What Are You Nosey About Today?? 🦝

[LustfulIntentions2]

I'm nosey about people's nerdisms...what things do you just completely nerd out over?

Are you a Trekkie? A Star Wars fiend? Harry Potter?

Do you geek out over History? Art? Music?

Are you a Dungeon master? Scrabble enthusiast?

All of the above?



I recently learned about something called The Society for Creative Anachronism ( or SCA) which is an educational organization devoted to the research and re-creation of pre-seventeenth century skills/art/combat/culture/etc.. and Im kinda wanting to check it out but I dont know if I could get full on into wearing pre-seventeenth century garb just to learn how to make my own dye and clothing, or how to scribe ...but I do need some hobbies soon.



So spill the beans, what is something you nerd out over? (aka, what is something that you are super passionate about that sparks joy in you)

I'm sure it will surprise nobody that I've a couple?

The first is old, vintage video games-arcade style and console, especially some of the weirder, shorter run consoles that never wholly breached the mainstream. I've maintained and/or updated/restored a handful myself, and even built myself one of those MAME (multi-arcade-machine-emulator) machines that lets your run dozens or more of old arcade games off an old PC tower.

The second is the grunge and alternative music of the early to mid-90s? Just so much goodness in there beyond the best known bands that it's hard not to at least try to appreciate it.

Other than that, I just dig doing puzzles and playing scrabble and junk like that.

 

[Dribble]

I also do love Hockey. Detroit Red Wings fan.




https://i.imgur.com/YHdPsI3.gif

Ok...it is official. I want you.

 

[Mei5ter]

"ruin" these drinks? You're dead to me. Only people with no souls drink it black.

You don't prove you're animate by rejecting the limpid perfection of black coffee for a mocha power oatmeal iced skinny frappolatte with extra wombat essence, served over ice with two umbrellas, a sparkler, and a cherry on a stick.

 

[Orchidea73]

Ok...it is official. I want you.

Ahahahahaah. Muah.

A couple of weeks ago I was re-watching a docu about 96-97 NHL season.

 

[Paul_Chance]

Okay, tell me more about the SCA! How did you get involved? Do you have wardrobe for it?

I was working on a contract at EA Games (we'd been brought in to help with an overdue/off-track project). I met this guy who was the manager of their Gameplay Test department. (Off track, LOL, but the dream nerd job - get paid to play video games.) We hit it off and when we had the usual "how'd the weekend go" conversations he would talk about the SCA (I knew it existed). Because I found it interesting, he invited me to one of their "Tournaments". At the time, in their group he was a squire to a knight.

So, I went and met a lot of nice folks (fellow nerd types) and had a good time, including watching my friend fight in the tournament. So, as I am wandering around they had this section that was dedicated to period appropriate carpentry. I happen to be a trained cabinet maker (previous careers), so that was interesting to me and I made some friends their in the whole recreation of period appropriate skills and crafts.

After attending several events for the social part of it, and meeting the crafty folks, I got a basic set of "peasant" clothes from them. They had tournaments roughly four times a year (and other events monthly). I made a couple of good friends, paid my dues and got on the official rosters (as one of the peasants under my friend who became a knight over time).

It's like any social group - some of the folks are really nice, some of them are ass-hats, LOL. The pandemic slammed their get togethers, plus life intervened, so I let my dues lapse. I'll pick it up again once we get through the pandemic.

I like "crafty" people who are reviving/honoring historical skill sets.

 

[Mei5ter]

Anything technology. I'm geeky about it all and love to find equally geeky conversation. Not like let's talk about the new features of the iPhone 13, but more like let's chat about public key encryption algorithms and quantum computing theory.

Biology. I've been nerdy about this my whole life. I bought a bunch of college bio text books from a thrift store when I was like 12 and with ^, bio-tech makes me giddy.

I have a lot in the slightly nerdy category...but these are the big ones.

Alice and Bob say hi.

 

[shenglung]

I'm nosey about people's nerdisms...what things do you just completely nerd out over?

I can geek/nerd out over so many topics. Star Wars if a pretty obvious one for me just look at my location lol. Infact it was due to a friend I played a Star Wars MMO with that I found Lit. Science fiction is definitely a go to topic for me in general as well as real world science. I was having a discussion with another Litster just the other day on Aerogels and there applications in space exploration.

Art is another obvious geeky topics for me based on my career choice, and if it's comic book art and my experiences with that industry I can definitely go on talking for hours. I also geek out over getting new art tools like my new pen display, or the new YInMn Blue pigment.

History is definitely another topic of interest for me. I also had an ex who was member of the SCA and know a lot of practitioners of HEMA. I spent my weekend's in the fall as a teenager at the Maryland Renaissance Festival hanging out with the guys from Man at Arms learning about blacksmithing. This has led to me spending way to much money on sharp pointy objects and metal to bend into rings for chainmail.

All of the above is just the tip of the iceberg so... yeah I may have to many geeky/nerdy interests and hobbies.

"ruin" these drinks? You're dead to me. Only people with no souls drink it black.

So if I'm a redhead and I drink my coffee with milk and sugar does that prove we have souls?

 

[aussiegeekygal]

I'm a nerd

I'm really excited to read everyone's responses and although I don't have a lot of time at this moment to get into it with y'all, I'm so down for the nerd takeover.

My favorite thing about nerds is their ability to coexist in some seemingly random circles. There's something pretty powerful about people who can synthesize their interests into some oddball ideas.

 

[Dribble]

Ahahahahaah. Muah.

A couple of weeks ago I was re-watching a docu about 96-97 NHL season.

I was born with a stick in my hand and less than 60 miles from Joe Lewis Arena. It has been a rough last two decades. Now...i live 90min from the Predators. But this year...I am a Kraken fan...cause how fucking cool is that name? Kraken eat penguins for breakfast.

 

[Orchidea73]

I was born with a stick in my hand and less than 60 miles from Joe Lewis Arena. It has been a rough last two decades. Now...i live 90min from the Predators. But this year...I am a Kraken fan...cause how fucking cool is that name? Kraken eat penguins for breakfast.

OMG! I love that name.
I mean, the main thing I like that crazy Euron Greyjoy ( in ASoIaF series, if you don't know wth I'm talking about) is the whole Kraken shit theory.


Honestly though, look at this beauty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWekeI6-9Sg

It's like Barcellona in their prime playing their tiki-taka football on Ice.

 

[StacyLeigh]

I was born with a stick in my hand and less than 60 miles from Joe Lewis Arena. It has been a rough last two decades. Now...i live 90min from the Predators. But this year...I am a Kraken fan...cause how fucking cool is that name? Kraken eat penguins for breakfast.

This feels very pointed…

 

[Dribble]

This feels very pointed…

Nah...why would a Kraken eat a leaf? It sounds cool cause penguins (and penguins lovers) are cute.

 

[Orchidea73]

Nah...why would a Kraken eat a leaf? It sounds cool cause penguins (and penguins lovers) are cute.

I luuuurve penguins. Used to call my ex penguin.

 

[StacyLeigh]

Nah...why would a Kraken eat a leaf? It sounds cool cause penguins (and penguins lovers) are cute.

I see what you did there… and there.

 

[saustin5432]

Alice and Bob say hi.

Lol. Is it wrong if RSA gives me a boner?

 

[Xerxes82]

I'm nosey about people's nerdisms...what things do you just completely nerd out over?

I am the uber nerd. Like seriously. I love sci-fi. Trek, Wars, Babylon 5, Fringe, X-Files, whatever. Some fantasy. Cut my teeth on Tolkien. Tend to lean more modern these days. Mark Lawrence, Joe Abercrombie. Sure, some George RR Martin.

I still collect comic books, for heavens sake! True, only Daredevil and the rare indue or creator owned title these days. But they are bringing back my favorite Spider-Man next week so I may have to get my Ben Reilly fix as well.

I play tabletop games. Particularly Star Wars: X-Wing and Star Wars: Armada miniature games. A little D+D. Been experimenting with a new system based on a comic called DIE that is pretty good as well. Tolkien meets steampunk meets cyberpunk, and guest starring literary figures from the 18th-20th century. The whole enchilada.

Outside of 'classic' nerd-dom, I love history. Ancient Rome and the Byzantine Empire, Tudor England. Vikings. Been on a Norman history kick of late. Religious history. I don't understand religion, not really. But it fascinates me. I spent three nights last week reading a series of articles on the development and execution of 90's and early 2000's animated films that was brilliant.

At the end of the day I love stories. Tales. The narrative, following the path and the threads. I'm a sucker for 'em. Tell me a story! Yours or somebody else's. A story well told is always worth the price of admission.

 

[cheekygirl75]

I'm nosey about homeownership:

- Do you own your own home? Why/Why not?

If you do:
- Is this the first home you've owned? How many others have you owned?
- How long have you lived in your current home?
- How many houses did you look at before deciding on the one you bought? How long did the process of finding the right one take?
- Would you ever sell your house and rent a house or apartment instead?

Edited to add:
- how is the housing market in your area?
- do most people in your area rent or own?

 

[Jake069258]

I'm nosey about homeownership:

- Do you own your own home? Why/Why not?

If you do:
- Is this the first home you've owned? How many others have you owned?
- How long have you lived in your current home?
- How many houses did you look at before deciding on the one you bought? How long did the process of finding the right one take?
- Would you ever sell your house and rent a house or apartment instead?

Yes, i am a firm believer in the investment of home ownership. Had my first mortgage at 20.

This is my... 5th house i think. This is the home we will retire in. We have lived here for about 5 years now. We fell in love with this neighborhood, and pounced when we say the right one available.

I would never rent. I am of the opinion that it is the same as throwing money away.

 

[Xerxes82]

I'm nosey about homeownership:

- Do you own your own home? Why/Why not?

If you do:
- Is this the first home you've owned? How many others have you owned?
- How long have you lived in your current home?
- How many houses did you look at before deciding on the one you bought? How long did the process of finding the right one take?
- Would you ever sell your house and rent a house or apartment instead?

Ooh, this is right in my wheelhouse! Since I can't seem to shut up about it lately.

I'm in the process of buying my first home right this very second. We had a family home as a kid, I think we sold it when I was 13-14. Whenever my parents finalized their divorce. Been a renter ever since.

I've long sworn that I would rent forever. I liked the upside. Flexibility in moving, relatively little upkeep. But over the years I've come to realize there are some major downsides too. Like downstairs neighbors with odd work hours that complain about creaky floorboords at 8:30pm. I started socking away money and getting myself sorted so I could do this properly.

Then, Covid. Even with separate ductwork, I"m essentially indoors with a bunch of people I don't know that well and don't trust where communicable disease is concerned. It screwed with the housing market and made me put stuff on hold for a while, though honestly I probably would have waited on account of financial viability anyway. And then this summer I got a recommendation from the family of a friend for a realtor they knew. Somebody they trusted, who had a lot of experience both in the industry and with first time buyers.

I started my pre-approval all of three weeks ago. Looked at hundreds of listings in my area, then after my pre-approval I started planning showings with my realtor. I looked at 7 properties in total before I fell in love. Made an offer that night, and it was accepted the next morning. My realtor tells me it's pretty rare around these parts for someone to get their very first offer accepted so I suppose it was simply meant to be.

 

[cheekygirl75]

Ooh, this is right in my wheelhouse! Since I can't seem to shut up about it lately.

I'm in the process of buying my first home right this very second. We had a family home as a kid, I think we sold it when I was 13-14. Whenever my parents finalized their divorce. Been a renter ever since.

I've long sword that I would rent forever. I liked the upside. Flexibility in moving, relatively little upkeep. But over the years I've come to realize there are some major downsides too. Like downstairs neighbors with odd work hours that complain about creaky floorboords at 8:30pm. I started socking away money and getting myself sorted so I could do this properly.

Then, Covid. Even with separate ductwork, I"m essentially indoors with a bunch of people I don't know that well and don't trust where communicable disease is concerned. It screwed with the housing market and made me put stuff on hold for a while, though honestly I probably would have waited on account of financial viability anyway. And then this summer I got a recommendation from the family of a friend for a realtor they knew. Somebody they trusted, who had a lot of experience both in the industry and with first time buyers.

I started my pre-approval all of three weeks ago. Looked at hundreds of listings in my area, then after my pre-approval I started planning showings with my realtor. I looked at 7 properties in total before I fell in love. Made an offer that night, and it was accepted the next morning. My realtor tells me it's pretty rare around these parts for someone to get their very first offer accepted so I suppose it was simply meant to be.

Yes, seeing your posts is what inspired this! I've always been a renter. It kills me though because I could have bought something when I was younger, when I didn't know the value of owning vs. renting. Now it's definitely out of reach for me for a few years (excepting a lottery win).

 

[aussiegeekygal]

I'm nosey about homeownership:

- Do you own your own home? Why/Why not?

If you do:
- Is this the first home you've owned? How many others have you owned?
- How long have you lived in your current home?
- How many houses did you look at before deciding on the one you bought? How long did the process of finding the right one take?
- Would you ever sell your house and rent a house or apartment instead?

Edited to add:
- how is the housing market in your area?
- do most people in your area rent or own?

Yes, I own my home.
This is the first home I bought. I've owned and sold others, though.
I've owned this home nine years and lived here and four other homes before returning. Long story.
We looked at two. The moment we walked into this one we were ready to put in an offer.
We found our home within a month.
I've rented an apartment whilst owning this home. At times I've had four mortgage payments a month. I'm thankful to not need to sell this place if I want to live somewhere else. I may rent an apartment. I don't mind apartment living.

 

[FunLi]

I'm nosey about homeownership:

- Do you own your own home? Why/Why not?

If you do:
- Is this the first home you've owned? How many others have you owned?
- How long have you lived in your current home?
- How many houses did you look at before deciding on the one you bought? How long did the process of finding the right one take?
- Would you ever sell your house and rent a house or apartment instead?

Edited to add:
- how is the housing market in your area?
- do most people in your area rent or own?

I own my home. Landlords just really weren’t my jam after having a terrible experience where one foreclosed and didn’t tell us. Fun times.

-This isn’t the first home. I owned one before this.
-Almost three years
-I looked at 6 others all in one weekend. Put an offer on this one before we left the driveway after viewing. The process didn’t take long at all, two weeks or so. I knew what I wanted.
-Ive recently toyed with the idea of selling my house and buying a ton of acreage; living in a tiny home or something similar while building a new home but I’d never sell to rent again unless I absolutely had to.

-It’s insane. Houses are going anywhere from 15k to 50k over asking price and under contract within hours.
-Most people in my area own but I’m also in a rural area which has a lot of “old money”.

 

[saustin5432]

I'm nosey about homeownership:

- Do you own your own home? Why/Why not?

If you do:
- Is this the first home you've owned? How many others have you owned?
- How long have you lived in your current home?
- How many houses did you look at before deciding on the one you bought? How long did the process of finding the right one take?
- Would you ever sell your house and rent a house or apartment instead?

Edited to add:
- how is the housing market in your area?
- do most people in your area rent or own?

Do you own your own home? Why/Why not?
I do own
If you do:
- Is this the first home you've owned? How many others have you owned? No. This is my 4th and we owned a home on a lake years ago. I recommend not owning a second home..so much work..
- How long have you lived in your current home? 20 years
- How many houses did you look at before deciding on the one you bought? How long did the process of finding the right one take? Proba ly 20 to 30. We were on a tight timeline because we someone sold our house on the 2nd day it was on the market, so we had roughly 45 days to find a place to live.
- Would you ever sell your house and rent a house or apartment instead? Yes. I actually plan to do that soon. I want to experience some new places.

Edited to add:
- how is the housing market in your area? Hot AF. Prices are up 30+ percent since beginning of 2020. Many are up 50%
- do most people in your area rent or own? Most own. There is a big shortage of available rentals near me

 

[LustfulIntentions2]

I'm nosey about homeownership:

- Do you own your own home? Why/Why not?

If you do:
- Is this the first home you've owned? How many others have you owned?
- How long have you lived in your current home?
- How many houses did you look at before deciding on the one you bought? How long did the process of finding the right one take?
- Would you ever sell your house and rent a house or apartment instead?

Edited to add:
- how is the housing market in your area?
- do most people in your area rent or own?

We do. Because that's what you do when you have degrees and jobs and want to put down roots, I guess?

It is not our first, but our second, and we've been here about 8 years. I don't recall how many we looked at before we bought this one, but it had to be at least a dozen or more. We moved pretty quickly through the process on this one, partially because we had to because of a relocation.

The market here? Finally cooling off a little, but still bananas as hell. Multiple offers, above asking, waiving inspection kind of stuff. And it's mostly homeowners, very few renters.

 

[Lonelywife1205]

I'm nosey about homeownership:

- Do you own your own home? Why/Why not?

If you do:
- Is this the first home you've owned? How many others have you owned?
- How long have you lived in your current home?
- How many houses did you look at before deciding on the one you bought? How long did the process of finding the right one take?
- Would you ever sell your house and rent a house or apartment instead?

Edited to add:
- how is the housing market in your area?
- do most people in your area rent or own?

We own our home. We actually built it. When we went looking, I couldn’t find anything I liked. Our first 2 houses I fell in love with from the moment I walked inside. Then our 3rd house was the best we could find at the time for various reasons, and it was ok, but we were there for 14 years and I never loved it. So, when it was time to move I wanted to love my house again. So we built one and I spent probably 9 months of my life choosing every single detail. I wanted my house to feel cozy and intimate. 5 years later and I still love it.

I wouldn’t want to rent again. Most people here own. The market is still crazy here. Low inventory, multiple offers 10k-50k above asking, waiving appraisals and inspections, cash buyers….I would hate to be looking right now.