What are you learning/studying right now?

[Sedi]

I know -- might be a strange theme for a thread but hear me out.
The older I get the more fun I am having learning new things. In my eyes, school is a big problem insofar as it makes learning this annoying, tedious thing that you have to do to get good grades.
But it's the things that you learn voluntarily that are so much fun.
At the moment I am learning Tuvan throat singing (also practiced in Mongolia) and I just love this process when starting out with something new and first you think, "I can never do this", then you are starting to make these incredible sounds. I first wanted to learn this more than 20 years ago -- before there was a thing called "YouTube" and I just stumbled upon this book with CD about throat singing. Never got very far but when I had Covid my voice got so low that I thought, "hey, now you might finally be able to learn throat singing."
It's like rediscovering what every small child knows before it "has to learn" for school. That learning something new is maybe the most fun and inspiring thing in the world.
So I was interested -- who is learning something new right now? An instrument, a language, a craft, etc.
What are your experiences? What was most helpful in the process? Books, teachers, online lessons, etc.

[skywatch]

I think this is a great idea for a thread. Lately my wife and I have been going down a fun rabbit hole of plant identification. Last year we moved to a house with a large and varied garden, and the previous owners had planted a huge variety of specimen plants. When the blooms started coming this spring, we realized we had no idea what some of these were. I used to be much better at memorizing Linnaean binomial names, when I got into mycology 25 years ago, but I seem to be a bit slower now. A few of these plants are still slipping through the cracks, and the image-based algorithms are making obvious mistakes. It's a challenge I enjoy.

Here are two that are still escaping classification:

[mlcor]

I think this is a great idea for a thread. Lately my wife and I have been going down a fun rabbit hole of plant identification. Last year we moved to a house with a large and varied garden, and the previous owners had planted a huge variety of specimen plants. When the blooms started coming this spring, we realized we had no idea what some of these were. I used to be much better at memorizing Linnaean binomial names, when I got into mycology 25 years ago, but I seem to be a bit slower now. A few of these plants are still slipping through the cracks, and the image-based algorithms are making obvious mistakes. It's a challenge I enjoy.

Here are two that are still escaping classification:

I'm actually quite good at this, so I can tell you definitively that both of those are in fact plants. Nobody beats me for plant identification.

And yes, I'm a city boy.

[skywatch]

I'm actually quite good at this, so I can tell you definitively that both of those are in fact plants. Nobody beats me for plant identification.

And yes, I'm a city boy.

Actually, @mlcor, those are photographs of plants. Tricked you!

[Raza]

I'm actually quite good at this, so I can tell you definitively that both of those are in fact plants. Nobody beats me for plant identification.

And yes, I'm a city boy.

As a fellow city boy, I agree, these are plants.

[Henry Krinkle]

I think this is a great idea for a thread. Lately my wife and I have been going down a fun rabbit hole of plant identification. Last year we moved to a house with a large and varied garden, and the previous owners had planted a huge variety of specimen plants. When the blooms started coming this spring, we realized we had no idea what some of these were. I used to be much better at memorizing Linnaean binomial names, when I got into mycology 25 years ago, but I seem to be a bit slower now. A few of these plants are still slipping through the cracks, and the image-based algorithms are making obvious mistakes. It's a challenge I enjoy.

Here are two that are still escaping classification:

I can't help with what the plants are, but I totally get how this happens. Since I have taken up scuba I have fallen down the reef fish identification rabbit hole. It just isn't enough to say "and we saw this really cool plant, mushroom/fish."

When I figured out this blurry and strange little guy hiding under some anemones was a blenny, well... not to mention the first encounter with every new kind of shark or ray.

[Tim.]

I think this is a great idea for a thread. Lately my wife and I have been going down a fun rabbit hole of plant identification. Last year we moved to a house with a large and varied garden, and the previous owners had planted a huge variety of specimen plants. When the blooms started coming this spring, we realized we had no idea what some of these were. I used to be much better at memorizing Linnaean binomial names, when I got into mycology 25 years ago, but I seem to be a bit slower now. A few of these plants are still slipping through the cracks, and the image-based algorithms are making obvious mistakes. It's a challenge I enjoy.

Here are two that are still escaping classification:

My image algorithm came up with Robinia Psuedoacacia (Twisted Baby Black Locust).

[Strela167]

My image algorithm came up with Robinia Psuedoacacia (Twisted Baby Black Locust).

Thought the leaves looked familiar.
Had a Robinia for a few years. Every time pruned the very large , very sharp red thorns ripped shirt cuffs and blood everywhere , got rid.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Twis...GNbZwPlfK84ShM

Didn't know there is a twisted one though.

Got a corkscrew hazel, that comes into it's own in winter when leaf free , and spring with all the catkins.

[Tim.]

I think this is a great idea for a thread. Lately my wife and I have been going down a fun rabbit hole of plant identification. Last year we moved to a house with a large and varied garden, and the previous owners had planted a huge variety of specimen plants. When the blooms started coming this spring, we realized we had no idea what some of these were. I used to be much better at memorizing Linnaean binomial names, when I got into mycology 25 years ago, but I seem to be a bit slower now. A few of these plants are still slipping through the cracks, and the image-based algorithms are making obvious mistakes. It's a challenge I enjoy.

Here are two that are still escaping classification:

Maybe it's this, does it get red flowers?

[Strela167]

Maybe it's this, does it get red flowers?

Had to google that.

https://www.google.com/search?client...ng+bottlebrush

A stunner. Not too sure on the 20 ' - 30 ' height , thought a shrub.

Good sherlock work Tim Cheers