All work and no play

I saw this interesting post by Germaine Greer in the The Guardian.

Her premise is that most women's leisure activities are a variation of work (shopping, grooming, cooking etc) and I'm not entirely sure I agree with her.

I do totally agree with her about shopping; I hate going to the mall, and I hate shopping although I love clothes. I think going clothes shopping with friends is the most mind-numbing, boring, spirit breaking activity in existence. Which is why I don't do it except as an occasional act of love.

Grooming things like getting your hair done or manicures are pretty enjoyable, in my opinion. And honestly, I think the physical difference when you get your hair or nails done is pretty minimal; it's more of a psychological boost. Whatever anyone does to me, I still look pretty much the same, more's the pity, but I feel better.

And I have long held the opinion that looking down on 'domestic pursuits' is kind of anti-woman, given that we have historically cooked and cleaned and sewed; I much prefer this perspective. I like cooking and sewing and knitting; I like that I don't HAVE to do it, but that I can, and it makes my life a little cozier. And I appreciate men who can do these things too.

I think you could make the argument that 'male' leisure past-times are also variants of work in that a lot of them are basically hunting in one form or another.

Here's my list of leisure activities I do enjoy, that I do too little of these days. I've omitted the carnal ones because they're a given, and trump anything else on this list.

Getting mildly buzzed and listening to good music, either live or on CD

OK, this one's lame. Board games, especially those with some charade-type component. But only with people I know well.

Being on a boat with a beer at sunset.

Climbing a cold, windy Scottish hill with a flask of spiked coffee and then boiling eggs on a propane stove for lunch.

Seeing some challenging, thought-provoking performance.

Reading a good newspaper with a giant pot of coffee by my side.

Sledding with my son and then coming inside for hot chocolate.

People watching in a city square or park or piazza.

Hiking all day with friends and then going home and making a huge pot of pasta and drinking too much wine with said friends.

Snoozing in a hammock.

Travelling somewhere I've never been, with no itinerary and no plans.

Getting a giggle fit. I make no apologies for the dorkiness of this list. On a related note, my work as a mom is worth $86,010, according to mom.salary.com. Though I'm kind of a crappy mom, so maybe it would be more like $70,000. Still, not shabby!

I'm just waiting for the Christian Right to ban the tritone interval. It always sends a pleasant shiver up my spine whenever I hear it.

I guess they're too busy trying to boycott The Da Vinci Code movie. I want to boycott it too, but not for religious reasons; just that it's based on a crappy, crappy book written by a total hack (who is two years younger than me!) and Tom Hanks hair in it skeeves me out.