hobbies

This article is about pastimes. For the bird species, see hobby (bird). For the airport, see Hobby Airport. See also hobby horse.''A hobby is a spare-time recreational pursuit. In the Middle Ages, falconry was a very popular pastime (what today might be called a ''hobby''), and of all the different birds used for it, the Eurasian Hobby was perhaps the most popular. It is said that the modern use of ''hobby'' to indicate a pastime followed from this.An alternative explanation is that the usage grew from another recreational animal called ''hobby'': which was a type of small ambling or pacing horse. A ''hobby-horse'' was a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like the real hobby. From this came the expression "to ride one's hobby-horse", meaning "to follow a favourite pastime", and in turn, ''hobby'' in the modern sense of recreation. Hobbies are practised for interest and enjoyment, rather than financial reward. Examples include collecting, making, tinkering, sports and adult education. Engaging in a hobby can lead to acquiring substantial skill, knowledge, and experience. However, personal fulfillment is the aim.What are hobbies for some people are professions for others: a game tester may enjoy cooking as a hobby, while a professional chef might enjoy playing (and helping to debug) Computer and video gamescomputer games. Generally speaking, the person who does something for fun, not remuneration, is called an amateur (or hobbyist), as distinct from a professional.An important determinant of what is considered a hobby, as distinct from a profession (beyond the lack of remuneration), is probably how easy it is to make a living at the activity. Almost no one can make a living at cigarette card or stamp collecting, but many people find it enjoyable; so it is commonly regarded as a hobby.Astronomy is an interesting hobby in that the amateurs often make meaningful contributions to the professionals. It is not entirely uncommon for an amateur astronomer to be the first to discover a celestial body or celestial eventevent.In the United KingdomUK, the pejorative noun ''Anorak (slang)anorak'' (similar to the Japanese "otaku", meaning a geek or enthusiast) is often applied to people who obsessively pursue a particular hobby.Whilst some hobbies strike many people as trivial or boring, hobbyists have found something compelling and entertaining about them (see geek). Much early scientific research was, in effect, a hobby of the wealthy; more recently, Linux began as a student's hobby. A hobby may not be as trivial as it appears at a point in time when it has relatively few followers. Thus a British conservationist recalls that when seen wearing field glasses at a London station in the 1930s he was asked if he was going to the (horse) races. The anecdote indicates that at the time an interest in wildlife was not widely perceived as a credible hobby. Practitioners of that hobby went on to become the germs of the conservation movement that flourished in Britain from 1965 onwards and became a global political movement within a generation. Conversely, the hobby of aircraft spotting probably originated as part of a serious activity designed to detect arriving waves of enemy aircraft entering English airspace during World War II. In peacetime it clearly has no such practical or social purpose.Pursuit of a hobby may have calming or helpful therapeutic side effects. In some cases, however, (for example in collecting) the line between a hobby and an obsession can become blurred. There is more than one documented case of violence over things as simple as coin collecting.

See also -

List of hobbies

Quality time

Hobby store

!Hobby-horseCategory:Hobbies*bn:শখcs:Hobbyda:Hobb yde:Hobbyes:Pasatiempoeo:Ŝato kupofa:سرگرمی‌هاfy:L eafhawwerijga:Caitheamh? !aimsireko:취미hr:Hobiit:Hobb yka:ჰობიlt:Hobishu:Hob bims:Hobinl:Hobbyja:趣味pl:H obbypt:Passatemporu:Хобби simple:Hobbysl:Konjičeksr:Х� �биfi:Harrastussv:Hobbyth:� �านอดิเรก DEBUG REDIRECT (hobby)

Old World Dollhouses...Creating your dream home, only smaller!
The best quality construction in custom and predesigned dollhouses.
http://www.oldworlddollhouses.com/

Great Links to the World Wide Web
This is a Trailblazer Portal with Links listed by Categories
http://www.kenclark.us/

Lovely Painted Ladies Romantic Repainted Dolls
OOAK Repainted fashion dolls with a romantic theme by artist/autor Bren Yarbrough Bruhn. Most dolls come complete with costume and their own short romance story.
http://www.lovelypaintedladies.com/

Lorenz Books
Lorenz Books is an imprint of Anness Publishing. Anness Publishing was founded in 1988 and is now the largest independent book publisher in the UK. In our first 15 years we have sold in excess of 100,000,000 books. Each year we produce around 300 new titles on subjects ranging from cooking and crafts to gardening, new age, reference, hobbies and transport plus a lively and successful list of pre-school activity and home study reference books for children.
http://www.lorenzbooks.com/

Servant of the Lord: Online!
Central Virginia's Premier Christian Online Service
http://www.sotl.org/

Owner
Free online auction site
http://www.traderbait.com

Railwaymania.com
Railroad portal including modelling, picture gallery (over 2000 pictures), forums, newsletters and much more
http://www.railwaymania.com/

Tg0-positivo - Il Veneto nel Web
Tutto sul Veneto: cultura, hobbies, manifestazioni, libri, associazioni e umorismo
http://www.tg0.it/

Tower Hobbies
Radio control models, parts, and build-your-own service. Online product information and ordering.
http://www.towerhobbies.com/

About.com, Inc.
Web portal and directory providing Internet news, information and entertainment service which focuses on particular topic and is managed by a human guide. (Nasdaq: BOUT).
http://www.about.com/

Caboose Hobbies
Denver,Colorado. Serving model railroaders since 1938. One of the largest model train stores in the world.
http://www.caboosehobbies.com/

Internet Hobbies
Offers a selection of wooden and plastic planes, trains, boats, and cars.
http://www.internethobbies.com/

Brookhurst Hobbies
US importer and distributor of a comprehensive array of miniature and hobby ranges, as well as selling die-cast items, radio controlled toys and collectables.
http://brookhursthobbies.com/