The Joys of Bumming Around

I was just thinking about how my everyday life has evolved throughout the years, and it struck me that as I've gotten older, I fill up so much more of my time "doing stuff" instead of "bumming around." Nowadays, it seems like I'm always doing something, every moment of every day. I get up in the morning, work for my dad till afternoon, take a nap if I'm lucky, then either I have dinner at home and then go out, or go out for dinner and don't get back till 11 or 12, when I brush my teeth, check baseball scores, and go to sleep. If I don't go out, I'm usually tired as a sack, mowing the lawn, or doing some extra work for my dad. On the weekends, it's even busier because that's the only time a lot of the people who work can hang out or that I can see Olivia for more than a couple hours (she's taking a class every day at UIC). Point is, I don't seem to have time to just sit around and bum.

It wasn't always like that. I remember back in high school, when I didn't really have to study to get good grades. I also didn't have any real friends, or at least any that liked to hang out a lot. So basically all I ended up doing every day was going to school, coming home, watching Simpsons (twice), eating dinner, maybe do some homework and/or listen to Q101, then watch more TV, then listen to more Q101 (I used to listen to Loveline every day, cause I thought it was hilarious... not so much anymore), then go to sleep. Some days, I would stay at school later for Math Team practice or go to a Math Team competition on certain nights (haha math team, I could probably write a whole long thing on that too, that would be amusing). So as you can see, I was pretty much a downright loser, whereas now I've managed to climb up to quasi-loser status.

But the thing is, I get the feeling that life was a lot more fun back then. Even though I never really "did anything," I enjoyed doing nothing so it was all good. These days, I see a lot more movies, do the bowling thing or shoot pool now and then, play softball once in a while, or whatever, but what's the point of it all? Now I wonder if I go out and do stuff just for the sake of going out. I don't think I'm the only one who does, either.

Whatever happened to the fine art of "bumming around"? Why do I feel like I gotta be doing something all the time? OK, so it's not good to be wasting all my time doing nothing, but I would like to contend that doing nothing is actually doing something (this is starting to sound Seinfeld-ish). Just because there's no name for what you're doing, doesn't mean that it's not worthwhile. I believe everyone needs some time to themselves, some time off to sit around, watch TV, lie in bed, and not worry about anything. It might not seem like you're really doing anything useful or interesting, but that's the whole point. The best part about bumming around is that you can just chill and not worry about anything. Clear your thoughts and relax.

Of course, like I said, you can't bum around all day, every day, or else you will turn into a slug. Be sure to practice a healthy mix of bumming and actually doing stuff. Not everyone will require quite the same "Nothing:Something" ratio, but everyone needs at least a little of both. Figure out what you need in your life to achieve that balance and live a happier life with minimal stress.

Links Toolbar on Explorer

People who surf around webpages as much as I do use the Favorites feature of Internet Explorer. When you observe a list of someone's favorites, it's a lot like going through their CD collection, photo album, or even their fridge; you can learn a lot about the person. And not only can you see what kind of pages that person is interested in, but you can see how organized he/she is in arranging them.

Especially interesting to me is the Links toolbar that some people, such as myself, use in addition to the Favorites menu. The links toolbar provides an easy-to-access line of buttons that will take you to your desired site with a single click, thus representing the "elite" members of your Favorites list.

It's similar to the Links feature on the Windows taskbar, which I also use a lot. I don't know why, but I've just been thinking about the significance of my own links bars and felt like sharing it in my blog.

For starters, my Windows links changed when I moved from school to back home. A couple of them have been there forever, such as Show Desktop, Internet Explorer, and Instant Messenger. In addition, a link to my Mp3zz folder (yes, that is what it is called and how I spelled it don't ask me why), telnet to students.uiuc.edu, and Winamp have survived the cut since I got back. The links that failed to make it were Kazaa Media Desktop, and yes, I'm sad to say, Starcraft. Replacing them were two programs I use a lot in working with my dad. When my uiuc email is deactivated, the telnet link will probably be removed and either Starcraft will return to take its place or something else, who knows.

Similarly, my links on IE are highly susceptible to the winds of change. I once had 4 links devoted to my class webpages, but those are all gone. 2 new links are for work, and Yahoo! Mail has also merited a spot with my students email ending soon. Most of the rest are sports/fantasy sports related, as you might expect. The latest change was kind of amusing, yet bittersweet, as Yahoo Euchre replaced Monster.com. I'm guessing eventually I will be replacing some of my current links with links to people's blogs. Yes, you too can have a blog and be linked on my IE toolbar! Just update frequently with interesting things to say and you will be there in no time.

So as you can see, links kind of act as a mini-barometer for my life. I can step back and evaluate my life by seeing what I'm linking to on my desktop and in my web browser. Try it yourself, think about what you consider important enough to merit "1-click status" and what it all means. Either you will be fascinated like me and say "man, you are so insightful," or you will be so pissed that I wasted your time and kick me in the nuts next time you get the chance.