Desperate

[forgotten_aria]

I desperately need a hobby. I needs to be cheap, motivational (or at least a group setting) and not fill my house with crap. If it involves exercise, that's a plus.

I love taiko, but I need something to fall back on when it comes all crashing down. In fact I need enough things to distract me from me.

Suggestions, kind lj?

Comments

[dcltdw]

This makes me think "group exercise class", but 1, I don't know if that's the kind of thing you're looking for, and 2, they are often not cheap.

But if 1 is true, then I can think about 2 some more. :)

[forgotten-aria.livejournal.com]

It has to be something that feels more like fun than work. But yes, mostly I've foudn they aren't cheap.

Oh it also has to be something that does not require repeative bending of knees, which makes it a lot harder on the exercise class/martial arts. I can't, for instance, do akido because of the falling exercises.

[dcltdw]

Well, really high up on the exercise scale, and pretty darn high on the fun scale, would be kendo.

Buying new gear is stupidly expensive, but you may be able to borrow gear for quite some time.

Well, it's only fun if the gear fits.

[forgotten-aria.livejournal.com]

The only kendo place I know around here is in Colliage corner and doesn't do sparing. Do you know of another place?

[forgotten-aria.livejournal.com]

I'd also have to have a long talk to the instructor about my knees. I know that some kendo places practice styles which are all done while walking on your knees.

[coraline]

have you tried contra dancing? or english country dance?

[forgotten-aria.livejournal.com]

I've not. I should likely give it a try. It always kind of struck me as not my thing, since it's involves memorization. I'm also not sure if I could get over my jealousy of the muscians.

[coraline]

it doesn't involve memorization, or not really -- the dance is taught, and then the people around you help you through it... once you've done a bunch of dances, the calls start to stick and it doesn't really feel like memorization. (i know not everyone operates the same, but i loathe memorization and i've never had a problem with dancing contras or ECD.) (it's not like square dancing which involves insane memorization stuff, or things like morris dancing which i might also suggest... you could do morris dancing and most groups like dancers who also play music, which is always fun. if it seems like something you might like i'd be glad to introduce you around...)

[coraline]

oops, strike the morris -- morris is awful to knees. contra and ECD aren't bad though.

[katybeth]

I highly recommend slippery-soled shoes though. It turns out dancing in sneakers for an entire weekend does annoy my knees. (Individual sessions are OK.)

And yeah, I don't recommend square dancing for you, but what coraline said about contras.

[jadia.livejournal.com]

This is making me remember how fun it was at your wedding and making me feel like going. I had no idea what I was doing there and messed up a lot but everyone was happy anyway. But maybe that was just because it was at your wedding. :)

Where do you go for ECD or contra?

[coraline]

that seems a good description of what it's like in general -- people are usually very friendly and happy to help beginners and make sure people can muddle through and not get left out.

english country dance -- there's one 2nd and 4th fridays during the school year outside harvard square, and there's one 2nd and 4th tuesdays in JP.
http://www.lcfd.org/bgfe/
http://www.cds-boston.org/friday.html

contras: there's one mondays and thursday at the scout house in concord...
http://www.neffa.org/invite.shtml

so watch this space for a) next time i'm playing music for a country dance, or b) next time i organize a mob to go to contras :)

[pauldf.livejournal.com]

If you do, one thing I recommend is paying attention to whether the dances start blurring together (you think C comes after A because C followed A in the last dance). If it does, take a break.

Also, when I first started, I just watched for about an hour to help me sort out what was going on, both the overall pattern and what the words meant. A lot of places have a beginning lesson before each dance, which is another good way to learn. I'm not sure which is better.

Keep in mind that in most vibrant contra crowds, there are a bunch of beginners floating around all not sure what they're doing. It's just harder to notice them when you're also a beginner. They're probably there even if you can't spot them.

ECD has a very different feel to it. I'm not quite sure how to describe it, other than that it really does feel more like what a proper Brit of a century or three ago should be doing. I haven't done very much of it.

I see someone mentioned swing dancing below. Swing dancing as a follow is nice in that you don't have much to memorize, but it also has a higher startup cost then swing dancing as a lead because it helps to learn enough cues and how you should respond to them to make it fun, at the same time you're learning frame and the basic step. (Since people can't learn everything at once, class instructors often seem to keep talking about frame & the basic step over and over again for weeks/months.) If a lot of the cues just make sense (which they do to some people) then that could work well.

[warlord-mit.livejournal.com]

Swim? JFK Pool has open swim hours. But that might sound more like work than fun, maybe. I dunno.

[forgotten-aria.livejournal.com]

I don't think I can be self motivated, plus the membership costs for the pool are horribly expensive, if I'm thinking of the right place.

[warlord-mit.livejournal.com]

For a somerville resident it's $4/swim, or $65 for a two-month pass for the evening swims. It's a bit more for morning swims and much more for a "both morning and evening" pass. But if you're not that self motivated then yeah, might not be the right thing.

[desireearmfeldt]

Want to do theatre tech? (Or performence, but I thought you were less into that.) We're always looking for people to help out. Might also fall into the feels-like-work category though. (I personally like hobbies that are work, I just don't want them to feel like boring work. :) )

[forgotten-aria.livejournal.com]

I'd love to preform, but I seem to have no talnet for it.

I stopped doing tech because it just reminded me I wasn't good enough to prefrom. :/

many options

[cthulhia]

dancing, theater, basketball...

Re: many options

[forgotten-aria.livejournal.com]

do you have dancing suggestions?

Re: many options

[cthulhia]

there's the contra-dancers, or country line dancers, and... that crowd.
there's the contract improv folks (I think in central square)
there's the silk acrobat types.
there's a lot of swing dancing and salsa and those kinds of events. (often starting 1/2 to 1 hour earlier for intro lessons.)

(I go to none of these regularly.)

Re: many options

[forgotten-aria.livejournal.com]

I've tried silks. It was way fun, but I'm afraid of heights and it was rough on the knees.

I don't know anythign about the improv folks. I thought they were just for companies doing "bonding" excercises.

I should think more seriously about the dancing.

Re: many options

[jadia.livejournal.com]

I know someone who does improve in central square - do you want her email or introduction? I bet she will be willing to talk lots about it if you wanted. :)

Okay, I'm going to just throw random stuff out there that seems to fit your requirements but may not be what you're looking for:

I'm starting an adventure cooking club if that appeals at all. sharing recipes or doing weird things with food (which gets eaten afterwards). Kind of potlucky. Interested?

Volunteering at pet shelters?

You could join the dragon boat racing team! (www.bostondragonboat.org)

There's also the sailing club, but I don't know if that's cheap or not.

Hm, if I think of more stuff I'll add another comment.

[honeyartichoke.livejournal.com]

heh, jadia beat me to it, but i was going to suggest dragon boat racing - come be on my team! it's our second year, so not high pressure, and there are teams of varying levels in the local Dragon Boat Club of Boston. www.bostondragonboat.org has info on the Boston race and the sport in general. It's fun and builds up your arm muscles and cardio stamina, and isn't hard on the knees!