I Can Schedule That Recreation For Next Thursday
To celebrate my effort to return to frequent blog writing, I’m going to take a moment to discuss other things I have not had the time to do, particularly in regard to the category of having fun.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I haven’t had any time to enjoy myself. I know the whole All Work and No Play thing. Especially in the summer, I can not complain about my leisure time. What I have noticed is that regardless of how much time I have, there are infinitely more things I have the opportunity to do than I have time to do them.
I have DVDs in my cabinet that I have not watched, months after I bought them. Most of them were in box sets, and I’ve watched some of the discs in the box, but there’s still stuff I could watch.
I have computer games and Wii games that I could keep practicing. One of these days I’m gonna score 100% on the guitar part to Driver 8. Steam had a ridiculous sale where I bought a bunch of games I have not tried to play yet, because I’m still trying to figure out how to kick the computer’s tail in Civilization IV.
I have Netflix and a Wii. Good heavens, that could keep me busy forever. Lost. Battlestar Galactica. Doctor Who. How many more shows that I haven’t seen yet?
I could always get the Harry Potter books out of the library again if I need to go on a two-week reading bender. And there are plenty of history books downstairs in my basement that I could read. (No comment, Pattie!)
I don’t always get to these things because Pattie, Alex and I also like to hang out with friends. And if no friends are available, we go hang out at Barnes and Noble, where there are MORE books to read.
I go through this litany in part to remind myself of how lucky I am. (Hold on to that thought, we’ll be getting back to it this week.) But I also go through it in the hopes that I will, perhaps, reduce the number of ADDITIONAL leisure activities that I pay for.
I mean, given that DVD and Netflix account, why am I still paying for cable? I spend more time following baseball on MLB.com than I do on TV! By the time I work through my backlog, there’ll be at least a year or two’s worth of new programs for me to watch! Do I need Food Network that badly?
And even with the games library that I have, I am looking at two BioWares coming down the pike, and I’m practically ready to throw my credit card at Amazon.
To some extent, this search for new experiences is a reasonable one. But as I get older, I’m getting to that point where I gotta prioritize my luxuries. And maybe someday soon I’ll have the sense to use my time and other resources more wisely.
That said, I don’t regret the plastic guitar for an instant.
About Dave Thomer
Born and raised in Philadelphia. Studied philosophy at Fordham University in the Bronx, where I made many great friends and met my wonderful wife. We moved back to Philadelphia, where I studied philosophy some more and became a teacher. Online and off, I'm looking for ways that we can be better citizens and build stronger communities.