I've been a self taught guitarist for about 10 years, but it turns out I'm not a fantastic teacher, so I've been taking jazz guitar lessons this year to fill in some of the blanks. It's forced me to sit down and actually practice specific skills, rather than just noodle around, play songs I know, and not stretch myself.
So I knocked together a pretty basic practice routine, and I was wondering if anyone else has a specific routine that they follow when practising?

Here's my routine:

7th Chords & Arpeggios
With root on the E, A, and D strings: Maj7, min7, Dom7, dim7 chords
With root on the E, A, and D strings: Maj7, min7, Dom7, dim7 arpeggios (1 octave)
With root on the E and A strings: Maj7, min7, Dom7, dim7 arpeggios (2 octaves)

Scales
Stepwise; 3rds; 4ths; 1-4-3-2 clusters; adding a chromatic note: Major, Dorian, and Mixolydian scales

Chord scales
(Not sure what this is called properly, but it's just learning the chords that apply to each note in a scale)
With root on E, A, D: 1 octave of chords and arpeggios
Staying in a major scale position: 1 octave of chords and arpeggios

ii, V, Is
7th chords around a ii, V, I
Alternate voicings around a ii, V, I
"Single note" riffing over a ii, V, I
Scale riffing over a ii, V, I
Arpeggio riffing over a ii, V, I
Unrestricted riffing over a ii, V, I

Standards
Pick a couple of jazz standards and have a play around with them. No need to get them perfect, just become comfortable looking at chord sheets and semi-sight-reading the songs.

Now that it's legal in Canada to grow cannabis, I decided to try my hand at growing a few plants indoors. I started with a simple setup and a couple of seeds in a closet. As I did more research, I slowly started upgrading my equipment and methods. There is so much more to growing good cannabis indoors than I originally thought, and it's become a very interesting hobby for me. There is also a lot of misinformation and pseudoscience out there, which can make it difficult for new growers.

Anyone else into this hobby? What's your setup like? Anyone thinking of getting into it?

For almost a year now I have been playing D&D, loving every moment we get together and have a session. Because of life and stuff it's been a once a month meet up and the current campaign is coming to an end.

For the better part of all that time I've sat staring at an un-painted mini, I finally took the next step and got a stater kit of paints and went at it. I wish I had done this sooner! So far they are rough as hell but honestly it's such an enjoyable little hobby. I plan on expanding my paints out to more technical washes and shades and with that buying any mini that looks fun to paint.

I know a few folks play table top games. How many of you paint as well?

I've been semi into this for a short while. I've done a few brews over the last year or so, three single gallon mead brews (one being a joam), one 5 gal cider brew and I've just started 3 different single gallon brews, with two being wine and one cider. From here on out I'll be starting a new batch each week to create something I really enjoy, most likely ciders.

I would enjoy talking to anyone that is also interested in this subject.

Example: I'd like to learn more about wine¹, but it seems very complicated and its hard to tell what's "real" and what's just stuff people have made up to be pretentious.

1. I recognize this isn't a "hobby" per se but I think it fits best in this group

I've enjoyed the challenges of gardening in zone 5 -6 and zone 10 - 11, and am wondering about others' experience.

Climate change, with migrating pests/diseases and more erratic weather, are definitely noticeable trends.

While it's interesting to grow ornamentals and food crops that wouldn't ordinarily be available, it's also disturbing to find falling yields and utter collapses of formerly successful "easy" plants like basil and temperate climate tomato varieties.

There are limits on how much can be accomplished with purely "organic" controls - I've had to experiment with soil ecology (MycoStop for fungal infections, etc.). Allergenic plants are an increasing problem. There are brand new animal pests where I live as well - iguanas, pythons, and other hot-climate reptiles.

I'm curious about others' gardening results, and suggestions for improving adaptability.

I built a basic panel out of some boards left over from another project. I'd like to use this as a desktop surface just laid on top of some filing cabinets. I'm wondering what the best way to finish this would be? I don't think I want to paint and I'm ok with some light staining but I don't have any experience with sealing or whatever I would want to do to help preserve the surface. It would have typical office items on it (keyboard, mouse, monitor, paper, pens, etc.).

I wouldn't really consider it a hobby, but couldn't think of where else to try and have this discussion.

How many of you have ever heard of, or even considered the idea of alternative keyboard layouts!? As unanimous as it is, why are the letters of the alphabet even placed that way on our keyboards anyway? Alternative keyboard layouts attempt to optimize the layout by placing letters in such a way as to make typing more ergonomic. Often ideas include focusing on the home row, rolling fingers, alternating hands, high frequency letters on index and middle etc.

Some examples to look into if you've never heard of the concept:

• Dvorak, the most well known alternative keyboard layout. Prioritizes alternating hands by separating vowels and consonants by hand.

• Colemak. As opposed to Dvorak, prioritizes rolling the fingers rather than alternating hands and attempts to limit same-finger bigrams.

• BÉPO, a layout optimized for the French language!

• Others include Carpalx, Workman, MTGAP, Norman and many, many more. Creating rather than using layouts has sort of become a hobby for some...

So what do you think? Supposed ergonomics vs standardization. Would you ever consider switching or do you think it's a bunch of hocus pocus? Perhaps you have switched or tried to switch and would like to share your experience.

I am currently trying to learn how to fix things myself by learning how to solder and fix things like that. I also want to DIY some things for quite some time.

My current project is working through the book Make:Electronics , I bought it at humblebundle some years ago. Yesterday I powered a led via a power outlet for the first time, by connecting it to a cut off USB cable. I'll share a picture of the abomination later.

So: what have you built at home? What are you building? What are you planning to build?

I bought one of those cheap miniature drones that are flimsy but overall pretty fun to start with. Now, I have the bug to get something with a camera, more flight time, and can withstand the wind. Any suggestions on what I could get <$150 that would be a good investment.

Any maintenance tips or flying in public tips?

Hi. I recently realised that I don't do much is a sense that I only do two or three things all the time while on my free time, and those are usualy just watching youtube or browsing interenet in general. I am the kind of person that finds anything interesting when I start, but I usually drop it if there is a learning curve right at the start (eg. lockpicking). So any of you have sort of a hobby that would suite me?

I recently got into lock picking as a hobby. It's really fun and the community is very kind and open and supportive.

But it's a hobby I'm hesitant to share with others. There's a huge stigma with lockpicking and I feel I have to be careful who I tell. Do any of you have hobbies that you don't share with others?

For about a year I have been trying to work out how to make music. I want to make stuff like the OP-1 videos on Red means recording. I have a midi keyboard and LMMS on my desktop but I just can't work out how to do anything.

Does anyone have any tips or resources? Everything I have found has been so specific to a certain tool that I can't use it or so theoretical I don't understand what to do with it.

So this is the dumb post of the day. Bear with me.

All I can say about art (like paintings and sculpture) is "is cool", "I like it", "it makes me sad" and look like a complete idiot totally out of place. (On the other hand, I can deliver a nuanced analysis of graffiti and hip hop so yeah it's all about the background.) I want to take my partner to a museum and start saying fancy shit like "oh you see the lines here these remind me of Donatello's style of light and shadow". Like I know it's possibly the dumbest thing to want but I really would like to learn more about it and be able to give informed opinions on art pieces.

Anyway, any recommendations? Maybe some youtube videos or some books? Or should I just say that everything past 1400 is derivative?

I just got my /dev/tty blanks in from Massdrop and I an thinking of dying them to match my current ABS colorway.

I have looked at the guide and I think I am able to do all that, but I am wondering what kind of look I am going to/can get by dying the gray and red caps?

I assume the gray caps would just yield a slightly darker color, but I am curious if I can get an interesting shade of brown by dying the red keycaps with some other color (or just more brown?)

Any hints on dying the colored caps or dying PBT in general are appreciated.

We've had a what're you listening to?, a what are you doing, etc...
I am interested in what you're drinking this week.
I've discovered a fascination for Whiskey. I've been drinking an odd collection of Whiskey drinks, a couple of Scotch's (Glenfiddich, Monkey Shoulder) and some cheap Bourbon (Evan Williams, Ezra Brooks). I tried Irish (Jameson, Tulamore dew) too, but I can't get into it.
Not all this week, obviously.
This week it's been pretty much just Ezra Brooks. It's pretty good for a cheap Bourbon. Pretty heavy Oak flavor that I quite enjoy, not much complexity, but you know. It was 20 bucks.

Are there any fellow Alcohol hobbyists? What're you into this week?

I own a hobonichi, which is really just a hipster day-planner. The key feature for me is the river paper, which allows water colouring.

I try to water colour everyday. Started that way at the beginning of the year, and after a few months, now pretty much use it as a day-planner. Of course, I would love to get back to it, and will make an effort to at least catch up over the weekends.

Would love to hear how you journal and any habits that work for you.

Or whatever else you'd want to talk about concerning comic books!

A new comic book shop has opened in my town, and my fiancée and I are pretty excited about it. We've never really been into them, but we're pretty excited to get into them. On that note, does anyone have any good recommendations for a newcomer?

As a neat aside, we have a thirty-plus year old comic book-ization of Return of the Jedi, and that's pretty cool.

I'm only a beginner down the rabbithole known as mech-keebs, but I thought I'd source some thoughts here. Apologies if this has been expanded on in other ~hobbies threads.

Those of you who have been in the mech game longer, what switches have you tried? What do you find are your personal preferences on switches and why do you think that is? Have you ventured away from the very popular Cherry MX switches?

What about keycaps? What are your favourite profiles or colourway designs? Preferred material? I am currently rocking a DSA set of keycaps from one of my favourite designers, MiTo: https://mitormk.com/legacy-dsa/ I got the blue/black Tron-inspired set. I gotta admit, I was a little skeptical of ABS caps, but they're really nicely textured in a way that's reminiscent of PBT, but without that powdery grippiness.

Tell me about some of your favourite layouts too! I hear some pretty aggressive proponents of tenkeyless layouts, but I just really like my numpad for lots of numeric input. If it were just a gaming keyboard, I probably would be pretty happy with TKL though.

Are you working on any new projects right now?

Looking forward to all the responses!

One of my biggest hobbies is collecting flashlights. I guess I don't really "collect" them as much buy ones I want and sell ones I stop using.

Is anyone here also a flashlight aficionado, or would like to be?

If there aren't many 3D printer hobbyists here, still feel free to comment if your interested. It's a great hobby open to all price ranges and skill levels. If you can't afford a printer, many libraries and schools have printers open to public use.

What are your projects? What do you like to print? Materials? Printer? Etc.

I've been getting into 3D printing more seriously. I have worked with cad software for many years but only printed on occasion, never personal stuff. I bought the Prusa Mk3 kit at the end of last year and patiently waited for its mid-spring arrival. It's a fantastic printer worth every bit of waiting. I print in PLA for fun stuff & online models and PETG for functional & outdoor models.

My most recent print was a window fan mount for my car for car camping. I designed it to create some airflow to keep the car from getting stuffy while keeping bugs and water out. It's very low power, so no issue there.

I am currently printing the pangolin awareness toy from thingiverse in white PLA for fun.

What do you like to do with 3D printing? or what do you think of it?

Anyone play an instrument as a hobby?

I'm currently learning how to play the violin I started about 2 weeks ago and really like it so far!

I noticed my G string's fine tuner was not quite working so I removed tension off the string to fix the screw--when I re-added tension I ended up breaking my string. This gave me an excuse to buy some nice starter strings! I can't wait to start playing on them I'm still waiting a few hrs to let them "settle in" on their own.

I'm sure some of you might have this as a hobby or more of a profession.

I'm pretty new to it as I haven't really done much at all yet, and I'm looking to create a sheath for a knife. Are there any good videos to watch before diving into it, or any articles that come to mind?

Think of this as a place to discuss this topic as I didn't see one posted yet. Any input will be helpful!

Any of my fellow Tilderinos into geocaching? I've been aware of the hobby for a while, but I just recently decided to delve into it with my friends. Even though I'm in a rural area in the South, I'm still able to see tons of these things on the map! It's a fun way to venture outside and explore nature. The cache I found Saturday was well worth the mosquito bites, that's for sure!

I was wondering if there's anybody here who's interested in ham/amateur radio. I'm somewhat interested in it myself, and am planning on getting a BaoFeng BF-F8HP soon as my first radio, as well as a Tech (or maybe even General) license.

Yesterday I went to my first ever (recreational) rowing training. I’ve trained gymnastics before and sailed quite a bit.

It’s a 100+ year old club and the gym is pretty small, but the equipment is quite modern.

To keep the story short (there were quite some notable and funny events, but nothing to do with training itself), after I did some quick stretching and warming up, a friendly chap (could be a young trainer) helped me with the ergo and briefly tried to explain to me what all the numbers say.

So I spent most of my first training (probably 40-60' in total) on an ergo (Concept2 Dynamic, I think). Most of the time I had the setting on 3-4, but then lowered it to 2.

When I checked how many Watts I produced (per stroke, I suspect), I averaged at about 60 W and peaked at 200 W – which is comparable to 14-year old girls who train there regularly. The trainer(?) chuckled and told me that this is to be expected and that I obviously have more strength, but they simply have a much more efficient stroke technique, which I am yet to learn in the first place.

So, are there any rowers present who would be willing to share some of their wisdom?

So I'm looking to get a nice pen for school (£25 max). Metal pens appeal to me although I'd be interested in others too. If anyone had some suggestions for nice pens that are suitable for long periods then it'd be brilliant :)

Hi tilders (tildes? tilded?),

I thought it might make sense to group threads by hobby for now, to start -- and the hobby I've been spending the most time with recently has been fountain pens. They're great! I hope you like them too.

Wrote something out to kick things off: https://i.imgur.com/vNOS7QK.jpg

Write something back in return?

I don't have the land to do it yet, but my dream is to build a year-round greenhouse in a back yard, so that I can have green all throughout the monochromatic bleakness of a New York winter. This is pretty much a daydream at this point, but I'd like to get some feedback from folks in the know.

The feature wish-list is as follows:

• a dug-out trench, shaped like a V with a flat bottom. Thinking something like 12' (or go metric and make it 4m) wide in the middle, with sides at a 60° angle going to ground level (total depth of around 10' or 2.5m)
• a double-paned glass or plexiglass roof, for insulation and lighting
• heating elements in the outer layer of roof, for snow and ice removal
• a space heater, to regulate temperature during the cold months
• an aquaponics tank (probably using goldfish, but possibly tilapia)
• aquaponics grow beds lining the angled sides
• compost-activated biochar beds on the flat part

The idea would be to run the aquaponic outflow to the top of the sloping sides, supporting herbs, leafy greens, and flowers. The runoff collects at the bottom of the slope, where it is returned to the fish tank. The flat surface would be used for root vegetables and bulbs like onions and garlic.

I realize that this is a tad ambitious (and that I may just be throwing the biochar bit because I think its cool), but part of why I'm posting this is to get the benefit of collective experience. Any thoughts?

I'm a serial car/bike addict, and have owned close to 50 cars and 10 or so bikes. Usually at least mildly modified for performance/handling/modcons, if not heavily modified. I'm not so much into visuals, as I am into improving cheaper cars so I can get more bang for my buck (I'm not well off).

I've owned everything from 1960s Mercs and Holdens to brand new Subarus and VWs. V-twin sport bikes to show-level streetfighters. I just like weird/unique vehicles, and tinkering with them.

Currently got a '97 Nissan Stagea RSFour imported from Japan. RB25DET with a few mods. FMIC, turbo back exhaust, intake, boost controller, turbo timer, TE37 reps, BC coilovers, and currently converting the centre console to a 7" RPi-driven touch screen with CONSULT integration to the ECU for sensor readouts, and setting it up for track days (half cage, etc). Pic.

Also about to take on a late 80s JDM Honda Goldwing which I want to fully restore to meticulous detail, for no other reason than I think they look retro-cool and are massively underrated for cruising. I plan on doing a small turbo conversion, and upgrading the brakes and suspension, but keeping it looking 100% stock and perfect down to every last bolt.