Happy New Year! One reason I started this newsletter was to create a place to talk about and encourage hobbyism. Lifelong learning and skill accumulation is something that brings me a tremendous amount of satisfaction. So today, I wanted to do a retrospective of where I’m at with each of my hobbies. My hope in sharing is that some of you feel encouraged to pick up a new hobby or dust off an old one in 2024.
🖊️ Writing: This year I got going. I released 5 newsletters on Substack, well short of my original goal of 12. I did spend a lot of time getting ideas in the hopper.
2024 action item - write consistently, and do interesting/weird things worth writing about.
🔨 Woodworking: This hobby took a big step backward. No notable builds in 2023. I have a pair of red oak nightstands sitting half-built in my garage waiting to be completed.
2024 action item - get back on track building furniture, cutting boards, and cabinetry.
☕ Coffee: a great year for coffee. I learned a lot. I did my first comparative tasting in January with a 4 pack of coffees from Onyx coffee roasters. I was surprised to find that my favorite was not an East African, but rather their Costa Rica Las Lajas. In October, I hosted a few friends for “The Great American Coffee Taste Test” a comparative tasting from James Hoffmann, and experimented with a new automatic brewer.
2024 action item - experiment with 1 month of caffeine detox
🎸 Music: back on track in 2023. After a long COVID interregnum, I started playing and singing regularly. Mostly through volunteering at my church, but I also had a few paid gigs. Started saving towards a “professional” level acoustic guitar, and consequently started letting go of some of my underutilized gear. In total, I sold 1 guitar, an amp, and 2 pedals. On the listening side, I tend to find music I like and wear it out, but this year my knowledge of classical music also improved quite a bit. Still a lifetime of learning to do here.
2024 action item - take singing lessons to learn proper technique, improve tone and vibrato
📖 Reading: I consumed 29 books this year. Mostly fiction, but most notably, 9 non-fiction books. I really enjoyed the books that I digested more slowly, taking notes along the way for later reflection. Great learnings, and a lot of entertainment. In Q3 I started to feel that I was reading just for the numbers and that my priorities were a bit off. I took a break and abandoned my original goal of 36 books. After a few months, I jumped back in a tackled a few books over the holidays. I want to keep reading at scale in 2024, but perhaps at a lower volume with better retention. Notable also that I did a lot of great web-based reading.
2024 action item - focus on quality reading over quantity.
🔪 Cooking: I’ve had to take a step back a bit on the cooking front for logistical and family reasons. With that being said I did have some learning this year, I got an Ooni pizza oven, and have been practicing making wood-fired Neapolitan pizza. The hardest things have been fire control and properly launching the pies. I also had some great success with BBQ and grilling skills and was able to cook on several occasions for friends and family, including a party with 15+ people.
2024 action item - aim to cook twice per month for family/friends
🍸 **new** Cocktails - This year I learned a lot about making cocktails. I went down the rabbit hole just far enough to learn some of the basics and figure out what I like. I enjoyed the learning, but I feel like I reached a steady state with this hobby and probably won’t develop it any further.
⌚ **new** Watches: I started deep diving into the world of watches this year. This mostly means that I watched a lot of YouTube videos (my favorite channels are Teddy Baldassare, Watch Crunch, and Wristwatch Revival). It’s been fun to learn about the history, brands, and technical details about movements and what gives these little hunks of metal value (hint: non-zero amount of hype). I purchased 4 watches this year, 2 as mementos for important moments this year. I also gifted my first watch this year and received one as a gift myself. I have many thoughts on the watch world that may warrant a post later.
2024 action item - focus on long-term saving for an heirloom quality watch.
In summary, this year was a mixed bag from a hobby perspective. I made advances in some areas but some hobbies sat on the shelf. The challenge for any hobbyist is finding time for the pursuit, and I’m no exception. But as I step into 2024, I’m excited keep learning, experimenting, and sharing my thoughts with you along the way. Thanks for reading this week. I’ll be back with more soon.
-JA
I admire the quantity and variety of your hobbies. You definitely are talented in several areas. I need to find a hobby,
Thanks for the encouragement.