Just Somethings We Enjoy
by Michele Christopher

We all have favorite things we like to do. Most are conventional things, we shall call them hobbies. Oh hell, I won't lie to you guys, it's been another hell day at FTTW. Seems things keep getting in the way of our getting this place ready to move in new authors and new ventures.

Today was finding out one of us has no Drivers License and the other has no headlights. Whilst fixing these situations, I met one of Michele's neighbors who reminded me of something I used to do and it gave us an idea.

Hobbies

What are your favorite hobbies. What do you like to do to pass time, other than drink, although technically that could be a hobby, but what takes your mind off the world for a few minutes, hours, or days? And yes, playing video games is a hobby.

Michele will capture you

poutI consider photography a challenge; to get the camera lens to see something the way my eye sees it, to transfer what my world looks like in a split moment to an image where that world is conveyed so everyone else can see it. I take hundreds of photos a week (or did before my camera got some near-fatal disease that costs a ridiculous amount to cure); the actual times that what I try to accomplish actually happens is miniscule.

When I have my camera in tow, I tend to view everything as a potential photograph and whatever I'm looking at in that moment is seen through not just my eyes, but my photographer mind. I see sepia tones, blurred visions, high contrast. In the instant it takes to scan, say, a field of flowers, my mind runs through the myriad options, like there's a copy of Photoshop in my head, and I see modes and colors that aren't there for anyone else. Very rarely does a photograph come out exactly as I viewed it in my mind. That's the beauty of digital photography, though. You can try, try, try again without wasting money or film.

i've got a heart onWhile I love taking standard type pictures - portraits, nature, etc., I also love to experiment. I grab whatever is laying around the house and spend hours arranging and rearranging objects trying to capture....something. I'm never sure what I'm looking for, but I know it when it clicks. Just like I know when I capture a moment in nature or a portrait, I know when I've achieved whatever creative urge I was out to fill with my photographic experiments.

I am missing my camera (Nikon Coolpix 5700) hardcore right now. I know there are better cameras out there, but affording one of those just isn't in the budget right now. Unfortunately, neither is spending $125 to get Nikon to fix something they knew was a flaw in this particular model. So I just look at my old photos and whine about it.

Here's a couple of my favorites. Click each for biggie size. - M

wishing and hoping guitar into the drink peek-a-boo-boo in the air orange4 dark water

You know. I do play video games enough to consider it a hobby. But after seeing some people waiting in line outside of WalMart - all bundled up with and sleeping on lounge chairs - waiting for the PS3 to go on sale, I thought better of it.

turtle grows green leafy things

I harvest marijuana.

Everyday I take a few short hours and go up to check on my "babies". A nice tree usually nets me in about 1500 dollars so don't go pointing fingers at me if Juan shoots your ass dead if you stumble upon my field. I didn't buy him that trailer and a seasons supply of Dennison's chili for just any reason.

I find by giving him free reign in experimenting with the grafting of hybrid plants seems not only to calm his nerves but also makes him a better human being. There is nothing more satisfying then seeing a stoned, fat illegal immigrant with a twelve gauge shotgun guarding my plants.cannabisc.jpg

I love to watch his eyes light up as I look at my plants and nod my head whilst whispering "harvest time." Pools of tears drip down his face as he realizes that all the months of him smelling his own chili farts in his trailer, paranoid out of his mind with a 12 gauge in his hand was all worth while.

We both grab machetes and wack down the plants tree by tree as I can see him counting the money he will be soon be making slowly adding in his mind. Juan and I are rich at that time of year. Well, not rich yet, but soon. Very soon my Rio swimming friend. Soon.

It is quite satisfying to see a man from another country finally realizing that he can bring his family over from Mexico and he can finally try to start a new life as an American working in a legal profession without all his noxious farts infecting his trailer. No more illegal activities for him. He has done his dirty work and now comes the pay off.

I can see it in his eyes. Mama and papa will soon be in America with him. Helping to build the American Dream for his wife and children. Becoming legal citizens.

It really makes me feel good.

We load up the trailer. Pounds and pounds of dope. Just waiting to be sold. Finally, Juan will be able to leave this life. Very satisfying to see the look in his eyes.

Once the trailer gets loaded up, we usually head back into the local town to get some breakfast before heading back to the city. Have some coffee and laugh about the hell he has went thru and congratulate him on a job well done.

That's usually when I tell him I have to go to the bathroom and ditch him in the restaurant with my plants in tow.

When I get to the outside of town, I usually call up La Migra and tell them there is a "wetback dope farmer" inside the local Denny's refusing to pay his bill.

Very satisfying. - T

So those are a few of our favorite things to do when the world puts a little too much stress on us. We like to have an outlet and these are ours.

What are yours?

Comments

Turtle,
You're my new hero. {{{Big Boobical Hugs}}}
Jo

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well, one is the music thing of course. A hobby i sometimes get paid for, which i just love.

And photography. And ink drawings.

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Music, movies, books. Not always in that order. Although, I really need to put in the ear buds and just listen to a few recent downloads.

I used to kill a ton of time falling into one video game or another but I haven't lately. My sciatica pretty much keeps me from sitting any longer in an office chair than I need to for work.

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