Sean-Sean Calling To The Far-away Towers

here's the haps, the capers, the deal, folks; i'm a wee bit bored, and i find i need fulfillment, some sort of enjoyable task to take my mind off the everyday...in short, i need a hobby. i've tried a few, and they're just not quite what i'm looking for, for a variety of reasons, which i'll get to in a second. for those of you who don't know me that well i kind of run the gamut of the American male; i'm a little nerdy (comic books and video games), a little literate (reading really is fun!), a little rebellious (far too long to list, but on an unrelated note did anyone catch my music reference?), and a little adrenaline-rush-style-"ain't-got-time-to-bleed" crazy (on sunday, my father-in-law wasn't surprised that i want to wrestle a bear). i want something physical, a little or a lot daring, and relatively inexpensive. here are some things i already do or am already planning on doing:

Motorcycles:




this is currently my favorite. i'm getting ready to sell my car ('03 eclipse, anyone?), and if i decide to go this route i'm going to get whatever bike i can for the money that i get, or maybe a little higher but no more than $2k over. i don't want to have to make payments, or at least make them for too long. fortunately, i can get a lot of bike for between $4-5k; unfortunately, i have a hard time justifying spending that amount of money, but my real issue is that even if i do it will amount to more of a mode of transportation for me than an enjoyment activity. not that it won't be fun, it just becomes...not mundane, but...in this case i think that familiarity might breed boredom if it's something i do everyday.

Videogaming:


i already do this quite a bit already, not that i think it's a bad thing, i'm just looking to...diversify. this time without my tv (imagine "VIZIOOOOO!" to the tune of "KHAAAAAAANNN!") has pointed out that i really don't have much else that isn't reading or loving my wife.

Exercise:

...would be swell if i wasn't already doing it, at a minimum, twice a day. also, more of a work thing for me. besides, did you see that picture? my muscles cast their own shadows. (and for the record, he's better looking than me, but more importantly i can so take that guy. he's wearing capris.)

Baseball
i do love me some baseball. i have it on my iphone, so i can listen to my beloved Sox (for those who are curious about the inconsistencies, i capitalize those words that merit capitalization) everywhere i go. other than that, and occasionally boxing, i couldn't give a wick about professional sports.

those three are what i have going now, just to give you an idea of what i have going on. here are the actual candidates:

1: Practical Shooting Competitions
These are tournaments wherein a person has to shoot on the move through simulated tactical environments, scoring for time and accuracy. this appeals to me for obvious reasons, both personal and professional, but the downside is having to hang out with other gun enthusiasts. the gun culture is ridiculously macho, so much so that even a decorated combat vet ("like myself," he says, buffing his purple heart) doesn't really fit in because i'm a big scary lefty liberal. even being a firm second amendment democrat doesn't carry enough weight with these people. i walked into a gun store a couple months ago and a employee asked if i was "ready for the revolution" against obama. i don't really have the patience for that kind of thing. another downside is money; shooting is expensive, and putting together some good firearms would take a lot of time and probably necessitate my getting a job (horror of horrors, i know). on the other hand, there's the incredible amount of awesomeness inherent to getting to run around with a gun again.

2: Orienteering
orienteering is a sport wherein one uses a compass and map to navigate from one point to another. this isn't something i'm terribly good at; i can generally get you from A to B, but get me in some dense woods and i'm thoroughly screwed. so this would be good practice, be outdoorsy, and is inexpensive, requiring naught but map and compass. the downside: there are only so many orienteering courses here in oregon, and most of those are near portland or bend (a ways away). also, land navigation for me in the army was a special kind of torture, so there are negative connotations in my brain.

(i included that particular image of a portugese wind rose, renaissance forebear to the modern day compass rose, because that also happens to be the rockin' cool tattoo on my left shoulder, for those who may never get to see it, that i got in honor of my wifey).

3: Surfing
i've alwaysalwaysalways wanted to do this. growing up in california i was unable to swim (long story) and always had to watch while my friends and virtually everyone else got to hop on a board, and now that i'm learning to swim i'm anxious to get out there, and stephanie could teach me. but: oregon's water is cold. real cold. and given travel time to go to new places (both a good and bad thing), this could get real expensive, real quick.

4: Triathlon
maybe i don't tell her enough, but stephanie's marathon stuff is inspiring to me. sure she doesn't come in first, but she's out there doing it, and the real victory, as teddy put it, "belongs to those in the arena." she makes me consider doing triathlons, which sound fun and would probably fit in with my special kind of masochism, but at the same time i A) can barely swim, B) have horrible knees that probably shouldn't run that far, and C) hate bikes. hate bikes. so as cool as it sounds, it just doesn't seem like a good fit. and i'd have to buy a fancy-dancy bike (which i double-hate) and shave my body. not that i have that much to shave (you should meet my friend brandon), but even so.

there're probably other things, but i can't think of them just now. and so i turn to you, dear people that i can't really claim to know: i've discussed these and other options with people i actually do know, and have come to no good conclusions. having talked my poor friends to death, i'm hoping that you folks might think of something that i haven't. please leave your questions/comments/testimonials/suggestions/snarkiness in the comments area.

stay classy...internet.
sean