Stayin' Amused

Since my typical work day goes to 7 or 8, and then I Skype with Kim for a while, I don't have a ton of time to fill most evenings. However, there are occasional blocks of free time, and fortunately there are some diversions and amusements available for just such times.

There's a movie theater that shows a film each night at 8. I've been once (it was Aeon Flux - what can I say, I'm a sucker for dystopian movies with strong female leads and comic book sensibilities).

There's also a server called Fortress, which is full of movies, tv shows and music we can download for free. I've snagged a bunch of movies, but mostly I've been watching Arrested Development. I'd seen some of the later episodes already, but most of the early stuff is new to me. I did manage to watch a few movies so far: Dinner For Schmucks, Cowboys and Aliens and Tank Girl (like I said, I dig dystopian comic book movies)

I've been doing some reading too. At the moment I'm in the middle of a detective novel attributed to "Richard Castle" (that's Nathan Fillion's character in the Castle TV show). It's fun. I'm also reading A Brief History Of Everything, by Bill Bryson, which has some of the best writing I've ever come across. I've already finished Bite Me (a vampire comedy by Christopher Moore) and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (overrated, not gonna read the rest of that series).

Oh yeah, I also started reading a book by Thomas Merton about Zen Masters and Mystics... but it ended up a bit more academic than I was looking for. I may try it again.

Speaking of books, there are free books everywhere. I can think of at least three places with big bookshelves full of books for the taking. I've picked up one by John Le Carre and one by Christopher Moore, but haven't started them yet.

The camp has bingo every other week, and I did that once. My Croatian buddy Srecko won a very nice digital camera, and other prizes included an iPod and a 1T external hard drive. Good stuff! There's also karaoke, but I don't plan to do that anytime soon.

During the day, my guys and I sometimes manage to sneak over to the game room for some foosball or ping pong. Usually for about 20 minutes after lunch or after dinner. So I get some social fun too.

And of course there's gym time every day (except Friday - my rest day). I'll post something about the gym next time.