We're just jealous.
Things that drive me crazy about bonsai people
- Thread starter shinmai
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Srt8madness
Omono
Because not everyone lives there? Because traditional bonsai trees aren't tropical?
BrianBay9
Masterpiece
I've had people tell me that Ficus aren't "real" bonsai, yet they readily accept Portucalaria. Just do what you like.
Sansokuu
Chumono
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Folks who make a big deal about pronouncing bonsai ‘correctly’ (like you would in japanese) but then don’t pronounce anything else right (nebari, yamadori etc). So for that I pronounce bonsai as bahnsai because I come from California and we don’t enunciate anything correctly there. (Mary, marry, merry are supposed to all sound differently but sound the same in Cali 
).
Bet none of you pronounce axolotl as you should
). Bet none of you pronounce axolotl as you should
Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
OOF, that drives me crazy too. Nobody should accept those.
Rubbery looking plants with mint drop foliage, and people dare call that a tree?! It's hardly a plant. Whoever designed that plant, was probably a 2 year old with one green and one brown crayon.
Cool if people want to keep them in tiny pots, that's called keeping houseplants. I have houseplants too, in tiny pots.
Thanks for bringing this up, it's never too late to hate on portucalaria.
ShadyStump
Imperial Masterpiece
Wait...
I'm not sure that's quite right. I mean, they've always sounded the same to me.
Shogun610
Masterpiece
No it’s more than that now … next !
Flowerhouse
Chumono
Like when the Spanish-speaking chef in a Swedish-American town was asked to put Ostkaka on the menu. "You want me to put *what* on the menu?"
Shogun610
Masterpiece
Ew ButtRock lolYou ain’t. I have been known to blast some five finger death punch and avenged sevenfold while working on my trees
leatherback
The Treedeemer
When people consider bonsai just a hobby.
ShadyStump
Imperial Masterpiece
I get it, but that's like being bothered when people consider their cat or dog just a pet. Allot of people do allot of things for allot of different reasons because they have allot of different priorities in their life. I may not have a perfectly disciplined, well trained, completely obedient purebred canine to brag about; but he's a good companion on lonely nights and out on the trail, keeps my home safe, and is an appreciated friendly face to all my neighbors' children. Should I forego those benefits to my life simply because there are others I don't have the wherewithal to also pursue?
In the almost 5 years since I jumped into bonsai I've produced very little to show for it. Should I give it all up just because my priorities in life mean my timeline for progress is going to look very different from other's?
pandacular
Masterpiece
I agree with this. Painting can be your hobby but it would be silly to call the art a hobby. I feel the exact same with bonsai.
There’s nothing wrong with pursuing an art as a hobby, but for whatever reason, there’s some folks in the wider community (i.e., not as much here) who are adamant that bonsai is “just a hobby.” But I don’t care to make this an art v craft debate so I’ll leave it at that.
vp999
Masterpiece
Are u serious ? or just joking ?
vp999
Masterpiece
To me it's a hobby unless you're Ryan Neil, Bjorn Suthin or other bonsai teachers thats making a living from it. If you still have a daytime job and not using the money you make from Bonsai to pay for your mortgage and living expenses..it's a hobby to me....When you can play with your trees whenever you feel like it or not and its completely on your own term..it's a hobby to me. Maybe to me it's either a hobby or a job and Bonsai is definitely not a job lol.
Kievnstavick
Shohin
I think the lack of context sort of throws what jelle said around a bit.
My very first impression on his post made me think he was referring to practioneers, but after a little more thought I viewed it as referring to people outside the hobby.
It could also mean those within the community, but I would think the people called out in that meaning are the ones who don't put in more effort because they view it as just a hobby. Emphasis was place on the "Just A".
This interpretation would align with a pet peeve of mine of people who are totally against new ideas for whatever reason.
To me, Bonsai is a hobby at the moment as a means of melding my two interests of horticulture and art. It is a method for my artistic expression that replaced my practice of digital art. I don't have aspirations of turning it into a professional business, but I would like to sell high quality starters to compensate the effort and to share the art with others.
To me it is a hobby, but not just a hobby. Which is what I think jelle was refering to.
Joe Dupre'
Omono
Screeeeeeech! Dragging this thread back to the original post. "Things that drive ME crazy about bonsai people." Purely an opinion, as I see it........ not a blanket statement that the things mentioned are somehow bad or inferior. Just a reflection on MY quirks and nobody else's.
ShadyStump
Imperial Masterpiece
Fair point, it is a thread sharing PERSONAL feelings surrounding bonsai, and there are no absolutes here.
That said, to expect people to not want to discuss their differing opinions is itself madness.
And this makes the point that the word, "hobby," can have varying meanings to different people.
I suspect that @leatherback made his statement under the impression that most people don't take their hobbies particularly seriously. It's just a passtime that they enjoy more than others.
In that light, I can't really disagree. Bonsai does require quite a bit more dedication than simply keeping houseplants; and also a greater level of engagement with the artistic, horticultural, and academic aspects in order to say you're doing more that just growing fancy houseplants. You simply CANNOT call it practicing bonsai without actively engaging those three aspects of it on a daily basis. Not that that's what defines bonsai, but that this is simply required in order to elevate it above fancy houseplant level.
I personally define, "hobby," quite differently. Hobby means you're applying that aforementioned dedication and engagement, where other interests may often be left to languish.
Example, I don't call fish keeping a hobby because 25¢ goldfish in a secondhand tank that uses coffee cans as filters is NOT the level of dedication and engagement a hobby requires. It's one of a dozen things that happens to take place in my household. Neither are woodworking, or writing really hobbies of mine. I just dable in them from time to time. Maybe they'll become real hobbies at some point, but they aren't now.
Aaand I just committed my own pet peev I mentioned before of getting caught up in the semantics.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Well. For me it ain’t a job cuz I am not making money despite the existence of a certain meme of me raking in the big bucks. It sure isn’t a hobby cuz no hobby can get my butt into that mosquito infested swamp and in water filled with beavers’ poop.Fair point, it is a thread sharing PERSONAL feelings surrounding bonsai, and there are no absolutes here.
That said, to expect people to not want to discuss their differing opinions is itself madness.
And this makes the point that the word, "hobby," can have varying meanings to different people.
I suspect that @leatherback made his statement under the impression that most people don't take their hobbies particularly seriously. It's just a passtime that they enjoy more than others.
In that light, I can't really disagree. Bonsai does require quite a bit more dedication than simply keeping houseplants; and also a greater level of engagement with the artistic, horticultural, and academic aspects in order to say you're doing more that just growing fancy houseplants. You simply CANNOT call it practicing bonsai without actively engaging those three aspects of it on a daily basis. Not that that's what defines bonsai, but that this is simply required in order to elevate it above fancy houseplant level.
I personally define, "hobby," quite differently. Hobby means you're applying that aforementioned dedication and engagement, where other interests may often be left to languish.
Example, I don't call fish keeping a hobby because 25¢ goldfish in a secondhand tank that uses coffee cans as filters is NOT the level of dedication and engagement a hobby requires. It's one of a dozen things that happens to take place in my household. Neither are woodworking, or writing really hobbies of mine. I just dable in them from time to time. Maybe they'll become real hobbies at some point, but they aren't now.
Aaand I just committed my own pet peev I mentioned before of getting caught up in the semantics.
A typical swamp trip for me means driving a 92 mile round trip, slogging in swamp water for 3 hours, digging up 10 or so BCs, replanting 8 and keep 2. After roughly a year caring for those, I sell them for $250 average. That ain’t a job for sure.
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leatherback
The Treedeemer
Wow.. And there I was just winking at an earlier post, which now seems to be absent. Hm. My mind must be playing tricks.
Buuut.. It is certainly not just a hobby to me. Depending on how you practice it, it is a hobby that starts defining part of your life when it comes to daily watering, checking on wires, watching the weather and planning your holidays. That combined with the skills involved in horticulture and design this is more than just a hobby to me
Buuut.. It is certainly not just a hobby to me. Depending on how you practice it, it is a hobby that starts defining part of your life when it comes to daily watering, checking on wires, watching the weather and planning your holidays. That combined with the skills involved in horticulture and design this is more than just a hobby to me
Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
Just curious about your view. Does it bother you when people like me, who love horticulture and plants, consider bonsai a hobby for themselves?
In a sense, sure, this hobby takes a lot of my time and I can consider it a part of my life. But I still see it as any other hobby I have.
