To quote High School Musical 2: "Summer!" A time to go down the shore (it's really not as bad as Snooki made it seem). A time to spend hours with your friends cracking up on the couch. A time to... pace around your house aimlessly while thinking of things to do?
Summer is great, but it can be pretty easy to get bored. There's nothing wrong with scrolling through Twitter for hours with your mouth slightly open, but there are other ways to keep yourself occupied. I tried to stray from obvious pastimes, because you don't need a listicle to go tell you to read.
Alternatively: Ways to Kill Boredom as Dictated by an Only Child
1. Make Themed Playlists
This is me using any possible opportunity to promote Wallows. Add them to your playlists!
This is more fun than it sounds, and it's pretty self-explanatory. Find a theme, make a blank playlist on your music app of choice, and add songs. Maybe you're a sucker for wasted childhood motifs. Make a playlist about it! Do you have a favorite character? Playlist. I've even seen people make zodiac sign-themed playlists. The possibilities are endless, and I encourage you to stray from the extremely general themes. Get weirdly specific with it. You have enough time.
I would be remiss if I ended this without promoting "cool songs from commercials" and "existential car ride."
2. Three Words: Bob Ross Tutorials
YouTube is free. You could pick up reasonably priced paintbrushes, paper (or canvas if you're confident enough), paint, and the like from a local craft store. Check online for coupons before you buy, especially if you're going to a Michaels. Get your $5 easel and go to town.
3. Three More Words: Five Dollar Ukulele
This is exactly how I'm trying to be.
Do you have a Five Below near you? Even if you don't you can order this ukulele from their website.
"Sneha, why do I need a ukulele?"
I'm so glad you asked! First of all, it's only five dollars. More importantly, it gives you the chance to learn something. Learning an instrument isn't easy, but there are plenty of tutorials for the ukulele online, it's significantly easier than some instruments, and you'll be rocking out (in a toned-down, indie way) soon enough. Who knows, maybe you're some secret ukulele prodigy.
Hey, it's a way to kill time and have fun.
4. Alternate Universes
This is a very specific brand of daydreaming, one I used to use frequently when only-child-boredom got to me. You get creative after 17 years.
Everyone knows about the multiverse theory. At least, they know about the part of the theory that states there could be parallel universes and multiple timelines (see: my favorite Community episode). Now that we're all on the same page, I'd like to introduce you to one of my oldest pastimes: thinking up alternate timelines.
Usually it starts with "What would happen if [x] happened right now instead of [y]?" After that, you let your imagination go wherever it wants. The possibilities are quite literally endless.
Recently, I've taken to writing some of them down so I can go back and see what I was thinking on a random April afternoon, but you could just build a universe for as long as you want in your mind. There aren't any rules here, honestly.
5. Rabb.it
This is a website where you and your friends can share the same screen and access almost anything online. I personally use it to watch Netflix and YouTube with friends states away. I also used it when I spent my entire summer between North Carolina and India to watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia with one of my friends back home. Check out rabb.it for yourself and invite some friends! It is entirely free to use.
6. Podcasts!
Podcasts keep getting more popular, yet I still think they're one of the most underrated types of media online. Podcasts are available on websites/apps like Stitcher, Spotify, and Apple's own "Podcasts" app.
There is something for everyone, with topics ranging from true crime (My Favorite Murder [link] , Unsolved Murders: True Crime Stories [link] , Last Podcast on the Left [link] ) to an annual podcast where five men watch Paul Blart: Mall Cop every Thanksgiving and talk about it (Till Death Do Us Blart [link] ) If you have an interest, there is a podcast that covers it.
Some of my other favorites include:
The Flop House and How Did this Get Made - The hosts of each podcast watch a bad movie and talk about it. If you want to listen to How Did this Get Made, I highly recommend starting with Episode 156.
Reply All - A podcast about the internet. Two of my favorite episodes are Episode 117: The World's Most Expensive Free Watch and Episode 120: INVCEL.
7. Make Candles
Ignore the wax that solidified on the dinosaur's face. My pouring was... not ideal.
Sneha Beri
No, seriously. My friend Lizzie and I did that last month and it was one of the most fun messes I've ever made. We followed this article, but had no clue where to get a double boiler, so we bought an $8 cast-iron pan from Target. C'est la vie, I guess.
For containers, we bought mason jars and made most of the candles with those. We also added fake flowers, because why not. Later, we bought a ceramic dinosaur mug and made our final candle using that as a container.
Candle-making only set us back $30, and it made for a pretty fun afternoon. One day, I'll tell you about the summer Lizzie made way too many bars of soap.
If you try any of these or have more suggestions, please let me know:
Instagram - @sneyuh
Email - berisneha19@gmail.com
