Originally Posted by Zeldy
I had several praying mantis', a couple black widows, and I happened upon a brown recluse (violin) that I kept in jars (holes poked). Made a nice encironment for them, and caught flies to put inside. My mom freaked when she found out. I was ~6.
My friends and I would build bmx jumps/tracks wherever we could. I even had a track in my back yard, up until we got horses (more for mom and sis than us boys). Shortly before the horses, my track had evolved from BMX to MX, but during it's "down time", I'd leveled it to tear it up in a Honda ATV. I busted a few bones on the crazy things we built. My pops had a hand in a ramp or two.
Made "blow guns" from pvc, darts were roofing nails, cone made from scotch tape, dripped wax into it to seal it. Nasty weapon for an 8 year old to make.
Used to go around shooting out neighbors car mirrors/windows with my pellet gun (only the nasty pricks). Got "busted" (suspected, not actually caught), switched to sling shots/pachinko balls.
I was into RC cars/trucks. By the time I was 10, my soldering skills were 1'st rate.
Paintball, I played in a tank top, nickname was "Rambo". You don't realize how fun it is to shoot someone (who is, in turn, trying to shoot you) until you do it. Exhilarating.
Magic: The Gathering
Warhammer (Fantasy & 40k). I would even paint figures for friends, only to find out they took them to the next con and sold the for $90-$150 a piece. Painted more for them regardless (always exited about painting).
Anything related to arcade/video games. Had the original Pong when I was 3-4. Intellivision, Colecovision, Atari. I was boss at a table top game my pops got me when I was 4/5/6. Space Thunderbird. One time, I reached a zen like state, and achieved an insanely high score, untouchable. The score stood for nearly a year, until my mom unplugged it while cleaning. I doubt I could even get close to that score today (my parents still have the game). My world was changed forever with the NES (I was 8). Dragon Warrior, The Legend of Zelda, FFI. Revolutionary for gaming.
Building bikes from spare parts. Even built a "wheelie bike" from a toddler frame.
Working on motorcycles/cars/boats with my dad.
Going to garage sales with my dad and grand parents. There were always treasures to be found. I still go sometimes, my eldest has gone a few times (with just me, a few times with pops). My dad recently came across an antique French display piece. Ornate brass accents top to bottom, hand painted, valued at ~$4k. He got it for $150. It's resting comfortably in my dining room.
Guns, lots of guns. I don't have any in my home (kids, there is just no way I would be ok with a firearm anywhere near them, even my own).
Dirt bikes. I was just insane on a bike. The desert was my 2'nd home. Quit before I killed myself (~19-20). My brother (lucky to be alive after several other accidents), nearly killed himself last year. 70mph, down in the sand, broken ribs/collar bones/shoulder blades/vertebrae, punctured lungs, barely survived. This, after giving up riding a number of times. 2 kids himself, I think he's done for good (double entendre).
My soldering/mechanical/electrical skills made me confident enough to pull the back off my TV when it stopped working, I was 11/12. Where the AV cable screwed in, there was a tiny enclosure. Within was a couple "diodes", one visibly burnt. I went to a local repair shop on my bike, bought the same diode, soldered it in, TV fixed. After that, I have always fixed anything that was "fixable". Around the same time, I had modified my Sega Genesis to play the Japanese games (Mega Drive). First one I played on it was Strider (bought it from a Japanese kid selling games through "The Recycler").
Horseback riding. Had to get rid of my bmx/MX track. Had to make the best of it. Horses were mom and sisters thing, gotta go with the flow. Used to ride all the time, even did a number of parades.
Archery. I had a nice recurve, was envious of my dads compound. Probably why I just got my son a really nice compound (he's really intrigued by archery, even made a heavily developed archer in Skyrim).
Fishing, fresh or salt. I just love the peace and serenity, whether it's on the ocean, or in a river. A bad day fishing beats a good day working. I was maybe 13, caught a monster trout by hanging off a partially downed tree, over the river, into a central fall/pool. When I hooked it, I slid down the tree, tearing up the inside of my arm, but I got him. My dad was certain that he'd beat me that day, until I pulled that one out. Biggest freshwater fish I've caught to date.
Golfing, grandpa, my dad, and uncles. Always a beautiful, serene, day. Haven't done that in forever.
Surfing. My dad started me body surfing and boogie boarding. Natural evolution. Love the sea, love the water, Pisces. (My sons love the water, children of Posiedon).
Diving/Snorkeling/Spear fishing.
Baseball and soccer. I excelled, but goalie and catcher were my favorite positions. "Home run King" several years also.
Fighting, I beat up the school bully in the 5'th grade (twice within 20 minutes, he was in 6'th). I got cocky, became the bully, had to defend "rep" through middle school. A thing for many years to follow (only, not because I wanted to, just too many idiots along the way).
Model kits (Gundam, Patlabor, and the like).
Comics. I scored big at a yard sale, comic book store closed and the owner was selling everything off. Made my mom and dad take me back every weekend for a couple months while I went through it all. Xmen, Fantastic 4, Batman, Superman, I had material to read through for years. I'm definitely a "well read" comic nerd.
A bunch more, but I've probably dragged this out far too long.
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