New Project

So I haven't blogged in a long time. Originally I had planned to update this thing pretty much every day. But unfortunately, after having sat at my computer all day at work, I don't always want to sit at the computer at home. And I don't always get to blog at work, because I am relatively (75%) sure that they don't pay me to blog.

But I took a couple minutes out of my work day to jot down some stuff because I am going to be embarking on a new project soon, hopefully, and it will likely be my nerdiest endeavor to date. Right now, my only hobbies are pretty much video games and on occasion reading. I have a tendency to over-read though and get burnt out on it for months at a time. I have been in the market for a new and real hobby for quite some time. There was the nitromethane R/C car debacle - it's an awesome hobby but requires more open space than I can currently provide, and without a track nearby, it was just impractical.

So now, I am ready for my next project (and likely its failure). I'm going to try to grow a bonsai tree. I have several reasons for this. First, I don't have a window in my office, and I don't have any office plants or anything of that nature, and quite frankly, it can get a little lonely in my office, especially in the winter months. Of course, I could always get just a regular old fern or something standard like that, but that just seems so ... plain. Sure, it's easy to maintain and all that stuff, I just think a bonsai would be much more interesting and perhaps fulfulling.

The second reason is that I have always have an appreciation for plants. I have never been a hardcore "green thumb" or anything, but I always enjoyed learning about plants and such in school, and I'd always learned toward science fair projects involving plants and the like. This appreciation was strengthened during my time working for the public works department, where much of my job was related to the flowers and trees scattered about the lovely village of Cary. I've always thought it was rewarding to see the development of some of the trees we had planted as I returned back for another summer's work. There is just something cool about watching plants develop over time.

Bonsai might also be a nice way to relax for me. I've been too high strung lately and I need something that will allow me to take a step back. As much as I hole myself up in my apartment like a hermit to play video games, I really do enjoy being outside. Of course a miniature tree on my desk is not the same to taking a hike through the woods, I still think it'd be a nice way to get some nature in my life, especially when I'm sitting here in my computer wonderland at work all day.

I think perhaps bonsai would be a nice way to liven up my office and give me some satisfaction in regards to cultivating a plant from seed through mini tree. I think Dave and Bryan might also be interested in cultivating a bonsai tree with me, and it might be kind of fun for the three of us to work on it as a remote group project. It'd be a lot of fun to compare how our trees develop (if we can get them to develop) differently as we each exert our influence over them. I think the three of us would be able to come up with some really cool stuff. The real X factor in this project is whether or not it will hold out interest long enough to actually see results. Bonsai trees can take years or even decades to reach the state that most people think of when they think of bonsai trees. My attention span is usually limited to hours, if not minutes, so perhaps undertaking a project on this time scale could be considered a mistake. But who knows, maybe I'll have finally found a hobby that I can really get into.

This really is probably the nerdiest idea I have ever had, and that is a pretty bold claim.