The Bwog
Guide to the Weekend: Reading Week Edition
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In lieu of a typical Guide to the Weekend, Bwog has decided to poll its listservs and aggregate a more helpful list of activities. The following are answers to the question "What do you do to procrastinate?" We hope you'll try out one or two (or nine) of our ideas and use the comment thread to suggest your own. Happy weekend!

  • Change the font and wording of my resume
  • Decide to take up short story writing
  • Even though I live in a dorm, check Craigslist for apartments
  • Make new Gmail labels
  • Paint with nail polish on Post-It notes
  • Change my desktop background
  • Translating Spanish philosophers
  • Taking four hour midday naps
  • Fixing my bike

  • Going to review sessions for classes I'm not taking
  • Googling my professors
  • Eat Nutella out of the jar, licking it off the knife
  • Practice my dance routine
  • Read articles from Go Ask Alice
  • NAPS

  • Catch up on three years of blog archives
  • Cook everything I have been meaning to cook
  • Determine which foreign language could be learned in the least time
  • Slate
  • Watch entirety of giant DVR backlog (Millions! I Heart Huckabees! An SVU episode about comic books!)
  • Make a list of every single thing I own, for future reference
  • Read through the Savage Love archives
  • Read the New Yorker online
  • Moisturize my upper arms over and over again...there's no reason for this, at all
  • Arrange the jackets in my closet in order of warmth
  • Email my parents everything from Stuff White People Like that applies to them
  • Write a Mother's Day card—I would never remember this if it weren't in the middle of finals

  • Watch sarah dooley's youtube show
  • Read New York's assessment of Gossip Girl episodes
  • Clean
  • Do laundry/dishes
  • Wait in line in Pinkberry (that could take like an hour during peak time)
  • Make conversation with the security guards in your building—they are often very interesting
  • Looking something up on Wikipedia, clicking on a link to another article, repeating this for ten minutes
  • Organize your "Favorites" into different folders
  • Argue with people on YouTube
  • Create macros
  • Join OhNoTheyDidn't
  • Drink Diet Coke.
  • Slowly worry yourself into an early grave.
  • Chipping away at the 1167 new emails labeled "bwog" that have come into my inbox since I went abroad...
  • Just spent 5 minutes lying in bed and throwing the blinds cord at my light. I reckon I could burn another half hour or so on that, it's almost fun.
  • Line up the books I'm using for an essay on my desk in alphabetical order, by author
  • Peel grapes before eating
  • Read all the New York tabloids (even The Voice, why? why?)
  • Test pens, throw out old ones
  • Order novels on amazon, tell my mother they're textbooks for fall semester
  • Revise poems written in 10th grade and send them to ridiculously prestigious journals.
  • Fold socks
  • Read g-chat status messages
  • Browse other people's shared iTunes libraries in Butler
  • Dig through odd jobs on Craigslist and other public listings so I can figure out how to make pocket money in the few weeks that I will be home this summer
  • Analyze how the Eurorail works; develop a dream travel plan for the summer that probably won't pull through
  • Sort all the damn paper that has piled up on my desk since the fall semester
  • Laundry: no explanation needed
  • Browse through websites of prospective grad schools (in spite of really despising school right now)
  • Search iTunes for that song I heard one time that sounds kind of like Gnarls Barkley maybe...
  • Shave my legs, it's Wednesday, I have a paper due tomorrow I might be going out
  • Google "famous moms in history"
  • Google "bad moms in history"
  • Google my mom

  • Respond to all email threads
  • Facebook chat
  • Gossip Girl reruns—those NYmag episode summaries are my reason for living
  • Crafting the perfect gchat/facebook status update
  • Wash month-old dishes
  • Wash my hair, every night (though this emphasis on hygiene is totally detrimental to the whole finals aesthetic)
  • Try all forgotten lipglosses buried somewhere in my sock drawer
  • Come up with glorious melodramatic recaps of HOW MUCH WORK I HAVE TO DO and spend hours telling them over and over to any friend within earshot
  • Spend the rest of the day "reading" on the lawn and/or steps (i.e., people watch and eavesdrop while worrying that everyone can smell my dissipating deodorant)
  • Change outfits at least three times a day (dissipating deodorant)

  • Turning my Gmail notifier and the Gchat sounds off ostensibly so that I'm not distracted by the noises. In reality, I'm forced to alt-tab back to the Gmail screen to see if I have any new emails or messages.
  • Sadly consider why I don't have any new emails or messages after step 1.
  • Pump the porpoise.
  • Find and listen to T-Pain's "Low (Apple Bottom Jeans)" on Youtube
  • Find as many remixes of T-Pain's "Low (Apple Bottom Jeans)" on Youtube as I can
  • Find and listen to the Alvin and the Chipmunks version of T-Pain's "Low (Apple Bottom Jeans)" on Youtube
  • Listen to all of the Alvin and the Chipmunks covers on YouTube
  • Pump the porpoise.
  • Watch YouTube videos of Robert Horry clutch shots (check out the western conference finals against the Kings)
  • Remember the glory days of under 13 soccer games
  • Read my hometown newspaper and realize that not much has changed @ home
  • Write a LectureHop
  • Order books from Amazon that I will never read, but will get free shipping on
  • Spend way too much time thinking whether its a good idea to legitimize Collegeboxes again or not
  • Realizing that I could use some help packing all of my shit come move out time
  • Sending e-cards to my parents explaining why I was unable to call them on their anniversary

  • Edit my ical to include things I've done in the past
  • Google "top 100 books of all time" and judge myself based on how many I've read on various lists
  • Read about the extended primaries obsessively, not because I'm still interested in the election, but because I´m finally beginning to figure out what happened during that West Wing episode where the nominee was chosen at the Democratic convention
  • Shop online, freely adding items to my virtual baskets that I know I will never purchase
  • Be a huge nerd and browse through the Columbia library's digital resources for new classical/jazz/world music to listen to, while gradually falling in love with the Naxos label more and more and making a mental list of every piece I wish I could play


  • And when I'm feeling a little less nerdy and more quasi-mainstream, I kill time browsing music blogs through hypem.com
  • Applying for jobs
  • Sleeping
  • Eating sandwiches
  • makin tea
  • makin out
  • writing postcards!
  • Realizing that the bizarro dude who's always in Butler, usually talking about double meanings in Proust, is also the guy from Chromeo.
  • I'm bouncing key limes off my ceiling and catching them.
  • Discovery: KEY LIMES IS TOUGH AS SHIT, THOSE SUMBITCHES HOLDING UP REAL WELL
  • They are also small enough that they don't make a sound that goes through.
  • Become Facebook friends with Obama Girl
  • Think about getting a haircut
  • Respond to a high school alumni thread for alums living in NYC, realizing that it's a bunch of 32 year old investment bankers that I am talking to (probably also procrastinating)

Read more: Guide To The Weekend, Procrastination, Reading Week

May 9, 2008 @ 7:04 PM | Comments 37 comments | Add comment Post a comment | Link to this article | | Email this post

Posted by you forget: [#1] [reply] [track]
( posted May 9, 2008 at 7:09 PM ) (from campus)
finally reading everything on my Google Reader.
Posted by Augustine: [#2] [reply] [track]
( posted May 9, 2008 at 7:28 PM ) (from campus)
re: Wikipedia surfing. The game is called Three Clicks to Jesus. Select random page. Click any link on that page. The goal is to arrive at the entry Jesus Christ in 3 clicks or less.
Posted by also: [#3] [reply] [track]
( posted May 9, 2008 at 7:38 PM ) (from campus)
1. Trolling Courseworks and copying reading lists off the public syllabi of classes I never got to take.

2. If the "invite x people past or present to dinner" could happen, whether I would want to pick religious figures, favorite authors, deceased family members, etc., or simply try to put together the most argumentative group possible, then picking lists for each.

3. Make dumb iTunes playlists. Better is thinking of new tags for songs that I'll use to create smart playlists, then try to go through all 8000 songs and tag the appropriate ones.

and [ external link to www.youtube.com ]
Posted by you forgot: [#4] [reply] [track]
( posted May 9, 2008 at 7:51 PM ) (from campus)
Read BWOG!
Posted by Anonymous: [#5] [reply] [track]
( posted May 9, 2008 at 8:22 PM ) (from campus)
Masturbation? This list is dishonest by not placing that first.
Posted by umm: [#6] [reply] [track] (in reply to #5)
( posted May 9, 2008 at 8:48 PM ) (from campus)
"pump the porpoise" is on there twice...that seems more than fair. just a classier way of putting it, that's all.
Posted by the-N: [#7] [reply] [track]
( posted May 9, 2008 at 9:21 PM ) (from campus)
DEGRASSI YES!!! it goes there.
Posted by also good: [#8] [reply] [track]
( posted May 9, 2008 at 9:44 PM ) (from campus)
clean out and back up my hard drive
Posted by definitely: [#9] [reply] [track] (in reply to #8)
( posted May 9, 2008 at 9:47 PM ) (from campus)
good call... i should probably do that now
Posted by coupled: [#10] [reply] [track]
( posted May 9, 2008 at 9:54 PM )
missed connections on craigslist while planning a B&B (fantasy) getaway
Posted by first try: [#11] [reply] [track] (in reply to #2)
( posted May 9, 2008 at 9:58 PM ) (from campus)
did it in two. ha!
Posted by same: [#12] [reply] [track] (in reply to #11)
( posted May 9, 2008 at 10:01 PM )
Main page: President of Russia > December 25 > Jesus
Posted by Do it.: [#13] [reply] [track] (in reply to #8)
( posted May 9, 2008 at 10:02 PM ) (from campus)
DO IT NOW.

My hard drive died at 10 AM this morning.
Posted by me too: [#14] [reply] [track]
( posted May 9, 2008 at 10:12 PM ) (from campus)
my hard drive died too. use mozy - it backs up stuff for free, automatically. even if you do it manually, you can have it do "my docs" (or whatever you change most often) and itll save it online so you dont have to remember to back up as often.

[ external link to mozy.com ]

Posted by are you sure: [#15] [reply] [track] (in reply to #14)
( posted May 9, 2008 at 10:17 PM ) (from campus)
it's free? I just checked it out and it said it's 4.95/month.
Posted by also: [#16] [reply] [track]
( posted May 9, 2008 at 10:26 PM ) (from campus)
I just found 4 degrees of separation between Kevin Bacon and Jesus. Anyone else?
Posted by DHI: [#17] [reply] [track]
( posted May 9, 2008 at 10:33 PM ) (from campus)
They used to have an awesome "Six Degrees of Wikipedia" tool that did that automatically but it's been down for awhile now.
Posted by a few days ago: [#18] [reply] [track]
( posted May 9, 2008 at 10:33 PM ) (from campus)
i rediscovered addictinggames.com

yess, been playing indestructo tank "ae" for the past two days. it's so simple, yet so addictive.
Posted by also: [#19] [reply] [track] (in reply to #16)
( posted May 9, 2008 at 10:35 PM ) (from campus)
found 3 degrees. yes!
Posted by you forgot: [#20] [reply] [track]
( posted May 9, 2008 at 10:49 PM ) (from campus)
stumble upon!!!!! the greatest firefox addon everrrrrr
Posted by fruit paunch: [#21] [reply] [track]
( posted May 9, 2008 at 11:07 PM ) (from campus)
come to our 24 hour show in john jay lounge!!!! We'll be performing until 5pm tomorrow.
Posted by hey: [#22] [reply] [track]
( posted May 9, 2008 at 11:22 PM ) (from campus)
Did anyone go to or cover the Sarah Silverman special for Project ALS at Lerner tonight?
Posted by and: [#23] [reply] [track]
( posted May 10, 2008 at 12:29 AM ) (from campus)
-- read bwog's looong list of ways to procrastinate
Posted by ...: [#24] [reply] [track]
( posted May 10, 2008 at 1:50 AM ) (from campus)
chatty listservs at columbia?! do tell! i want in!
Posted by 3 clicks: [#25] [reply] [track]
( posted May 10, 2008 at 9:26 AM ) (from campus)
Shark: Tennessee>Christian>Jesus
Posted by wouldn't: [#26] [reply] [track]
( posted May 10, 2008 at 10:45 AM ) (from campus)
studying be more interesting than anything on this list...?
Posted by liz: [#27] [reply] [track]
( posted May 10, 2008 at 11:40 AM ) (from campus)
facebook stalk/get into fights with all ex-boyfriends, cry about it, nap, repeat
Posted by ppfhfh...: [#28] [reply] [track] (in reply to #26)
( posted May 10, 2008 at 11:41 AM )
you are on bwog... clearly you are willing to procrastinate... don't be snarky.
Posted by wow: [#29] [reply] [track]
( posted May 10, 2008 at 12:25 PM ) (from campus)
to the anonymous upper arm moisturizer-- i do that too!!!!

weird.
Posted by if we're stumbling..: [#30] [reply] [track] (in reply to #20)
( posted May 10, 2008 at 1:22 PM ) (from campus)
...upon web pages, let's not forget about del.icio.us! It really satisfies my OCD tendencies.
Posted by SENIOR WEEK: [#31] [reply] [track]
( posted May 10, 2008 at 1:25 PM ) (from campus)
SENIOR WEEK EVENTS SUCK, IM GLAD I DIDNT DONATE TO THE SENIOR FUND.

poorly organized, not enough tickets for the graduating class, how difficult would it be to make a list numbered to 100, so people wouldnt have to wait half an hour and not receive a motherfucking sweatshirt...

glad im graduating.
Posted by Fun w/ Fox: [#32] [reply] [track]
( posted May 10, 2008 at 7:44 PM ) (from campus)
[ external link to www.youtube.com ]
Posted by more activities: [#33] [reply] [track]
( posted May 10, 2008 at 10:10 PM ) (from campus)
googling the ingredients of your energy drinks

:O
Posted by Oh wow: [#34] [reply] [track]
( posted May 11, 2008 at 12:56 AM ) (from campus)
Whoever posted the link to The A.V. Club, thank you so much...I've been looking for a better place to get TV reviews than IGN TV.

Now I have to go back and read through reviews of as many past episodes of '30 Rock', 'LOST', and 'House' as possible...
Posted by I like to: [#35] [reply] [track]
( posted May 11, 2008 at 11:36 AM ) (from campus)
look up summer study abroad 2009
Posted by travelthailandhitz: [#36] [reply] [track]
( posted May 11, 2008 at 11:56 AM )
Great article!

When you talking specifically about travel deals, there are other good sites as well.

[ external link to travelthailandhitz.blogspot.com ]

[ external link to hotel-travel-plan.blogspot.com ]
Posted by i lower my GPA: [#37] [reply] [track]
( posted May 11, 2008 at 5:11 PM ) (from campus)
by calculating all possible outcomes for this semester, then incorporating them into my overall GPA, then repeating after another wasted hour has gone by/possible outcomes are lowered.

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