Creativity

Oh yes; together with walks in the countryside, getting absorbed in something creative is what keeps me sane. I'm a bit of a "serial hobbyist", so over the years, I've dabbled in quite a lot of different things...

• Drawing and painting. This was my first love; I was always drawing when I was a young child. Later on, in my adult years, I took up oil painting for a while, painting mostly abstracts.
• Photography. I've done this on and off since before my teens, and I've collected some decent second-hand SLR kit over the years. I especially like making pictures of things which most people don't usually see day-to-day - e.g. extreme close up photography (macros) and a bit of infra-red.
• Music. I started messing about on plastic home keyboards as a kid, then moved on to song-writing and playing bass/drums in punk bands in my late-teens. I gave up public performance because of the strain on my nerves, but I still play a lot at home, using my computer and looping pedals with my bass.
• Coding. I've been writing computer code since I first had a ZX Spectrum in the 80's. These days I mostly code musical effects and synths to use in my own music, and bit and bobs to share with other coders.
• Models. My room as a kid was full of Airfix airplanes, though I used to get rather cross at my Mum for snapping off aerials and propellers when she insisted on dusting them!
• Lego! Until home computers were invented this was my favourite - anything from cars and trucks with technical Lego to using it more sculpturally to make animals. I've just recently treated myself to a couple of kits and got back into it after a 30 year break.

Like Senor, I'm also an avid bodger. As I've rarely had much spare cash in adulthood, I've quite often made my own furniture (functional though rarely pretty!), and I'll always have a go at fixing something myself before throwing it away or calling a professional.

I can relate to all of those - never actually played in a band but did everything above apart from drums pretty much. I started on a ZX81 and was hooked from the beginning. Meccano was a love of mine alongside Lego. Rather than being too artistically creative with those two though, I'd go for biggest / tallest / fastest / most powerful / most dangerous (the last three when motors were added :-) )

I'm done with Christmas Cards said:

most dangerous

Ha ha - yes! Crossbows were my particular favourite - I snapped quite a few of my Lego beams by stressing them a little too far (most of the rest were ruined by chewing, even well into my teens!)

I'm done with Christmas Cards said:

most dangerous

Ha ha - yes! Crossbows were my particular favourite - I snapped quite a few of my Lego beams by stressing them a little too far (most of the rest were ruined by chewing, even well into my teens!)