Peculiar Pastimes

November 2002

HFH looks at five formerly obscure hobbies that are growing in popularity for reasons only the easily amused and obsessive-compulsive among us can even begin to ascertain.

Artwork by Ken Silber

Lightning Dodgers

Considered one of a new breed of extreme hobbies, this increasingly popular pastime actually had its origins in a secretive late-18th-century guild of electrostatic researchers called the Minions of Franklin. Many modern LDs have gone professional, employed by golf-course owners to draw lightning away from players, much like the way rodeo clowns distract bulls.

Aglet Collectors

Ignored until they are missing, these tiny plastic cylinders temper the challenge of modern life by preventing shoelace tips from becoming frayed. They are also coveted by aglet fanciers who obsessively gather and organize them. Passive collectors wait for laces to wear out before taking their prize. Others, willing to suffer the inconvenience, pull them off new ones. All store them in labeled vials, sorted by color, length and date of acquisition.

Blog Memorizers

At annual conventions, these mnemonic masters challenge each other in various contests to flawlessly recite memorized blog tracts ranging from those of long-winded pundits and encyclopedic reference sites to conspiracy theorists and the ramblings of obscure, angry extremists. One elite group prides itself in also memorizing each blog’s source code.

Goat Counters

Still a popular pastime in the Middle East and South Asia, goat counting is thought to have originated in ancient Mesopotamia. This practice predates sheep counting though, paradoxically, it is thought to be a method used by sentries guarding strategic passes to remain awake and alert.

Dust Bunny Sculpting

The Dust Bunnies of America’s motto, “We see art where others only sneeze,” says it all. The DBA was founded in 1967 by renegade counterculture sculptors in Taos, New Mexico, who settled on dust as an inexpensive creative medium. Said DBA chairwoman, Selma Pledge, “Mother Nature constantly tries to sculpt with dust, and it always seems to come out as a misshapen bunny, so we’re just finishing what she started.”

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