Fiction Plane / Forum

serenityeh
Joined: 26/05/10

I'm bored out of my mind because it's summer, and I have nothing to do. (Hence the title) Usually during the school year I'm up til 3am every night, and wake up at 9am only to have my day blocked out by the hour, until I can go to sleep again at 3am.

...But it's summer...and I have very little to do...so I'm filling my day with as many random things as possible.

Here's my list so far:
Yoga
Listening to Fiction Plane (But that's all the time, not just when I'm bored)
Watching as many TV series as possible (I've just finished Dead Like Me. It was awesome.)
Reading the few Stephen King books I haven't read yet.
Writing a play with Zombies in it. (Well, this is actually a project I promised my playwriting professor I'd work on, but I'm counting it)
Painting my nails.

...anything I should add to my list? What do you do when you're bored?

Posted: 2010-06-15 22:50:31
clover33
Joined: 19/05/10

Dead Like Me was awesome....I still don't understand why they ended that series.

You should catch Breaking Bad. THAT is a great show!

Posted: 2010-06-16 05:37:00
serenityeh
Joined: 26/05/10

You know, as an actor/writer it's really hard for me to watch things on TV some times, because I end up analyzing every little thing that's on the screen and Dead Like Me was like...a perfect TV show. There wasn't a single weak link in the cast, I loved every single one of them. It ends on such a weird note too, it was a shame really. I'll have to see if I can find the movie they did somewhere, but I've heard it's not as good. I'm afraid to taint my perfect vision of the show.

I've heard a lot about Breaking Bad, I'll have to see if I can get a hold of it on DVD or something. All I ever hear is good things about it...

Posted: 2010-06-16 12:26:32
shanley
Joined: 02/06/10

I like to split my time between mooching & learning.

Mooching comprises pottering around the house, playing on the laptop, reading storybooks, watching TV.

I try to mix this up with doing something useful with my brain otherwise I end up feeling like Ive just wasted all my time. More reading but non-fiction, studying, piano practice, working in the garden, clearing out. All to music! Or I'll off out to museums or the beach or the library or just somewhere; when it's nice out then the sun's good.

TV shows you might like: Firefly, Bones, Dr Who, Regenesis, West Wing, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

Books: Neil Gaiman (try Stardust if you want something lighter to start with, or if you don't mind going in head first, American Gods is worth every second). John Pilger is what all investigative journalists should be. If you're interested in language or the brain, Steven Pinker's the man - he's brilliant. The Language Instanct was his first book & is a great place to start. You could try some of the Russian classics - I particularly like Tolstoy & Turgenev - try The Sebastopol Sketches (nowhere near the length of War & Peace!) & First Love respectively as starting places. And I LOVE Joanne Harris' Chocolat - the book, not the film - and follow-up The Lollipop Shoes.

Of course, your taste might be totally different from mine & you may hate them all...

Posted: 2010-06-19 07:39:45
shanley
Joined: 02/06/10

Oooh, origami's fun too. Then you can send your friend unexpected random multi-coloured peper animals. I once spent a day making a menagerie for Ryan who has them stuck all over his wall :-)

Posted: 2010-06-19 07:41:30
serenityeh
Joined: 26/05/10

Oh my god Shanley, we have like the exact same taste...that's awesome.

I'm a huuuge fan of Firefly, Bones, and Doctor Who (Which I definitely need to catch up on, Matt Smith is adorable). I'm also in love with Neil Gaiman, I think Bad Omens is my favorite book ever. I've read it so many times that my copy is practically falling apart. I'll have to check out Stardust, I think that's one that I've haven't managed to read yet.

I've never heard of Regenesis, I'll have to check it out. I wish we had museums that were closer/less expensive. I still can't drive and while I've always gotten around it before, it's starting to get annoying. :-/ I should really get on that, I can't bike everywhere and that's just sad.

Posted: 2010-06-20 14:13:19
shanley
Joined: 02/06/10

That's so cool! Did you like Serenity, the movie that followed on from Firefly? I was so thrilled when it came out, but oh, the tears! As a total geek, I can't deny that "Joss Whedon is my master now" (haha) but oh, he's a bad man. Can't believe what he put us through. I love everything he's done. There's Joss comix too, including Firefly ones.

Did you know that Neil Gaiman is dating Amanda Palmer? Fantasic pairing! They fit together so well at least in my brain, total nutters. I was thrilled when I heard.

Regenesis is science-based; if you like Bones it's def worth a shot. I totally love it. They don't dumb down anything or patronise at all & the characters are lush & the writing's clever & witty & thoughtful. Classy stuff. 4 seasons in total but only 2 on DVD as far as I know.

I did think of other fun things to do while I was lying in bed the other morning. Can't remember them now though... Baking was one - making bread, or pretty cakes, or whatever you like to eat. Learning how to do something you've always fancied doing, whether its something little like using chopsticks or much bigger like learning Latin. Libraries are handy! Make up a picnic hamper & go out for lunch with your friends - meet them in their lunch hour if they're at work.

Yeah driving would prob be useful - could you do hat this summer? Or decide to be an eco-activist & spurn the car for the bike long-term and join FoE or Greenpeace and spend your summer protesting against whaling ships?

Posted: 2010-06-20 15:00:19
serenityeh
Joined: 26/05/10

Ahhh I love Serenity!! Hence the screen name actually, that's where I got it. I'm in love with Joss, he's fantastic. I've been since buffy. The man is like an angst bucket, I swear. He wallows in it, but it's fantastic all at the same time.

I DID know that, in fact I think they're engaged? Maybe? Did I read that on twitter? Either way, they have to be the most fantastic couple ever. I've always loved Amanda Palmer, she's awesome.

I'm actually working on the driving this summer, I took my test once annnnd the instructor was really quite mean to me and it made me feel like never getting into a car again for the rest of my life. Really I'd rather just bike everywhere, but it makes places quite hard to get to in both Columbus and Muncie. They're not really biker friendly. In fact, once last year while I was riding my bike to school, I had a pumpkin thrown at me from a car window. Knocked me off the bike too, I had bruises on my ribs for weeks. I'm not talking like a gourd either, it was a full on giant pumpkin.

...I have really bad luck when it comes to the bike, I don't know why you'd ever throw a pumpkin at an unsuspecting biker, that's just mean...

I'm all for being an eco-activist though!! Greenpeace would be awesome, but I think that'd have to wait til I'm out of school and don't need money for college.

Posted: 2010-06-27 13:36:27
shanley
Joined: 02/06/10

Throwing squash at bikers is just mean! Seriously, who would even think of doing that? I don't even let my brother throw his tab butts out the car window, let alone fruit & veg. Bleeding nutters.

I love Buffy :-) I generally like to start recommending Joss' other works first though as it can turn into quite a battle to get people to take it seriously. I undertand, for I was once one of those people. Oh, how I mocked. Until I was bored one day & watched 2 back to back episodes & was astounded by his wit & skill. I even took my "Joss Whedon is my master now" tshirt to Glasto this year, though it was so hot I didn't get out of vests.

Good luck with the driving. People are super-nutters behind the wheel too!!!

Posted: 2010-07-02 13:20:41

Things you do when you're bored