Dem
47
GOP
53
Here is the question we put before readers several weeks ago:
J.H. in Portland, OR, asks: We've seen how many of the Electoral-Vote.com faithful are connected to the computer sciences and now I'm wondering how many are involved with ham radio. I ask this because I wonder if there is a correlation between technical curiosity and experimentation, and the awareness and interest in political events. Or between other areas of interest and interest in political events.
So, I would like to know: What are Electoral-Vote.com readers' hobbies?
If you would like to review, the first entry in the series is here and the second is here.
Today, it's readers who enjoy various outdoor activities and/or gaming:
P.L. in Morelia, Mexico: Since the pastime only made one appearance on the initial list of readers' hobbies, I will mention that my biggest passion is birding. (I also do some cooking and wildlife-centered gardening.) Mexico has just over a thousand bird species one could reasonably hope to see, so it's a great place for this passion. To date, I have seen just over half of these birds. It's a big country.
Birding has certainly been a motivating factor for my opposition to the current regime. As if I needed another reason.
I write about my experiences and share photos at this page.
M.S. in Canton, NY: Birding. It combines my two favorite leisure-time activities: mental puzzles ("What the heck was that bird?") and getting outdoors.
S.S. in Athens, OH: My wife and I are avid birders, and have been for 45 years (since well before birding became fashionable). We recently both retired, and now travel around the world for a few months each year in search of birds and other natural history. So far, we've seen about half of the world's 11,000 species.
I have a Ph.D. in semiconductor physics, and was, for a while, on the tenure track. But I decided I didn't like the academic life, and so moved to commercial and government-contracted software development. (My wife was a professor of biology.)
S.G. in Newark, NJ: In response to J.H. in Portland: Birding.
There is tranquility in waiting and watching for these amazing creatures. There is joy in seeing their beauty. And there is perspective in realizing that, even in cities and suburbs, among the din and craziness of human activity, these animals go about their lives as if living in a parallel universe, caring nothing for our boundaries and pathways.
M.W. in Minneapolis, MN: Birding! Gets you out into nature, easy to do on your own or with like-minded friends (or complete strangers from a birding club), and connects you to the rhythms of nature. Spring migration is GOING to happen, no matter what else is going on in the world.
Also a great interest to have in your back pocket for whenever you find yourself traveling to a different state or part of the world. Birds are everywhere...
D.M. in Woodland Hills, CA: 65-year-old sloppy reader, sloppy writer. California native plants. SLOW running on the trails at Cheseboro Canyon. The chaparral and wildlife are intoxicating.
J.M. in Norco, CA: Twenty printed responses on the first day of this series, all with multiple hobbies listed, and not one horseback rider in the Electoral-Vote.comiverse? I just couldn't let that pass.
I've never engaged in competitive riding, but I just love trail riding. There is far more open space in Southern California than most residents realize and would simply stun those whose image of California is formed only by quick images of heavy traffic, beaches, and sporting venues. Horse ownership is a hobby and a lifestyle, and riding takes us outdoors in open settings, usually removed from traffic, and can be as social as you wish. And one more very big thing: I shared this hobby with our two daughters (unlike me, they also did their share of competitive riding), and they are both grew into quite accomplished 30+ year old women. I think the horsey lifestyle had something to do with that.
P.S. in Portland, ME: I am 66 and have a joint Ph.D. from MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Oceanographic Engineering with a specialty in underwater acoustics. My favorite hobby is designing, building, and deploying distributed sonar systems to detect threat divers and unmanned underwater vehicles in ports and harbors. I don't get to do that anymore because it requires a lot of DoD funding and I am a cannabis user, and I will not lie about it anymore on the security forms. We have got to change that law, as I lost my security clearance in 2017 because I self-reported, and have not been able to get it back. It kind of took me out. But you know, you learn a lot more from the downs in life then you do from the ups.
Skiing for me is more than a sport, hobby, or passion, it is a religion. That is the only thing that explains the relationship between me and skiing. If you saw the movie Fever Pitch, with Jimmy Fallon playing a rabid Red Sox fan, you might recall the line Drew Barrymore's character says to him, "I love winter you, its summer you I hate." My wife says just the opposite. I noted that many Electoral-Vote.com readers listed skiing as a hobby and I do think there is something about skiing that gives comfort to minds that never stop.
I also like to build houses for my wife of 42 years; that includes doing all the framing, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC work myself.
S.S. in New Rochelle, NY: I live about 20 minutes north of NYC. We moved here from Los Angeles 10 years ago and I knew I needed to keep busy during the dark and chilly winter. I ski in the Catskills every weekend, helping out with the Adaptive Ski program at our mountain when I can. Recently I've found curling. It's a really fun, chill sport that always ends with the winners buying the losers a drink. Plus you burn a surprising amount of calories sweeping the ice. What's not to like about that! I do that after work a couple times a week. And then, when spring returns and temperatures warm, there's so much to do in the New York area.
M.S. in Brooklyn, NY: I write children's books, and that means a lot of sitting. I'm not a gym person or a runner, but I've always liked to dance. For years I tried to get my husband to take dance classes with me. One night we were watching Dancing with the Stars and Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith was one of the celebs. Neither of us knew who he was because we don't follow football (or other sports, for that matter, though we were once avid Mets fans). My husband was impressed with how Smith was leading his partner and thought he might like to do that. "Oh, will you finally take a swing dance class with me?" I asked. "If you can find one nearby," he replied. I found one on the next block. That was 20 years ago, and we've been dancing ever since—not just swing, but all sorts of ballroom and Latin dances. It's my favorite hobby. It gets off my butt—and it's one of the few times I don't mind being led!
It's true that I am in a technical field, though not exactly computer science—I work in healthcare IT, supporting staff use of EMR software in various ways.
My hobbies are generally not computer-related. While I have a few, my main passion is bicycling. It's something I did occasionally when I was growing up, and through high school, but then I didn't ride a bike at all for most of my 20s.
At age 28, I discovered cycling again, and started slowly building my endurance for longer and longer rides (and my strength for climbing hills). At the age of 35, I rode 50 miles in a day for the first time. I did my first century ride (100 miles in a day) at age 39.
I'm 53 now, and have gone on bike vacations a few times, where I'd ride somewhere and be away for multiple nights, including celebrating my 50th birthday by riding across New York on the Erie Canalway Trail. I also spent a few days cycling around the Golden Circle in Iceland on a trip there a decade ago.
It's definitely a method of travel and exercise that brings me a lot of joy. The fact that it is low impact is nice, and I like the feeling of pedaling, but actually going someplace is also important; I've tried stationary bikes at various times and that leaves me cold. Fortunately, I've found that cycling can be a year-round activity, as long as you have the right gear. While I'm not fond of riding in rain, I do have clothing and equipment to keep me and my stuff dry. And I'm able to bundle up against just about any amount of cold in the winter (a balaclava is key). The only conditions I really won't ride in are when there's snow or ice on the roads. I try to do a lot of errands, and some of my grocery shopping, by bike.
I've used my riding to help raise money for charities, as well. I've done rides for Multiple Sclerosis research and for food banks, getting people I know to chip in contributions. I have not done one of those in a few years (because of moving to Pennsylvania, looking for a house, buying a house, moving again, getting work done on the house, and then helping some relatives relocate here). I hope to do another fundraising ride or two next year.
D.S.R. in Tempe, AZ: To answer the question from J.H. in Portland about technical interests, I am an electronic technician by trade and have more than a little bit of geek in me so that should put me in the technically curious category.
As far as hobbies go, this may or may not qualify, but the #1 therapy, the #1 intoxicant, and definitely my addiction is my bicycle. If I don't go out every few days, I get a little itchy and scratchy. As a matter of fact, I'm going out and getting me another dose in just a little bit.
When I'm rolling well, my mind is clear of everything except the road or trail before me, the feel of the wind over me, and the cadence of my body as I push on. Indeed, when it's really good I approach the lower reaches of ecstasy. And with all that is going on in this stupid world, I need that.
You know that dumb running shoe commercial with the tag line "but I got high"? Well, it's true.
And I can get these and other benefits in a way that is, supposedly, good for me, at least until I fall down and hit my head (I always wear a helmet; it has kept me from getting a hole in my head a couple of times.). Or until some drunken idiot sideswipes me.
Oh well, life is not risk free, and it's probably a safer pass-time than my friend who likes to jump out of airplanes.
H.B. in Toronto, ON, Canada: One of my favorites—and a recent one, at that—is sailing. In 2023, a coworker of my sister's was a member of a club at Outer Harbour, our hideaway from the greater lake. He suggested that she take a class, and since the club's learn-to-sail program uses two-person boats, she asked me if I wanted to join. Two attempts, one with my other sister, and an extra test later, I passed. This is a race, following my first try, which I volunteered to help organize:
The next year, I took the next class in the series—to my surprise, I was one of two students to pass—but I otherwise wasn't involved with the club. This year, though, I've been on a song. I helped set up some boats in the spring. I went most Mondays to train for races; though I haven't yet participated in one, I liked having time on a boat. I became acquainted with this beast of a catamaran:
(I haven't heard back from the club as to who took these, but tain't me.)
And I fell in love with what's officially called the ILCA 7, but is much better known as the Laser:
There's just something fun about rigging sailboats, puttering around the harbor, maneuvering them to and fro, and, if you're lucky, feeling the wind in your face. Something worth the frustration as your boat, the wind, or both, refuse to obey you. Something worth the sweat and muscle soreness, the panic and capsizes on gusty days, and a rescue in calm weather, as the sun was setting, for which I was grateful.
M.M. in Austin, TX: I am not a techie, but a retired attorney. My primary hobby is golf, although I also do Pilates classes with my wife and play some online poker in the evenings and I love betting on football games. And I can also get lost in internet rabbit holes or on Instagram for considerable stretches of time.
P.R. in Saco, ME: My hobby is waaaay too much pickleball, though it used to be split between whitewater canoeing and rock climbing. Politics now is a guilt-born pursuit: Mr. MacMillan in 8th grade history trashed my report card, saying my knowledge of current events (1973) was dismal. I'm atoning.
J.W.H. in Somerville, NJ: Racquet sports, now primarily tennis and pickleball.
Used to be Ultimate Frisbee, which I brought to northern California in the 70's.
D.K. in Chicago, IL: I work in IT, and to "blow off steam" I play ice hockey and box. I'm also into motorcycling (not as much as I used to), and I'm known in my hockey league for carrying my gear bag and sticks on a "rice rocket." I've also been getting more into the Traditional Latin Mass.
B.S. in Ottawa, ON, Canada: A lot of the hobbies in the first posting in this series speak true to me, but the one that takes up a lot of my time these days is my (state-mandated) love of hockey. I hold season tickets to my beloved Ottawa Charge, who made the PWHL final last year, and I attend several Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens games a year. The last two years I have taken a week off work and used the Ottawa-Montreal area to go to as many high level hockey games as possible, I was able to squeeze in 10 last year! My friends and I even podcast about our love of the game and how it hits intersectionality with politics at our podcast, the Neutral Zone Hotel. It takes up a lot more of my time than it did before the pandemic, when I really fell back in love with the sport.
Sport can be everything that is great about society, and everything that is terrible about it, all within a short 60 minutes. There's nothing quite like it.
A.M. in Holliston, MA: I'm in IT—Specifically, database engineering and admin for a software as a service company based out of Chicago. I mostly focus on building automation and infrastructure for the sales arm of the company.
So much of what I do is entirely thought-based and planning-intensive, I branched out into hunting and fishing to get away from the technology. A dearly departed uncle gifted me a fly rod about 15 years ago, and that hook bit deep—I'm up to over 20 fly rods and reels of various stripes.
I like just showing up to a stream and wetting a line, or to a pheasant field to watch the dog work, because I can just turn off the part of my brain that's in overdrive during the week and do something purely physical.
The fruits of the field and stream taste pretty good, too.
B.P. in Mill Creek, WA: I'm 65 and recently retired. Since elementary school, I've enjoyed bowling. As a child growing up in Miami, bowling was the best sport for staying out of the heat and humidity. I still enjoy the game a lot and am averaging 224 in one league. I've made many good and long term friends through this activity.
B.H. in Southborough, MA: I am a lifelong bowler, having amassed about forty 300 games, two PBA regional titles (38 years apart—a dubious claim to fame), and many local titles. I am technically a "professional" in that I belong to the PBA and tour on the PBA50 (senior) tour, but it was never my profession; I am an IT veteran who spent a fair bit of my career working on IBM Mainframes. As the luckiest guy alive; my son is also a bowler but he is more of the "real thing" since he is an exempt professional on the regular PBA tour.
W.V. in San Jacinto, CA: My hobbies are either exercise: swimming with coworkers at the school pool, running with friends, Zumba, tennis/pickleball lifting weights. Or gaming: I have over 200 board games, a large steam library, regular D&D campaigns, watching baseball and football. I don't read as much as I used to but two books a month is the slow setting.
E-Vers; we know how to party.
T.G. in Fort Worth, TX: I was happy to see a couple of responses for TTRPGs (D&D) in the first set of responses. We likely have enough to have someone (looking at you M.F. in Des Moines) run a political-themed game for the EV collective.
If we met in person for a game someday we can always find a way to re-use our old Magic: The Gathering cards...
S.M. in Morganton, GA: Thank you Electoral-Vote.com readers for sharing all your hobbies! I loved the diversity and also the similarities. I held my breath for a few posts cause I was like "Where are my political junkie TTRPG nerds at?" Then I found my people! WAVES to M.F. in Des Moines and R.L.D. in Sundance.
I got into politics and gaming at roughly the same time. At home in the 80s and 90s, CSPAN and NPR were the preferred background audio. Meanwhile, my peers were exploring these dark escapist role playing games: The World of Darkness.
Now I am 47 and running games for people all over the world as the overlap between tech and TTRPGs has exploded in recent years.
What was once an analogue activity (table, pencils, dice, paper, a multi CD stereo, lamps, and imagination) is now being done in a Discord chat room (or Zoom, or Twitch) with immersive audio, die "bots," and, coolest for me, the ability to play with people from all over the globe. My current games include players from almost all U.S. time zones, as well as Australia, Greece, Bermuda, the U.K., and Germany.
I love using urban (and sometimes suburban and rural) horror to help me and players make sense of the world. The stories we co-write in real time provide an outlet, an escape, and possibly most importantly, a laboratory for finding new and creative ways to deal with the horrors of the real world away from our "table." I say this as the Storyteller/Game Master/Dungeon Master and I hope that I am providing that space for my players as well.
I'd love to hear from people who have taken their hobbies pro. I am toying with the idea of running paid games but I am also concerned about losing the passion.
J.L. in Ridgewood, NJ: I'm an on-and-off bicyclist, but over the years my main hobby has been the general area of game-playing: dedicated (having read at least five books)—chess, bridge, and poker; casual (having read one to four books)—go, backgammon, Scrabble, and gin; dilettante (no serious study)—many. My girlfriend is less of a gamer. Now, though, she's really taken to Ticket To Ride, and we're playing it a lot. Many thanks to (A), whose mention introduced me to this game, with consequent improvement in my relationship!
J.S. in Columbia, MO: Daily leisure from English-language puzzles: Wordle/Foodle/Dordle; Connections (from The New York Times) and Wridges (from The Washington Post).
N.N. in Redmond, OR: In addition to my "hobby" of giving Uncle Sam one weekend a month and two weeks a year of my time and efforts (please wish me luck, I just got picked up for a 9-month OCONUS rotation), I enjoy doing the NYT Games with the fam. Spelling Bee and Wordle are my kids' favorites, while my wife enjoys Sudoku and the mini-crossword. For me, the original is the best, followed by Connections and Pips. Fifty-six day streak and counting!
L.R. in Walpole, MA: I'm a crossword puzzle enthusiast! I've been an avid solver for years, but I started going to tournaments a couple of years ago and am absolutely hooked on them. I'm about to retire and am looking forward to trying my hand at construction. I'm also a choral singer.
J.E. in San Jose, CA: I fly to Philly twice a year to play a Super Nintendo football game on Twitch with 9 other guys. I am also a world-ranked pinball player (but no longer a very good one).
P.N. in Indianapolis, IN: For as long as I can remember, I have been an avid gamer, both digital and tactile. I had an NES and SNES growing up, and played Magic: The Gathering and Star Trek: The Customizable Card Game. I still play Magic, but also board games, and I've moved on to computer games that cover a range of genres from grand strategy to horror to open-world adventures.
We will be doing this for one more week. In the final installment, we'll have the cooks, the collectors, and a few folks whose hobbies were not easily fit into a category.