Some hobbies....

My mind tends to roam quite a bit. I think, if there is one thing from youth that I am really happy to have retained, it is that childish sense of wonder about the world. I still ask questions, still want to learn about other cultures and ways of thinking and living. Still try and find things out, for no better reason than curiosity, rather than functionality. Still not only ask questions about things that pique my curiosity, but then tend to take it a step farther than most people around me, because I then explore to find out more, see if I can find out the answers a little bit better for myself. These days, with the internet, that is easier to do than ever!

So, I guess this curiosity of mine is kind of a hobby that I foster. Otherwise, I have several sort of hobbies. The oldest one is stamp collecting, which is one of a few things that I got from my late grandfather, who got me into at least four things rather intensely, and more or less became the model that I tried to follow for myself later in life. He had a large and mysterious library with strange books that seemed rather inaccessibly to me at the time. I looked at his books, and knew that he worked in a college (community college, as an assistant professor), and that it was an intellectual pursuit. That appealed to me, and the older I got, the more actually understood better, and appreciated better, the actually very wide range and depth of his library - everything from scientific books to history and philosophy, and even to Vonnegut, who I would become a huge fan of, and was not even aware of his own Vonnegut books until much later in my life, and well after he passed. Otherwise, he also got me into chess, which I still love, although I am only really moderately talented at (and which he was, unfortunately, infamously terrible at), and (American) football. I used to love football much more than I do nowadays, but I still retain an ability to remember certain things, like statistics or scores. Without effort, and usually as fast as a computer, I can tell you every Super Bowl score, as well as the main plays and other pertinent facts about each game. Many people that encounter this, or other moments of my memory's glory, are initially impressed. The shininess starts to flake away, however, the first time I put my keys down somewhere literally seconds before, and then cannot remember where in the hell I put them. Or, perhaps, someone will tell me something, I will nod, maybe even ask a question about it, and then have no recollection of it minutes later (yes, I swear, this is unfortunately true - LOL). Have you ever read Bill Bryson? He is a very funny writer, and he mentioned one thing that had me tearing up with laughter. In any case, he recounts how sometimes, he goes to the grocery store to pick up some items, and then, once there, he draws a complete blank. So he calls and asks his wife "I'm at the supermarket. Why am I here?", and she, who is used to it, does not hesitate a second, rattling off the list of things and sending him on his way.  I would assume most people thought he was exaggerating when reading that, but I am pretty sure he is not, because I could easily do the same thing! Unfortunately, I am not exaggerating. : (