Mind freeze

Well, it's been about 2 months since the attack on our university and since then I've been at home, doing nothing. I'm bored and all but that's not what's bothering me... I feel like my mind is freezing. Just like what happens during the 3 months of the summer holiday... The thing is I want something educational that I could do at home. Like learn a new language or something like that. I can't go out or join any courses because it's dangerous to go outside with all the GCC forces and all. So, I need something that I could do at home, for about an hour or so, educational and inexpensive... probably something that would have something which makes me stick to it (like a schedule). Though I could use all suggestions you could provide, even if they don't fit the description I put here.

Any suggestions? because I'm starting to feel dumb here.

Sure thing.

Here are two great websites with debate and presentatioons that you can use to self educate and still feel like you're in a Uni setting.

http://fora.tv/

http://www.ted.com/

Best of luck.

Hi there. Probably you guessed already, the thing im gonna suggest, lol, well, ill say it anyways, what about something that involves music? i think is safe to say that you also enjoy listening to music, why not learn to make music? there are tons of free on-line lessons. but im assuming the problem would be the musical instrument itself. well, if you got friends that has a guitar or something and live close to your house you could borrow them, or better yet you can learn together. itll be a lotta fun learning with company. goodluck, hope this helps in some lil way... hey, ill think of more educational stuff to do, something that isnt predictable, lol. ill post again or pm you... rock n roll and blessed be!- Dib :D

Thanks Kevin...

Hallucinostic - I like music and all, but I'm the type of person who likes to experiment in these things until I get it right rather than learn. It's a good suggestion though. I'm a piano person, but not many people here have instruments at home. If there is an online piano I could play I'd go and experiment on it to pass time. But still not the educational type of activity I was looking for.

What about learning a new language? There are sites online that quiz you on foreign vocab... You might not learn a whole lot, but you could get some sort of understanding under your belt if you really work at it. :)

Oh ok. hey thats a good one suggested there by Narphangu, foreign language, and you mentioned that earlier, studying japanese made my anime watching a lot easier, im planning french one of these days, lol. anyways, what about graphic designing? :D

Yeah graphic designing is good... I want to learn how to use photoshop, and I know there are videos to help me learn that on youtube... just haven't come around to it yet.
It will help me if you have a strategy or a website which helps me learn. I need something that would help me stick to learning... how did you learn Japanese? My cousin learned from watching anime, not to watch anime and my friend also learned korean by watching series. The thing is watching series or anime doesn't help me, I'm more of a read and apply person, I need to study in order to learn.

I don't know if it's something that you'd be interested, but I've been looking at some sites like Google Books where you can read literature online. I've been chipping away at Great Expectations on my lunch breaks. It might not be the focused, lesson-plan kind of learning that you're looking for, but working your way through some classic literature could hardly be a waste of time! Better than watching Jersey Shore on youtube, at least.

Sibs has a good point there. While you're at it, grab a few biographies. Educational stories, what's better than that?

To DarkSecrets. strategy? sorry, i havent thought of that part yet, lol. the graphic designing thingy just popped in my head cause a friend of mines into it, but dont worry well think of somethin, lol... the japanese thing, school, i enrolled, man! i wish things get better there so that you can try it, i mean in a classroom type setting, learning a new language is a whole lotta fun, specially the exercises where you have to make a conversation with fellow students, its like bein a baby i tell you, using the few words youve learned, haha! well anyhow, back to your concern, ill see what sites can be of use on that designing thingy and tell you all bout it, pls pm me if your search is over or somethin, thanks... hey, a lot of cool stuff has been suggested up there btw. - Dib :D

I was going to ask if anyone could suggest classics for me to read sibyllene, but I'm already reading 2 books at once. One is the Lord of the rings trilogy, and another is a book in arabic called "Azizi Fulan" which is a book with some stories about community, romance, life and family. Still classics are more educational, so if you suggest some I could check them out, because I already have some sites where I could read them online... I've read Moby Dick, King Salomon's Mines, Emma and bits and pieces of Shakespeare's work.

Try this historical fiction, romance, drama thing,
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
and after that you can check out,
Scarlett, the sequel to Gone With the Wind by Alexandra Ripley.
Im still not finished with the second book, but in my opinion the first one has a bit more, idk, something than the sequel, lol, I just cant let it go without knowing what happened to the story after the first... enjoy friend. :D

I'm a fan of 1984, Brave New World, Wuthering Heights, and Equus, but they're all rather depressing, so be warned. :) For lighter fare, you might try Waiting for Godot.
It isn't a classic, but have you read The Omnivore's Dilemma?

hahaha, so many suggestions coming your way!

Waiting for Godot as light reading? Man, Narph, that makes me scared of the dark corners of your mind. That play made me feel like I was going loopy.

Dark Secrets, here's a list a stumbled on a while ago, of what a collections of writers consider to be the top 100 "must read" books. They span many genres, and centuries for that matter. That's kind of nice, because if you get tired of, say, Victorian literature, you can check out something modern, or whatever.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_100_Best_Books_of_All_Time

Of that list, from things I've had contact with, I'd especially suggest The Epic of Gilgamesh, the Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales, Pride and Prejudice, the Odyssey, Midnight's Children, King Lear, Anna Karenina, and Huckleberry Finn. Those are just some personal faves.

^ I've read Andersons fairytales... loved them! was obsessed with him for a while. That happened after I saw a movie called "My life as a fairytale" which was based on his autobiography.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions... :)

Hey Hallucinostic, found a virtual keyboard... it has more than only piano sounds :)

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/music/piano/index.htm

Hey that is so cool my friend. Now, try learning some few basic chord patterns, search the net for a piano chord chart. you dont have to play a song right away, just memorizing the chords are very important, once youre a lil good at it find a simple song to play. then add a few more chords and play again, so on and so forth. hey, i got this thingy that can record any audio you play on your computer, if you like i can send it to you. it can be very useful to monitor the improvement on your playing ability. feel free to tell me all bout it if youre interested ok. :D

Haha, really Sibs? I lurrrved that book. Wrote a giant precis for it. :) Have you read Old Man and the Sea? Now that's a book that threw me for a loop. (But... What does it mean?!)

Online piano? I might borrow that link... I'm dying to learn some piano chords.

It definitely flipped a crazy switch in my brain, Narph. Maybe because I was exposed to it in the midst of an existentialism class, where everything was dark and dreary and terrifically full of ennui. But! (prepare for jealousy) I saw it onstage in London with Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen in the leading roles. They made it much more digestible.

I have not read Old Man and the Sea. No excuse, either, because isn't it rather short?

Update: University started for our college on Thursday. I went and was forced to sign loyalty to the king (otherwise I would be suspended, interrogated with and possibly locked up in prison). We are to do intense work to make up for the two months we were away. Which means I won't be able to do anything but study... the assignments have started rushing in.

I thank you for your responses and will be using them to educate myself when I feel like this again. Especially the books you suggested (could do that in the bus actually).

BTW Kevin... your websites were very useful. I posted some of the videos from them on our colleges group on facebook for discussion<< got them excited. They were inspired to post educational things on there and started two competitions; one for solving math problems and another for solving rebus puzzles... :) I know!! Geeks ay!