Author Archives: Andrej Zivor

Sticking with Your Hobbies

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Being a fanatic of something, in particular, can be an exciting hobby to partake in and keep up on. Especially if you’ve got friends or family members who are also interested in that very hobby that you love. The more you get to share your experiences regarding that hobby, the more ingrained you become in it.

While that’s a good thing, it’s also a bad factor in maintaining that hobby if you don’t have anyone to share your experiences with. Because then, you may lose motivation, you may lose all interest, or you just may wish you had a friend to participate with you.

Oftentimes our hobbies are extremely niche interests that no one else actually does want to join you in, and that alone can turn you off to continuing the hobby. Other times, though, it’s something fairly mainstream, so finding others who are also interested isn’t hard in the slightest.

For me, I’m into a wide range of things. But one that has held my interest for pretty much all my life is video games. And I do my favorite games a disservice by just referring to all of them collectively as “video games” as if they are all similar. News flash: they’re not similar in the slightest.

First off, there are many different genres of video games. And beyond that, there are games on different consoles and some on mobile. The few games that pique my interest span different consoles and a wide variety of genres, meaning I’m into some niche games and some others that are pretty popular.

With a hobby like this, though, a lot of games come and go. And that’s why I keep my older cartridges stored in cardboard boxes. There’s no better way to remind yourself of the games you used to play other than holding onto them in case you want to play them in the future. Though I know I never will, it’s something about the nostalgia that keeps me cramming more into those old cardboard boxes instead of getting rid of them or selling what I do have for a little extra cash. I’m sure a lot of you can commiserate with me when I say it’s not easy getting rid of things you used to love.

No matter what your hobby is, don’t give up on it even if others aren’t around to enjoy it with you. You should stick to what you love and try to find online communities at the very least. Apps like Reddit help with those problems, because there will always be someone out there who is just as much a fanatic of your hobby as you.

Lazy Weekend Plans

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Sometimes, you have a lot more free time than what you’re accustomed to. And sometimes, that free time falls on a nice day with beautiful weather. Yet, here you are, unsure of how to spend your time or what to do.

Boredom and uncertainty can strike at any given time, and it’s always no fun when it happens on days with nice weather and at times that you actually have the time to go out and do something. When you don’t have stuff planned for your weekend, it can be especially tough to come up with something right on the spot.

If you’re looking for ways to spend a nice day on the weekend but can’t really think up too many ideas for you and your family or friends, look no further.

Park picnic.

If anything, this is one of those things that you have to do with your significant other and/or kids at some point in your life. Why else would you think this is always defined as an American pastime, something that you often see in movies and other media?

All it takes is a quick trip to the grocery for some sandwiches and chips (or healthier alternatives to sides such as celery and peanut butter). From there, it’s a matter of going to the park nearest you, having a blanket handy, and setting up for an hour or so. Bugs and the heat may get to you after awhile if it’s a particularly muggy day, but at the very least you’ll be spending time with your family in a way that’s far more intimate than anything else you probably do on a weekly basis.

Catch a matinee.

First, matinees are cheaper than evening shows. And the other thing to consider is that movies are often enjoyed more when seen in a spur of the moment fashion. Think about it. The more you hype up a film and then go to see it, the more there’s a chance of disappointment. But if you go to a film with zero expectations, you have a higher chance of exceeding anything else simply because you had no lofty expectations in mind.

The best advice I can give you for this is to bring along a few candy boxes for you and the kids simply to save money once you’re in the theater. Just sneak them in your purse or a satchel and you’ll be good. You can grab multiple candy boxes at the grocery for half the price of a single box within the theater.

The Usefulness of Cardboard at Big Events

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I’ve now made my way down to the heart of Tennessee for the best week of the year twice in a row now, and that celebrated title goes to The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival.

Camping out among one hundred thousand other people stoked to see similar shows that I’m into, eat the most amazing food you can think of, and be among beautiful people is the highlight of my year for two straight years. As much as I love the music, I love the experience, culture, and community with the people even more.

That’s why setting up your campsite to be “home base” is so important so that you can hang with other people, have a good time, and still get the sleep you need (which is a huge functional part of the festival weekend that many people forget about).

So, I decided to stop and revisit my experience this past weekend to write down what I must bring next year, and I’ve figured out a few things that are must haves for my future Bonnaroos. But one thing that stuck out to me as useful kind of surprised it.

Without realizing it until after the festival, I suddenly figured out how absolutely useful cardboard boxes would’ve been as storage at my campsite. There were so many things scattered around camp by the time Sunday came around that we had a somewhat tough time of finding what we needed, when we needed it. This could have saved precious time while also fending off losing anything we may have let wander into someone else’s campsite.

I know that next year we’ll be packing more appropriate and useful items while also cutting back on things we really didn’t need as much, so adding cardboard boxes to my list of things I have to have is important to me. The best part about it that is in spirit of Bonnaroo is that cardboard is free, easy to assemble, and biodegradable in a way that plastic containers are not. These three things make it the perfect item to have when it comes to keeping all of your loose things in a storage container that you know it’ll be in when you go to find it in the mornings or evenings back at camp.

While a lot of festival attendees may not think of cardboard as ultra useful, I’m beginning to realize it’s what I need from every year here on out.

Choosing a Favorite Candy

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I’ve never been a big fan of candy or ever claimed to have a sweet tooth in the slightest, and I think part of that comes from my love for savory foods more than just about anything.

https://youtu.be/hjcKrfkIPu0

Besides, anytime I want to eat something sweet (especially containing chocolate), I absolutely have to have a glass of milk near me to cut the sweetness. Considering milk is my favorite drink anyway, this comes as no surprise to me and those who know me well. But the whole “too sweet for me” thing is quite real, especially when milk isn’t on tap.

So, I’m not often found browsing the candy boxes shelves at local stores when getting groceries, and that’s just simply because I never, ever seem to eat candy. If someone gives me candy as a gift add on, as a stocking stuffer, or just for fun on Halloween and Easter, I’ll pick through the few that I enjoy more and munch on them from time to time. But I honestly don’t crave candy in the slightest.

One thing I can remark on regarding candy, though, is my favorite types. As I mentioned earlier, I enjoy chocolates and chocolate sweets with milk any given time, though I don’t seek out pure chocolate bars like some people do.

And on the opposite end of the candy spectrum, I do not enjoy hard candies. The stickiness, pure sugar aspect, and how hard it can be on your teeth do not appeal to me. I always feel like I’m digging pieces of hardened sugar out of my teeth after eating them, and if I don’t happen to crunch through these candies to speed up the eating process, I end up sucking on them for far too long, which then feels like I’m slowly eroding my enamel with full awareness of what’s happening.

So, rather than those two, my favorite type of candy rests somewhere in the middle with gummies. Gummies aren’t hard on your teeth whatsoever so long as you clean your mouth properly afterwards. They’re fun to suck on for a few seconds before tearing them apart and swallowing. I don’t mind grabbing a few candy boxes of gummies from the store anytime I’m about to see a movie and want to save money, so the blue sharks, the rainforest frogs, the Haribo bears, and other like candies are what you’ll find me enjoying the most.

A Big Question

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Often you can find me writing about topics that have meaning to me or tie into my recent life doing. Sometimes, it’ll be about my hobbies and adventures, so you’ll begin to see more things centered around festivals, road trips, hiking, concerts, and camping. And at other points, you’ll see the lifestyle articles, such as pieces on organization, budgeting, and indoor improvements to your home.

Today, I’m leaning a little more towards the latter. In fact, I’ve recently proposed to my girlfriend of almost 3 years, and so I’m kind of interested in chatting about something a lot of people don’t consider: the ring box.

Here’s the thing to consider: most jewelers will give you a box with a place for the ring to sit. This is mostly for proposing and showcasing the ring itself so that it can be on display when opened but easily portable and hidden on the go.

But the thing is, those little boxes are hardly ever easily hidden when you’ve yet to pop the question. They’re always too big for real pockets. They’re so bulky that even putting them somewhere else, like a small bag or satchel, will cause a bulge.

There just never seems to be a low profile box for you to carry your ring in safely while not drawing attention to itself. I always thought there should be some way for a box to be a thing and low profile while the ring is stored, yet able to be manipulated in a way that the ring can be on display once the box is opened. I mean, honestly, what’s so tough to make a few small adjustments to a box so that it can prop the ring up (even if it needs to be done manually) when it’s open, yet the ring can lay flat and discreet when it’s closed. There should be no reason that an impression must be noticed in your pocket if you’re about to ask because that’s a dead giveaway that you’re about to propose.

It’s not like it needs to be high tech. All I’m saying is that the current “boxes” you’re given by jewelers are glorified mini cardboard boxes. Yes, I truly think that they hand out tiny cardboard boxes that happen to have some cushioning inside that protects the ring.

To me, they can do better than this for customers that spend upwards of 3 or 4 thousand dollars on average. (In fact, the actual average seems to be above $5,500 in current times. Couldn’t the jeweler find a way to spend 50 bucks on a ring box that is nice, discreet, and useable for other rings, too?)