The Simple Life, or The Fine Art of Doing Absolutely Nothing

There's nothing quite like the simple life, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

There's nothing like sitting down in the evenings with a cup of rose-flavored milk tea, baroque music playing in the background, and just contemplating your peaceful, uninteresting existence.

There's nothing like being so absorbed in your own thoughts that you forget entirely you haven't spoken face to face with a human being (other than your students) for almost a week.

There's nothing like sitting around the entire day, and not feeling bored at all, because you're just enjoying the quiet simplicity of your life.

There's nothing like strolling through the busy city streets while the world whirls past you, and saying nary a word, or heeding any sight or sound, just pondering meditatively on some random thing or other (like coffee).

There's nothing like flipping idly through an issue of Sci Am, and suddenly realising with a jolt that you're in Macdonalds and probably look like an absolute nerd.

There's nothing like realising you just spent five minutes of your life deciding whether you want toast for breakfast or not.

In short, there's nothing like having absolutely nothing to do.