Non-Mantis related hobbies

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I'm bored and waiting for work to be over, so I'll talk about myself a little bit.

Over the past two and a half years I have become a huge Jeep Wrangler enthusiast. I have a 2009 Jeep Wrangler that is my baby. I mostly take it up into the mountains here in Colorado, but I also love going into the desert and into Moab, Utah--if you don't know what/where Moab is, drop what your doing and google it (its more interesting than reading about myself). I have had a somewhat tumultuous past couple of years, and off-roading has now become a form of therapy for me. I bought my own Jeep and I have done 90% of all upgrades and maintenance to it (so, so many upgrades)--before that I had very little knowledge about automobiles. 

I have also recently gotten back into photography, as you may have noticed in the Mantid Photos section. I am really into landscape and macro photography. I got into it around 2004-05 but about a year after I got my camera I dropped it and it never took pictures the same. After that happened I got out of the hobby for about a decade. About two months ago I bought a decent DSLR and have been into photography now more than ever. I have a new "real" macro lens coming in the mail sometime this week, so keep an eye out for better mantis pictures from me!

I am a pretty big nerd when it comes to computers and technology, and its how I make a living. I have built all of my computers since I was in high school (20 years ago). Tablets, phones, desktops, laptops, you name it, I've had at least one and have probably tore it apart and put it back together. I still keep up-to-date on the latest new tech, as well as incessantly hunt around for tech deals and sales.

I have had a 3d printer for three years now (which I also tore apart and put back together multiple times...damn thing). I have been playing around with modeling (CAD) and its seriously one of the most rewarding things for me to be able to design and print something functional, although most of my prints are knick knacks and toys that other people have modeled. 

I am a proficient welder and love metalworking and fabrication. I went back to college a couple years ago and really dived deep into it--its my current fall-back should something happen with IT work, but every now and then I'll fire up the ol welder and stick metal together just because its fun.

Been playing guitar for over half my life and I currently own three guitars. I never play outside of my office, but its something I try to keep up on.

I have a little teardrop camper that my jeep pulls around. Our last big trip was to Yellowstone last late summer/early fall, but usually we just load up the pooch and high-tail it up into the mountains for the weekend.

Thats all the 'other' hobbies I have....for now, aside from mantises of course!

 
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hysteresis said:
There's this:

https://www.tammywolfephotography.com

@twolfe your photos are incredible. Your mantid photos, wow. That R. stalli photo. It looks so red. Are those what folk call "red devils"? How does one get that colour? 

Lighthouse photos are wild too! You must use a drone! 
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Thank you. It’s been so long since I took that photo of that mantis. I really don’t remember. 

I used to do aerial photography. I would charter a plane and hire a pilot. That was back when I worked in IT. Nowadays I mostly do wildlife photography.

 
This is a complicated topic. I love reading but do not do as I used. I have read over 800 books. I lost count decades ago. I like Science fiction and Fantasy. I find it interesting when I read the book and see the movie made later. I have hundreds of book in my collection. My niece could not understand why you buy that many books. I think she has never finished reading a single book after 5th grade. I bought several books in the last couple of months.

I have a large collection of tropical fish. I especially love Corydoras. I have livebearers, tetras, plecos, cichlids, and many others. I grow lots of differens plants in those tanks. The hoops to jump to spawn some of these species make most mantises look like child's play. I also do many inverts like crayfish and shrimp.

I am very excited because my Xenopus borealis spawned last weekend. The tadpoles are growing rapidly. These are cousins of African clawed frogs. I am trying to encourage some Dwarf African frogs to spawn. I hear them call. It is like a musical chime. I am raising some tadpoles of E. anthonyi "Santa Isabella" which are in the poison dart frog group.. They are growing hind legs. I have other amphibians aoxolotls, Southern Crested Newts, and Spanish Ribbed newts.

I recently bought a small group of Arizona Bark scorpions.

A few years ago , I converted an old cattle into a pond. I use to grow water lilies. Also in is a source of Daphnia to feed some of my critters. It is 3000 gallons and 2.5 feet deep.

There is more but I am getting tire of writing.

 
@Viking That's quite a lot! I also love reading, and I hate that I'm a fast reader because a book that would take someone at least a week to read takes me maybe two hours.

- MantisGirl13

 
My main interest in life these days is the horticulture where I spent 3 yrs training at college and I did try to make a business out of but mostly i do it as a hobby. I was taught how to grow tropicals indoors using hydroponics which started my interest in the subject and pushed me to acquire an allotment which I rented from the council for about 8 years. I grew all types of vegetables and flowers in poly tunnels and outdoors and found it very rewarding, plus the free food  and flower displays. My passion is Orchids and I love Bonsai. My Brassia rex (Spider Orchid) is probably my prize specimen when it flowers. Ive been trying to combine the 2 and with the Mantid husbandry the scope for creativity using plants and terrariums is huge.

I did the skateboarding for 20 years which provided me with great times and friends and was an excuse to travel the world which I have done. Unfortunately Ive got too old and my knees hurt lol.

I am now on to my 4th scooter which I love and after having 2 Vespas I downgraded the Vespa badge for a Chinese Suzuki copy which isnt iconic but god it flies. Ive got another since then and theres quite a lot to be said for them.

I love music especially Jazz and the history of the Blues and I practice my harmonica playing much to the annoyance of my neighbour. Drum and Bass/Jungle is my passion and Ive spent a large chunk of my life making beats on the computer using Reason, Cubase and Wavelab.

Im an avid reader and I like non fiction adventure/travel/expedition books mainly although Ive enjoyed some of Phillip K Dicks SciFi tales. Ive just read Alfred Russel Wallaces 'The Malay Archipelago' which is a diary of entomology and species collection from the forests of Indonesia in 1854 -1863. Great book but not a single Mantis mention which I find strange.

In the future Id like to continue and get better and more experienced with the Mantid game and eventually I hope to be as great as some of you out there reading this. Thanks

 
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Mantisgirl13 There is this old fashion thing called a library card.  You could read ten books a week. I use to read on the bus going to and from school. I use to order books to read. I would often find several other books to read when I found an author I liked.

Science fiction and Mantis book recommendation.

There is an old book by Alan Dean Foster called 'Nor Crystal Tears'. It is about first contact with an alien race Thranx which look like human-sized mantis There are more books with them included. Foster has a universe of books.

 
Keeping ant is my other hobby. Ants are bipolar of mantis, they have great social network and will not survive living by itself. I love growing a single queen into a colony. I started this hobby back in 2008. My favorite Texas ants are Texas leaf cutter ants, elongate twig ants, harvester ants and honeypot ants. In the pic is a group of recently collected Texas leaf cutter ants tending to the fungus garden.

  1458242848.jpg

 
Viking said:
Mantisgirl13 There is this old fashion thing called a library card.  You could read ten books a week. I use to read on the bus going to and from school. I use to order books to read. I would often find several other books to read when I found an author I liked.
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Oh I know! I have one, and I use it all the time! I get ebooks on my kindle fire and I'm running out of paper books in the library that I haven't read but that I'm allowed to read.

- MantisGirl13

 
yen_saw said:
Keeping ant is my other hobby. Ants are bipolar of mantis, they have great social network and will not survive living by itself. I love growing a single queen into a colony. I started this hobby back in 2008. My favorite Texas ants are Texas leaf cutter ants, elongate twig ants, harvester ants and honeypot ants. In the pic is a group of recently collected Texas leaf cutter ants tending to the fungus garden.

 View attachment 12377
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So cool!

- MantisGirl13

 

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