Things I did without TV or Internet

[Falvlun]

So, I recently moved into my own apartment (woohoo!), and I was sans internet or tv for 2 weeks before I could get it installed. Granted, I was pretty busy working and getting everything moved in, but I was satisfyingly not bored, nor did I pine for my beloved internet.

Here are some of the things I did because I had no modern day entertainment technology:
~ I laid on my carpet and watched my dog chew on stuff (did I also mention I have no furniture?)
~ I played hide and seek with said dog
~ I listened to music and my boyfriend made his fingers do this choreographed dance with his index finger and his middle finger acting as the legs of the "dancer" (I have not laughed that hard in a really really long time.)
~ I read
~ I cleaned
~ My boyfriend and I took turns listening to each others stomaches. You really should try this. Even when it doesn't feel like anything is happening in there, there is like a whirpool of activity. Quite entertaining.
~We discovered that my boyfriend is able to lie on his back with his legs up, which I can then lay on, and he can give me an airplane ride like your dad used to do when you were 5.
~ We played imaginary instruments (leg guitar! Belly drums!) to more music
~ I went outside and looked at the stars.

It was a good, informative 2 weeks. I just want to encourage others to make some time to enjoy stuff like this too. The best part, is that we weren't really doing anything. Just laying around enjoying what was at hand.

Please share your non-tv/internet entertainments!

 

[Revoltingest]

I spend my non-internet time trying to get back on the internet.

I should change my title to "Mr Excitement", eh?

 

[Aquitaine]

I spend my non-internet time trying to get back on the internet.

I should change my title to "Mr Excitement", eh?

Haha - same!

Internet available? Go on Internet.

No Internet available? Seek means to access Internet.

 

[Alceste]

I had no TV or internet for the first five years of my adult life, and patchy internet for five years after that. Still no TV. I used to write, paint, read, play music, hang out with other human beings and go outside. ah, those were the days.

 

[Falvlun]

I had no TV or internet for the first five years of my adult life, and patchy internet for five years after that. Still no TV. I used to write, paint, read, play music, hang out with other human beings and go outside. ah, those were the days.

I really could live without TV, especially when it's getting nice outside now. Internet, though, is rather seductive. You can get on to find that recipe you want to bake and end up looking at cats saving other cats from drowning for the next 5 hours.

I need to break out my flute more. It's been gathering dust for the last 6 years after I stopped playing in concert band in college. Having my own place, I hope, will be conducive to that since I won't feel bad about annoying my room-mates.

I also am dabbling in painting. I love it and I have ideas swirling around my head. I just need to sit down and play a bit. I have no real artistic talent-- I mainly just like mixing the colors together-- but still, it is rather cathartic.

I also used to write a lot of bad poetry. But even that well has dried up. I don't know where it went, but I just can't write any more. I would love to be able to write again, and maybe breaks from all this information overload would be conducive to that.

 

[Alceste]

You know what, this conversation is driving me put into the garden. I've got peas and beans to plant.

 

[Alceste]

Peas and beans planted, tomatoes transplanted, garden watered. Happy to see the radishes up already and the greens looking happy and healthy.

Now I'm at a community centre open mic night, doing a terrible job hosting because I am impatient to get to a bonfire after, drink a few beers, and play a few tunes.

 

[tilly_101]

I...had a life

 

[lewisnotmiller]

I did this for a bit over a year when I left Uni. Went overseas, and had no radio, tv or internet. My girlfriend at the time (wife now) stayed in Oz, so I was all by myself. :sad:

I listed to a lot of music (CDs...which sound old fashioned now)
I played basketball when possible, also fished and snorkeled. Even bow hunted.
I'd cook for (occasionally) or be cooked for. I was at best an average cook, so it was generally best for everyone if I visited their homes.
I wrote the next great novel. Never finished it, but it served it's purpose, since I didn't go stark-raving mad, as far as I can tell.

Interestingly, though, a LOT of the ex-pat folks where I was had drinking problems. I have always liked a drink, and still do, but I always took a little care.

 

[methylatedghosts]

There is no TV in my house. My PC is turned on once every 2 weeks or so. My internet activity happens on my phone, so in the mean time:

I play piano an average of about 2-3 hours a day.
I do pencil sketching/drawing
I read
I walk
I daydream

 

[Falvlun]

Here's another suggestion:

Write a message in a bottle and bury it somewhere. Who knows? In 100 years, someone might dig it up and get a huge kick out of it.

Grandchildren get message in a bottle 98 years after it was written

 

[Kilgore Trout]

There was no internet when I first moved out on my own (at 18). There also weren't cell phones. People used to go out in groups and do things like go to bars, eat at restaurants, visit museums, see shows, walk around the city at night, have sex under the stars, and talk into the wee hours of the morning. I'm glad I got my late teens and early 20's in just under the wire before young people became so lame.

 

[Titanic]

There was no internet when I first moved out on my own (at 18). There also weren't cell phones. People used to go out in groups and do things like go to bars, eat at restaurants, visit museums, see shows, walk around the city at night, have sex under the stars, and talk into the wee hours of the morning. I'm glad I got my late teens and early 20's in just under the wire before young people became so lame.

We are pretty lame. The crazy 80's was the best decade to

 

[Titanic]

Party and be young. From what I have heard at least.

 

[Caladan]

There was no internet when I first moved out on my own (at 18). There also weren't cell phones. People used to go out in groups and do things like go to bars, eat at restaurants, visit museums, see shows, walk around the city at night, have sex under the stars, and talk into the wee hours of the morning. I'm glad I got my late teens and early 20's in just under the wire before young people became so lame.

Sounds like my life now, only also with internet and cellphones. But yeah I appreciate the fact that I grew up before the era of cellphones and the internet.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Sounds like my life now, only also with internet and cellphones. But yeah I appreciate the fact that I grew up before the era of cellphones and the internet.

Oh, mine too. It just seems that many younger people aren't learning to have these other experiences because their lives are inundated with, and controlled by, electronic devices from childhood.

 

[Titanic]

Oh, mine too. It just seems that many younger people aren't learning to have these other experiences because their lives are inundated with, and controlled by, electronic devices from childhood.

The 80's.

 

[Caladan]

Anyway here are some things to do without TV/internet:

Outdoors photography.
Chess.
Cook something exotic.
Prepare proper absinthe in the traditional way, and sip it slowly.
Read NG magazines from the 60's-80's.
Take a long bath with a nice chilled bottle of rose by your side.
Practice some yoga.
Stargazing if possible, preferably with a decent telescope.
Organizing your gear. In my case it's my archaeology and outdoors gear. Makes me happy in my pants.

That's what I can think of for now.

 

[Caladan]

Oh, mine too. It just seems that many younger people aren't learning to have these other experiences because their lives are inundated with, and controlled by, electronic devices from childhood.

I hear ya.

 

[illykitty]

Oh, mine too. It just seems that many younger people aren't learning to have these other experiences because their lives are inundated with, and controlled by, electronic devices from childhood.

I grew up in an era where computers, video games and such were really starting to take off and the Internet was more limited... But still, other than video games which I didn't start playing seriously till I was a teen, I never had much electronic stuff, no cable and no computer.

Mainly because we didn't have much money. But I was a happy child nonetheless and had a lot of fun. It's only when I was around 15 I got a pc and the Internet, 2005-ish.

As for the thread, picnics are fun, make some bentos (Japanese lunch) and go out to the fields. I like to have a walk too, observe anything that happens around. But lately I've been a little too depressed to do anything much, even things I used to enjoy.