My most stereotypical special interest (in that it’s something really random that you might assume there’s not a lot of depth to) is artificial lighting technology.

But I have a lot of stuff I could infodump about: computers, video games, TTRPGs, world building, neurology, etc.

linux

My main one is vegan food. Before I had access to a kitchen to make my own food, it used to involve collecting, curating and creating recipes, but has since moved onto creating (and endlessly recreating, adapting and morphing) certain flavour and texture profiles.

The current big one I’ve been very obsessed with making and eating for the last few years, is variations on hoisin mock duck wraps.

The latest iteration is a salad wrap, with leaves of nappa cabbage as the wrap, a layer of vegan garlic mayo with chilli crisp, mock duck, green onion, cucumber, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, hoisin sauce, corriander leaves, and another cabbage leaf to cover/ close the wrap. This probably has the best textures so far and tastes really good!

Making/eating kimchi is a similarly intense interest/obsession. So is hotpot. I fucking love hotpot.

My secondary major interest fluctuates between several different things, but is currently perfume.

I’m very into creating (and endlessly recreating, adapting and morphing) certain scent profiles, and collecting perfumes.

I like to do this through layering different perfumes on my skin and clothes, so I can highlight certain notes/sensory aspects for myself (that may not be apparent on other people’s skin chemistry, so this, like with my other interest, is a very subjective fascination!).

Over the span of three days (between showers) I like to start in one place with my layering combinations and go on scent journeys as the notes morph and fade, and I add to them with other complimentary scents and see how far I can go. Notes linger on clothing longer and differently to how they do on skin, so as I’m layering over several days it builds up in fascinating ways. It’s very interesting to me too finding which layering combinations work one way but not the other.

Lately I’ve enjoyed starting with a base combo of Mauboussin Mauboussin (resinous yet juicy plums and lots of ylang ylang) and Musamam White Intense by Lattafa (juicy spiced oranges and too much ambroxan)- and then taking that in interesting directions as it fades over the day, like layering on more spices and wood notes, and then when that fades, onto various ouds and roses.

Or adding a Stronger With You flanker (sweet and aromatic with chestnuts + individual flanker variations), then when that starts to fade leading it with fragrances full of ginger, vanilla, lactonic nutty notes and patchouli.

Being enveloped in layers of beautiful fragrances is such big sensory good times for me and discovering new combinations is so pleasing.

Also before anyone comes at me for this, I live alone and don’t wear any fragrance when I go outside, so I’m really not hurting anyone with this hobby!

Levitation Wand!

I think it is pretty niché as most people that see it have no idea what is going on to begin with and if drugs are involved I love blowing peoples minds with it.

Here is a video that demonstrates what it is.

I have so many interests that it seems impossible to pinpoint one particular interest. My mind is very active and chaotic, partly due to anxiety. I often try to fill an existential void with chaos and randomness.

That said, I would say that mathematics is one of my main interests, especially the branch of mathematics that intersects with the artistic and experimental. Tinkering with numbers, without a definite purpose (because there is no purpose in my nihilistic mindset), just for the joy of it. There is also programming, which serves as a framework for the mathematical experimentation that I mentioned.

Then there’s also the philosophical reflection, as noted in my parenthetical mention of nihilism. I don’t really know if I really enjoy philosophical inquiries into the reality of existence or if it is a consequence of an existence alienated from a social life, perhaps it started as a consequence of my awkwardness until it eventually became part of my interests.

There is also occult and esoteric studies. Perhaps a consequence of “gazing into the abyss” which sparked my curiosity in dealing with the darker aspects of reality. There is something about beliefs like Satanism, Luciferianism (as a side note, they are different beliefs, for those who oversimplify and think they are all “the same” because “devil”), Chaos Magic, Thelema, there is something there that is attractive to me. The hidden truths of reality, the shadows within ourselves, the cosmic forces that emerged from the primordial chaos. I really like them all, although I don’t really belong to any specific belief system.

And this leads me to scientific interests as well. Particularly studies on the cosmic aspects, quantum mechanics, studies on the origins of the universe, thermodynamics, zero energy universe theory, studies on how everything will end (Big Rip, Big Freeze, Big Crunch…). I don’t really delve into the technical depths of science because I’m not a scientist, but it is part of the framework of how I try to see things.

In a summary, I have many, intertwined, sometimes even opposing, simultaneous interests.

Initially thought I didn’t have one, because I was thinking it had to be, like, things you do or whatever. Like wood carving or building something. Then I realized I absolutely do. Lol

Philosophy and religious studies. Non dualism especially, but honestly, I just love learning about different philosophical ideas. I love Anthropology in general, and the differences and similarities between disparate cultures is downright fucking fascinating. People tend to think that the differences in, say, Hinduism and Christianity are pretty great, and they absolutely can be, but if you dive into the deep thinkers of either tradition you tend to find that oftentimes they’re trying to say the same things.

I like making homemade bongs and water pipes specifically from reclaimed materials. I’m not strident about things, but it’s fair to say in a general sense that I need them to have $0.00 of material costs. I make “the best” in terms of performance, and people freak out when they use or see them. They are always a huge conversation piece, always creative, and I just give them away. People ask me all the time to make custom ones but I won’t. It’s free or nuthin’

I know people that still use water pipes I made for them 15 years ago! Sometimes they look a bit “trashy” but they’re crafted! And that’s the way I like em!

Remember when Homer Simpson made that misbegotten lump of shit called VunderBaat or something? I feel him man

Hedge laying. It’s a technique where you almost cut through the stems of the plants in a hedgerow in order to bend them down. This promotes the growth of new shoots and results in a very dense hedge, which historically was done to make sure animals didn’t escape or enter pastures and fields.

Cryptography. If something exists, its very existence conveys something or is about to.

How did you start with that? I’ve contributed some via Street Complete, but I’ve never figured out how to contribute directly to OSM.

iNaturalist

i upload photos i take of plants, birds, mammals, reptiles, fungi, and bugs. The observations (photos + location + annotation) are uploaded to a public database accessible to researchers and universities.

I’ve been involved in multiple species range expansions, and i’ve documented both endangered and invasive species. Pretty fun!

The Android app is very good. The iOS app is good for uploads, but lacks a lot of browsing features like search filters and phylogenetic trees. If you are on iOS i suggest using it in a browser except for observation uploads

You can also upload audio recordings for bird and bug sounds. It’s amazing what you can learn about your local ecosystem!

Mine is Free software. If I can avoid it, then I avoid nonfree software. This brings me a lot of problems but also a lot of joy.

Planes and to a lesser extent Cars and Trains. I just love travel, points hacking, and flying!

Game preservation. I got into it last fall when I learned about OpenGOAL for the Jak and Daxter games. I grew up with those games and were some of my favorites from that generation.
I then learned how easy it was to rip PS1 through 3 games and how simple it is to set up each of the emulators for each console. I have a sizable collection of games from each of those generations, so I started ripping.

I also remember watching LTT’s video about how to jailbreak your Switch. I bought a used Switch from a friend pre-pandemic, but never played the games because I never cared for playing on the Switch itself. So I checked if mine was old enough to jailbreak (Nintendo patched the exploit out of the Switch about a year after production) and, lo and behold, it was.
It wasn’t easy jailbreaking it. It took several hours over 3 days to do it; I would hit a roadblock that I couldn’t figure out, so I’d stop and come back the next day, get a little further, hit another roadblock, and repeat. Once I managed that, I ripped my (small) collection of Switch games and played them on Ryujinx. Now that I could finally play them on my laptop whenever I wanted, I actually had a desire to play them and finally got through BotW in January.

Then I figured out how to jailbreak my Wii (which is pretty easy, I recommend everyone do it to theirs), so I could rip those games. It can also rip GC games, so I didn’t need to jailbreak one of those to do it.

When I learned of shadPS4 this summer and the progress it was making toward playing Bloodborne, I spent $400 on ebay to get a gold PS4 running firmware 9.0 so I could jailbreak it and start dumping PS4 games.

At that point I saw how much space all of the games I ripped took up on my laptop, so I bought a NAS from a friend who was upgrading theirs and set it up with two 8TB hard drives in RAID 0 and stored all my games on there. It’s currently about 60%+ full.

Over Halloween I went to a used game store and saw they were selling a Wii U for $160. I bought it and jailbroke that as well and started ripping those games.

I bought an OG Xbox to jailbreak, but I need to open it up to replace the clock capacitor first. Otherwise it could leak and my effort would be for nothing. I just haven’t got around to it yet.

I realized this was a passion of mine when I accidentally borked my PS4 and it would only boot into safe mode. I was willing to completely wipe it and start the jailbreak from scratch so I could keep doing it.

All told, I’ve ripped about 400+ games in the past 15 months, spent dozens of hours ripping them, and have zero intention of stopping. I only think about how I can keep expanding my collection.

Primary: Disc Golf ❤️

Secondary: As many useful docker containers as I can pack onto my home server