Hobbies: the Things that Make us Forget About the Agonizing, Agonizing Pain... And Paper Mache!

Everyone with a pulse and an Ipod has a hobby or two. Being the uber-everyman type guy that I am, I happen to have a myriad of hobbies. But, naturally, for organizational purposes, we'll say I have 3 hobbies. In no particular order (but with obvious preference), I give them to you:

1) Playing guitar and writing songs:

My bread and butter. Or maybe my "butter and bread." But then again, who says that?

As far as my satisfaction goes, there's nothing that glees me more than playing that perfect line of notes or penning that phrase that just seems to click. Ever since I picked up my first axe, playing guitar's been my number one pasttime. As a matter of fact, some of my favorite summer memories consist of simply sitting on my parent's back porch and strumming a few chords while the sun goes down. And if that's not enough to sell my irreversible guitar lunacy, I'll let you know that I usually sleep with my favorite acoustic. Hopeless, I know.

Only recently have I really gotten hooked on songwriting. My mom was a published poet of sorts, so I suppose it's a bit hereditary. Either way, songwriting's something that's slowly starting to monopolize yours truly's time. I just noticed how bad it's become when going through a notebook for my Ag. Journalism class. Being my major, such a notebook should define the direction my scholastic life is taking. Strangely enough though, most of the pages are filled with random song lyrics and phrases. Am I trying to tell myself something?

2) Writing Screenplays and Teleplays:

Recently, on a whim of sorts, I've decided that I want to become a television writer. I suppose my writing obsession first occurred a little after last summer {cue the wavy flashback special effects}. It was a cool evening when my best friend called me up. He told me to meet him at the T.G.I. Fridays off Olive Blvd- telling me it was very important. Naturally, I rushed there with haste and met him at a shaded table on the restaurant's porch. He smiled at me quietly and pulled out a bright red notebook. At the moment, I wasn't sure what the heck this was all about until, discreetly, I asked him, "Matt, what the heck is this all about." After a few seconds he filled me in with his idea.

We would write a sitcom- about our lives. Being two college students with little initiative, I was certain that our lives would make a fascinating subject for a television show ;-). Regardless though, I happily went along with it and, in a matter of weeks, we'd come up with about two seasons worth of episodes. We had plently of ideas, no doubt, but we eventually wanted to pen a script. Matt, with absolutely no reservations, told me he couldn't write for squat. The pen was in my hands now- quite literally. I was a science major at the time and hadn't seriously written a thing in a number of years, so I was naturally bewildered by the task. Don't get me wrong- I'd been an outstanding short story writer back in my high school days (my glory years, if you will :-)), but I wasn't sure how my writing would hold up. Nonetheless, I was pretty excited to get back into the vast and neurotic world of writing- even if it entailed nothing more than writing a goofy television show that no one would ever see.

As it turns out, our first two scripts or so were actually pretty good. From that moment on, I became enamored with writing teleplays. Even though it's obviously a writing task, I feel there can be a slightly scientific aspect of writing a television script. There's ingredients you absolutely must add (conflict, comedy), guidelines you must follow (3 acts, 22 minutes worth of material), and factors you can never ignore (how would character X react to event Y). Few things are as thrilling for your's truly than penning a script. Now if only someone would pay me for it :-).

3) Improving myself:

I know, I know- sounds like a cop out, huh? Well Jack, I'll tell you this: if my hobbies are the activities I value the most outside of my daily obligations, then improving myself would most certainly fit the bill. Quite naturally then, I've developed an undying love of self help books. I've read books on public speaking, procrastination, and even romance- each one altering and improving my ways of thinking and living. I find it amazing that there's so many aspects of life that one could improve upon by simply heading down to the 'ol Barnes and Noble and grabbing a paperback. Give it a try- you have my approval to improve :-)

Well there you have it- another fun, informative, and mandatory blog post. Luckily, now you can return to your toils and foils knowing exactly what my 3 favorite hobbies are. A few more of life's mysteries- solved, solved, and solved.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm gonna go... well, I suppose you know by now :-).