Help us not be bored.

August 17, 2005 5:14 PM

The beloved and I are at this point where neither of us has any real disposable income and it's going to be like this for the next 2-3 months. We collectively have Netflix, boardgames, gym membership, game consoles and a library card, but we need more ideas for FREE things to do so we aren't bored to death. We're in St. Louis if anyone has something location specific. (we already went to the zoo yesterday)

Alternately, if you know of any plasma donation centers in the area and how much they pay, we'd appreciate that, too.

posted by pieoverdone to sports, hobbies, & recreation (31 comments total)

Sleep
posted by meta87 at 5:28 PM on August 17, 2005

-Talk.
-Go to a park and throw a ball/frisbee/javelin around.
-Read to each other. Wodehouse short stories are terrific for this, if that's your sort of thing.
-St. Louis, uh...go see the arch? Again?
-Lots of cities have free theater and music in various parks this time of year.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 5:48 PM on August 17, 2005

I second the park -- and bring a picnic.

It doesn't need to be anything special, just whatever you were going to eat for dinner that night -- pack it up and take it to the park, with a blanket, a frisbee, and a bottle of wine (decanted into a soda bottle or a thermos.)
posted by Methylviolet at 6:06 PM on August 17, 2005

Visit the brewery?
posted by 6:1 at 6:13 PM on August 17, 2005

You've got everything I've got, and I'm fabulously wealthy. Having watched a DVD, played Go, worked out for an hour, played some Xbox, spent a couple of hours reading and presumably surfed the net, I'm frankly amazed that you have time to do anything else.

You could try geocaching - it's not that hard to do without a GPS if you've got Google Maps and a street directory. Take up sudoku. Write (with a pen and paper) long letters to distant friends and relatives. Teach yourself origami. Get a tai chi DVD from Netflix and learn that. Meditate. Take long walks in the park, or lie on your back on a blanket, hold hands and stare at the sky. Volunteer for a charity, like a soup kitchen. Offer to walk somebody's dog. Start a babysitting service. Adopt a park or street and keep it clean of trash. Learn to juggle. Build a kite. Give long massages. Make love more often. Take long baths. Grow your own herbs. Write haiku. Play hackisak. Kick a soccer ball. Throw a frisbee. Make soup. Sleep in. Rearrange furniture. Clean your cupboards and windows. Play hopscotch. Ascend in Nethack. Sell your TV, then use the money to start a new hobby - making models, brewing beer, knitting, beading, breeding fish, racing pigeons, playing the ukelele, whatever.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 6:14 PM on August 17, 2005

You are with your beloved and you get bored? And you have internet access?

I'm sorry, it's just that my husband and I have to live long distance right now, but whenever we are together we find we always have something to do - mostly talking. And talking. And talking. And when we're bored with talking, we go on the internet, and then we talk about the internet. We don't actually have more time for anything else, what with sleeping and pretending to work. We could probably do this for about 20 hours a day, if life let us. I would be on the internet a lot less if he were around.

But ideas: parks are great, as are hiking trails. Museums sometimes have free times on one day or evening of the week, as do some art galleries. I used to go to a coffee shop and buy a coffee and sit and talk with friends for several hours - the cost is a cup of coffee. (But you might have noticed the talking thing isn't a challenge). Have friends over - if you can scrap together enough food to feed them, they can bring drinks. Or make it a potluck. Have a Netflicks marathon. Have a romantic picnic in the park. Have a big potluck picnic with friends. Play poohsticks on a small bridge.

Walk around the city for the fun of exploration - just set off in a direction you've never been, and keep going until you think you might not be able to make it back, then go back. You see lots of great neighbourhoods and things this way - it's like exploring, only on really straight trails. Sometimes you stumble into odd places and industrial districts - but the rules when I do this is that I never really want to retrace my steps, so I always try to make big loops - that way the way back is as interesting as the way out. Or if I've gone too far, I take the bus.
posted by jb at 6:15 PM on August 17, 2005

- everything else at forest park, science center
- lot's of stuff here
- Grant's farm.. with baby goats!
- there's still a few neighborhood festivals left this year
- more stuff here
- gotta check this out:
Sunday, August 21
Free Candy! with Amanda & Julia
Hartford Coffee Company, 3974 Hartford St.
Free, 7 p.m., 314-772-5947
freecandy.net
- or email me, we're always up to something
posted by muddylemon at 6:17 PM on August 17, 2005

Have sex.

I find that sexual gymnastics truly entertain me for long periods of time. I suspect that you may respond similarly. Once you tire of the most obvious modifications, such as location and position, you can start with all of the perversions your ethical system allows you.

You might, for instance, spend the two months going through the entire Kama Sutra. I don't mean positions, but the entire seduction, homemaking, and sex processes. Or, if you find that too prosaic (I happen to agree), try entertaining yourself by studying Tantra or 120 Days of Sodom.

Seriously, a couple of books on Tantra and a bit of work with your partner is what I suggest for the 2-3 month period.

You can study sex as an art, treating it the same way you treat painting. It brings you and the beloved together, it's a helluva lot of fun, and it's absolutely free.*


*I understand, of course, that it's not necessarily free if you need equipment (ropes, big rubber balls, weaponry), if ya'll aren't tested (prophylactics), or if you're in a heterosexual, unbonded relationship (contraceptives). But, it's probably cheaper than your gym membership, it's more fun, involves less travel, and already qualifies as a workout.
posted by Netzapper at 6:26 PM on August 17, 2005

volunteer
posted by chuckforthought.com at 7:03 PM on August 17, 2005

the whole stl art musuem is free on fridays
posted by chuckforthought.com at 7:04 PM on August 17, 2005

Have you checked events at Wash. U. College theater, concerts, exhibits, etc. are usually free or VERY cheap. And college talent is often just as good as most anything you'd pay tons of $$ for.
posted by awegz at 7:10 PM on August 17, 2005

Also, if there are any errands I need to do (grocery store, post office, bank, blah, blah, blah) I'll often walk there even though my car is just fine. Takes longer and gets me out moving.
posted by awegz at 7:12 PM on August 17, 2005

Jigsaw puzzles are cheap and if you get one with at least 1000 pieces they will give you a few evenings of entertainment. I actually found a bunch of jigsaw puzzles at the dollar store the other day.
posted by sugarfish at 7:24 PM on August 17, 2005

I'm sure St. Louis, like all large cities, has many tiny little art galleries or quasi-art places. Go find them. Sure, the big municipal art museum is fine, but I assure you there's lots more out there. Go to each one you hear of at least once. At the very least you'll discover completely new neighborhoods. Oh, and they're usually completely free, without even a sneer from the slacker gallery sitter if you fail to donate.

And go to the park and throw a frisbee or play with a little airplane. Tons o fun and good for you.
posted by intermod at 7:38 PM on August 17, 2005

It took seven comments to get to sex? Shag more! Fills time just fine.
posted by bonaldi at 7:58 PM on August 17, 2005

Well, when my husband and I are bored, we engage in the following (all free):

Sex

Art appreciation at Laumeier Sculpture Park

Exhibits and hiking at Powder Valley Nature Center

Hiking at Emmenger

Driving through Lone Elk Park and taking in the wildlife.

More wildlife (great for photography) at World Bird Sanctuary

People watching and veggie buying at Soulard Farmer's Market (cooking together can be great fun)

Cahokia Mounds - interesting museum, and you can climb the mounds.

Missouri Botanical Gardens - one of the best in the world and free on Sundays before noon, I think.

posted by Ostara at 8:19 PM on August 17, 2005

You know you may be on to something about donating plasma. If you and yours donated once a week (and it's okay for most people to donate twice a week) you'd earn a combined $40 per week (approx.). That's $2,080 per month or $24,960 per year. Put $2,080 monthly into a financial plan that earns 8% (11% is not unheard of) compound interest per year. In 30 years you'd end up with over $3 million.
posted by sublivious at 8:28 PM on August 17, 2005

Create! Join the MeFiMailSwap. Grow some plants. Join a CD swap. Get a penpal. Learn a language. Bury yourself in Craigslist. Do some batik. Check out some ghosts. Attend public smoking ban hearings.

When all else fails, clean your house, or start to. You will automatically find something that is more fun to do than cleaning your house. Good luck.
posted by jessamyn at 8:33 PM on August 17, 2005

Oh crap. I think I fucked the math up on that my last comment. It'd be $40/wk or $2080/yr. $2080/yr for 30 yrs in an 8% compound interest investment would end up as $254,479. Damn that's a big difference...
posted by sublivious at 8:49 PM on August 17, 2005

Guess you guys could come hang out at my house. Bring something good from NetFlix, and I'll throw in the popcorn.

I like the idea of walking somewhere you usually drive, as long as it's pedestrian friendly and reasonably close.

I went to Cahokia Mounds the weekend before last with some out of town friends and it was interesting. Plan to get there two hours before closing; you'll then have time to see the show and wander around the center looking at the exhibits before hiking around amongst the mounds.

sublivious: if only it were that easy...
posted by jmcmurry at 9:11 PM on August 17, 2005

Learn a new skill. I suggest: drawing, juggling, guitar/harmonica, plumbing, sculpture, circuit bending, carpentry, wood carving, painting, upholstery, dancing, cobbling together junk into clocks, TV repair, or singing.

Seriously, don't blow your time on entertainment -- you'll be much more rewarded if you learn something new during that time. And learning something with a good friend/lover is super-fun.
posted by breath at 11:11 PM on August 17, 2005

If you have transport, head south. The Missouri State Parks are very wonderful, and free. Here's the list for Southeast Missouri, the St. Louis area and Northeast Missouri.

To me, the biggest winners are Hawn St. Park, and the triangle of wonders -- Taum Sauk Mountian, Johnson's Shut-Ins, and Elephant Rocks.
posted by eriko at 5:26 AM on August 18, 2005

Sell any unwanted items/clear out your home. This can be fun to do and will give you a bit of spare cash for the occasional treat.
posted by teleskiving at 6:09 AM on August 18, 2005

Listen to do-wop by candelight. Very sweet, very corny, very romantic.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 8:30 AM on August 18, 2005

Following-up on breath's suggestion, learn figure drawing using each other as models.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 8:33 AM on August 18, 2005

Sex.
posted by agregoli at 9:18 AM on August 18, 2005

Here in Portland there are several pubs that have a trivia night. Very very much fun.
posted by Specklet at 10:55 AM on August 18, 2005

How about getting together with other people? If they're fun and entertaining, you win. And if they're flawed, you can joke about their foibles afterwards and you still win.
posted by wryly at 11:34 AM on August 18, 2005

Learn to dance.

I humbly suggest the Horizontal Mambo.
posted by catkins at 1:36 PM on August 18, 2005

teach something.
volunteer something.
usher at a local theater and see plays for free.
Put on a play yourselves.
Go do karaoke.
Invite friends over for potluck and provide 'stations' around the apartment where they can bring their musical instruments and art supplies.
Do that once a week.
Do that here in my house (hehe).
do that project you've both been meaning to get to for a while.
write letters to people you've lost touch with.
got a digital camera? start a photojournal.
meditate.

Lie on your back in a park and do something we do precious little of anymore: NOTHING. It is the best way to process your life.
posted by thewhynotgirl at 1:25 PM on August 23, 2005

On postview -- what's so bad about being bored? When did our society get to the point where we produce candidates for future therapy by filling up every spare moment with "things to do/ways to tune out"? etc. etc. (been said before)

Ever been to an amish community? Ever been somewhere where life was at a slow pace? It is amazing how alive you can feel when there is no feeling that you should be doing something :)
posted by thewhynotgirl at 1:28 PM on August 23, 2005