Daily writing prompt

List five things you do for fun.

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This is one of those blog prompts where I might have to resist the inner autistic voice and take this as literally as possible. I could list only five things that I find fun and just leave it there! It would be easy to do, but I suspect it probably wouldn’t be all that fun to read, so I will elaborate on the list as I go along.

So my list of fun things to do is as follows:

• Playing Video Games
• Building and painting Warhammer 40K miniatures
• Reading or listening to audiobooks
• Weightlifting
• Watching different TV shows

If I left this post there, I can totally see how it might not be the most interesting post to read even though it has technically answered the blog prompt. The logic (well, my weird autistic, take things literally, “logic”) is that I have listed five things that I do for fun, and the prompt doesn’t ask me to elaborate on the list. If you ask me, there’s no problem with that train of thought; it’s all correct.

But like I say, slightly boring to read though, so it’s only fair that I make it a bit more interesting for you. I’ve loved playing video games for years now, it’s a good bit of escapism. All the different worlds you visit and the various characters you meet can leave their mark on you, especially if there is a satisfying story to be told. There are many great stories in video games, many of which can equal and beat stories in other art or media forms such as TV, films and books.

The two Red Dead Redemption games are prime examples of this, as the characters are multifaceted and deeper people than you initially believe them to be and the journey the games take you on, through their worlds and interactions, the hours you spend with these characters make the ending of both games all the more impactful. Plus you get to live out any cowboy fantasies you might have had growing up, so that’s a bonus.

I could go on a rant here on how video games are art but that might get a little long-winded, instead, I’m going to link you to a previous post I did a few years ago here.

Warhammer 40K is a Tabletop wargame with plastic miniatures you build and paint. You then pit them against your friends at local gaming groups etc. There’s something quite meditative about building and painting the miniatures, especially when listening to music or an audiobook I find it quite relaxing and the time flies by when I do it.

It’s a hobby that I’ve dipped in and out of, possibly longer than I’ve been into video games. I don’t do much of the gaming side of the hobby these days, but there’s a lot more to it than the tabletop game. There is a large amount of books to enjoy as well as a growing number of video games and now there’s a host of animations and shows on Games Workshops’ own subscription service as well as a show being developed for Amazon Prime, with the actor Henry Cavill as one of the executive producers. It’s a good time to be a fan of the hobby!

Reading seems fairly self-explanatory really, I would say over the years I find myself leaning more towards listening to audiobooks than actually reading physical copies of the books because I can listen to them while I do other things, for example, while I’m painting Warhammer miniatures or out on my daily walk. However, there is something satisfying about having a physical book, sitting in your favourite spot with a cup of tea or several and passing the day away. My go-to genres of books are Sci-Fi or Fantasy. As I mentioned there are loads of Warhammer 40K books, which I can’t get enough of at the moment and J.R.R. Tolkien is one of my favourite fantasy authors, the depth of the lore in the Lord of the Rings and the world that Tolkien built always sucks me into it.

I’ve also discovered an interest in horror and thriller books recently, particularly slightly dystopian stories. There’s another genre that I don’t know what to call but it’s like Post Disaster “Mockumentary” in which the author Max Brooks is good at. His book World War Z explores the world after the Zombie apocalypse, through a series of “interviews” with “survivors. Like I said I don’t really know what genre it is, but it’s different, in an interesting way, from the usual zombie apocalypse story, it’s also a lot better than the movie “adaptation” starring Brad Pitt (basically the only thing the two have in common is the name).

Last year I started weightlifting in an attempt to lose some weight and I have to say I enjoy it more than I thought I would, I didn’t really see why people enjoyed it, but I’ve found that it’s quite a good stress reliever, plus there’s a growing number of studies and metadata, that suggests that when combined with moderate forms of exercising like brisk walking, it can be just as good for you, if not better, than simply doing high-intensity cardio. I do weightlifting about 2-3 times a week for about 30-45 minutes each time and I come away feeling pretty good, so that’s always a benefit!

Lastly, the old faithful, watching TV. As with Reading, I enjoy a variety of stuff, it just depends on what I’m in the mood for really. From True Crime documentaries to Thrillers, Sci-Fi and Fantasy, I’m not too picky when it comes to TV, I’m usually open-minded and will give most things a watch (or an attempt at least). I find, sometimes it’s good to have as a background noise if I’m doing something a little boring, like the dishes or some other household chore. I don’t know if it’s an ADHD thing but having something on in the background helps me focus on things that I would otherwise struggle to focus on.

Anyway, those are the Five Things I do for fun, hopefully, this post is a bit more interesting than me just listing the five things and leaving it there! I’m always on the lookout for book and TV recommendations so if you have any, feel free to let me know!