Idle Time Idly Spent

In today’s world, unless you’re doing it on purpose, idle time is generally “wasted” time. Most “productive” members of society use would-be idle time to read the paper, phone a friend, anything; as long as it’s not a whole lot of nothing, right? As long as said person doesn’t feel like their time is wasted.

So what do I end up doing when I have some spare time that I don’t intend to spend idly? I flip on my handy-dandy Nintendo DS Lite and play. My current game is Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time. The other two DS Lite games that I haven’t managed to finish are Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and Super Mario 64: DS. This is mostly because I don’t usually have enough idle time to complete long games like this in a timely manner (and get bored of trying to figure out where I left off every time I play it) and finding myself feeling further and further away from completing the game. Granted, it’s really simple to tell where you left off in Mario 64 since you have a star count and whatnot; but these other RPG’s don’t have convenient story markers like the journals on, say, Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy XIII (different systems, but it’s the point I’m trying to make, here).



Reading DToid is rapidly becoming a replacement (it’s a strong contender) for my time spent waiting or just sitting around, along with keeping at least 2 cameras at the ready in case I see something I want to keep for later (grin). It’s nice to have a smart phone.

Also, as a side note, I’ll be posting some news on (Squeee) Tomopop, if any of you read that site. It’s all very exciting; my first writing internship. Sorta. I get to post news. Stuff. I’m still waiting on the response for another one I applied to. If I get that, I’ll have even less idle time, for the win?

Honestly, I wish I had the patience to carry around books and more things like I used to, because I don’t always feel like taking out my DS and figuring out where I left off in a game I maybe haven’t played in 2 weeks, and more frequently running out of battery about 15 minutes in (because I always forget to turn the dang thing off properly). Recently I prefer to just travel light: 1 handheld (DS), my phone, keys, wallet and a camera.



So what do you do with your idle time? PSP? Book? Nose-Picking Olympics? An Inquiring Mind Wants To Know!