I just got home from Bothwell 6 in Abbotsholme (UK), a live action role play event (also known as a LARP) where you play as a student in a magical school (those events are legally and morally distinct from JK Rowling).
While I had several previous experiences in its sister-LARP College of Wizardry in Czocha (Poland), this was my first Bothwell and I had a blast.

Anybody else larping ? Or curious and would know more about my experience ? (I got to perform in front of a Fae lord for favors, and one of my housemate turned out to be the ring-leader of an illegal-performance enhancing candy scheme... that got used by the professors anyway). What the hell is a nordic LARP anyway ?

I'm probably buying inlines soon to be able to ride together with my son. From the last time I had inlines, about 20 years ago, I remember that taking them on and off was a real pain, both really slow, and you ended up without any shoes, so if you wanted to enter a store for example it was often better to walk there than using the inlines. Is there anything out there today that solves those problems?

I guess I could buy some lightweight shoes to bring along, but the swapping still takes a lot of time and is a bit cumbersome. Any other tips would also be nice.

These could be blogs, forums, any online space where you visit semi-frequently at least.

Here are some based off my interests:

A Year in the Country - Blog on folk horror music

Gwern.net - blog about AI, statistics and psychology

Articles on the work of Lacan

Petit Tube - Random brief YouTube videos with few views

What are some hobbies you do specifically when during this time of year (whether it's your summer or winter)? And what do you do in the opposite season?

When I'm home, summer is when I do some light woodworking projects. Currently I need to finish a shadowbox that will be illuminated with LED strip lights. I also have to finish a bat house that needs a little more work before I can do a final assembly and install it on a post.

I don't really have any specific hobbies for the winter, besides crushing my music backlog while reading, so I'm interested to see what other people do.

I was intending on posting this before the season actually started, but here we are. :)

Curious if any of the succulent-lovers on Tildes have any tips/tricks for soil composition. I've been using the basic succulent mix from my local hardware store for years, but I've had some issues with rot. Reddit seems to think that soil composition is at fault for just about all succulent ills, so I've adjusted my mix to be about 50% perlite/sand 50% organic (a.k.a the basic succulent mix).

Still seems like the new mix doesn't dry out quite as fast as the internet thinks it should, though. Does going even more inorganic make sense? My guess from a few years of reading about succulents is that they would probably be happy in even 80-90% inorganic soil to keep their roots dry, as long as they were watered when they needed it. No clue if that's right, though.

It feels like I'm going crazy because I've been trying to find this thing for years with no luck.

A very long time ago, I got a 3D puzzle of the globe made of disks that needed to be stacked on a spike. Like a decorative Hanoi Tower puzzle. Wasn't particularly difficult but it looked really cool after sticking the pieces together and painting. Unfortunately it was lost while the family moved back in 2005 and figured I could just get another one and a few other designs. No dice. Anywhere. Local games and hobby stores never stocked it. Later, Google was no help. My family don't even remember seeing it so there's a chance I might be hallucinating.

Every few months I get a brainwave of new search terms to query with no luck and I keep putting off just asking online. But now that I've almost finished my new office, I really want it on my shelf.

So anyone know anything about it or am I better off making it in CAD and CNC cutting my own thing?

Just a thought exercise to see how you'd go about getting someone started from scratch. The person could be your nephew, a spouse, a coworker, or someone on the internet who needs a new hobby. :) I'm curious how that money would get spent and how that money might spend time. How far would it go? How would you make that time and money count towards a new passion?

Would you buy someone a small motorcycle? Polaroid camera? Time at a bouldering facility? Would you make/give them a really cool sewing station with a bunch of cubbies? A shoebox full of your MtG cards (just the extras, right?) and a ticket to a convention? A custom printed set of LEGO building instructions and the bricks to go with them? Outsider art to inspire a new style of artist passion?

If this is a success, I might post again in a month or so with a lower dollar value to challenge folks.

For those who live in the Northern Hemisphere, this is an open thread to discuss 2024 plans and ambitions now that cold temperatures are waning.

I'll start off:

I'm taking a risk, but got my seedlings planted out yesterday. Officially, last frost date is May 16, but the rate of warming at 45° N has been so accelerated that we've got about 6 more frost-free weeks than in 2000.

My indoor seed starting wasn't as successful as usual for hot peppers, so I'll probably be buying plants. The tomatoes did fine, so much so that they were overgrowing their pots and the grow tent.

Unfortunately, goutweed invaded a couple of beds and I'm just going to have to tarp them until next year. That miserable weed will grow upwards through a foot-deep bed and there's no way to dig it out. Future beds (hoping to build another two or three this year) will be started on landscape fabric, lesson learned.

Spouse finished digging out the last of an invasive autumn olive hedge at the neighbor's fence line. We're deciding on Amelanchier (serviceberry) or aronia for replacement. Each has edible berries, it's just a choice between prettier flowers or bright fall foliage. There's a local native nursery with good prices on both.

We're also looking at replacing a badly placed non-native mulberry with a flowering crabapple. There are varieties that have both attractive flowers and good-tasting or cider-friendly fruit.

Please share your garden plans, including how you're factoring in climate variations.

Spent yesterday afternoon re-potting my little collection of succulents, and it got me wondering whether other people on here might have some. Curious if people want to share their favorites or tips/tricks, etc.

My son recently made a pen in his high school shop class and absolutely loved the process. With summer approaching, I've been toying with the idea of setting him up with his own pen-turning station rather than the typical summer job route.
Here’s where I could use your expertise:

Lathe Choices: I'm looking at a couple of options from Harbor Freight—there’s a $300 model and a $550 variable speed one. How crucial is variable speed for a beginner? Would the basic model suffice for starting out, or is the upgrade worth it in the long run?

Chisels: I don’t want to cut corners on quality, especially for cutting tools. Any recommendations for brands or specific tools that are good for beginners but can also handle more advanced projects as he improves?

Essentials List: Besides the lathe, what are some must-have tools for pen turning? I already have the basics covered with a table saw, miter saw, dust collection system, and drill press.

Learning Resources: Any favorite videos, books, or other resources that could help both of us learn more about pen turning would be greatly appreciated.

I want to encourage him to sell them, but I'm also completely fine if they end up as Christmas gifts for the family. I’m excited to encourage my son’s new interest and would really appreciate your input on how to create a great setup for him. Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions!

I recently got in to drone photography. I got a DJI Air 3 and have been having a blast flying it around and taking photos. I have been messing around with Adobe Lightroom touching up the photos I take. I even got my Part 107 cert on a whim because I thought it would be cool to have; whether or not I actually use the thing commercially is kinda beside the point for me.

Does anyone have any suggestions on where to find and share drone photos? I'm kinda hoping to see what others are doing in the space to get inspiration and maybe some critical eyes for my own work. I reopened a long dormant Instagram account and started posting here and there only to find that most of my feed is ads...

I’m wondering what everyone’s favorite YouTube content creators are - I leave my history off and try to avoid YouTube’s recommendation engine, so it makes me hard to stumble naturally on interesting channels.

Please feel free to suggest anything - here are a sample of ones I like with a link or two to a good video from them

• ALFA music (music) https://youtu.be/cLQZyreoZcs?feature=shared
• anndj (music) https://youtu.be/D_XSSIymUZg?feature=shared
• bushradical (homestead stuff) https://youtu.be/UQv9EDpwfqQ?feature=shared
• Gabriel Varga (kickboxing) https://youtu.be/DfboF0CN7fM?feature=shared
• Go Magic (board game) https://youtu.be/hPlkEIrWaXU?feature=shared
• L1011 wide body (old games) https://youtu.be/SV6Lv-McqlY?feature=shared
• RM Transit https://youtu.be/YYVfmMTda0Y?feature=shared
• Scamboli reviews (anime reviews) https://youtu.be/n96aV2rmVGE?feature=shared
• Grappling Academy (bjj) https://youtu.be/v_WjtZVGzvE?feature=shared
• Grace Mandarin (learning Chinese) https://youtu.be/DMGO9CZE2vs?feature=shared
• make your pet (robotics) https://youtu.be/cWNikw-Jsr4?feature=shared
• Munson guitar (easy strum along) https://youtu.be/Ywb8lVYIxUI?feature=shared
• north of the border (clay stuff) https://youtu.be/INU9WD1nxMM?feature=shared
• tabi e (car camping) https://youtu.be/K4TbzyXUCtk?feature=shared

Hey there! I'm an office monkey doing IT stuff. I've mercenary'd my way across multiple teams for the last decade (level 1 support to basically DevOps for payment systems) with no formal training or certification at a fairly large company. It's nice that my bosses all seem to appreciate that I'm flexible, but my work kinda swells and relaxes every couple months, and sometimes it feels unstable since I've never actually put any of this knowledge into an accepted certification. I look into certifications but nothing jumps out; recently I gave AWS a shot in a self-guided course and realized I was pretty bored by it. Something that popped into my mind as I noticed that I don't really have a "portfolio" is that I have tons of car work, audio editing, off-the-cuff writing about games, etc things that have to do with my hobbies in gaming, cars, music, shitposting on the internet, etc that I'm happy to make without feeling pressured. I feel like if someone asked me to pick up something like this for pay and give me a deadline - a program to edit, a car to work on, an image or audio to manipulate, something analyzing a piece of art - I'd happily do it without even thinking about it, and they're the kinds of things I could do for hours losing track of time.

Being a breadwinner right now with a kid I don't have the risk factor to jump careers right now, but if I lost my job I feel like I'd want to give some different industry a shot. Problem is I just don't get how people... weasel into these things? Is that how this happens? Or do they just eat a ton of time/money making these laterals? Where do they get the experience, where do people find the connections? I'm curious - has anyone ever turned a hobby into a career? Did it work out?

Last weekend I took an avalanche safety course to get more comfortable with backcountry skiing. During the course the instructor told us to get The Tahoe Skiing Atlas and couched it as "the bible for backcountry in Tahoe". It made me think about the other "bibles" I had, like All the Rain Promises and More... for mushroom foraging or Tartine Bread for making sourdough. The folks on Tildes have such an amazing assortment of interests and I'd love to hear about your "bibles" and the activities, crafts, or hobbies they help with!

Please share your garden plans, ideas, and wildly overambitious green fantasies here!

Weird and treacherous climate change weather is distorting my garden sense. Normally, it's not a good idea to plant anything tender until late May here, but I'm betting we won't get frost past May 1 this year, or nothing that can't be handled with strategic use of row covers and cloches.

My fingers are itching to get the hot peppers started. I'm restraining myself from starting the tomatoes too early (again!), and the snapdragons and other slow annual flowers are starting to germinate. I could probably sow kale now.

We'll see which of last year's bulbs survived the critters until the spring. Reinforcement of the deer fencing is happening as soon as the ground is thawed deeply enough to set proper posts, and dry enough to work with wood frames and cattle panel.

I'm going to get a few logs set up for shiitakes, oysters, maitake, and maybe see if last year's happenstance wood chip pile morels can be encouraged. Fingers-crossed that December's wild garlic (ramps) test planting took hold - if that works, I'll get more slips and expand the patch in more of the shady areas that aren't suitable for much else.

Depending on how my hands and spouse's shoulders are holding up, there's a lot of digging in this year's permaculture expansion. A couple of Hugelkultur beds, some (mostly?) American chestnut trees, more berries and apples, planting the overwintered pawpaws, and another try at elderberries. I've got vague plans for building a grape arbor this year, but that's going to depend on availability of spouse's hands during the busy winery season.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

I have a teenage child. They're going to be doing "design and tech" at school, and they've shown an interest in light maker / builder projects.

I want to put together a small toolkit for them.

The difficulty I'm having is that when I look at precision screwdrivers I pick a Felco set for £80. For regular screwdrivers I pick either Felco, Wira, Wiha, or Sandvick Bahco. This is probably a bad idea - they're going to end up with a lot of very expensive kit that they will not appreciate yet.

The other thing I'm struggling with is knowing which bits of kit are essential and which are nice to have.

I'd be really grateful to hear your thoughts about this kit. I'm especially interested to hear discussion about balancing "good enough" with "avoid garbage" -- I do prefer to spend more on quality rather than buying cheap buying often.

Screwdrivers:

A handle and a set of bits to fit the handle - £10
A set of weird bits (security, hex, torx) to fit the handle £5
Screwdrivers - pz1, pz2, 4 flat head screw drivers in sensible sizes (still working this out) (probably stanley FatMax) - £30

Snips - they're getting my Bahco snips and my ancient lindstrom snips. I want to get them something they can destroy through misuse, so I'll buy something for around £15

Pliers - needlenose serrated pliers £10
Pliers - big pliers - they'll be getting my ancient RS pliers.

Wire strippers - I like the scissor type that have a range of holes. A nice pair is about £20.

Wrenches and spanners - I have three adjustable spanners in different sizes. I'm looking at micro-ratchets, so something like Kerr or felo (xs33) (but the felo is expensive!!) or Bahco 2058/S26 for £20

Soldering iron - I'm super tempted to just get Hakko's intro model for £100-£150. But I don't know whether I should go instead for some cheap thing like tenma. My own preference for me is strongly Weller - I used weller irons for decades and they were so solid and robust for what I was doing, but not a great choice for tinkering about. I'm struggling to understand the build quality of Tenma bought from a reputable company. I don't want my child fixing things in a mains powered box.

I need a tool box to put it all in.

I need some kind of cutting and filing tools - cheap set of files and a little handle.

I need some measuring equipment - I don't know whether to include a nice set of steel rules or a cheap digital calliper.

Alongside all this there will be a dremel multitool and some useful accessories for it.

And also safety equipment - dustmasks, eye protection (from a reputable supplier!!)

Kinda curious how many furries we have on Tildes. Personally I just got started with sewing and plushie making so I can make custom plushies of peoples fursonas. It's going well so far but it's convinced me to drop an absolute fortune on an embroidery machine so I can make better looking eyes and paws x.x

I got my friend a midi beatpad a while ago and he's about to start using it to experiment with music. Does anyone have any tips I can pass on? Any help with software/equipment would be greatly appreciated.