lovely things i recommend doing when you are bored

$ : some money required ($15 or under)
$$ : more than a little money required (over $15)
* : you can plausibly do this by yourself. sometimes i do.
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indoors:

1) moview reviews - ($ ; *)

get a handfull of movies in one genre. and write silly reviews. that is my favourite.
especially when you review them under the rules for other genres.

example: jane austen movies, only you debate how good of a vampire movie it is. or how it matches up to the formula of old westerns.

alternative: take movies and write out the different songs you would make, if you were in change of turning it into a musical production.

[Magnificent Seven:
intro- simple "la la la" chorus of intimidation by horsebacked men riding into small, ransacked village

this 20 dollar gold coin

all you have to do is clap!

bartender, can you hand me my gun?

where have all the young women gone?

zero

(only dead man have) no fear

take off your belts

i too, was a farmer

and for the final song- a season of gratitude, leading into a chorus of adios]


2) coloring - (*)
print things out and color them. very simple.

(note: best enjoyed with company, i think, but sometimes it is nice to do by yourself.)

3) books! - (*)
get a bunch of paper and make a nice little book together

(note: again, you can do this by yourself. some people, it will only make them feel lonely. some, it will make them feel nice and productive)

4) bug collecting - ( *)
go outside and find yourself some bugs. you really don't need to know much about bugs. just use your best judgement. which ones would be neat? give them names that you like.

keep them in a jar, or if you have no jars, you can just use a glass and some seran wrap. probably a rubberband to keep it on. if you let them escape... well, it's less lovely. unless you're very good at finding bugs without injuring them or getting your roommates angry.



public:

1) charming tourist - ( * )
get/print off a little tourist map of your city. sit in a coffee shop. and point to things and circle things you would like to visit on your pretend, romantic, last-minute trip to montreal. and then ask people around you what they recommend.well. you could still pretend. and if they ask, say you were in X city and just decided on a whim to take the girlfriend to montreal. but you both are so silly and spontaneous, you don't have any idea what to do with yourselves. you can say these things while looking at each other and grinning.

if you are single, you could just do this bravely on your own and who knows? maybe someone will have dinner with you.

2) obnoxious haircuts - ($ ; *)

you could get a $10.oo haircut. and give the hairdresser really obnoxious, fastidious directions. see how much they will take for a tenner.

if you do not like being mean, you could just give them baffling directions. like directions that start off with: "what do you know about fractal patterns?" or "if mia farrow were a beautiful man, what do you think her hair would be like? because i want that."

3) exotic/less mean alternative - ($ ; *)

simply, get a haircut in chinatown.

4) just doing something different with your hair - ($$ ; *)

go to a neat salon, see if they will squeeze you in and ask for a dye-job. express to them how much you want them to use their artistic intuition.

5) making rain moments - (note: of course you need rain for it to work best)

go out to the park. you each go to opposite ends of the park. and then run to each other. or the boy could run up behind the girl. spin her around and kiss her. take cliche movie stuff in the rain and find which seem to work okay when actually practiced. take turns. mix it up. people will believe your lives are very romantic and interesting. i know i'd be jealous.