Ask Lemmy

3d design & printing, electronics, cooking, in-person RPGs, woodworking, old time radio, sci fi, bookbinding, comedy... I got a million of 'em.

I want to say selfhosting but that seems not so special on Lemmy. If I can host it myself and it’s FOSS I do it.

I am a spring of knowledge about all of the domestic Real Housewives franchises (though I did just pick up Dubai recently).

I know all the lore behind all their relationships/alliances/enemies and off season shenanigans.

Its legitimately stupid how much I can talk about rich women who flaunt their wealth and then do trashy shit like throw wine in one another's faces or flip tables (or scam the elderly out of their retirement funds to fund their own lifestyle).

I like making homemade bongs and water pipes specifically from reclaimed materials. I'm not strident about things, but it's fair to say in a general sense that I need them to have $0.00 of material costs. I make "the best" in terms of performance, and people freak out when they use or see them. They are always a huge conversation piece, always creative, and I just give them away. People ask me all the time to make custom ones but I won't. It's free or nuthin'

I know people that still use water pipes I made for them 15 years ago! Sometimes they look a bit "trashy" but they're crafted! And that's the way I like em!

Remember when Homer Simpson made that misbegotten lump of shit called VunderBaat or something? I feel him man

I've had several multi-year long ones:

• As a child: Stargate SG1
• Adolescent: paraphilias
• Young adult: the care of high violence risk and cluster b psychiatric inpatients
• As I'm entering middle-adulthood: western esoteric spiritual tradition and philosophy

Fighting games and Riichi Mahjong.

Believe it or not, this venn diagram has enough overlap that we've got a running joke about how Riichi is becoming the new FGC Retirement Home. We've even got a few people bringing tiles to every major tournament to unwind before/after brackets. I've booked my trip to Frosty Faustings next month, signed up for six different brackets and I'll try in squeeze in as much 'jong as I can too.

My main one is vegan food. Before I had access to a kitchen to make my own food, it used to involve collecting, curating and creating recipes, but has since moved onto creating (and endlessly recreating, adapting and morphing) certain flavour and texture profiles.

The current big one I've been very obsessed with making and eating for the last few years, is variations on hoisin mock duck wraps.

The latest iteration is a salad wrap, with leaves of nappa cabbage as the wrap, a layer of vegan garlic mayo with chilli crisp, mock duck, green onion, cucumber, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, hoisin sauce, corriander leaves, and another cabbage leaf to cover/ close the wrap. This probably has the best textures so far and tastes really good!

Making/eating kimchi is a similarly intense interest/obsession. So is hotpot. I fucking love hotpot.

My secondary major interest fluctuates between several different things, but is currently perfume.

I'm very into creating (and endlessly recreating, adapting and morphing) certain scent profiles, and collecting perfumes.

I like to do this through layering different perfumes on my skin and clothes, so I can highlight certain notes/sensory aspects for myself (that may not be apparent on other people's skin chemistry, so this, like with my other interest, is a very subjective fascination!).

Over the span of three days (between showers) I like to start in one place with my layering combinations and go on scent journeys as the notes morph and fade, and I add to them with other complimentary scents and see how far I can go. Notes linger on clothing longer and differently to how they do on skin, so as I'm layering over several days it builds up in fascinating ways. It's very interesting to me too finding which layering combinations work one way but not the other.

Lately I've enjoyed starting with a base combo of Mauboussin Mauboussin (resinous yet juicy plums and lots of ylang ylang) and Musamam White Intense by Lattafa (juicy spiced oranges and too much ambroxan)- and then taking that in interesting directions as it fades over the day, like layering on more spices and wood notes, and then when that fades, onto various ouds and roses.

Or adding a Stronger With You flanker (sweet and aromatic with chestnuts + individual flanker variations), then when that starts to fade leading it with fragrances full of ginger, vanilla, lactonic nutty notes and patchouli.

Being enveloped in layers of beautiful fragrances is such big sensory good times for me and discovering new combinations is so pleasing.

Also before anyone comes at me for this, I live alone and don't wear any fragrance when I go outside, so I'm really not hurting anyone with this hobby!

Animatronics. I like old school Chuck E Cheese and Rockafire Explosion. Also, urban exploration. Train videos.

How did you start with that? I've contributed some via Street Complete, but I've never figured out how to contribute directly to OSM.

Well thank you very much Emerald for the mapping and the great question.
For me, it's something much more modest:

• Amiga, or retro-computing in general. Not just for gaming. There's something deeply inspiring about browsing the web or creating spreadsheets with entirely different hardware and software. Hoping to get an Alpha CPU and/ or an Atari soon.
• Dreaming of a better world.

I've been pretty into four things lately:

1. Healthy cooking, from scratch as much as possible. I got into a rut trying to maximize protein intake, so now I'm trying to find different recipes that don't compromise on macros but still offer variety in flavors and textures and won't bother my IBS.
2. Nail polish and nail art. I have probably about 300 polishes at this point, which sounds like a lot to most people, but it's a tiny collection compared to some I've seen! Last year I got really into nail stamping, which lets you create neat little designs, and you can get really creative with it.
3. Working out. I recently moved, and designed a power rack for my basement which is pretty fully featured. My goal was to be able to do all the exercises I could do at my previous fitness club (within reason - no way I'm buying a tank sled and a billion 45 lb plates!). I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, and so is my husband, which I'm glad about because he's a tall dude and working around the low-ish basement ceiling was a challenge.
4. Indie makeup! Holy Moses I love makeup, and indie brands are killing it. My most recent favorite palette is the Cosmic Brushes Winter Wonderland palette (which came out last year, but is new in my collection). Just look at her!:

Gorgeous, right? No way I'm ever going back to boring neutrals.

Thank you for your contributions!

linux

My most stereotypical special interest (in that it's something really random that you might assume there's not a lot of depth to) is artificial lighting technology.

But I have a lot of stuff I could infodump about: computers, video games, TTRPGs, world building, neurology, etc.

I'm not good at it, but I like geocaching.

Planes and to a lesser extent Cars and Trains. I just love travel, points hacking, and flying!

I have so many interests that it seems impossible to pinpoint one particular interest. My mind is very active and chaotic, partly due to anxiety. I often try to fill an existential void with chaos and randomness.

That said, I would say that mathematics is one of my main interests, especially the branch of mathematics that intersects with the artistic and experimental. Tinkering with numbers, without a definite purpose (because there is no purpose in my nihilistic mindset), just for the joy of it. There is also programming, which serves as a framework for the mathematical experimentation that I mentioned.

Then there's also the philosophical reflection, as noted in my parenthetical mention of nihilism. I don't really know if I really enjoy philosophical inquiries into the reality of existence or if it is a consequence of an existence alienated from a social life, perhaps it started as a consequence of my awkwardness until it eventually became part of my interests.

There is also occult and esoteric studies. Perhaps a consequence of "gazing into the abyss" which sparked my curiosity in dealing with the darker aspects of reality. There is something about beliefs like Satanism, Luciferianism (as a side note, they are different beliefs, for those who oversimplify and think they are all "the same" because "devil"), Chaos Magic, Thelema, there is something there that is attractive to me. The hidden truths of reality, the shadows within ourselves, the cosmic forces that emerged from the primordial chaos. I really like them all, although I don't really belong to any specific belief system.

And this leads me to scientific interests as well. Particularly studies on the cosmic aspects, quantum mechanics, studies on the origins of the universe, thermodynamics, zero energy universe theory, studies on how everything will end (Big Rip, Big Freeze, Big Crunch...). I don't really delve into the technical depths of science because I'm not a scientist, but it is part of the framework of how I try to see things.

In a summary, I have many, intertwined, sometimes even opposing, simultaneous interests.

Aztec history.

Metal guitar, comic books, epistemologies. A lot of people write off metal as just distortion and shouting but it's a huge genre like jazz or classical without as long a history. Comics interest I stopped for awhile but got back into it and helped me learn drawing and story writing to better appreciate the artistry. Epistemologies from an interest in reading philosophy books and that was just the subtopic that always held my interest most.

Initially thought I didn't have one, because I was thinking it had to be, like, things you do or whatever. Like wood carving or building something. Then I realized I absolutely do. Lol

Philosophy and religious studies. Non dualism especially, but honestly, I just love learning about different philosophical ideas. I love Anthropology in general, and the differences and similarities between disparate cultures is downright fucking fascinating. People tend to think that the differences in, say, Hinduism and Christianity are pretty great, and they absolutely can be, but if you dive into the deep thinkers of either tradition you tend to find that oftentimes they're trying to say the same things.

Cryptography. If something exists, its very existence conveys something or is about to.

This week? AuDHD doesn't let me have one for long.

Fountain pens and inks

What are you doing with your time this week then? 😬

We love OSM for finding gravel routes for our bikes. However, since no bike maps ever say the state of the gravel, and mark many as paved, we've been pre-driving and contributing. It's fun!

In any event, my interest is serial hobbying. I'm a maker, so my site is full of random projects. I'm in a techy phase right now, so just released some Steam Deck accessories, the Only Sensor, and am now working on a DIY solder extractor and building a Voron.

I love learning about Chinese culture both real and mythological. I am learning some mandarin on the side and hope to take a trip to mainland China someday.

Philosophy and some sciences, but I'm not very knowledgeable. I know people say you don't need to be an expert in order to enjoy things, and I agree, but then those aren't special interests either, right? I love my music, but I know few bands. I love singing, but I lack technique. I like horror stuff, but I'm pretty picky. I'd like to be fit and practice sports, but my health is an issue. I like some beauty topics, but I'm not interested in applying them. I enjoy eating, simple food though. Some games are fun, but I mostly repeat the same ones. I like mountains and forests, but just for a day or two. I'd like to read more...

I'm really a master of none.

Low level C programming.

And also I know a lot about breaking video DRM.

How do you map

Is there any liability? NSA, angry exes, employer, anybody finding out that you mapped your own town?