Me...eccentric??

[grouper52]

I think we're all bozos on this bus.

 

[R_F]

Do yo ever feel like practicing bonsai makes you appear eccentric to the general population? I've given up caring for the most part (used to be a closeted bonsai grower) but still feel like people do double takes when they find out you care about growing trees in pots. I think they think I'm going to go all karate kid on them

I even took my trees with me to college....yeah people on campus looked at me funny when they saw all of my trees sitting outside my dorm door. Does that make me eccentric? If you'd seen the peoples faces as they passed my dorm you'd say 'yes'. To this day I still get funny looks or people in my family make comments about my "dorky" hobby. I just gloat and tell them that I can do things to their plants they've never even heard of before LOL

 

[mike108]

Lets just say i wouldnt show my bonsai to my girlfriend on my first date.

mike

 

[Jason]

Lets just say i wouldnt show my bonsai to my girlfriend on my first date.

mike

LOL...Hilarious!! (I keep visualizing a first date trip to the bonsai bench) ...I think that's a prudent move. That's assuming you want a second date.

 

[greerhw]

I think we're all bozos on this bus.

Yeah, the short bus.

keep it green,
Harry

 

[bougie nights]

Definitely so.
It does keep the neighborhood kids off my lawn, though.

 

[catfish chapstick]

eccentric behavior

growing bonsai is about the least eccentric thing i do. I agree that passion is one part of it. bonsai is not something i usually talk about in public, however, you will most likely know i'm eccentric in the first five minutes of meeting me.

 

[mike108]

LOL...Hilarious!! (I keep visualizing a first date trip to the bonsai bench) ...I think that's a prudent move. That's assuming you want a second date.

Either theyll think your totally sweet and have a soft side or theyll dump you right then and there and think your a freak! lol

 

[ml_work]

Bonsai Nut- Quote:"Though I can't appreciate the specific interest, I can certainly appreciate the PASSION. I love talking to people who are passionate about SOMETHING. Nothing is more boring than someone without a passionate life."

Ditto!

Michael

 

[Yamadori]

Anyone with a passion appears eccentric to those without the same passion. I love talking to people who are passionate about SOMETHING. Nothing is more boring than someone without a passionate life.

Yes I agree. I love passionate people.

 

[grizzlywon]

Eccentric: a person who has an unusual, peculiar, or odd personality (we "spend days walking around in the woods only to dig a 10 pound tree and a 50 pound root ball, strap it to my back and hike 6 miles back to the car") CHECK, set of beliefs (Smaller is better) CHECK, or behavior pattern ("visit the tree everyday noting its every move for a year. Then I spend countless hours planning how to style this tree. Then I finally get around to repotting the tree (more time and money for soil) only to let it sit for months before ever thinking about styling. More planning, more daily visits") CHECK. Chris, your onto something. Guilty as charged.

At least this peculiar behavior brings us some peace. Assuming our trees stay alive...

 

[Si Nguyen]

So far, the strangest passion I encountered is the one shared by professional protesters. Their passion is to protest. They do environment, healthcare, anti-war, pro-choice, global warming, you name it.
They travel from place to place, just to get arrested, fumigated, manhandled, yelled at, and tased.. That IS a strange one.
In comparison, bonsai is a very mild affliction: you torture plants, and you love them in the same time. Doesn't make much sense, but at least you don't get waterboarded.

In Vietnam they have professional mourners. They get paid to go and cry at funerals.
I would love to go and protest something now. I have done it before. It is very liberating.

 

[Si Nguyen]

Bonsai is like watching the grass grow, except slower.
I don't tell people I like staring at rocks either.

 

[Boscology]

Im happy to be considered eccentric by people, I remember someone politely referred to me as eclectic and I was a bit dissapointed.

 

[Captain.Bonsai]

So if you're ever visiting my pond and ask what my koi are worth, don't be shocked at the number I throw, it may even be true......

This was the first I’ve heard of this obscure sport... of course people show their fish, duh! I had to look it up:

“Typically, pond-quality koi cost $10 to $100 depending on size... At the other end of the spectrum are show-quality koi... These fish can easily cost $10,000 and up. A good breeding koi pair may run ten times this amount.”

What else have I been missing out on?! Is this what it feels like when your life is controlled and manipulated by social media, you begin to experience mood/behavioral disturbances, and use acronyms like FOMO?!

 

[amcoffeegirl]

This was the first I’ve heard of this obscure sport... of course people show their fish, duh! I had to look it up:

“Typically, pond-quality koi cost $10 to $100 depending on size... At the other end of the spectrum are show-quality koi... These fish can easily cost $10,000 and up. A good breeding koi pair may run ten times this amount.”

What else have I been missing out on?! Is this what it feels like when your life is controlled and manipulated by social media, you begin to experience mood/behavioral disturbances, and use acronyms like FOMO?!

I have imported fancy goldfish. Mine could not be shown because they have faults in their fins. I still enjoy them.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

Only when he opened his mouth, I became a little more suspicious about the nature of his intentions. He kept complaining about "why they don't put the age of the tree on the name tag". "It's a real shame", he said, "that we don't know how old these trees are". "Isn't age the most important thing?", he said, "these things are supposed to be hundreds of years old, and they don't even put that on the tag". He also kept asking me about how much are they worth.

Our club has a booth at the annual Nashville garden show each year. By far the most common questions from the public are how old and what would a tree like that cost? Maybe that's the difference between people into bonsai and not into bonsai. When I first saw bonsai in person at the Asheville arboretum in NC, my first question was usually "What's the story behind that one??" Followed immediately by "how can I do that?" Come to think of it, I should go dig up the old book and DVD I purchased from that trip.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

With all the students and parents that move through my wife's studio for lessons, the eccentricity of tiny trees everywhere has worn off. I even have some of the parents asking for a tour of my backyard to talk about my trees. I have noticed a pattern. The little kids think they're neat and want to touch them. The teenagers think it's dorky as hell. The young adults are generally indifferent. The middle aged crowd is interested but noncommittal. The older folks slide from indifferent to interested but to a person they are all like "hold on to this" and then proceed to chat about their passion from music, to model trains, to hunting and everything in between. The general consensus is just to be doing something that moves you and don't die slow in front of the TV.

I also have students bringing me saplings they've dug up. It's actually pretty sweet. I've got some Japanese maple whips I received as gifts that are actually ready to be worked on this spring.

 

[milehigh_7]

Great old thread with some great members that I have not chatted with for a long long time.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Eccentricity is a concept people use to disparage those who they dont understand. Nothing more.