this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2024
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Ask Lemmy

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My two are:

Making sourdough. I personally always heard like this weird almost mysticism around making it. But I bought a $7 starter from a bakery store, and using just stuff in my kitchen and cheap bread flour I've been eating fresh sourdough every day and been super happy with it. Some loafs aren't super consistent because I don't have like temperature controlled box or anything. But they've all been tasty.

Drawing. I'm by no means an artist, but I always felt like people who were good at drawing were like on a different level. But I buckled down and every day for a month I tried drawing my favorite anime character following an online guide. So just 30 minutes every day. The first one was so bad I almost gave up, but I was in love with the last one and made me realize that like... yeah it really is just practice. Years and years of it to be good at drawing things consistently, quickly, and a variety of things. But I had fun and got something I enjoyed much faster than I expected. So if you want to learn to draw, I would recommend just trying to draw something you really like following a guide and just try it once a day until you are happy with the result.

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[–] [email protected] 95 points 2 months ago (13 children)

Reading

Thanks to e-books and the Libby app you don't even have to physically go anywhere or pay anything to find a good book these days.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago (6 children)

libby is such a game changer. i totally get why a lot of people want to only read physical books but for me, being able to read anywhere at any time instead of having to make a concious decision to find and bring a book with you means i read way way more than i used to

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

For me it’s that I have to think less about my choices. I don’t have a ton of time anymore so if I pick a book I am not vibing with I can just return it and pick another in a matter of seconds. It’s led me to taking chances on books I normally wouldn’t read.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

Oh yeah!

I have a 75-page rule. If a book hasn't grabbed me by then, I move on.

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[–] [email protected] 67 points 2 months ago (9 children)

Playing older video games via emulation. The barrier to entry gets easier and easier as time marches on. And as long as you have disc space to download the games, you'll likely find a repository somewhere on the Internet.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Oh yeah some even let you play in browser now. Crazy how it takes seconds, and most peoples phones can even play most everything game cube and earlier.

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[–] [email protected] 65 points 2 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 35 points 2 months ago (5 children)

Has anyone found a way to get out of this hobby? Asking for a friend.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Maybe you'll find an answer if you keep scrolling down...

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[–] [email protected] 57 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)

But you see, I wanna git gud immediately

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (4 children)
  • Print one this, or something like this
  • Get a scale/ruler, a pencil and an eraser
  • Use the above to draw, first a this and then a this
  • Then imagine and draw stuff like this

The last one is not true isometric, but has a perspective. But you can make similar good looking stuff in isometric too.
To do perspective, you can't use the Printed isometric line/dot paper.
Instead, it has an additional step of choosing the infinity points and making your own lines for it.


I tried to find a good instructions page, but unfortunately, search engines just prefer YouTube videos (which I don't like to recommend).

Either way, this is one method that lets you git gud pretty fast, albeit in a different drawing form.


Another thing: The last example picture I showed, has circles and semi circles. Avoid those in your drawing at this stage. That requires you to learn an extra method.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 months ago (4 children)
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[–] [email protected] 52 points 2 months ago (1 children)

This was awhile ago, but playing dungeons and dragons! I showed up one night at the local gaming store, asked the group playing that night if they had space, and bam! I'm playing a terrifying monk in World's Largest Dungeon!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

I try to play D&D but most weeks I play schedule conflict.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 2 months ago (15 children)

Blender. Not great at it, but there's so many fantastic tutorials on YouTube. I can use it good enough to design and 3d print simple things. Of course, there's may aspects / layers to it. It's both broad and deep. So it's good to kind of focus on one thing at the time, and then break that down even further.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (5 children)

Man, I tried to get into this. Spent months running through the tutorials. I just couldn't grasp how they design flow of creating a complex shape from scratch. It just didn't "make sense".

I've found parametric modeling programs like Solidworks far, far more intuitive to use - it's easier for me to grasp "okay, this thing is a combination of added shapes, extrusions, negative spaces, revolved outlines, etc" than what Blender wants you to do. Unfortunately, most parametric programs really don't offer good skinning/texturing and only mediocre rendering options.

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Programming.

I first realized that I loved it at the age of 11. It's easy to get into but programming itself can be difficult or easy depending on what you are aiming to do and how. I love it both as a hobby and as a high school subject (hopefully as a job in the next few years as well)

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago

hopefully as a job in the next few years

😅😬

[–] [email protected] 31 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Game Mastering for TTRPGs. Set up can take some work, but it's a great creative outlet and, once you find the right group, soooo much fun. I personally started off with Paranoia XP and moved from there to a couple different systems before landing on D&D 5e. There are some great rules-light systems like Kids on Bikes/ Kids on Brooms or Paranoia Perfect Edition if the behemoth of D&D (with its multiple text-book sized rule books) seems daunting.

ETA: there's also entire libraries of advice on GMing out there for assistance if you need it.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (5 children)

Cooking. A lot of really delicious foods have extremely simple recipes and as an amateur you have time on your side. You don't have to rush anything for most recipes. A lot of times I measure and cut everything before I even turn on the stove and this makes cooking super easy. Sure it takes a while to cook when you are just starting out but you can just go at your own pace. I really feel like anyone can cook almost anything. You don't even need fancy tools. I got started with a $12 wok and a wooden spatula. These days there's a huge amount of resources to teach you how to make just about everything. It's also really rewarding since you get to eat what you make and you get to make things you want to eat. Needless to say it's also a very important skill.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Sewing! My girlfriend is into it and had some machines already. It's way easier and more fun than I expected.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 2 months ago (2 children)

making mead:

honey, yeast, water, shake the carboy, pop on the airlock (fancy cork), wait two weeks.

wine making:

juice, sugar, yeast, water, shake the carboy, pop on the airlock, wait two weeks.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Kayaking was easy. Get one you can afford on FB Marketplace and go. Cheap paddles are just fine to start as are $3 thrift life vests, grab a whistle while you're shopping. Next thing you know, you're scanning Google Maps for water and new adventures.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 months ago

houseplants and especially ferns: It all started with a gift: a bird's-nest fern and a blue-star fern. i was already into cultivating offshoots, but the bird's-nest fern does not generate those, and the internet said you can not divide a single plant into multiples. but how do they propagate then? the use spores and the internet said it is not easy to get new plants this way, but i gave it a try. and it was not that difficult...

currently i have about 12 nest-ferns of all sizes and fear the winter when i have to bring all plants into the small flat.

funny enough: the blue-star fern is easy to propagate via offshoots, but its even easier with spores: as soon as you have a medium moist pot near such a fern you get fresh ferns for free. they grow quite slow, but still look beautiful.

if your interested and German based, write me a PM and i can send you a letter with some spores to bootstrap your new hobby!

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 months ago (5 children)

The bizarre culture (pun intended) around sourdough is maddening. The obsession over the "ear," bannetons, lames, daily feeding: all bro club bullshit. This is the bread humans have been making for millennia; the only tools you need are one hot rock and one not-hot rock.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (6 children)

Lul reminds me of the coffee bros. With their 3.4 sec at 666 degrees vs 8.9 sec at 69 degrees pour or whatever they call it.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 months ago (9 children)

Sword fighting. I joined an armored combat gym and just went consistently. They provide the equipment, at least til you get to the point you want your own armor and weapon. Good fun, good exercise.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Fly fishing

Got yelled at as a kid for playing with your pole too much? Then it’s the hobby for you. Can practice in your backyard and it’s fun just to whip shit around

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Painting miniatures. Anyone can do it and make their board games look way nicer.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago

Cycling

I started biking to work after we moved closer and next thing I know I'm into mountain biking and have built 2 bikes

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Whittling

Just buy a knife kit and some wood blanks, surprisingly affordable.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago
[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago

Tying fishing flies

Looks really hard. Not terribly hard to make some respectable flies with a little bit of instruction.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Photography. Cost of a used high quality DSLR + batteries + storage cards + cheap tripod = $500-ish. Lessons = free thanks to piracy and YouTube.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Then in a few years you'll be gassing for those 3k lenses a 5k camera and a carbon fibre tripod, a few flashguns etc.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago (6 children)

Making chainmail. All you need are a decent pair of flat pliers and some rings. A basic 4 in 1 weave is super easy to learn. There's more complex stuff of course, but starting out is ridiculously simple. I made a dice bag with probably a dollar or two worth of galvanized steel rings, leather string, and a plastic drawstring clasp.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Woodworking! Yes, you can obviously spend lots of money on equipment, but you'd be surprised by how nice furniture you can build with just a track saw and a trim router.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Only thing that sucks about woodworking is unless you have a house of your own, it's very difficult because of how much dust and noise is produced. Woodworking in an apartment is very frustrating.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Drumming! Buy an electronic kit, have tons of fun playing Rock Band, watch videos for technique, download a few practice books. You can at least play along with easy songs and it makes you feel badass! :D

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago

Photography. Always stayed away because people told me it would be expensive (it definitely can be) but you can have a ton of fun with a 20-year-old camera off eBay and lenses from garage sales.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago (11 children)

Making desert coffee at home. I got a French press because i drink one cup of coffee a day at most and I wanted make sweeter more rich coffee.

I now can use all cream line milk or oat milk, soak my fresh ground beans (and chickary root sometimes), add sweeteners to taste.

Blame better coffee than most coffee shops (for me). No 1000 dollar machine

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago

Foraging. Don't eat random shit from the wild without IDing it (intelligently, not just with AI apps), but also don't listen to the scary stories and harsh warnings. Dying by plant (or mushroom) poisoning is very rare, most bad eats will give you the trots and you'll be fine a day later. It's easy to find good foods without stress, and while a professional guide can help, there are SO many books that have virtually the same info. Start with local, easy foods like leafy greens, nibble small amounts and wait 24 hours, and you'll start seeing how simple and attainable forging is.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago (1 children)

My first thought was sourdough too, and making fermented foods in general. I wanted to get into making my own sourdough bread for a while, but every time I started researching I just gave up. A lot of recipes out there make it look so intimidating and honestly, most of the steps are just not necessary for a basic loaf. Been making simple bread in loaf pans for months now and loving it.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Wine. Not making it, but just enjoying it. Trips to wineries, wine clubs, tasting rooms. All it requires is money.

I don’t even like red wine, but the hobby aspect of it all is very simple.

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[–] Crozekiel 10 points 2 months ago (2 children)

3d printing and even designing my own basic parts/items. Seems daunting as all hell to get right but honestly it wasn't that bad to figure out. Fusion360 was a dream to learn. I've been trying to make the switch to freecad and struggling though. :(

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Speedcubing. There are good cubes for < $10 now and beginner’s method is easy to learn. There are many resources online and can be learned within minutes. Then you start improving and getting faster quickly.

In my case I then went to a local competition and just amazed at how quick and how young these kids are.

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