Hi somegirl...my mom is an oil painter and I started drawing in school classes and then took a few classes in watercolor when my boys were little and I was at home.  I love it, but keep saying I'll put more time into in when I'm older.  I might want to get on that..haha!

I think anything that is creative is a healthy project for "grounding" a soul...good luck to you!

 Except for the art classes I took in school I am pretty much self taught.  I read, research, tril and error, and pick people's brains.  This goes for all my hobbies.  Drawing, water color painting, cooking/baking, gardening...

A hobby I've just about given up now is playing tennis.

I first learnt to play in High School.

It was a new school, and some kids asked me to play and laughed at me when I missed the ball.

I came home in tears, and my Dad - who was a good tennis player - said he'd teach me.

At that time it's main appeal was that it gave me some individual Dad time - when you're one of five kids there isn't a lot of that!

 I played on and off for years - but when I turned 50 I decided to have "proper coaching lessons".

I really enjoyed developing my game. If you haven't hit a "perfect" backhand drive you haven't lived. It just feels so damn good!

My other hobby is creative writing.

I've been writing a detective novel since I was twenty.

The main character has aged along with me. As such, it's getting a bit ridiculous - he's almost old enough to be on a walking frame. How on earth is this poor guy going to triumph over villains???

I'm at present doing a course on writing a memoir. I have some ideas about writing some short stories on a babyboomer's childhood.........

But more than the attraction to writing - I enjoy the company of fellow writers better than any other group. We just seem to click.......

This year, I wrote my first play. It will soon be workshopped by a local theatre group, hopefully to go into production this summer/fall season.

I have always written, starting many things, but only finishing children's stories. There were great ideas for novels, their characters fully developed, and I could see the scenes. Yet, they sat around in various states of completion. See, I struggled endlessly with painting the pictures in words while the dialogue was a cinch. I had given up, until a friend said,"wanna do the novel marathon?" I said no and explained why and she said, "don't force it" followed up by, "why don't you turn it into a television screenplay or an actual play?" My mind never went there though I am around the theatre often and likely my mind does work that way....I did the marathon for charity, got great feedback and have not looked back. The pile is slowly being reworked.

Never too old to learn something new.

How wonderful that you are taking drawing classes, somegirl, and exploring something that you've wanted to do for so long.

A few years back I had a shift in my health and have since found myself at home a lot with limited energy. I had done some song writing over the years, but life and work and other exciting things kept me from pursuing it very much. My 'gift' of time has allowed me to explore and tap more fully into this creative realm of composing music - an activity that works for me for where I'm at in my life right now. 

I think its great that you are taking drawing classes.  

I bowl.  I play in a band/  (this is an old hobby that I started again)  I do Aquasize and bellydance.  I am not really attached to any of these hobbies though.  I curled for one year and did tapdancing for one year as well.

I like to draw too. I've allways drawn. I had art classes in grades 9-12, then took painting in college. But I haven't painted since, they painted me out. I used to draw a lot, and write poetry a lot, like a few a day. Now I only sketch here and there. Once in a while I get into the zone, and do something that makes my hubby go: Wow, you just did that!? But overall my skill has declined.

Now I am taking Math 11 again, which I failed in high school, and I'm really enjoying that now. I like how it makes sence, it's very stable and logical and a bit of a challenge, it's like some people might enjoy a crossword puzzle, to me. I also do a spot of latin here and there from a book, which I also enjoy. A few years back I was teaching myself Anglo-Saxon (Old English) from a book. I love the connections to English, French and German. It gives me a better understanding history and the interconnectedness of things.

One of my ongoing hobbies is photography.  I became interested in my 20's and have progressed through better cameras to where I am now with a digital SLR camera.

I took a night school class at a local community college a few years ago and that was really helpful and interesting.    A couple of local photography stores have workshops which I have attended and I once did a full-day workshop with a professional photographer.

My focus now is mostly wildlife photography but I also photograph scenery and anything  useful for the powerpoints for church worship services.  I have several friends who are very good photographers so am contantly learning new things from them.

All wildlife is really interesting to photograph, especially the birds who visit my backyard feeders, foxes and deer that come by.

Pilgrims Progress, "My other hobby is creative writing.

I've been writing a detective novel since I was twenty.

The main character has aged along with me. As such, it's getting a bit ridiculous - he's almost old enough to be on a walking frame. How on earth is this poor guy going to triumph over villains???"

Hmmmm, I actually find that idea quite appealing! Some old fart that can save the world. I think there's a baby boomer market for that. Bombs disguised as enemas, Metamucil in water instead of orange juice to make them"talk", exploding canes and turbo wheelchairs. Yup, I'd buy it.

LOL. waterfall, I hereby award you the movie rights!

 My dashing young detective is now sadly, 60+.

Takes a bit of re-working.

Howzabout a combination of graeme and MikePaterson???

I had thought of Arminius - but had to discard the idea. How does one work mysticism and initive consciousness into a plot?

And as for Happy Genius, he boasted that he could solve the crime before Chapter 2.

Hey, PP,

We've got something in common. I've been aspiring to write since my youth, but haven't actually finished anything in years (the last was a short story that my late friend Mike published in a webzine he edited, but it was already about 10 years old at that point). Most of my early stuff was s-f and horror, but recently I've been leaning towards more down-to-earth stories. The one that's been stuck with me for years now is about two college roommates, their friendship, their rock band, and their very different love lives (one is looking for the "real thing", the other is promiscuous to a fault). Part of me wants to work a supernatural element into it (by merging it with a horror story I wrote in the eighties) and probably end up with something Twilight-ish, the other wants to do it as a straight college romance/bromance, maybe with a comic edge to it. Alas, my free time is kind of skimpy these days and if I want to read, hang out here, and have a real world social life, my literary aspirations have to take a back seat. There's always retirement, I guess.

Mendalla

I love writing -- I focus on sci-fi.  I'm currently finishing up my second novel.  First one didn't sell, so I'm hoping this one does.  If not, I'll just get started on a third novel.

Anyway, I was thinking -- you said you have little time...

One piece of advice I've heard many times is to just sit down every day for about fifteen minutes and write one page.  When you reach the bottom of the page, even if you're in the middle of a sentence, stop and turn off your computer -- you're done for the day.  If you follow this habit, you'll have a 365 page novel by the end of the year.  (Or you could end sooner if the story is over, or go into two years if it's that long of a book, you know... whatever the story demands.)