I’ll second the TED talks. The best part of that is that I find many of them trigger me looking for more information on the subject and learning something new.
In addition to that, Youtube channel “Geek and Sundry” has several shows that air weekly and are entertaining - my particular favorite is Tabletop.
My latest iPad game addiction is Songpop. Guess 5 songs/artists faster than your friend to win bragging points and coins to buy more song categories.
If you would still like to try knitting or crocheting, I’ve heard you can put those pink foam hair curlers with the hole in the middle over your needles, and do projects that use bulky yarn rather than the fine stuff. Would tips for arthritics help you, like wrapping scissor handles in bubble wrap? Could you handle something like those potholder looms?
http://www.griddlers.net/ is one of my favorite puzzle game sites.
The Enchanted Cave is a fun game, though it does use the arrow or WASD keys.
Now that I look around, it looks like Kongregate has a category for mouse-only games, you could browse those and see if any trip your trigger. They have Pandemic 2, Doodle God was interesting for a quick game, Fantastic Contraption is awesome.
btw, I’ve found a graphics tablet to be a lot easier on the fingers than a mouse, ymmv
How about a jigsaw puzzle, i’m sure you could do a small one in your lap. Maybe something 3D, like a rubik’s cube, or you can get metal puzzles (remove this ring or that shuttle kind of thing).
Get your Lego out, chess set or checkers. I was going to suggest crosswords or sudoku but i think that’s been covered.
Thanks again for the suggestions. I’ll keep this thread for ideas as time goes on, and I appreciate the thoughts. It’s been a frustrating week, I feel like I’ve taken some steps back but probably it’s just impatience with not improving as fast as I might like. Stupid human body not working right all the time.
I’ll definitely check out the TED talks. I actually already have the app but never tried it!
Oakminster, I love Skyrim too. I’ll get back to it at some point, I’d love to pick up the Fallout recent games as well again. This week has sadly mostly been bed rather than chair (after working all day I’m just ready to lie down). Frustrating, so not much gaming for me other than Infinity Blade 2 and other iPad games.
Lunar Saltlick, thanks for the suggestions on languages. I decided to download some free apps about Japanese last night and that was nice. I think an ongoing project is a good idea. Before I shell out for a whole program, I’d like to see if I can commit to working on this every day for awhile. An audio program is something I’ll definitely need eventually but getting some basics down, and getting into a routine of it, seems prudent.
The singing suggestion is interesting. My sister is actually a vocal coach so I’d have access to that, but I don’t have many breathing issues that I know of. Swallowing, yes. 
I’ll mention it to the doctor to see if he thinks it might be useful for me. I do get out of breath more easily but I think it’s just due to general cardio weakness, since I haven’t been able to exercise for months.
Trinopus, thanks for the recommendations!
kjbrasda, some interesting ideas but right now just avoiding any potential for finger trauma is high on the list. My sister knows how to crochet. Kongregate is definitely great, and I did play a bit of Pandemic 2 for old time’s sake today.
poolfan, I have to say I hate jigsaw and hand puzzles. My dad used to make me do them as a kid. I do have a giant box of legos at Mom’s though if it comes to that!
Moonlitherial, I’ll check out the YouTube channel also! Sounds up my alley.
The Japanese national broadcaster, NHK, has free Japanese language lessons:
Many libraries have language-learning CDs that you can check out. You could take different series out for a test drive before buying.
There is lots of praise for Pimsleur, but they are expensive. “Living Language” has been around since the '40s, aimed at travelers (both business and leisure), and their cost is modest:
The 40 audio lessons, coursebook, and bi-lingual dictionary version (at around $30) has been the Living Languages core product throughout its history, although there is now a range of products, from phrasebooks to Pimsleur knock-offs. It works either as a stand-alone or as an introduction to more serious study.
The upgraded $50 series looks like a good value, too.
Thank you so much for that! I really knew nothing about the various programs available. A few people I asked just said to buy Rosetta Stone but they’re spendy and the reviews not so great. Plus they seem to go after you if you try to resell it.
I should go back to my local library. They claimed I lost a returned book some years ago, and the librarian was super mean about it (“You pay us and send us a written request for reinstatement, then we’ll decide if you get to borrow anything ever again” – seriously) but I wish I could use it in my current situation. Maybe I’ll send them an email and see if this is seriously their policy or if she was just having a bad day.
Write a screenplay.
With regard to Living Languages, I tried the core product (five CDs with instruction book), and didn’t have any success. It didn’t really seem to have a sound pedagogical method. Honestly, Pimsleur is the way to go for home study. I believe the Pimsleur site now sells lessons (MP3 format) in packs of five for about $20 US, so you can get units 1 - 5 of Japanese I to test it out. Each lesson is thirty minutes. Again, no grammar instruction or writing. All audio, but quite effective. I don’t think anything is more effective for home study than Pimsleur*. I kind of like L-Lingo for vocabulary ($60 for their 105-lesson package), but it’s just a big flash card system and I notice they haven’t updated their Web site in ages. Gotta wonder what’s going on there…
Anyway, I was once laid up in bed after a serious operation, and they had a therapist who came in every day and forced me through deep breathing exercises. That’s why I suggested singing – it might encourage deep breathing, if that’s a healthy thing in your case. I’ve always wanted to learn to sing better than I do, and I figured being stuck in bed would be a good opportunity.
*(It probably sounds like I work for them, but I don’t. I’m just really determined to learn Vietnamese and found their program to be very helpful, especially for a beginner.)
Oh dang. I’m not sure how useful this will be as so many of the things I enjoy involve finickly little hand-done tasks but here’s a try.
You don’t need to leave your bed or use your hands to try this, which sounds like it might be quite productive if you make a habit of it.
I second this one.
Waitaminute! I like to make candles. That doesn’t require excessive fingertip work. Has the added bonus of sending you out for a supply trip or two, thus keeping you busy longer.
In a similar vein, I know there are folks who like to make homemade scents of various kinds.
ETA: Will be back later with book recs.
The two of these together made me laugh pretty hard. Both good ideas though! May I also suggest practicing how to draw? I can’t draw very well and always feel angst that I can never reproduce on paper what I can quite clearly see in my head.
I do like to draw but my hands are a bit too messed up to be subject to paper and pencil right now. Even an accidental graze on a few of my fingers is very painful, and being subject to things like pencil lead dust is probably not good. Hopefully that gets resolved soon. I’m down to typing very slowly.
Candlemaking and soaps and stuff unfortunately sound a bit messy, am I wrong? Note that I’m basically living off microwaveable food because cooking a recipe is too straining a lot of the time, so working over the stove doesn’t seem like the right project for me. Or am I missing something?