The Sideline Hobbies & Interests

The bliss of having multiple hobbies is what keeps a person (somewhat) sane. I'll spare you my tangent on the necessity of having various hobbies and interests- you have a mother to do that, and I would hate to take her job. :D

I have some peculiar hobbies/interests for a "little black girl" as many say, but who cares! The things make me happy and I enjoy learning new techniques  and discovering new outlets that many people avoid nowadays. I am done b*tching and moaning. 

I think my love of history is pretty oblivious. Photography is more of an interest- nothing that I have delved too deeply in. I just use my iPhone to photograph sites to be uploaded to Instagram and Flickr. I do not have a dark room or Nikon camera, too expensive. Instagram helps me to pick an effect that works for the picture- BOOM, BAM and done! 

History as a whole is a fascinating topic to me, but there are certain eras and events that make my ears perk up:

• World War II
• European Theater
• The Holocaust
• Criminology
• The History of Forensic Science
• Medical Science 
• Serial Killers
• Ancients
• The Romans, the Greeks, the Egyptians and so forth
• Colonization
• The Americas
• Early American history
• European history

And, who does not love a good cadaver? Paranormal history and stories really peek my interest. I am hoping to go on a ghost hunt within the year or next year with a friend or a group of friends. 

The Charleston area has numerous ghost stories and legends; some are even paired with tours. A few years back I managed to take a tour of the Old City Jail in the downtown area. LOVED IT! While on the tour my friend took a picture of the stairwell leading up the prisoner housing area and captured a silhouette of a woman. The tour guide and group were astonished and excited that someone managed to capture a photo of something. Anyway, the tour guide suggested that she may have captured of a still of Lavinia Fisher. 

Lavinia Fisher is believed to the be the first, recorded, female serial killer in the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher ran a traveler's rest stop, in the Charleston area, that they used to murder and rob travelers. 

Here's some additional information on the Fishers: Legends of America and Murderpedia. 

My other interests include reading, at the moment I am in the process of obtaining a 'Little Free Library' that will be installed in my yard and used by my neighbors. I enjoy writing and drawing. 

Awesomesauce

Who doesn't dream of adventure in this vast world?! 
                      - I definitely do! 

I love, love, love and love history! I love traveling! I love to read about traveling and I love planning to travel! The only thing about traveling that blows corn hole is the travel time- UGH! The whole packing up and traveling to the destination sucks... Except for when the scenery is phenomenal- however rare it may be. 

A few of my adventures, thus far, have been locally within the 'oh, so wonderful' state of South Carolina. -_- 

To be honest growing up in South Carolina has been not the greatest. Why you ask, when there are beautiful beaches and the historic Downtown area... Those places are only so thrilling the first two trips- after that BORE!

The rest of growing up in South Carolina sucked because you needed a car to travel any where! Only recently did we have a bus system added to the infrastructure. The bus only takes you to places within the metropolis. 

Once I got a car South Carolina became... somewhat "attractive". The beer goggles have been on for about eight years now; I am getting more drunk now due to discovering hidden gems across the state. 

I managed to create a map that maps out future destination spots, and spots that I have ventured out to. The map includes coordinates, some photographs (so that I know what I'm looking for), and information (like if I need permission or it's too 'dangerous' to go out to). Can you tell that I am a bit obsessed with this map? Then you are correct! There are days where I'm spending over thirteen or fourteen hours researching and plotting places on the lovely map. 

As everyone knows there's always a story behind the camera- there are some pretty funny stories leading up to my friends and myself venturing out to these sites. There are also not so funny moments too (I might share those).