# Fun Activities for One, Lasting an Hour or Two **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 26, 2001, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842 "2001-07-26T11:10:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842/1 "2001-07-26T11:10:32Z")
Hey y’all… sorry to be away so long. Good to be back! I’m reading a book called The Artist’s Way at Work - it’s a self-improvement book about creativity. Anyway, one of my tasks is to, once per week, find a solitary and fun activity that lasts an hour or two. I’ve only come up with three, so far. 1. Rent/go see a movie. 2. Hit a museum. 3. Amusement park (although I think my feelings of weirdness about being alone would overwhelm any fun I had). Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842/2 "2001-07-26T11:21:53Z")
Cook something special Make something out of bits and pieces lying around the house Draw a picture Go outside and make a land sculpture. You can do this with pebbles in your back yard, or you can go to the park and do something with leaves , twigs and stones. Make a collage to illustrate something important to you (or something mundane) Learn to sing a song or two ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842/3 "2001-07-26T11:43:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Canthearya \* > \*\* > 2. Hit a museum. > \*\* Doesn’t this only take about 2 seconds? Although, I guess going to the Emergency Room to have X-rays and bandages could take as little a 2 hours. -Rue. ---
**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842/4 "2001-07-26T12:17:19Z")
[li]Write a long letter[/li][li]Listen to a play on the radio[/li][li]Have a meal out by yourself. I think this is a very underrated thing. Take a book if you feel weird just sitting there.[/li][li]Do your favourite kind of shopping. For me, that’s food shopping. I like to find odd food shops and spend hours in them looking at everything. Asian food shops are particularly good because you get to stand there for five minutes thinking “What the hell is _that?_”. Then buy it, take it home and let it moulder in your cupboard forever.[/li] Fran ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842/5 "2001-07-26T13:13:46Z")
Masturbation? You can draw it out quite a while if you hit ‘fast-foreward’ or ‘rewind’ and light up a smoke now and then… uh, or so I hear! **BLUSH** Reading? Listening to music (and I mean get the headphones out and cut off EVERYTHING else… Pink Floyd would be my recommendation…)? Go for a LONG walk? I’m leaning towards #1… ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842/6 "2001-07-26T13:20:47Z")
Two words. ‘batting cage’ ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842/7 "2001-07-26T13:22:55Z")
Dang- ten minutes late to suggest “masturbate like a rabid monkey”. Still, it’s a good use of an hour, or so I’ve heard. Seriously, though, I’ll recommend reading or studying in one form or another. If you can’t find a book you like (god forbid), then head to a library for an hour. If you can’t be bothered to go to a library, visit [Project Gutenberg](http://www.gutenberg.net/) and read some classics online. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842/8 "2001-07-26T18:19:25Z")
Go to the pool/beach and play in the water. Bake bread. (We used to do this as starving students and it really is fun. Plus, you get bread.) Visit a hobby shop &/or crafts store and try to figure out what some of that stuff is used for. Take a class in something. Ride your bike. Get out pencils and paper, or drafting equipment if you have it, and design a house you’d like to live in. (Or how about a boat?) Buy a mini-lathe and learn to turn stuff. (I kid you not - I can waste hours making things I could buy at the store for fifty cents.) Get a book and learn origami. Invent a religion and describe it here so we all can enjoy it. Or has that been done already? Go to an auction. Find a hobbyist show going on in your town and go to it. Electric trains are especially fun. Take a nap. Go over to **Rue DeDay** ’s house and superglue a fifth wheel onto his car. Or smack him with a fresh(!) salmon. Your choice. BTW, welcome back! ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842/9 "2001-07-26T18:47:40Z")
Read the SDMB? Or does that take too long? ---
**Author:** ![tevya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tevya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tevya)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842/10 "2001-07-26T18:56:32Z")
[list=1] [li]Ride a bike.[/li][li]Go in-line skating.[/li][li]Find a lake that rents paddle boats or rowboats and rent one.[/li][li]Go to a park and feed the ducks.[/li][li]Learn to play a song on the musical instrument of your choice.[/li][li]Yoga.[/li][li]Find out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie-Roll Pop.[/li][li]Go fishing.[/li][li]Fly a kite.[/li]Make a model boat and sail it. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2001, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842/11 "2001-07-27T08:05:58Z")
go play in some dirt. plant something while you’re at it. ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2001, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842/12 "2001-07-27T12:22:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bumbazine \* > **Go over to Rue DeDay’s house and superglue a fifth wheel onto his car. Or smack him with a fresh(!) salmon. Your choice.** Bwa-ha! (snicker) Hey! No hijacking threads. It’s rude. And no flirting either. You know who you are. I should post something usefull here, but all the good ones are taken. “Play in the park.” That’s all I got. -Rue. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2001, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842/13 "2001-07-27T13:09:40Z")
To quote Steve Burns (from Blues Clues, people) “Sit down in your thinking chair and think, think, think.” Ponder a bit - muddle through some stuff - cogitate-reason-consider-contrast and compare-let your mind wander. ---
**Author:** ![tevya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tevya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tevya)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2001, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842/14 "2001-07-27T13:22:03Z")
[ol] [li]Go outside. Stand in a field. Put your arms straigh out. Twirl around and around and around until you fall down. Repeat.[/li][li]Drive to a small nearby town you’ve never been to before. Order a slice of blueberry pie to go. Drive home and eat it.[/li][li]Go horseback riding.[/li][li]Go sky diving.[/li][li]Go hang gliding.[/li][li]Find a large field (not in a park) and pick a bouquet of wild flowers. Give the bouquet to the first person you see.[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2001, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842/15 "2001-07-27T16:12:35Z")
Play with legos-- make shawabti-style effigies of your house or car with them. make linoleum block prints-- not too expensive and pretty cool and more time consuming than drawing. take up birdwatching-- actually go out and identify for certain the neighborhood park birds. Take notes on the things you saw in your little red Audubon guide. refinish your furniture-- repaint old stuff like bookcases in fanciful ways. Brew your own beer or wine. Cook elaborate meals for yourself. learn to juggle or do origami. Make your own kite from scratch and fly it. Try make an illuminated manuscript page in an accurate, old fashioned way with gold leaf and all. Hell, take up gold leafing and gild everything you own. Gild your car’s dashboard (wouldn’ that be cool?) ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2001, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842/16 "2001-07-27T20:47:59Z")
Welcome home, Canthearya! It’s damned good to see you back here. Damned good. I’ll tell ya what I do when I’ve a coupla spare hours. I wander out on the patio with a book, a cigar and big fat glass of scotch. Volunteer at your local library. Take a photography class. Fly to Toledo. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2001, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842/17 "2001-07-27T21:28:56Z")
Find a place that rents private hot tubs and soak for an hour. ---
**Author:** ![Tyklfe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@Tyklfe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyklfe)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2001, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842/18 "2001-07-27T21:30:40Z")
You could always post on the SMDB. ---
**Author:** ![tsarina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@tsarina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsarina)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2001, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842/19 "2001-07-27T21:48:50Z")
- get a full-body massage (a good one will take an hour). - go to the library, pull out art and photography books, and look at every single picture. - pick and press wildflowers, and then identify them. - put on your bathing suit and run through the sprinkler. - start writing in a journal. - pull out a random encyclopedia volume and turn to a random page and learn something you never knew before. - try learning a new foreign language. I’ll think of more as the day drags on… ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2001, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842/20 "2001-07-27T21:55:36Z")
1. Go to your local hobby store and buy one of the new pre-painted model kits. 2. Assemble said kit. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-activities-for-one-lasting-an-hour-or-two/73842.md?page=2)