La vida lazy

I can feel my column deadline sneaking up on me, waiting to pounce. It's breathing down my neck, and it's getting harder and harder to ignore. I change the channels, check my e-mail, leaf through catalogues and still it remains, the proverbial black cloud hanging over my head.\n Finally, I give in. But what to write about? Usually, I draw a column topic from my fabulously interesting life. They kind of fall into my lap. People ask me all the time where I get my ideas for my columns. Well, it's all about finding the muse in daily life. And I stay true to the golden piece of advice, "write what you know." Because I don't know all that much, writing what I know once a week is usually very easy.\nBut this week, my life hasn't been that exciting. With no classes to go to and production at the IDS slowed down a lot, I'm free to do as I please. And I please to not do much. While I know you gentle readers will always support me in my writing endeavors, I don't think you'd be too thrilled to read about my couch, my refrigerator and my bed.\nPlan B: Read the headlines, watch the news, get online to see what's going on in the world. This is kind of tricky as my roommates have all moved out, taking their TVs and computers with them. Luckily, a dear friend of mine is letting me borrow his TV for a few weeks. I'm eternally grateful: It was touch and go for a while there, but I'll be OK. But that span of two days I had without contact with the TV world, that was scary. It's not so much that I wanted to watch TV all the time, it was just the very idea that I couldn't even if I wanted to.\nAnd this computer thing is killing me. I'm a certified e-mail junkie, and my hands have been shaking for a few days. But I made the trek to the Main Library today, so I can get my online fix. What's on CNN.com?\nLet's see...Dick Cheney talking about nuclear power, blah blah blah...Tina won "Survivor," yadda yadda yadda...the Dow falls, Nasdaq rises, ho hum. As the late and great Chris Farley used to say, "La de frickin' dah."\nLet's face it, folks. I don't want to think too much as I write on this beautiful summer day, and you probably don't want to think too much as you read. (A given if you read my column regularly). So instead, let's face reality and enjoy the fact that summer is finally, finally here. (Don't worry, I'm not going to segue into one of those "stop and appreciate nature" columns. It might be bad this week, but it's not THAT bad).\nI'm not talking about catching lightning bugs and taking moonlit walks through the Arboretum. (Although, those are nice things about summer in Bloomington). I'm talking about enjoying the fact that we can sit around on the couch, sleep until noon and eat ice cream three times a day. (Until summer internships, jobs and classes kick in, that is).\nWhen those summer projects do start up, or when we return to classes for the fall, then we won't have the luxury of doing absolutely nothing. So enjoy it while you can. Yes, nothing can get boring after a while, but in a good, friendly sort of way. I'll take lazy boredom over the ulceratic life of a busy college student any day. There is a time and place for learning, working, serving the community and all that other "good" stuff. The time is not during the summer, and the place certainly isn't my apartment.\nYou know the phrase "Make hay while the sun shines?" Yeah, don't listen to that. While the sun shines, laze around with a book (not the text kind) in one hand and a glass of something cold in the other. Dream of next semester, when you'll finally buckle down. You'll do all your papers ahead of time, donate blood every day, read "Virginia Woolf" for the heck of it and all that Jane Good Student stuff. And if you fall asleep during that dream, don't worry about it. I'll be proud of you.