[Outdated, please look at pinned post] Casual Conversation

I'm rewatching - again - The Wire. Never ceases to amaze me, every time I find something I had missed in the previous runs. And there's plenty of it to last for a while!

I haven't been bored in 21 years

Depends on the type of bored. It could be smarting from tackling a project to playing a game to watching something stupid on tv.

Play video games - Cataclysm:DDA or Dwarf Fortress (tho I stayed on the pre-Steam version as it's lighter on the CPU).

Learn a new programming language at https://exercism.org

Read a book - tons of free ones around the interwebs, legally or not, as you desire.

Install a new operating system. Try Haiku or OpenBSD. See if your phone is compatible with PostmarketOS. If not, Termux + SSH + port forwarding in your WiFi box, set up a webserver and publish something. Host a Gemini pod.

Learn a craft. Repair something that another person would toss. Start a sourdough culture - it takes a week to mature (read up on how to do this right), then bake a bread. Homemade bread is approx 16× tastier than run-of-the-mill commercial stuff.

Take a walk somewhere you haven't walked before. Find the nearest forest lake and arrange a picnic. Take someone with you on the 2nd trip.

Sometimes I just get out and walk. I find that is an activity that helps "reset" my mind and gets my creative thoughts flowing. Also I think I'm a late ADHD bloomer, I have more interests now than I have time for in a single day. So I'm not usually bored, but often overwhelmed with choices about what to do.

Getting out from the house and getting some fresh air really helps me sort things out when I'm like that.

Nothing like a good casual conversation.

Try to find something that involves physical activity and interaction.

If you have a community center or neighborhood gym or shared garden, go hang out there, you'll usually find something to do.

Call a relative you haven't talked to in a while. Is there an elderly person in the neighborhood you're acquainted with? Give them a call, go check in on them.

Reading or audiobooks

Ask for recommendations how to start off on the internet and you get the same pretentious wanky comments saying their favourite book is Fahrenheit 451 or whatever that is in Celsius

Fuck that, get into some rip-roaring yarns, thrillers etc

Jack Reacher is a good place to start. Spider Shepherd is even better

The Breach by Patrick Lee is an amazing mini series

Though my favourite adventure of all time is The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of A Window And Disappeared

Read, work out, take walks

I drive lots on the weekends, so I listen to podcasts. I'm currently listening to "Behind the Bastard" and I'm spending time here and there reading up on very dark history that I was never taught in any level of school.

So to answer your question, podcasts and reading! I've also made lists and info sheets on all sorts of things like what to look for in health food supplements, what my regiment is when I'm sick, list of books to read, ideas for birthday gifts, price comparisons.. I also recently bought a Kalimba so that's keeping me busy, too. It's an instrument that's easy to carry, so I dream of being able to play it by a camp-fire since I am hopeless at guitar.

scroll Lemmy

librivox.org (audiobooks)

yucata.de (online boardgames)

libregamewiki.org (FLOSS games)

foodista.com (recipes)

https://alternativeto.net/list/28655/the-ultimate-f-droid-setup/ (FLOSS Fdroid apps)

I try and learn something random.

Doomscroll, read, doomscroll some more.

I have a whole pile of musical instruments. If for some reason none of them can scratch the itch I might take a walk in the woods that surround me. I also dabble in small electronics, guitar pedals and the like. So I always have projects I can get back to.

Fire up the FUT

Recently got into sewing. Would recommend! If you can find a nice second hand sewing machine, you can have a pretty cheap new hobby!

Read, doom scroll lemmy, play casual games on my phone, catch up on my YouTube subscriptions, doodle/draw, listen to audiobooks, take a nap if able

History books, notes with org-roam (logseq seems good if you don't mind the bloat of Web stuff and US cloud services), games sometimes (better with friends).

There is always self improvement. Read, exercise, meditate. So much philosophy is public domain, if you have internet access and a device to read ebooks on then you can read most of the famous texts. https://www.gutenberg.org/ is great. If you have access to a local library then use that as well. You can access almost anything with a library card.

Read, play games, watch something, try to do something productive that you've been putting off

• play tinder
• Go on casual dates
• Meet up with friends
• Travel (drive, train, walk, just get out there)
• Learn something new
• Visit a community center

• Post comments
• Games
• Watch something on Youtube/Netflix
• Go for a walk
• Cook
• Gardening