Isildur
Active member
What are yours?
Some of mine:
Go: My father taught me the basics when I was a kid, but it didn't really catch me at the time, partly because I didn't know of any other people to play it with. A number of years later, the anime Hikaru no Go rekindled my interest in the game, and I started playing on-line, with people at my university (we now have a club, though attendance this semester has been low due to some scheduling snafus), and sometimes with a local Go club that meets at people's apartments. At the internet Go server on which I play, I'm currently rated 5 kyu.
(A note to any potential beginners: Mentioning on Go servers that Hikaru no Go manga or anime got you into Go doesn't guarantee you a good reaction, particularly if you're a beginner. Many Go players like the anime, but there are some players who view HnG as having brought in a flood of irritating, sometimes AOLspeak-typing, otaku newbies who are enthusiastic at first, but are then disappointed when they don't rapidly become masters, and quit. Personally, I doubt that the percentage who drop out because of frustration or any other reason is that significantly greater among HnG viewers than among any other beginners, and I have little doubt that the overall effect of HnG on the world of Go has been extremely positive. That said, picking a name like Hikaru435 or Sai2331 isn't as clever as you think.
More generally, Go can be a very rewarding game with many layers of strategy unfolding before you as you get better, but don't expect to get there fast-- it takes time and effort to get better, and even as you get better, you'll still be losing half your games, because you'll be playing stronger opponents. The goal isn't to win most of the time, the goal is to deepen your understanding and play thought-provoking games.)
Hiking: Not of the rope-requiring variety, though maybe at some point I'll try that too. I've mostly hiked in the Northeast Catskill Mountains. I used to also do some mountain biking, but I haven't done it in a long while. (I'm not quite as physically fit as all this may make me sound, however. That is, I'm decently strong, but also a bit overweight, though not terribly.)
Computers: programming, poking into stuff that perhaps I shouldn't, etc.
Art: Some amateur photography, drawing of various sorts, flash animation, etc.
What are some of your interests and activities?
Some of mine:
Go: My father taught me the basics when I was a kid, but it didn't really catch me at the time, partly because I didn't know of any other people to play it with. A number of years later, the anime Hikaru no Go rekindled my interest in the game, and I started playing on-line, with people at my university (we now have a club, though attendance this semester has been low due to some scheduling snafus), and sometimes with a local Go club that meets at people's apartments. At the internet Go server on which I play, I'm currently rated 5 kyu.
(A note to any potential beginners: Mentioning on Go servers that Hikaru no Go manga or anime got you into Go doesn't guarantee you a good reaction, particularly if you're a beginner. Many Go players like the anime, but there are some players who view HnG as having brought in a flood of irritating, sometimes AOLspeak-typing, otaku newbies who are enthusiastic at first, but are then disappointed when they don't rapidly become masters, and quit. Personally, I doubt that the percentage who drop out because of frustration or any other reason is that significantly greater among HnG viewers than among any other beginners, and I have little doubt that the overall effect of HnG on the world of Go has been extremely positive. That said, picking a name like Hikaru435 or Sai2331 isn't as clever as you think.
More generally, Go can be a very rewarding game with many layers of strategy unfolding before you as you get better, but don't expect to get there fast-- it takes time and effort to get better, and even as you get better, you'll still be losing half your games, because you'll be playing stronger opponents. The goal isn't to win most of the time, the goal is to deepen your understanding and play thought-provoking games.)
Hiking: Not of the rope-requiring variety, though maybe at some point I'll try that too. I've mostly hiked in the Northeast Catskill Mountains. I used to also do some mountain biking, but I haven't done it in a long while. (I'm not quite as physically fit as all this may make me sound, however. That is, I'm decently strong, but also a bit overweight, though not terribly.)
Computers: programming, poking into stuff that perhaps I shouldn't, etc.
Art: Some amateur photography, drawing of various sorts, flash animation, etc.
What are some of your interests and activities?
If I still lived out in the country I'd be taking pictures with my camera too. I took some awesome stills of nature before I moved down here. Also I guess video games and computers, like everybody else here. This means homebrew too. You can do some awesome things with homebrew on your Wii (including Wii Linux...it's too bad the compiler was giving me issues 
