Things you are not good at but enjoy doing anyway.

UKBouldering.com

Help Support UKBouldering.com:

mrjonathanr

mrjonathanr

Getting fatter, not fitter.
Joined
Jan 15, 2008
Messages
5,482
Despite our ‘narcissistic look at me’ culture there must still be loads of people who do things they know they really don’t do well or look good doing, but enjoy doing and plough on anyway. Maybe most of us? Climbing, for some of us, for sure.

I’ll start the ball rolling with Rotherham Tuneless Choir

When Nadine Cooper was 11 or 12 her music teacher asked her to stop singing as she was “spoiling it for everyone else”.

She spent the next few decades avoiding public singing, but got increasingly frustrated when hearing how good singing in a group is for us.
Click to expand...

The “singing like no-one is listening” takes place at Whiston Parish Hall:

https://www.tunelesschoir.com/join-another-tuneless-choir/rotherham-tuneless-choir/
 
Yup, climbing.

I feel pretty good at the other hobbies / activities I do, in comparison. I certainly paint orcs a few "grades" above my climbing.
 
playing the piano.

I've been playing blues guitar for 20 years but I'm too lazy to learn any music and always just mindlessly doodle away. This approach works fine on an instrument I know, but sounds god awful on the piano, even though I absolutely love doing it. (Same for the tin whistle and a few other things.)
 
Dancing. Zorba the Greek Mrs mrjonathanr calls it. Picture a very drunk Anthony Quinn.

Blues guitar is pretty cool.
Suspect you are being too modest there Fiend.
 
Aside from climbing, growing veg. My allotment is an absolute shambles compared to the manicured offerings of my retired fellow plot owners. But my "stick some seeds in the ground and hope for the best" approach is great fun, and I usually get a fair bit of produce.

Also take a huge amount of pleasure in dishing out justice on the racist and bigoted plot owners by letting my little girl scrump their raspberries.
 
Ged said:
Aside from climbing, growing veg.
Click to expand...

This is a good one. My parents were fantastic gardners - flower beds etc., but also just incredible amounts of fruit and vegetables. I never had any interest, but started getting into in the US. Now we just have a balcony and a small roof deck but we're growing multiple different herbs, peas, green beans, chillis, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, and lettuce. I still have no clue what I'm doing and I expect most of it will fail, but it's still very satisfying, which leads to ...

... cooking. I'm not a bad cook, competent (and sometimes better than that) but not great. It gives me great pleasure though, and is even better with produce we've grown ourselves.
 
Apologies - for sullying the thread.

I think climbing is the only thing I enjoy doing that I’m alright at/have shown some ability for (it’s relative..) - pretty much everything else I do I’m crap at but enjoy anyway :)
 
mrjonathanr said:
Climbing, for some of us, for sure.
Click to expand...

:guilty: I mean I’m not terrible but I’m far from a natural despite having the ideal build. I’m fact I love it even more since the odds have moved against me physically. There are loads of things that I’m brimming with confidence at, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say I’m have a natural talent for but I just love to climb more than doing them. I had a period where I thought that the climbing itself wasn’t really the thing I liked about being out at crags but that turned out not to be true. I love everything about it but the challenge of the climbing itself the most.

Swimming is firmly in this category for me too although I don’t do it regularly. I used to love playing football too (apart from playing in goal) but I was absolutely useless at it. :lol:
 
Yeah absolutely. For me it’s trad climbing. I spend most moments in a state of inhibited semi-terror but utterly enthralled by it.
 
I do a bit of woodwork avoiding power tools as much as possible. I enjoy working with my hands and having a finished physical thing at the end of it. It takes me ages to make anything but I like the fact I can take my time and enjoy each step of the process.
 
MRJR I have little modesty about my toy soldiers albeit I am very lazy about getting them done, and the one time I entered Golden Demon, I only go finalist pins, no statues.

I think the thing I tried that I was the worst at was trying to skip. A good hour or so and I managed two consecutive steps just once. Desperate. I didn't enjoy doing it though.


P.S. cos it just got posted, woodwork is ace!
 
Mixing music, I'm even crap using Traktor (the DJ equivalent of having the rails up in bowling) but I absolutely love it. The only shame is I got into it too late and now too old and past the cellar parties of yore.
 
andy popp said:
Ged said:
Aside from climbing, growing veg.
Click to expand...

This is a good one. My parents were fantastic gardners - flower beds etc., but also just incredible amounts of fruit and vegetables. I never had any interest, but started getting into in the US. Now we just have a balcony and a small roof deck but we're growing multiple different herbs, peas, green beans, chillis, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, and lettuce. I still have no clue what I'm doing and I expect most of it will fail...
Click to expand...

I always thought that, but it turns out plants are pretty good at growing! Just stick to the basics of defending them from slugs, and plenty of sunlight, and they'll do what they're good at. I reckon for July August September we don't buy any fruit or veg, just eat what we've grown. But I totally give up over the winter. Seems like a lot of effort for very little produce
 
What a great thread!
For me it's playing cricket.
I'm a complete butterfingers and can't run for toffee. I rarely score runs but being part of a team is brilliant and I love the game, can't get enough of it, especially bowling.
Luckily I play for a social team so there's usually not much pressure you might get in a league. :icon_beerchug:
 
Singing.

Alone in the car, or in the shower when everybody is out.



By order of the United Nations Security Council.
 
Running. I'm so slow no matter what I do but I have times when it just feels like utter freedom and brilliance -i like the way it leaves me feeling most of the time too.
 

Similar threads

Oldmanmatt
Climbing Walls and Gyms. Rules that drive you nuts or make you leave.
2
Replies
34
Views
30K
Bradders
B
Falling Down
New Music 2020
2
Replies
23
Views
6K
jwi
jwi
Falling Down
Best of new music 2016
2
Replies
31
Views
12K
the_dom
T
Falling Down
Best of 2015 music thread.
2
Replies
29
Views
11K
Mumra
M
C
Skinny Dog's Esoteric Bouldering Guide.
3 4 5
Replies
96
Views
62K
comPiler
C

Latest posts

Back
Top