The Idea Blog

How do you spend the cold, gray winter days?

1. Travel?

Wouldn’t you like to be in a warm, tropical climate today? Even in the Charleston, SC, area it’s 43-degrees as I type this post. How about a quiet island, stretched out on a chaise, captivating book on your lap, a cold pint (okay, another cold pint) on the table beside you. The fragrances of salt water, the sea breezes stirring the air, the sounds of birds and water and, maybe, way, way off in the distance a steel drum.

You bet. I want me some of that.

2. Watching a movie?

How about a small, but deserted movie theater. You’re about 1/3 of the way back from the screen, dead center, feet up in the chair ahead of you. It’s dark, dark, dark. And just about to begin is There Will Be Blood or I Am Legend or No Country for Old Men. Just you, the movie and this perfect environment for getting lost, just as Norman Mailer or Pauline Kael described it.

Or in case a trip to the theater sounds risky (”There may be other people there, someone cracking popcorn behind you or sitting directly in front of you swishing ice in one of those giant cola cups, or you’re forced to take a seat on a side row, or maybe you’ll have to go to the bathroom midway through the feature…”), how about a DVD and your flat panel and surround sound, maybe one of the Lord of the Rings films, turned up loud, the shades pulled.

Okay, okay. I’ll take some of that too.

3. Catching up on some around-the-house or around-the-office work?

You can vacuum the bedroom, organize the garage. How about dusting around the electronic equipment? Organize your desktop files, go through your notebooks and transcribe notes in your databases. Rip some of the old CD’s you’ve been meaning to put into iTunes. Work out your “To-Do’s” for next week. Open your calendar and make sure your next month’s travel is all set up.

Yep. Need to do some of that too.

Well, two out of three aren’t bad. Have a happy, winter-y Saturday.