Hobby Schmobby

hob·by n. pl. hob·bies
An activity or interest pursued outside one's regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure.

Do you have hobbies?

I have one hobby.

Pursuing moola.

This pursuit of the almighty greenback has little to do with what I consider to be my real regular occupation, the pursuit of all things creative, which currently is manifest mainly through the use of hook, needles and yarn sans monetary compensation. Unlike my regular occupation, my hobby neither provides me with much pleasure nor does it satiate my soul, whereas my regular occupation is my life’s blood.

Are you confused?

Well, let’s get some clarity, shall we?

I am an artist first and foremost. I always have been regardless of anything else going on in my life, including generating income. Now, there have been times in my life when income-generating activities have overlapped into my artful existence. For example, I taught the process of making art to children (K – 12) and to university students for several years, definite overlap. However, historically the majority of my "quest for cash" activities have mirrored my current “hobby” at the Cube Farm.

Can you say BOR-RING?

I sure can. And I say it often!

Which brings me to my next point. Artists remain artists whether stuck in a cube, digging thru mountainous reams of paper, waiting tables, punching keys on a cash register or repeating this acclaimed mantra day in and day out, “Would you like fries with that?”

This, my dear crafty ones, is a point lost on several of my fellow Cube Farm inhabitants, many of whom refer to my art as a “nice hobby”. Cube Farmers, we creative beings work because we need shelter, sustenance and yarn! Okay, I need the yarn…Ahem. We do not toil beneath piles of paper that could give the Swiss Alps a run for their money, duel with spreadsheets or click the button on our virtual timecards because it fills our souls with warm fuzzy goodness! No! We artists perform these acts because we must!

Further, knitted bologna is not my hobby! To that end, crocheted bacon (oh yeah, coming soon folks), yarn-y, fuzzy barbecues and crocheted guerilla vegetables are not my hobbies either! These creative expressions are what makes your Lady of the Linoleum, um, err, linoleum!

Whatever, you get the point.

Cube Farmers please take note, your nine to five is my five to midnight, for as you settle down for your evening respite, rear in the chair, remote in hand, snack bowl filled to the brim, I have only just begun to log hours at my regular occupation. Free from my daily hobbies, I enter the swinging doors of LabLinoleum, where the vegetables dance, the bacon sizzles and the yarn is always abundant…

Stick that into your spreadsheet and calculate it.