# What's the most creative thing you've done to entertain yourself? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 9, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249 "2004-04-09T23:47:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249/1 "2004-04-09T23:47:21Z")
I got bored one evening and took my digital camera, a bunch of Star Trek action figures, and some slideshow software and made stop motion movies of the figures “dancing” across my computer desk. It took about an hour to make a 2 minute movie, but I laughed my ass off when I saw the results. …and you? ---
**Author:** ![LVgeogeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b19c9b/32.png) [@LVgeogeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVgeogeek)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249/2 "2004-04-09T23:54:44Z")
I once\* dressed my cats up in “baby doll” clothes. They did not like it much, but I thought it was pretty darn funny 😃 \*I did this many years ago when my li’l sis was still a tot with baby dolls. So that was like… um… 12 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249/3 "2004-04-10T00:50:24Z")
I got bored one day. It was towards the end of summer. So I drew a map, of a fantasy world in my head. Split it up into about 23 different countries. I rolled dice to see who would attack who, and how much ground they would take. It was silly, and pretty much up to me on all aspects. I made copies of the continental outlines, so I could redraw the map after a period of global warfare. I used that one map, and intitial world, for about 3 months. Towards the end I was drawing up “Atlas” style entries for each nation, talking about their history, their culture, etc. I am a big dork. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249/4 "2004-04-10T02:21:21Z")
I routinely hire hookers to read Shakespeare to me in phonetic Russian. Very soothing, I’ll tell you whut. ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249/5 "2004-04-10T02:28:31Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > I got bored one evening and took my digital camera, a bunch of Star Trek action figures, and some slideshow software and made stop motion movies of the figures “dancing” across my computer desk. > > It took about an hour to make a 2 minute movie, but I laughed my ass off when I saw the results. > > …and you? That’s so funny! Back in 92’-93’ my brother and I did that exact same thing with star trek and x-men action figures and the family camcorder. I think we had Picard dancing with Wolverine. Then Geordi came in and phasered them. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249/6 "2004-04-10T02:58:11Z")
> [@harmless](#): > > That’s so funny! > Back in 92’-93’ my brother and I did that exact same thing with star trek and x-men action figures and the family camcorder. I think we had Picard dancing with Wolverine. Then Geordi came in and phasered them. 😃 Recently while shopping at a CVS, I found an X-Men Professor X w/wheelchair for $2.50. I bought the last two. Ideas are forming… ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249/7 "2004-04-10T03:22:01Z")
Someday I’ll write up the story of the Barbie Dream Trebuchet, but tonight is not the time. ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249/8 "2004-04-10T03:27:40Z")
Hmmmmmm… Well I don’t know how creative this is, but I make these comic strips of a stick figure named Timothy. He does drugs, picks up hookers, robs lemonade stands, and gets drunk a lot. People who get these comics laugh their heads off. People who don’t stare at me like I am insane and walk away. Ah well. I think they are cool, and I wasted a whole hour making a page of these Timothy Comics. ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249/9 "2004-04-10T04:47:10Z")
> [@](#): > > I got bored one day. It was towards the end of summer. So I drew a map, of a fantasy world in my head. Pffft. Amature. I have a whole website for that. Plus, it has languages. [http://www.angelfire.com/ultra/fnuh](http://www.angelfire.com/ultra/fnuh) and someday it will be as good as this guy’s: [http://www.zompist.com/virtuver.htm](http://www.zompist.com/virtuver.htm) ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249/10 "2004-04-10T09:55:53Z")
I painted an interesting landscape with leftover nail polish. The glittery ones are good for moonlight and water effects. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249/11 "2004-04-10T15:41:48Z")
I painted my husband’s toenails blue - he didn’t even notice until I was on his 3rd toe. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249/12 "2004-04-10T16:31:41Z")
I’ve got nearly 2 albums worth of half-finished songs on my multitrack A huge Neverwinter Nights module I’m working on… Scripts for an animé series I’m writing… Designing my new Ultimate Entertainment Center… Pencil-n-paper D&D modules… And a healthy dose of ADHD which garauntees none of them will ever be finished ☹ Damn the electric fence! ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249/13 "2004-04-10T16:32:10Z")
[We went down to the county Human Services department and picked up a sibling group …](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=4718903#post4718903) Now that they are teens, I’m wondering if we should have stuck to making stop-action figurine movies or painting nails. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249/14 "2004-04-10T17:13:06Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > I got bored one evening and took my digital camera, a bunch of Star Trek action figures, and some slideshow software and made stop motion movies of the figures “dancing” across my computer desk. > > It took about an hour to make a 2 minute movie, but I laughed my ass off when I saw the results. > > …and you? I made a repeating tape loop once with about a minute between words. All it said was Straight, Right, Left. Over and over. I would put the tape in my car and drive for a while, then turn on the tape and start following the directions. I had some adventures. 😛 I wonder if I still have it somewhere. I’m suddenly feeling the urge to wander… ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249/15 "2004-04-10T18:04:05Z")
Oooh! Concultures! Yeah, I did that before. First attempt: I designed a city called Minervia. A west-coast Canadian city. It wasn’t that good, but I did manage to finish it. Second attempt: starting with a constructed language, a fiendishly difficult piece of work called Lyanjen, I designed part of a conculture to match. I got bogged down, though, and let it slide. I still have it around here. Third attempt: I’m presently working on another city called La Luz, the capital of a fictional North American country, a former Spanish colony called Mar de Cristal. I’m actually doing pretty well with it. Have been plugging away at it on and off since 2002. I’ve got about a third of the city mapped, as well as broad-scale maps of the country and some notions about its history and political organization. (One of the hardest things about making a concity is naming all the streets. From time to time I throw in a few in-jokes… one of the biggest churches is the Basilica de San Policarpo, and I named a series of four streets Calle Santa Laura, Calle Santa Cristina, Calle Cordero (Spanish for “lamb”) and Calle Perséfone. After **Persephone** , naturally.) ---
**Author:** ![Lobelia\_Overhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@Lobelia\_Overhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobelia_Overhill)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249/16 "2004-04-10T19:53:15Z")
Years ago I got paper and pencils and made myself a fantasy equestrian centre, loads of stables, paddocks, indoor and outdoor arenas, hired staff - everything. I’d hold showjumping competitions using dice I made that had faults [that occur in real showjumping competitions] instead of numbers. I must’ve used 100 sheets of paper on it. Threw the whole lot in the bin when we moved house ☹ Nowadays I do a similar thing online at Virtual Horse Ranch 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249/17 "2004-04-10T22:52:13Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I made a repeating tape loop once with about a minute between words. All it said was Straight, Right, Left. Over and over. I would put the tape in my car and drive for a while, then turn on the tape and start following the directions. I had some adventures. 😛 > > I wonder if I still have it somewhere. I’m suddenly feeling the urge to wander… How many driveways? One-way streets? Brick walls? Front yards? ---
**Author:** ![Greywolf73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@Greywolf73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greywolf73)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2004, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249/18 "2004-04-11T02:32:49Z")
> [@Lobelia Overhill](#): > > Years ago I got paper and pencils and made myself a fantasy equestrian centre, loads of stables, paddocks, indoor and outdoor arenas, hired staff - everything. I’d hold showjumping competitions using dice I made that had faults [that occur in real showjumping competitions] instead of numbers. I must’ve used 100 sheets of paper on it. Threw the whole lot in the bin when we moved house ☹ > Nowadays I do a similar thing online at Virtual Horse Ranch 🙂 Wow! I was about to post the very same thing (minus the dice/jumping competition thing). In fact, I just recently ran across some of my Dream Horse Farm plans I’d sketched out. Pages and pages of neatly drawn buildings and paddocks, all painstakenly detailed and labeled. I guess I had a lot of time on my hands as a kid. And you say there’s a website for this? _runs off to look_ ---
**Author:** ![Etherman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@Etherman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Etherman)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2004, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249/19 "2004-04-11T03:02:59Z")
I have a 2 1/2 ft tall trebuchet made of cardboard. It’ll fling a marble 10 feet or so(I’m afraid to try anything heavier, or add more weight) I also have a [Stirling engine](http://travel.howstuffworks.com/stirling-engine1.htm) made with empty beer cans(sadly it no longer functions, but I _am_ kinda bored). And about 10 quadrillion half-finished adventures, campaigns, worlds, and incomplete thoughts about things that would be cool to do to a party. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2004, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-creative-thing-youve-done-to-entertain-yourself/239249/20 "2004-04-11T04:53:03Z")
> [@Lobelia Overhill](#): > > Years ago I got paper and pencils and made myself a fantasy equestrian centre, loads of stables, paddocks, indoor and outdoor arenas, hired staff - everything. I’d hold showjumping competitions using dice I made that had faults [that occur in real showjumping competitions] instead of numbers. I must’ve used 100 sheets of paper on it. Threw the whole lot in the bin when we moved house ☹ > Nowadays I do a similar thing online at Virtual Horse Ranch 🙂 Color and font removed because I can’t stand to read text in that font or color. When I was a kid, I used to crumple and smooth the brown paper from cut up grocery bags, until it somewhat resembled leather. Then I would carefully cut out and assemble various bridles, halters, and saddles for my model horses. I used to make the hardware, such as buckles and rings, out of thin copper wire. I would examine photos and drawings of tack to get my patterns, there were no printed patterns. I think that I was able to make some pretty realistic tack for my model horses that looked MUCH better than the plastic bridles and saddles that some of them came with. I even padded the saddles in the appropriate places. I also used to make my own scented talcum powder, from perfume and plain baby powder. Back then, nobody did this. Now it’s in fashion. I tried carding and spinning the “wool” of my dog’s undercoat. I wasn’t able to do it, I imagine because her hair just wasn’t quite long enough, and I didn’t really know how to do it. I was going by the brief descriptions in schoolbooks. Yes, my parents used to worry about me a lot.