Entertainment For Lively Minds
So what would you do with a couple of unplanned free hours completely to yourself this weekend?
Posted by Sebastian Beach on 25 February 2011 - 11:34am.
Prompted by the current rather cheesy ad campaign being run by the Coop;
Most of the usual cliches are trotted out but being a chap of a certain age my own would be rather duller or at least more practical;
Finally shred the 20 years worth of payslips that I have kept "just in case".
Rebuild my compost bins that collapsed in the snow.
Really listen, with no distractions, to the new Mogwai album.Too much happening when I put it on for the first time yesterday.
Delve into all those unread articles from my regular magazine subscriptions before next month's deluge (the Lomax article in the current Word being an example).
Rewatch the Treme pilot to see if I can get the gist of the local accent this time.
Your own?
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Two hours, eh?
Play my guitar (30 mins)
Have a large, quiet coffee, whilst flicking through Word mag (20 mins)
Watch an episode of 'Blackadder III' (25 mins)
Arse about on The Word Blog (30 mins)
Buy things I don't need on Amazon (14 mins)
60 seconds left, eh? Hmmm... no-one's home, go the place to myself... Close all the curtains... Time for a long, luxuriant nose-pick.
Splendid.
Lenny? Any suggestions?
I have the entire weekend to myself
Mrs F-C has jetted off to San Diego on business and I can do what the hell I like. So I will.
Two Hours Would Be Like A Holiday
Sit and do absolutely nothing, no music, no tv, no books. Just a nice pot of coffee and me.
A normal day for me: get up at 5am to head for my commute. Normally after not much sleep thanks to a toddler who doesn't sleep himself. Cup of coffee on the train, Ipod on to drown out the people on their phones - who has an hour long conversation about work at 630 in the morning? - and read, tweet or facebook.
Onto the tube at Paddington to head to Holborn to the office, where it's always hit the ground running due to some panic or other, although I can sit online while I'm dealing with other stuff.
No lunch normally, so work through to hometime (which luckily is early thanks to early start, 4ish) then reverse journey back home straight into dinnertime around 630pm, and toddler bed routine, and then maybe an hour spent with the wife before sleep and starting all over again. And then there's the weekend...grandparents...
I can't remember the last time I had two hours to myself for anything. I went to the pub in August last year by myself, that might be the last time...
Lie down, on my bed
listening to the Archers Omnibus podcast and drift off too sleep to the dulcit tones of Ruth Archer. Mmmmm....
Fantasy 2 hours:
1. Finish shelving *without* having to go to B&Q *again*.
2. Feeling satisfied and a mite more like a Real Bloke than usual, make a nice big coffee and possibly a relaxing smoke.
3. Pick a blinder of an album I haven't properly listened to for ages
4. Carry on reading "Shades of Grey" (Jasper Fforde). Maybe finish in one go.
Real 2 hours:
1. Fuck up shelving. Dismiss. Disregard resultant mess.
2. Feel guilt-tripped into doing something else productive such as preparing food or putting on some washing. Remember at least to make a nice coffee.
3. With only a radio in the kitchen, get fed up with Liz Kershaw's affable but ultimately agitative choice of rock. Remember coffee - now tepid.
4. Sit down with a book only to be interrupted every 20 seconds, read same paragraph up to 8 times.
A whole week.
I've had a WHOLE week to myself, more or less. Well, not quite to myself - my dad was here from Monday to Thursday helping me do DIY, and since the house has effectively been a building site, the FPO and Boblets are up in Lancaster at the in-laws'.
When I've not been doing A LOT of woodwork (8 'til 6 every day, more or less, and working considerably harder than I do at work), I've been watching films, reading books, playing my guitar and failing utterly at completing the RPM Challenge. Oh, and missing the FPO and Boblets rather a lot. A week is too long.
If I can cope with the inevitable chafing,
Probably this...