things that tell meaningful stories with interesting messages, that really open up my world view or spark curiosity, and get me thinking about it long after its finished. 

In music, I get interested in what instruments are used, imagine what it might feel like to play them. Or with electronic elements how it all comes together to create this cohesive feeling that takes my brain into a flow state. 

Books .... a newer addition. But wow, words can be so emotive and expressive and captivating. I think im a bit disenfranchised with alot of online text, and I forget using words in clever ways can create beautiful pictures. 

I could go on .. 

That felt good to type out ♡ 

@MatchaToad @DogMan79 

@MatchaToad  I dont often hear about people who are interested in learning about WWI .

The way you wrote that though was nice to read and has peaked my own curiosity. when you say screenplay you mean theatre yes? 

@Flutterbug9  Very fascinating stuff reading what you wrote about geneaology! Trying to comprehend doing enough reading to collect around 5000 names is boggling. Also that moment you described about only noticing the passage of time when the sun is setting just felt like a very Ghibli kind of moment. 

@fruitisgood  Your words about not getting to share the excitement in real life summarises the thoughts behind this thread.

a safe, no pressure corner within the forums that invites people to do exactly that ie share things and the associated excitement that they feel they can’t do, and experience, in real life.

a thread that opens the door toward getting to know things about each other

@MatchaToad that sound very interesting. But just on the face of it, it is not something that I could do, with all the sad stories you would find, it would tear me up inside. Plus, I am no good at writing stories. Lol But I think it's fantastic that you are doing this, as I feel the story still needs to be told.

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