Gym. I workout four days a week. I follow four weight training programs from bodybuilding.com. I follow two weight plate training programs for my home mini-gym. I bike on the stationary bike and I jog on the treadmill for cardio workouts. I continue to improve my workouts such as finding new workout guides. Hiking, backpacking, and cleaning the house are considered workouts.
Movies. Watching good movies is worth my time. I avoid stupid movies. I'm picky purchasing movies for which I ask myself the question, "Am I going to watch the movie multiple times?" If the answer is yes, then I purchase the movie. My all-time favorites are the following: 12 Angry Men, A Few Good Men, A League Of Their Own, Aliens, All The President's Men, Ben Hur, Black Hawk Down, Breaking Away, Casablanca, Clerks, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Good Will Hunting, Hot Fuzz, La La Land, Mary Poppins, Office Space, Parasite (2019), Saving Private Ryan, Stand By Me, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, The Dark Knight, The Godfather, The Princess Bride, The Shawshank Redemption, The Sound Of Music, Titanic, Toy Story, Wall Street, and UP!
The Outdoors. I started hiking in Mar 2009. My favorite places to hike are Castle Rock State Park, Angel Island State Park, and Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. I hike, camp, and backpack anywhere including urban hiking and open trails. Give me my hiking hat and my hiking shoes. I like to see new scenery.
Board Games. I play kiddie games such as Chutes & Ladders and Candy Land; mainstream games such as Settlers Of Catan and chess; card games such as Ascension and Fluxx; party games such as Pictionary and Beyond Balderdash; and board gamers games such as Viticulture and Puerto Rico. I also play Hong Kong and Japanese or Riichi Mahjong. My favorite casino game is craps.
Music. Classic rock, classical music, classic jazz, and big bands are my favorite music. The Beatles is my all-time favorite band. Let It Be is my all-time favorite Beatles song. Paul McCartney is my favorite Beatle. I listen to 80s rock and 80s pop most of the time and 90s rock and 90s pop sometimes on cardio workouts.
Podcasts. I listen to 99% Invisible, Awesome Etiquette, Freakonomics, MuggleCast, Sex With Emily, and Stuff You Should Know. My current events podcasts are 60 Minutes and Nightline. I completed Cautionary Tales Season 1. My retired podcasts are Car Talk and NBC Sports Bay Area Happy Hour.
Sports. I follow the headlines in football, baseball, and basketball. I'm a San Francisco 49ers, San Francisco Giants, Golden State Warriors, San Jose Sharks, and San Jose Earthquakes fan. I cheer for the Oakland A's. I follow the headlines for college football and college basketball casually especially the bowls games and March Madness, respectively.
Books. I started reading books in 2001. I started reading more fiction books than non-fiction in 2008. The fiction books include bestsellers, classic literature, dystopian, and young adult. Also, I read fantasy, sci-fi, crime, and mystery. My top non-fiction books are business, investments, sports, technology, and advice. I'm open to all recommendations.
I read the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling from Sep 2019 to Mar 2020. I'm decades late to the party. The series is a modern-day classic for people ages 10-100. My favorite characters are Harry Potter, Minerva McGonagall, and Harry Potter's godfather. Gryffindor is my house. My favorite volume is Year 5 Order Of The Phoenix.
Vacation. I visited Disneyland, Universal Studios, Yosemite, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, SeaWorld, the San Diego Zoo, Huntington Library, Hoover Dam, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia in Canada, the Russian River, and Zion National Park in Utah.
Cooking. I'm a novice cook. 95% of the meals I cook are healthy. I continue learning cooking techniques including stir-frying, baking, and roasting to make the meals taste better. I have cookbooks and printed recipes I'm eager to try. Click Cooking 101 to view simple recipes.
My household minimizes eating processed foods. We rarely eat frozen foods. We don't eat deli meats. The acceptable canned foods are chili, tomato sauce, fruits, vegetables, and ingredients for big meals such as olives and tuna. My household must eat rice, fruits, and vegetables.
Television. I watch little TV. I spend more time watching sports than primetime. I watch TV series on DVD because I don't have cable. My TV DVD collection is small. My all-time favorites are Breaking Bad, Firefly, Knight Rider, Leave It To Beaver, Malcolm In The Middle, Seinfeld, The A-Team, The Dukes Of Hazard, The Simpsons, and Three's Company.
Dancing. I learned ballroom dancing in Jan 2009. My sister danced competitively. She taught me during her free time. I learned the fox trot, waltz, tango, cha cha cha, nite club two-step, east coast swing, west coast swing, and the hustle.
Other Parts Of Me: Taking pictures of police cars, writing blogs posted on my webpage Innovating Common Knowledge, writing personal blogs posted at Finding Raymond Mar, watching ballet especially The Nutcracker, and exploring new places to visit.
Japanese Anime. I'm a retired anime fan.
Video Games. I take advantage of the COVID-19 global pandemic free time coming out of video game retirement playing classic video games. The first game I finished is Final Fantasy VI.