365 things to do that are better than watching TV

142. Aspire – brush up your CV/resumé

2009-10-09T15:59:00.003+01:00

A CV can make or break a job application. If it tells your life story, then why bother interviewing you? If it's full of errors, why would anybody bother interviewing you? If it tells too little, why would anyone be tempted to interview you?

What a fine balance it is! So, how do you get off your settee and go about finding a new job to make your life more rewarding? First, let's start with the heavy lifting: you need to have a job to apply for. Your CV should speak to the person who is looking to employ you. It should scream "Me. Me. Me." to the extent that interviewing you is totally irresistible.

Keep it short – two pages maximum (no one wants to read every last detail of your life – and, anyway, you need to tease them with a little snippet so that they have something to ask you about at interview).

Be honest – don't be tempted to over-egg the pudding
Make it consistent – punctuation, font and style, headings

So, begin your CV with some clear facts: who are you? When's your birthday? Where may you be contacted? Move on to your higher or further education (if you have taken any) – whatever you learned after you left school. Then your work experience in summary – most recent post first. Don't tell too much, but just tell enough. Think what you would want to read, if the roles were reversed.

If your final CV is longer than two sheets of A4, it's too long. Yes, even if you have had twenty jobs (especially if you've had 20 jobs). Think how you can streamline it – make it a thing of beauty and a joy for ever.

Once you're done, do this: spell and grammar check it; give it to someone else (preferably who interviews people) to read and comment on; print it on good paper; don't fold it – put it in a big envelope along with a concise and appealing covering letter that also repeats your contact details (also spell and grammar checked); affix sufficient postage – an easy trap this – and put it in the mailbox.

Don't include a photo (unless you are utterly devastatingly, drop dead handsome/beautiful – and, actually, still don't). Don't drivel on about your hobbies or the love of your life. Don't mention that you hated your previous boss or that they didn't understand you. Most of all, don't wait for a reply or an interview – get writing to the next one.

What do I need?

A little flair for writing about yourself

Where do I find it?

Use objectivity and a calendar to ensure your dates are consistent

Cost?

Minimal

141. Create – build your own chiminea

2009-10-03T14:32:00.003+01:00

As the cooler nights work their way in, so too the excitement of outdoor living plummets as the temperatures fall. Take control of your own micro-climate and build yourself a chiminea. You probably have all the makings of it in your garage, shed or loft.

Take about 100 old bricks, a metal grid of some sort – old oven shelves, fire grates or wire racking should work – and a suitable piece of hard standing (this beastie will not move once you've finished it). Dry build an initial base about two bricks high, leaving an opening for air flow and to dig out ash. Lay the grid on top, then continue the construction for another four brick layers, forming an opening for the fireplace.

Bridge the opening and continue the brickwork in a tapering fashion, forming the chimney. Your brickie skills do not need to be immense. Simply build it sufficiently level so that it is unlikely to topple and crush a passing child or animal

Then, stand back and admire your handiwork. Oh. Not finished yet – lay a fire (you don't need me to tell you how, I'm sure) and set it going. Watch with satisfaction as smoke pours from your newly erected chimney. Marvel at the way the smoke also finds every gap between the brickwork. Pray that the smoke dies down before the neighbour notices their clean washing on the line.

You can even add another, smaller grid over the fire, cleverly pivoted on outcropping bricks, that can serve as a barbecue. You are hunter-gatherer. You are fire-maker. You are ... in a complete mess. Go and wash your hands before you come in the house. (Thanks Phil Holloway!)

What do I need?

About 100 bricks
A metal grid
Some hard standing

Where do I find it?

In the garage, shed or loft

Cost?

Minimal

140. Upskill – memorise a song

2009-09-06T15:46:00.004+01:00

The brother of Frank McCourt (Angela's Ashes), called his autobiography A Monk's Swimmin' because that's how he heard the Hail Mary - "blessed are thou amongst women." So, when people think that the Bee Gees sang about Bald-headed woman – more than a woman to me; or Abba sang See that girl, watch her scream, kicking the dancing queen, then you'll know that really learning words to a song could be beneficial.

There are a few major benefits to knowing the words. The first is you'll look quite cool as you manage to mouth along with the latest song at a concert or a club. Nothing looks funnier than someone who thought they knew the words, found that they didn't, but have been caught in mid-verse with their mouth open. How do you cover it up? I find a sudden coughing fit helps.

Secondly, knowing the words means that you might have some clue what the singer/songwriter was banging on about in the first place. Please note that this does not apply to any Mark Bolan (Get It On. Bang a gong. Get It On) song. Once you crack the deep mystical (drug-induced?) theme of the song, then you're on the way to understanding what's going on, so that you can really understand (take the rise out) of the song.

Memorise those song lyrics (and the tunes too if possible) then you can astound your friends and loved ones with your wealth of knowledge, demonstrating for example The Killers' weather forecasting prowess: Are we humid, or are we damper?

What do I need?

Access to song lyrics (see a really great archive of misheard lyrics here)
An ear for music

Where do I find it?

Many lyrics are online

Cost?

Free

139. Understand - recall every holiday you ever spent

2009-08-25T17:00:00.003+01:00

Can you recall every holiday, since you were a young child. How far back can you go? This will really tax your brain yet, if you apply your mind, you should be able to come up with a chronological history of all your holidays. How do you do it?

First, you need all of the family photos. You have of course scanned them all by now? Get a separate folder and copy into it every photo that recalls a holiday of any sort. Then the tricky part – you need to date it. Of course, with digital photos, you simply check the date the photo was taken – easy-peasy. However, you may still be in luck. On the reverse of some prints (you need to go back to the originals for this) there is a date that was put there by the developer. However, this was a relatively recent addition so, for the earlier ones, contact the relatives or dig back in your own family history. It's all part of illustrating your life.

For the final part, get those memories going into print. Write up a history of where you went and when – it'll surprise you how much recalling this stuff will bring other memories to mind. Don't expect this to all happen in one afternoon or evening. You'll need to persist with this until it's done. Then add the pictures and you're ready to bore the pants of your kids or friends.

What do I need?

A good memory

Where do I find it?

Now, where did I put it?

Cost?

Free

138. Tend – buy for your garden

2009-08-06T17:27:00.001+01:00

Interesting gardens contain stuff – lots of it (no – we are definitely NOT talking plastic gnomes here, please. This is a high quality blog.) Garden stuff is there in abundance. Get down to your local garden centre and there's furniture, lights, water features, chiminea, doo-dads, swing seats, things that you stick in the garden that glow in the dark (I'm not in the garden at night ... huh? ... unless I'm satellite spotting), barbeques, bird tables, lumps of rock, sculpture (usually with no clothes on – what's that about?), not to mention garden games of every description.

We love outdoor living and would do it all the time, if it wasn't for the weather. Of course, our illustrious readers living in warmer climes are made up. They don't clutter their gardens with gewgaws: it's just sun loungers and a pool – perhaps a barbecue. That's all you need.

Back to Blighty, where this is being written – we need to keep the entertainment quotient up high because the temperature is down low and the rain is threatening to drown out the party. Let's find lots of things to look at, play on and fiddle with. Never mind the wonderful plants and vegetables. Keep the guests chatting and disporting and that steady drizzle down the back of the neck will seem a very small price to pay for the bucolic bliss of enjoying your garden hospitality.

What do I need?

Stuff

Where do I find it?

Garden centres
Online – it'll be much cheaper here

Cost?

Expensive – take out a mortgage or beg from wealthy relatives

137. Relax – walk the dog

2009-07-29T17:30:00.002+01:00

OK – first problem, you don't have a dog? This isn't a problem - it's a blessing. (Howls of derision from dog-lovers everywhere.) So, find someone who does have a dog and doesn't want to walk it. There do seem to be many people in this state – off to work at 7 a.m., return at 6 p.m, two large dogs cooped up in the kitchen for the whole day ... know what I mean?

So, offer to walk their dog. It's doing the dog a favour and it's giving you exercise as well as the love of a dumb animal (your partner doesn't count here). Remember to take a stick, or a ball, and a ball thrower-thingy that helps you not only throw the ball, but retrieve it without getting your hands covered in canine slobber.

Oh – and don't forget the plastic bag to act as pooper-scooper. What else? Ah, the lead: preferably one of those extending ones that trip up sudden cyclists or tangle around lampposts when the dog suddenly and unexpectedly hurtles after a cat on the other side of the road.

Assuming you have all this kit, make your way onto the street, dog under control, equipment all at the ready. And then, do what all dog-walkers traditionally do: meet another dog walker and stand and talk for half an hour until it's too late for you to walk the dog. Return dog to its home. Job done.

There is one alternative – walk briskly and in full control, to the pub. Purchase beer. Sit outside the pub and drink beer – or inside, if the landlord will allow it.

What do I need?

Dog
Lead
Pooper-scooper
Toys

Where do I find it?

If you don't have a dog yourself, there are plenty of neighbours who will have one

Cost?

Free

136. Organise – give to your local charity shop

2009-07-24T18:18:00.004+01:00

It makes so much sense. Clear out the stuff you don't need and give it to the charity shop of your choice. It's a win-win. You de-clutter. They get something to sell or recycle. What's not to like? You've already started recycling and economising imaginatively.

Just think your way round your home for a moment:

Kitchen – surplus pots and pans that you never use; that strange device for scooping out melon; the twenty-two corkscrews you have accumulated over the years; the pot of jellied eels that you bought in a rash moment one day (perhaps not – just sling it)
Living room – your collection of DVDs and videos that you will never, ever, watch again; the boxed games that have sat under the telephone for the last six years – is anyone ever going to play them? No – I thought not; the lamp with the wonky shade that really needs replacing but is OK really
Bedroom – the beautiful, if ancient linen, left to you by Aunt Mathilda that will never see the light of day, otherwise; the various gizmos, hair-clippers and assorted beautification aids that sit at the back of your bedside table or dressing table; clothes, clothes and – oh, look, more clothes; shoes (how many pairs?)
Loft (if you have one) – ah, practically everything in here that should not alternatively be burned in a huge bonfire outside

Now, let's get real. You don't need this stuff. It's making your home heavy. It might sink. Get rid. Now.

What do I need?

None of all that stuff, for a start

Where do I find it?

Hidden

Cost?

Free

135. Observe – see the planets

2009-07-23T17:15:00.004+01:00

The wandering stars – planets – are so called because they do not move across the sky in the same way as stars do. Orbiting the Sun, they are the remnants of the processes that created our own star. Now, as we ride on our own little bit of interstellar rock, we can watch how the other detritus of the Solar System tracks across the sky.

How do you find out where they are – they just look like stars? And, if they move around, where are they on any particular night? Panic not. They don't move that rapidly – once you identify a planet, you'll find it in the same general area of the sky for a good while. However, what makes them interesting is that, as any planet's orbit and the Earth's get closer to each other, so the planet will appear brighter and larger in the sky. On a good night, with a telescope (binoculars are too shaky unless they are on a tripod), you'll even be able to see some detail.

Then of course there's the issue of how your life is totally affected by the dance of the planets, the stars, the Sun and the Moon. Are you Sagittarius or Pisces? Do you care? If the pull of the Moon can move the oceans in the form of tides, what are the heavenly bodies doing to us? Only you can answer that ...

What do I need?

A planet locator

Where do I find it?

Try the Nine Planets site

Cost?

Free

134. Love – have a mutual spa

2009-07-16T16:24:00.003+01:00

Spa pampering is, as you already know, a gift from the gods. However, cut out the middle man and pamper each other with mutual massage, luxury bathing, exotic food and who knows what else?

The key is to home in on each other's personal pamper preferences. You like your feet massaged? I'm your foot-rub genie. I prefer oils and unguents caressed into my back. You're my hot-handed houri. Fancy some pamper-some bubble bath? Forget the Radox – get some top class frothy foam from a high-class cosset shop.

Make the event a real treat, with all the trappings of spa-dom: candles, tinkling music, exotic products and luscious treats to tenderise those parts that have locked up over the past stress-filled weeks. Of course, you know as well as I do dear reader, that one thing will lead to another, so be prepared. The linen should be fresh, the blinds drawn and the room cool. (Blimey, if I carry on like this much longer, I shall be carried away with myself!)

Make the most of the moment – and of each other.

What do I need?

Spa products
Candles
A day or night to yourselves

Where do I find it?

At home
Products from all good spas and salons

Cost?

Moderate

133. Host – a progressive supper

2009-07-14T12:45:00.003+01:00

The thought of twenty or thirty part-inebriated party-goers, staggering from house to house, eating their way through piles of food, may not strike you as the best thing since Zworykin invented the iconoscope. However, a progressive supper can, in the right hands, be the best fun you can have with your clothes on.

The devil is, as always, in the detail – such an event needs meticulous planning and you’ll need to establish some basic principles. The idea of this supper party is as follows, organised by the planners:

A list of participants is confirmed – the essential first step
A budget is decided for each course and participants are asked to pay a total cost for all courses – say, £10 or $10
A number of these participants are (secretly) asked to provide sufficient first course, main course or sweet course for a specified number of guests – no-one knows who is coming. Those who provide meals are given an allocation from the overall budget to pay for making their part of the meal (most good hosts overspend their budget at their own cost)
Another home is asked to host a party for the end of the evening – this too will have some money allocated to pay for the additional food (perhaps a cheese course), drink and even entertainment
At a predetermined time, all guests will open an envelope (at home) telling them, where they are going for their first course
A number of people will arrive at each first course host’s home, without knowing who else is coming
At the end of the first course, another envelope is opened that tells each guest or couple where they are to go for their next course
This is once more repeated at the end of the last course, where everyone learns where the late night party is to be hosted – everyone gathers there and dances the night away

For a successful event, planning must be meticulous and timekeeping should be strict. Add an extra dimension by theming the party – fancy dress optional. This could all take place with your friends, a dining society or as a way to get to know the neighbours.

What do I need?

A good plan

Where do I find it?

Variants of progressive suppers, progressive dinners or faith suppers are all to be found, as ever on t’Internet

Cost?

Moderate

132. Fix – your appearance

2009-07-06T21:23:00.003+01:00

Are you beautiful? Or ugly? Cute? Or homely? Hunky? Or bulky? All can change – all it takes is a bit of determination. Fix your appearance and challenge everyone’s preconceptions.

First of all, you could try fixing your style. Then you could try fixing your fitness. Once you are happy with all that, just get your act together with making the most of what you’ve got because – and here’s the thing – that’s what the striking looking people do.

Does your hair hang lank and shapeless? Then get a hairstyle from a decent hairdresser – it’s not an instant fix, but it can transform your face. Nor is it cheap – but there again, neither is anything that's worth having. Do you scrub your face with carbolic soap in order to make sure it’s “nice and clean”? Consider treating your face to a bit of TLC: buy some good face wash, some moisturiser, some toner and – yes blokes, this includes you too – give your face the same level of care that you give your car (if indeed that’s the thing that gets all your attention normally). Body Shop products (I speak from experience) are cost-effective, face-effective and environmentally friendly: what more do you want? Plastic surgery? Perhaps not.

So, that’s hair, face ... ah, hands and feet. A little manicure, guys and gals, makes your hands partner-friendly. Consider smoothing out those scratchy calluses, snipping back those curly nails and generally giving your hands a good time.

Then of course there’s your body – toned, muscular (after the push-ups) and, of course, at your ideal weight. If not, then a diet transformation may be in order.

What do I need?

To want to improve your self-picture

Where do I find it?

It’s all about self-confidence

Cost?

Moderate – depending on how much you want to do

131. Explore – geocaching

2009-07-03T15:48:00.003+01:00

For reasons best known to themselves, philanthropic individuals hide caches of treasure in weatherproof boxes and then invite others to find them. This form of treasure hunting is called geocaching and involves the use of GPS systems, along with clues and landscape references, to locate the treasure. Once found, the finder writes their details in the log book, reads the next clue and bounds off in the direction of the setting sun.

The idea is not to run off with the newly-found treasure (why would you?), but to leave something of your own as well – always ensuring that there’s something for the next hunter to ‘ooh!’ and ‘ah!’ over.

Now these treasure hunters are a bickering lot, so be prepared for flouncing and tantrums (UK geocache forums seem to be stomping out of the room and taking their balls home with monotonous regularity). However, you don’t need them. Do it yourself. With a GPS-capable mobile phone you can download locations and the tools to help you find them. Then, get a-hunting!

What do I need?

GPS system of some sort
Access to clues

Where do I find it?

Get advice from one of the many societies or shops online
Make it up for yourself – they did

Cost?

Minimal

130. Exercise – play tennis

2009-06-30T17:22:00.004+01:00

Tock (grunt). Tock (squeal). Tock (grunt). Thwack (squawk). 30 all. Land of 130 mile an hour serves, rallies of at least two shots, broken serves and broken hearts. Tennis. Don’t you love it?

Of course, come June or July, everyone is playing, watching or totally ignoring tennis, depending upon their inclination. Reputations are made or smashed on the courts and the advent of a new player with fire in their belly is a major crowd-puller, particularly if they are a) from your own country, b) beating the seeds or c) great looking.

You too can join in this festival of faults, forehands and “First service”, by getting down to your local leisure centre (it’ll be crammed during tennis season) or to a tennis club (ah – you have to pay more). Don your tennis gear, reveal your hi-tech, professional grade racket, unpack a box of new balls and the court is yours. Now the hard bit begins. How do you ensure that the ball so deftly served by your opponent will catch your racket (it sure as hell isn’t going to get there because of your skill). You have a number of options: stand at the net and lunge for the ball in a vain hope you know which way it is going (making sure you smash it downwards and away from your opponent); stand at the back of the court, hunched over in aggressive pose, bouncing on the balls of your feet (ever so tiring, this); or simply saunter around the court, gazing nonchalantly at the onlookers and, without looking, stick the racket out when you hear the sound of the ball striking the racket. If you miss, your nonchalance will be admired. If you hit, well, you will appear to be a god of tennis.

Serve and volley, smash and slice, chop and dice (oops – sorry, that’s cookery) and enjoy the summer sunshine.

What do I need?

Tennis racket (racquet)
Tennis balls
An opponent (young child preferably, until they gain sufficient skill to beat you)

Where do I find it?

Tennis shop or, for cheaper bargains at eBay
Child – there’ll be one at the club, desperate for a game (usually because they’re good at it – beware)

Cost?

Moderate

129. Create – photography

2009-06-29T19:32:00.002+01:00

There’s no better record of an event, a scene or a memory than a photograph. It prompts your recollections and it is a static talking point that can take you back to a time and a place or transport you to sights, sounds and smells of times gone by.

Learn some of the basic skills of photography – they will help you frame better, more vibrant and more effective images. Practise – lots. Make the most of scenery, people, animals, insects, sky and sea. Look for colour contrasts, bizarre matches of colour and context and striking situations, which demand a photographer’s skill.

Today’s technology makes taking, editing, presenting and sharing photos a dream. A relatively simple digital camera (for a relatively simple operator, in my case), a computer with some photo management software and a web page for your photos is all you need.

Take your photos – hundreds of them (no more being confined to the limits of a 24 or 36-shot roll of 35mm film). Sift through them for the top shots; crop them, improve them and edit them until they are as you would have them be (tight cropping makes for really eye-catching images); then upload to your presentation software or send to a web gallery where everyone can benefit from your genius.

Don’t forget too that scanning your old photos is a great way of getting new ideas and of building up a library of images that will be of interest to family and friends. Those 450 slides your Dad took in the Lake District will not be wasted.

What do I need?

Digital camera
Photo processing software

Where do I find it?

Online retailers
Apple computers come with photo software as standard

Cost?

Expensive

128. Cook – Japanese

2009-06-24T14:21:00.001+01:00

It’s not all just sushi and rice cakes. A Japanese meal, like most things Japanese, is something of a ritual. If you’re cooking, Japanese style, you need to get into the culture and feel the reason for things being the way they are.

Westerners find Japanese meals a bit heavy on the fish flavours – hardly surprising given that the whole country is surrounded (like the UK) by sea. You’ll find grilled and fried fish pop up regularly, along with seaweed and shellfish such as clams, not to mention sushi. Rice or noodles usually provide the carbohydrate part of the meal. Seasoning that is used regularly includes soy sauce, rice wine and bean paste.

Light soups often accompany a meal, which might include meat and fish cooked with noodles or battered to make tempura. Tofu (curdled soya milk) is also often used – this “bean curd” as it’s often called, makes a light and appetising vegetarian dish that will hoover up the flavour attributes of whatever it is cooked with.

As with cooking Moroccan or Thai, you’ll need to get a few basics in place before you begin. Oh, and if you intend to try making sushi, bear in mind that top sushi chefs will sharpen their knives for hours before beginning work.

What do I need?

Special Japanese ingredients
Normal fish and meat

Where do I find it?

Your local deli or specialist Japanese stockist

Cost?

Moderate

127. Upskill – learn a musical instrument

2009-06-23T15:08:00.002+01:00

You’ve always yearned to play an instrument – you can carry a tune and know the backing vocals to every Abba song ever written. So why have you never learned to play? The truth is that most people are scared that they might not be able to achieve it. The truth also is that, although musical instruments are generally quite tricky to master, there are some that are trickier than others.

Unless you’re a budding Beethoven (in which case you’ll have already skipped this item), you’ll not simply sit at a keyboard, for instance, and play back the last tune you heard. Piano is pretty tricky, especially when combined with reading music. If you’re willing to commit, then maybe it’s for you. If not, start with something simple. (Incidentally, just play the black notes: play some with the left hand and some with the right hand, at the same time. If you keep changing notes in both hands, in rhythm, you’ll have a passable tune. It’s called pentatonic music.)

Penny whistle. Oh yes. You’ll be the talk of the town with one of those. Don’t mock – the penny whistle will give you a very simple introduction to basic principles of most wind instruments, whether woodwind or brass. Cover the holes in descending order from the top and you’ll get a progressively lower sound. Open a finger hole and the note goes up. Since the penny whistle is pre-tuned to one key, you’ll always be “in tune” no matter which notes you play.

If music be the food of love, prepare for indigestion. (Dave, Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich)

What do I need?

A musical instrument to try out for a time
A handbook or online tutor

Where do I find it?

Plenty of kids start learning an instrument and then give up – try their parents

Cost?

Moderate

126. Relax – go paintballing

2009-06-23T14:51:00.002+01:00

Pinned down in a battered London bus, your platoon mates dripping with viscous fluid, you hear the enemy close by – armed to the teeth, they have you at their mercy. Then, a rallying cry! It’s your partner, breaking through the undergrowth with a blood-chilling yell, coming to pound the enemy to dust and rescue you. Showing no mercy, her/his gun stutters – the staccato bark that fells each and every one. Pushing back the protective battle helmet, your partner beams with delight – only to be struck down by a splodge of yellow paint, right between the shoulder blades.

Yep. It’s paintball and it’s very sophisticated. Whether it’s relaxation is another matter, but great fun it certainly is. Look out for sophisticated scenarios: stockades, village encampments and factory environments. Check out the paint guns (do we really want to encourage this?) and cool full body and face protection. This is team-building writ large. However, beware. You are likely to find a side to friends, relatives and colleagues that you never knew existed. Get those aggressions out into the open, why don’t you?

Or, you could try pressing flowers instead.

What do I need?

Money – it ain’t cheap
Friends who don’t mind being covered in paint

Where do I find it?

There are paintballing centres all over the world

Cost?

Expensive

125. Organise – update your calendars

2009-06-22T14:39:00.001+01:00

You always manage to remember your sister’s birthday, but always forget your partner’s? You’ve never missed an anniversary, but cannot nail down Valentine’s Day? Your calendars are in serious need of a shake-up.

With online and computer-based calendars in abundance, there’s no excuse for missing anything – even simply doing a quick entry to remind you to take the chicken out of the freezer tomorrow will save you heartache when you don’t have anything for dinner. A calendar reminder is a brilliant use of technology for mankind’s benefit: give yourself a seven day notice period for any important event – time enough to get the gift, wrap it and buy a card; flag up everyone’s birthday so, at least, you can send them an e-card; put in all your appointments and key dates – never miss the dentist; and, above all, don’t forget to put all anniversaries on a yearly cycle – you’ll never ever forget one again.

Best of all, many calendars now allow you to share so that you and your partner can make sure you’re on the same page (literally and metaphorically) all the time. However, it requires you to invest a small amount of time in organising calendar entries and ensuring that the reminders are in place.

What do I need?

Calendar software

Where do I find it?

Comes with many computers, preinstalled – look out for Outlook on a PC; Macs have iCal, but this is a charged service (if you want to share and publish online

Cost?

Free – if included with your computer

124. Observe – watch your garden grow

2009-06-22T14:13:00.003+01:00

Sure, I’m just going to sit and watch the plants growing, huh? Why would I do that? The truth is that watching the garden growing is a therapeutic and relaxing way to spend your leisure time. You may not have your own garden (even a window box or a saucer of cress seeds will do), so get out into the local park or botanical garden and “adopt” an area for your own attention. Alternatively, get into a bit of guerrilla gardening and make an impact on your neighbourhood.

Check out the state of shrubs – have they flowered yet, what happens after flowering? Take a look at the trees – are new leaves forming, will they blossom, what fruit are they creating? Hang around the seedlings – what stage are they at, have the initial seed leaves formed, can you see what it is yet (it’s usually a thistle, nettle or dandelion, by the way).

Make it even more fun with a bit of photography. Find a location where you can take regular pictures from exactly the same spot, then snap away, once a day, once a week or however often you feel moved to do so. Your stop motion film can be played in your photo software with a little judicious editing.

Plants – they were here first and will be here after we are long gone. Watch them – they know something.

What do I need?

Leisure time
A garden – yours or someone else’s

Where do I find it?

Make time – it’s important

Cost?

Free

123. Love – treat someone

2009-06-22T12:45:00.003+01:00

There’s nothing quite so fulfilling as seeing someone you care about, filled with joy at something you have done – particularly if it’s unexpected. You don’t have to spend thousands, just surprise that special person with a little treat, a gift or an unexpected kindness, and your life will, as they say, be worthwhile.

What though? If you’re into giving someone a good time, but you can’t think how, here are a few ideas from 365:

Present them with an old photo, rejuvenated and carefully framed
Take them dancing or nightclubbing
Cook them a great meal
Take them on a journey of exploration
Play a game with them
Tell them a story, sing them a song or recite a poem to them
Give them a night off
Paint them a picture or make a drawing for them
Buy them something funky
Call and tell them you love them

There are plenty more ideas to be found, but you just need to take the time out to plan what you are going to do and to execute it perfectly. Your reward will be their appreciation.

What do I need?

To be bothered

Where do I find it?

365 is your vade mecum for great ideas

Cost?

Minimal – for many things that are just as exciting as expensive things

122. Host – flicks at your place

2009-06-19T12:37:00.002+01:00

You can turn your home into The Gaumont, The Roxy or The Odeon with a simple bit of technology borrowing. Who do you know who has a video projector at work? Would they be willing to let you borrow it for a night (make sure you invite them to the party)? Then, with the latest blockbuster DVD, you can hook up the projector to your computer, hook up the sound output from your computer to your hi-fi and – hey presto! You have an instant cinema.

Find a clear wall onto which you can project the enormous screen image – you’ll be blown away by how good it can be. Make sure none of the cables is in anyone’s area of footfall and turn your seats to face the screen.

Issue tickets that look like the old cinema ones – you can find images of them on Google – prepare light finger food that can be eaten during the film (popcorn? Oh, yes please!) and ensure no drinks are anywhere near the projector or your computer. Then, crank up the sound (the neighbours were invited, weren’t they?), play your iTunes music for half an hour as an intro (you can use the screen visualisers for a great effect) and then begin the main feature.

Don’t forget that you cannot charge for a show like this – the licence on a DVD prohibits public performances or any commercial gain. Other than that, enjoy the show.

What do I need?

A video projector (it’s an expensive bit of kit)
A blank wall
A cable to connect your computer to your hi-fi
A good DVD

Where do I find it?

Borrowing with permission is good. Borrowing without is very naughty indeed
The cable can be bought online

Cost?

Minimal

121. Fix – repair stuff around the home

2009-06-19T12:16:00.002+01:00

That towel rail has been hanging loose now for the past year and half. The light bulb in the spare bedroom blew three months ago, there’s water dripping from the tap in the kitchen and you haven’t fixed any of them. How about getting off the settee and into your scruffs in order to get stuff fixed?

The thing is, none of these things is crucial. The world won’t stop because the light bulb’s blown, nor will life as we know it cease to exist if you don’t fix the tap. In fact, given long enough ignoring them, they’ll not be visible in your eyes and it’s only when others come along that anyone notices.

The problem is, if it continues and the various problems go unrepaired, new ones get added and before long, you have one of those homes that you always criticise yourself, “Did you see the kitchen? The doors are falling off the cupboards, they’re scratched and water-stained, the tap’s dripping, there’s grease down the side of the cooker and the dishwasher is quite evidently not working properly – look at this glass!”

Our blindness to the faults in our own home comes from apathy. A blitz on those jobs helps you to spark things up again and also to notice just how things really look to a fresh pair of eyes. Before you know it, you’ll want to decorate that room, or give the place a complete makeover. Maybe better to keep your eyes shut, huh?

What do I need?

A bit of energy to apply to those fiddly little jobs

Where do I find it?

By taking a cool and analytical look at your living space

Cost?

Free – until you start changing things, that is

120. Explore – wander with Google

2009-06-18T17:08:00.002+01:00

Open Google Maps for your postcode, zoom out and look around your area. You’ll see a host of places that you never knew existed: Weston Jones, Pipe Gate and Draycott in the Clay. Marvellous names, reminiscent of Flanders and Swann singing “The Slow Train”:

No more will I go to Blandford Forum and Mortehoe

On the slow train from Midsomer Norton and Mumby Road.

No churns, no porter, no cat on a seat

At Chorlton-cum-Hardy or Chester-le-Street.

We won't be meeting again

On the Slow Train.

You, however, can visit any of them and Google Maps will tell you how. Better still, if you have an iPhone, Google Maps will follow you as you do it. Set your location by dropping a pin on your home – you can do this just by virtue of having searched for your postcode. Now right click on the map where you want to visit and choose “Directions to here” from the menu that appears.

Finally, choose your mode of travel by pulling down the list: select By car or Walking (use this if you are cycling too). Google will give you the directions and the time it’ll take. All you have to do now is set off and explore. Directed wandering – that’s what it is.

What do I need?

Google maps
A suitable destination

Where do I find it?

Choose the “Maps” option from Google’s navigation

Cost?

Free (unless you drive)

119. Exercise – go to the gym

2009-06-18T15:56:00.001+01:00

Gym membership is expensive so you’ll need to be committed to using it, at least for the duration. Work out how much it costs per day or per week and then calculate how many times a week you need to go in order to get the benefit from it. If it’s not going to work, then your local leisure centre or hotel with leisure facilities will probably be a better bet – just drop in when you feel like it. Then you can ruin it with a plate of chips or a glass of beer afterwards.

You can bet that there are plenty of people there with bodies much lumpier, bumpier and larger than yours. Gyms have become big business and they’re not just for the athletically minded. Names such as Gymnophobes indicate that you can get sympathetic training for your poor battered body, rather than the boot camp approach that appears so often on TV (another reason for not watching).

Regular exercise, whether at the gym or in the comfort of your own home, is the key to your health and longevity. The couch doesn’t count.

What do I need?

Money
Or a home gym (which needs money)

Where do I find it?

Your local gym will advertise widely

Cost?

Expensive

118. Dare – just do it

2009-06-16T17:04:00.003+01:00

The problem with life in general is that we just become very comfortable. TV watching epitomises this condition exactly in that, once you are slumped on the settee, with the TV on and a cup of tea or glass of wine (not forgetting the bag of crisps, bar of chocolate and those strange jelly sweets that some kid left in your house last Thursday), you really do not feel like doing anything else. In fact, short of a fire alarm or an imminent impact by a meteor (which you’d be too slow to dodge), you are not going anywhere.

This life lethargy is characterised by “being in a rut”. You do the same thing, day in, day out, with the same people, at the same time, in the same order. Nothing changes and therefore you cannot distinguish one day’s anonymous routine from another’s.

We’ve said it before here – carpe diem. Grab an opportunity. Be decisive. Do that thing you always intended to do, but never did: visit your aunt in Brighton, pull down the old shed in the garden, get a hearing aid, make mad passionate love in the duck pond, submit your poetry to an agent or publisher, make up with your relative who has not spoken to you for five years, buy a dog, have a baby, eat oysters, change your image – all great things to do ... but, yes, you’re still on that settee, aren’t you?

What do I need?

To find where your get-up-and-go went

Where do I find it?

It’s probably down the settee cushions

Cost?

Free

117. Create – patchwork

2009-06-16T14:35:00.003+01:00

It’s not all just Little House on the Prairie, y’know. Patchwork is an economical, artistic and interesting creative art that can result in marvellous decorative pieces or practical items such as quilts.

The essence is nearly all geometry, except when you’re into the more abstract art forms where material is used to create images, shadow and texture, simply by virtue of the nature of the pieces of cloth used. Tessellating pieces such as hexagons or squares are stitched together (oh, so carefully) in order to create a new, larger piece of material. This sheet of reclaimed material is then used as the principal decorative element in a piece such as a cushion or as a piece of art in its own right.

The amount of time that a piece of patchwork will take to create is directly proportional to its complexity. For very fine detail, template cards are used around which the piece of cloth is formed and stitched. The templates are removed once the work is completed.

It’s a great communal activity too, with everyone in the family stitching together pieces that will eventually form one whole patchwork. Don’t forget its recycling benefit – use old material (in good condition), cloth samples and pieces salvaged from sale stock to develop your portfolio and palette of colours. A stitch in time here saves money as well as time and, guess what? There’s no TV reality show about patchwork. Yet.

What do I need?

Material pieces
Cottons
Cutters (perhaps – or just stick to scissors)

Where do I find it?

There are specialist patchwork and quilting shops and web sites

Cost?

Minimal

http://www.quiltingonline.co.uk/blogger.html

116. Cook – make your own baked beans

2009-06-15T17:12:00.005+01:00

Convenience foods are just that – a product that someone manufactures to make your life easier and less pressured. Some foods that met that need years ago have stayed on in our diet, yet preparation of them for ourselves is not only rewarding, it allows us to take control of what we eat. Baked beans are a great example: not only do they contain sugar and salt in their tinned form, they are, in their natural state, one of the cheapest food commodities on the market. Of course, commercial baked beans are very cheap and, with widespread advertising, they have imprinted themselves on the national psyche.

You can take control by making your own baked beans – you still need to buy beans, either in their dry form or, if you want to be quicker, in their cooked form in a tin (yes I know, so why not buy the ready done tinned baked beans? Read on as I explain). You will need the following for Bec and Charlie’s famous baked beans (preparation time 6 minutes):

One can of tinned cannellini beans (different supermarkets’ beans will vary in texture and taste: find the ones you like
Two dessertspoons of olive oil
Chilli powder, tomato paste, garlic or other flavouring
Put all the ingredients in a microwavable dish and stir them up
Microwave on High for around two minutes
Serve on toast

There is a more romantic version of this (preparation time 6 hours):

Drink a bottle of chianti
Fill the empty bottle with beans, water, oil, and garlic
Leave overnight in the embers of an open fire
Eat for breakfast

What do I need?

Ingredients as above

Where do I find it?

Supermarket

Cost?

Minimal

115. Aspire – change your job

2009-06-15T15:34:00.004+01:00

Get a new job and improve your life. Do you enjoy what you do? Has it become a grind, or are you simply feeling that you are being passed over for other people? Do something about it.

There’s no point in grumbling about your colleagues, your boss, your workload or stress levels. That’s just gratuitous. Take action. Take control of your life and make a big change. You were daring enough to reinvent your style, perhaps? Reinvent your working life now by starting with your CV or resumé.

Once your CV is polished, start using your connections. Make sure you pull every string you have, use your contacts, get in the face of people who can help and develop a supportive group who will help you achieve your goal.

If your first attempt is not successful, don’t be rebuffed. Keep applying, keep looking. Somewhere, someone wants you.

What do I need?

Determination
Good contacts
A fabulous sparkling CV

Where do I find it?

There are plenty of free tips online for CV writing

Cost?

Free

114. Upskill – forecast the weather

2009-06-12T16:23:00.005+01:00

You don’t need the Internet, television or radio to get a weather forecast. You can do it for yourself as your ancestors did, before there was technology to help them. It’s also rather good fun and interesting to boot.

Much weather forecasting has been captured in sayings and rhymes: “Red sky at night, the chip shop’s alight. Red sky in the morning, there’ll be a flood warning.” Or something like that. A sunset red sky indicates high pressure and therefore dry air – good news. However, if the red sky’s to the east, the nice dry air has already passed: you’re in for cloud and rain.

Check whether cattle are sitting down (probably going to rain), there’s mackerel sky or mare’s tails (stormy weather or at least a change), large towering clouds (stay inside, it’ll probably thunder and almost certainly rain), see where the wind’s coming from (North = cold: obvious, I know), check your barometer (falling pressure means rain; rising pressure means it’s getting finer), check the sky in the evening (clear – it’ll be cold), check the moon (halo around it means rain is coming soon).

There are also plenty of strange devices to help you: seaweed, pine cones, groundhogs and squirrel’s tail, to name but a few. I’d stick to the barometer, thermometer and your peepers, unless you can think of yet another wacky way of telling what’s coming from above (dried elephant dung, price of tinned asparagus, the behaviour of my wife?)

What do I need?

A vivid imagination (bear in mind that, with all their technology, computers and historical data, weather forecasters still seem to pitch their predictions below the level of random probability – how can you go wrong with seaweed?)
Some arcane weather forecasting equipment – the more bizarre and steeped in country lore, the better

Where do I find it?

You don’t find it – you make it up

Cost?

Free

http://www.wikihow.com/Predict-the-Weather-Without-a-Forecast

113. Understand –your local environment

2009-06-10T15:41:00.004+01:00

It’s really surprising how little people know about the area in which they live. “Oh, we know it’s lovely but we’ve never been there” is something frequently heard, or “It’s that big building with a clock tower – what is it? The Town Hall, or perhaps the Police Station.”

Although most of us can find around the bits of the town we know, put us anywhere away from our normal circuit and we’re lost – or perhaps not lost as such: you can see the fire station training tower, but you don’t know what street you’re in. And what’s the name of the river that flows under the bridge just outside town? Someone famous used to live in the big house on the main street – who was that and when were they there? What’s the name of the hill that you can see behind the church?

If you don’t know these things you have no power over them – the ancients believed that knowing someone’s name gave you control of them, but here it’s just common sense. You can’t go through life saying, “You just turn left at the whatsit and the place you want is in front of thingummies.”

Knowing your location, the names and numbers of the roads, the buildings and their purposes, the names of geographical features and even a bit about their history, lets you bore people stupid with irrelevant facts after they asked you the way to the baker’s.

What do I need?

Maps
Encyclopaedias
Local guides

Where do I find it?

The local library and museum

Cost?

Free

112. Tend – guerrilla gardening

2009-06-10T12:09:00.003+01:00

Wherever there is wild or unwanted land, plants and flowers grow with wild abandon. Neglected building sites, patches of no man’s land or borders along pathways where no one owns the land: all ripe for the new craze of ... guerrilla gardening.

Check out the area around trees in the street. Particularly for those that are relatively newly planted: there’ll be a circle of soil surrounding the trunk – prime real estate for marigolds or lettuces, fuchsia or potatoes. Watch out for opportunities where groups of people gather with one purpose that can be diverted to another – the Heathrow expansion protests for example were hotspots of guerrilla gardening.

In your area though, make the most of your environment by scattering seeds in wasteland, planting flowers on roundabouts, bulbs in roadside verges and vegetables in areas where most people do not venture.

Your imagination is your limit.

What do I need?

Plants, seeds and bulbs
Gardening kit

Where do I find it?

Garden centres
Get advice from this prime site: http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

Cost?

Minimal

111. Relax – attend a music festival

2009-06-10T10:13:00.004+01:00

Wear some flowers in your hair. It’s time to break out the festival clothes, the glowsticks, the lighter (compulsory for smoochy ballads) and, of course, the diarrhoea treatment after using the festival facilities.

Summer music festivals attract people from all walks of life and give you the opportunity to get up close and personal with some of the stars (not the ones who arrive and leave by helicopter though). There’s something very special about standing in the mud (UK festivals), drinking warm beer, eating food that you’d never look at normally and getting unbelievably wet, that cannot be beaten.

Music festivals have become big business and huge ones like Glastonbury, which attract a full audience each year, are big earners. Don’t dismiss the smaller festivals however. Many of them are a little bit more civilised, considerably less well-attended and therefore a little easier to cope with, particularly if you are of a more elderly disposition. You’ll still see some big name headline acts although the subsidiary acts may be less well-known. No worse for that though – you can nod sagely a year down the line and pronounce, “Ah, yes, Electric Custard Buzzards – saw them at Guildford last year. Thought they had loads of potential”.

Let your hair down. Get your flares out. Perfect your Dad-dancing steps and go to your nearest festival.

What do I need?

Wet weather gear
Plenty of drinking water
A strong constitution
Your air guitar

Where do I find it?

Summer music festivals are everywhere – watch the music press or search online

Cost?

Moderate

110. Perform – make balloon sculptures

2009-06-10T09:23:00.004+01:00

Seriously. Your reputation as an entertainer and general good egg will soar if you purchase a bag of provocatively shaped balloons, inflate them and then twist them into the vague shapes of dogs, cats, monkeys, famous sculpture or all manner of other idiocy. Art it ain’t, but funny it certainly is.

It’s ephemeral art at best since balloons tend to lose their puff after a day or so. Indeed, part of the fun of balloons has always been blowing them up and then jumping on them to burst them (preferably with an aged aunt in the room). Why should balloon sculpture be any different?

So, learn your basic pinch and twist, the three-bubble body and the poodle tail and your well on the way to getting chosen for your local talent show, children’s party or locked up for the night for inadvertently twisting balloons into shapes of which others do not approve.

Let’s twist again ...

What do I need?

Twisting balloons
Hand pump
Some instructions

Where do I find it?

There’s a boggling amount of sites on the web that give help on this esoteric subject – please don’t get diverted by articles on balloon endoscopy

Cost?

Minimal

http://www.balloon-animals.com/

http://www.balloonhq.com/

http://www.mbfloyd.com/

109. Organise – prepare your menu for the week

2009-06-09T17:47:00.007+01:00

You remember how your mother used to do it? Every Sunday night, she’d sit down with a piece of paper and a pencil and scribble down what you would all have to eat that week. Of course you knew that Monday was the shepherds pie or similar, mincing up the meat from the Sunday roast; and Friday was always fish – good to have milestones in the calendar.

So, why don’t we do it in this day and age? Maybe you do, but if not, here are some great reasons for tackling this little task:

Knowing what you are going to eat will save you all sorts of headaches each evening when you get home, going, “What shall we have tonight?”
With a list of meals, you can really focus when you’re shopping for food. Instead of the rambling amble where you pick up all sorts of things that go out of date before you eat them, you can whizz past those tempting pastries, ignore the blandishments of the ready-prepared meal counter and cock a snook at the shopper traps that are designed to relieve you of your money
If everyone knows what’s for dinner each night, then choosing lunch can be a bit more informed. Having had pasta salad for lunch, you’re unlikely to be pleased to be faced with Tagliatelle alla Puttanesca in the evening
You are going to waste so little food ...

So, make a menu, then make a list, then make the most of your saved time by doing something much more exciting.

What do I need?

Piece of paper and a pencil or pen
A vague idea of what people would like

Where do I find it?

Do you have a pin board or a shopping slate? Make it a part of that information resource

Cost?

Free

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/menuplanning.htm

108: Observe – cloudwatching

2009-06-08T17:24:00.004+01:00

There’s a new type of cloud in town and it’s called Asperatus. Lumpy and bumpy it provides a dramatic backdrop to cityscapes and to big skies. Watching clouds can become quite addictive and there’s even a Cloud Appreciation Society – check ‘em out.

If you can’t tell your stratocumulus from your cumulonimbus then it’s time you could. Clouds are present above us for a good part of the time (look, I’m writing from England OK – you may live in Death Valley and see rain once in five years, but here it’s a way of life).

Painting with clouds is what the sky-gods do for their own amusement and watching the outcome is an activity we can all enjoy. Whether you’re a “look there’s a unicorn” spotter or an earnest, “I think you’ll find that’s cirrostratus” type, you’ll find your own way of getting off on clouds. Why do it? Why not – it’s better than TV, it’s free, it’s never the same twice and it involves lying down (preferably with your partner and a nice glass of wine). What’s not to like?

What do I need?

Where do I find it?

Up above

Cost?

Free

107. Love – declare your love

2009-06-08T15:49:00.004+01:00

You’ve admired your ideal partner from afar. You have caught glimpses of him/her on the way to work, in the local supermarket, walking past your home and you have not managed to say anything. What are you – a mouse? Where’s your carpe diem spirit?

Faint heart ne’er won fair babe or bloke, so your prevaricating is merely opening the gilded door of opportunity to someone with a little more get-up-and-go. Now of course there are some restrictions to observe here. If the object of your desire cannot be obtained because you are already committed then other issues need to be addressed first, by preference. Similarly, if your would-be paramour is hitched then you will be having to think carefully about any consequences, particularly if their partner happens to be a kick-boxing Neanderthal (man or woman).

Don’t be put off by little objections – you can always make excuses, always find reasons why not, for anything in life. Ultimately, he’s too gorgeous, she’s too beautiful, he/she would never look at me, and I’m not good enough. For goodness, sake, get a grip! Do you get nervous, have feelings of anxiety and insecurity, doubt your credentials as a lover? Welcome to the human race – we all do, even the beautiful ones. And they have a bigger obstacle – they’re beautiful. Everyone therefore believes they are unobtainable and ... they get left on the shelf. It’s bizarre. It’s weird. It’s life. Get on with it.

What do I need?

Courage of your convictions

Where do I find it?

You've got to search for the hero inside yourself. (M People, 1995)

Cost?

Free (at first - but wait until you really start courting)

106. Host – a book circle

2009-06-08T10:42:00.003+01:00

Is this just another opportunity to get your friends together for a glass or three of the finest grape? Yes, that’s a good side effect of book circles, but there are plenty of benefits too.

Meet up for a regular review of a specific book – maybe monthly – and meet new people as friends invite friends. As new people join, they’ll bring with them their own tastes in reading and broaden your horizons in fiction and non-fiction. Better still, if you really want to get the thing off the ground, join your circle to a group of circles (is this sounding complicated?) that all read the same book and then compare notes. However, be aware that these “circles of circles” usually centre on a specific publisher and its output.

Book club networking like this can be very informative, particularly if you host open sessions where people simply bring along what they are reading at the time and discuss it. Theme your sessions by literary genre (OK guys, next month’s meeting is all about the werewolf and its role in post-Modernist children’s fiction), by period (1940’s fiction is soooo last century, darling) or by author (Chekhov’s the next one – Oh, really, I’ve not checked off the last one yet).

Get together a group of like-minded (or if you want a lively group, diametrically opposed) people. Seed them with books. Get them talking. It’s a recipe for brain food.

What do I need?

Group of book fiends
Books
A venue

Where do I find it?

Some publishers offer book circle facilities
There are organisations that join together circles, online

Cost?

Minimal

105. Fix – pimp your ride

2009-06-05T16:12:00.004+01:00

Let’s get real. Most people’s motors are not state of the art, up-to-the-minute models, gleaming with polished chrome and the latest devices for fending off errant cyclists. Quite the opposite is true, in fact. Most could do with a good clean, inside and out: the detritus of a hundred journeys, a hundred crisp packets and a hundred coke bottles makes sitting a danger to your clothing and driving an exercise in hygiene management.

So, your motor – how is it? Sparkly? Shiny? Or, simply neglected? If you live in the back of beyond, why bother? The muddy roads and frequent puddles make cleaning the car a complete waste of time. “Ah yes,” I hear you cry, “there’s my justification for not doing the job at all.” However, you might notice, we were talking about the outside of the car. What about the inside?

That garbage tip where the kids sit; that door pocket stuffed with old prints from Google Maps; the seat pockets with long-forgotten guides to cities you have never visited (left over from the previous owner?), sweet wrappers from six months before and a piece of bent metal and plastic that does something in the car, but no-one can remember what.

It’s time for a spring-clean: get your motor sweetly smelling, sparkly bright and a joy to ride in, even if the outside looks like a giant warthog has just voided its capacious bowels all over it.

What do I need?

Dustpan and brush
Car vacuum
Duster
Very large bin liner

Where do I find it?

There’s a little room, just off the kitchen ...

Cost?

Minimal

104. Explore – your local community facilities

2009-06-04T12:32:00.002+01:00

You walk past them, probably on a daily basis: the public library, that little art gallery in the arcade, the museum housed in a redundant church. Who goes in them? Not you, evidently – yet, beavering away behind those doors are dedicated teams of workers who are preserving the local heritage and keeping the community in touch with the outside world.

Check out your library for example. Most libraries now are not the dusty, dank, depressing puddles of gloom that they used to be years ago. There’s bright lighting, well-stocked shelves and a range of services that meet the needs of every one. You can hire books, audiobooks and videos, visit art exhibitions and get help with researching any topic you care to find. Are you away from home and cannot find an Internet café? Locate the local library – they’ll have an Internet connection.

Get to grips with history at the museum – strange exhibits from local collections and presentations relating to industry in the area, are a mine of information that you’ll not find anywhere else. These eclectic patchworks of found artefacts, objets d’art and the downright bizarre are maintained, usually, at the expense of your local authority. Don’t miss the chance to make use of the services that you are paying for. And for those that are run privately – art galleries, for example, are frequently run by artist collectives – your patronage will help keep local art alive.

What do I need?

Map of your local services

Where do I find it?

Check out your local authority website

Cost?

Free

103. Exercise – achieve 100 push-ups

2009-06-03T18:36:00.005+01:00

This is one of those topics where I can speak with huge authority, having toned my body into a machine of physical perfection. Believe that and I’ll be round selling you life insurance for your pet turtle tomorrow. However, when people want to challenge themselves, they usually try to do so against an objective that can be measured: cycling 100 miles, walking the Pennine Way, marrying the boss’s daughter.

One great body-popping, eye-bulging regime is 100 push-ups. Me? I can do about seven and then decide that at my age it’s not a good idea. But for some of you telly-rejecters out there, push-ups may be just what you need to take your mind off E.R., House or some other medical potboiler.

The idea is simple: start with what you can do; challenge yourself to do more; then address weekly targets; all with the ultimate objective of hitting 100 push-ups. Sounds fun? It’s a killer – but you’ll find yourself addicted, even through the bulging biceps, prominent veins and aching arms. Try it today – you know it makes sense!

What do I need?

A space on the floor
A motivational website

Where do I find it?

The site is here – oh, and if that’s not enough for you, there’s 200 situps and 200 squats to go at next

Cost?

Free

102. Economise – conduct an energy efficiency audit

2009-06-01T15:57:00.005+01:00

You may think you’ve got it all covered, but there’s a good chance that you have overlooked a whole raft of things that could improve your home’s energy efficiency. Heat can leak out through holes in your walls, un-insulated areas or through vents, costing you a bundle of money.

You can do some simple tests yourself to find out your areas of leakage:

Check when you last serviced your heating system
Check your loft insulation
Look for light that shows through the edges of windows and doors
Look at all keyholes and letterbox apertures, plumbing and electrical conduits
Feel your external walls during winter – are some much colder than others?
Try shutting all external doors and windows, then pull air through your house by using the kitchen extractor fan. This will cause a slightly lower pressure that can help you identify where external air is coming in
Use something that produces a small amount of smoke to test specific areas – joss-sticks are great for this

Once you have seen where your problems lie, then set about fixing them with insulating materials. The aim is not to live in a hermetically-sealed environment (this is actually dangerous – particularly where you are burning fuels such as gas or oil) but to minimise unwanted leakage of heat. In addition to all this, make sure you take steps to reduce your power consumption.

What do I need?

A checklist of places to look

Where do I find it?

Government advisory bodies and local companies will provide you with information to help you

Cost?

Free

101. Dare – buy unusual gifts

2009-06-01T15:18:00.003+01:00

Is it always the same thing that you think of when Aunt Rose’s birthday comes around? A nice bottle of perfume, a bouquet of flowers or a headscarf? The “socks and smells” present culture was left behind in the last century – where have you been?

There are so many great treats that you can choose from to delight your relatives and friends. Don’t stick with the conventional. Dare to be different. Firstly, think why you are giving the gift – is it a really special event or simply a normal birthday? Secondly, do you really know what Aunt Rose likes – have you listened to her, observed what she uses and wears, understood the things in which she is interested? Thirdly, How much do you want to spend – is it a small but thoughtful gift or a full-blown brash and extravagant experience?

Has Aunt Rose always wanted to go greyhound racing? Does she secretly collect French arthouse films? Does she need some plastic ducks for her bath? Would she appreciate some chocolate body paint? Only you can know this – go and find out.

Make your gift show that you have paid attention – a gift that matches one’s tastes will please the recipient much more than one that is given without thought. And, as far as finding the right gift is concerned, there are plenty of sites that specialise in the unusual. One further point – a relatively “normal” gift can be made a good deal more special, simply by personalising it. An engraved iPod for example, can be a great reminder of the giver and their generosity.

What do I need?

Generosity
Some great ideas
Understanding of the recipient’s taste

Where do I find it?

Go online and search for “unusual gifts” – you’ll be spoiled for choice

Cost?

Moderate (depends on your budget)

100. Create – sculpture

2009-05-22T12:39:00.003+01:00

Michelangelo’s five-metre high statue of David took him two years to complete. How long would you take, given a block of marble and a couple of chisels? The difference between a work of art and something that you or I might produce is partly a matter of subjective opinion and partly realistic acknowledgment of our own abilities.

You can sculpt. There are so many different media in which you can work and so many potential subjects for your work that nearly anyone can create something that is worthwhile. Consider Plaster of Paris, for example. Mixed and set in a block, this versatile medium can easily be worked with simple and inexpensive tools (no, not the kitchen cutlery, please). Alternatively, it can be used on a chicken wire frame to produce a ready prepared rough shape into which the detail can be carved.

Then there’s clay which can be worked by hand and then fired; wood which can be hewn and whittled into shape; soapstone – a soft but workable stone that readily responds to sculpting tools; plasticine – yes, really; fibreglass or more flexible media such as wire, tin or sheet metal.

Don’t simply think of a sculpture as a statue, a bust or a bronze. Practically any material, shaped, bent, worked and carved can produce eye-catching results. Even junk can be worked together to produce something that is attractive.

What do I need?

A sculpting medium such as stone, wood or metal
Tools
A room where you can make a mess

Where do I find it?

Art shops, junk yards or around the home

Cost?

Moderate

99. Cook – bake cakes

2009-05-22T12:01:00.003+01:00

Lemon drizzle cake, soft succulent sponge soused in sugary lemon sauce – mm-MMH! Or, dark, seductive chocolate muffin, studded with chunks of the bitterest, black-brown chocolate – yum! Or, slab-like, rich cake, stuffed with fruit and nuts, glazed or even iced – beyond belief!

Anyone who can bake a good cake has me as a friend for life – and most of the rest of the world too, apart from aspiring stick insects, of course. There’s something so simply decadent about a good cake. It’s never ordinary. It’s never run-of-the-mill. It’s always a treat, an “Ooh, lovely” moment.

Yet the art seems to be dying – people simply don’t bake like they used to. Sterile, shop-bought cakes, devoid of love and no longer objects of desire are filling the shelves of our shops. So what can we do about it? Well, bake of course.

Anybody can bake a cake – just follow the recipe for goodness sake. It doesn’t even take very long. Just get the ingredients, mix as directed, slap into the oven and cook ... then enjoy. And watch the response from those who will suddenly surround you, rapt with interest at the possibility of getting a piece for themselves.

What do I need?

A recipe
Good ingredients
People to eat the cake – there’s always too much and it’s never the same after a day or so

Where do I find it?

Plenty of recipes in books your Mum had, or online
Ingredients from your local store – consider also trying specialist flour from your local miller, if you have one
People – they’ll waft in on the air, as soon as the smell of the cakes leaves your oven

Cost?

Minimal

98. Communicate – say what needs saying

2009-05-22T11:41:00.006+01:00

How many times have you heard someone say, “I didn’t get a chance to tell her I loved her”, “I wish I could have said how proud I was of him”, or “If only we’d had more time to discuss what happened all those years ago”? Lost opportunities fuel our guilt when someone dies, becomes seriously ill or simply leaves.

There’s a way to avoid this and it’s so simple: say what you have to say, when it needs saying. So – you’re the sort of person who doesn’t give praise easily, huh? Fine – but don’t be surprised if people who might expect your verbal support at some point simply stop listening. You can’t express your love? OK – you’ll lose the object of your affections, as sure as eggs is eggs.

Sometimes those things that you want to say are not pleasant – you have suffered an intolerant partner, put up with verbal abuse or worse, or been passed over continually in favour of people less qualified or experienced. Lie back and take it? Or say something about it? Consequences. Consequences. What will be the consequences?

Life is full of missed chances and scary choices. Carpe diem has become hackneyed in its misty-eyed use in films, but it is an axiom that should drive your life: seize the day, grasp the opportunity, don’t let the chance go by. Ten, twenty, thirty years down the line, you don’t want to be saying, “If only”.

What do I need?

Courage to take the initiative

Where do I find it?

We all have the reserves somewhere – you just need to mine it

Cost?

Free

97. Collect – pressed flowers

2009-05-21T16:53:00.005+01:00

"So, let’s get this straight: instead of watching mind-blowing television like Big Brother and The Apprentice, we’re all going to press flowers – is this serious?" Yep – ‘fraid so. Obviously, this depends upon your general inclinations. If you’re a weight lifting, engine re-building, mud-wrestling sort of guy or gal, then ... flower pressing is probably ideal for throwing those attributes into sharp relief.

Much of what is recommended in this blog is about creating things that have an innate beauty that you can enjoy – and so can others. This is no exception. Relatively cheap and easy to master, flower pressing can be a route not only to creating objects of beauty for your own home, but also as gifts and items for sale.

Once pressed, wild or garden flowers can be displayed in book collections or framed for presentation. There are side effects of this pastime however and you should be aware of them. Every journey down a country road, every visit to a neighbour’s garden, every trip to a garden centre will be coloured by the “how will that press?” query. It may take over your life – better than a life full of someone else’s life on the telly though, innit?

What do I need?

Flowers
Pressing materials

Where do I find it?

Art shops or online

Cost?

Minimal

http://www.preservedgardens.com/

96. Challenge – enter competitions

2009-05-21T15:38:00.004+01:00

Competitions are everywhere – they’re a fantastic form of marketing and get people’s attention with a “something for nothing” message. However, there are real prizes to be won, ranging from signed photographs from film casts, to tickets for shows, from greenhouses to Xboxes.

If you don’t enter you don’t win – well, that’s true to be sure and you may not stumble across these competitions until it’s too late to enter. So why not let a third party do the trawling and you can do the entering? Get the details on competitions from companies in sectors as varied as entertainment, electrical, health and lifestyle from a single source.

Then get entering. A few caveats first:

Watch out for the privacy section of the entry form – make sure you check the right boxes so that you don’t receive promotional mail (unless you want to, of course)
Make sure you read the Terms and Conditions – do you qualify for entry? Has the event expired? Do you have to accept publicity when you win?
Make sure you do exactly what is required – frequently not a lot
If you have to complete a tie-breaker slogan (a great way for companies to generate new straplines and jingles, by the way) then spend some quality time coming up with something original and relevant – preferably funny too

What are you waiting for – your next big win could be a few clicks away.

What do I need?

Competition sites
Time to spare

Where do I find it?

Google “competitions”

Cost?

Minimal (postage, mostly)

http://www.ukcompetitions.com/

95. Care – understand local politics

2009-05-21T12:43:00.004+01:00

We need an election NOW! There’s a huge apathy about local politics and yet it’s the single most likely force for change in your area. If you’re unhappy about the state of things, you can make a difference – every time an election comes around.

However, elections are not the whole story. You need to understand what is going on in order to make an informed voting decision. Just because you don’t like a particular decision made by your local government, doesn’t mean that that decision was illogical or wrong. You may not be in possession of all the facts – and they have probably not given the background.

The only way to understand is to involve yourself more in the process – follow the proceedings of your local government, dig into the issues that interest and concern you, lobby your representatives and, most of all, use your vote to change things.

What do I need?

Information about your local government and its proceedings

Where do I find it?

Your local government website

Cost?

Free

94. Aspire - be visible on Google Earth

2009-05-21T12:20:00.004+01:00

Get a sense of perspective. How often do people tell you that? Well, you can take that advice literally by finding your exact location on Google Earth or Google Maps with the satellite imagery switched on ... and then zooming out, and out, and out a bit more.

Having an idea of how tiny you are in the great scheme of things really puts things into priority order. However, can you leave your mark on the landscape that is visible from Google Earth? There are stories about angry children painting anatomical diagrams on the roof of their parents’ house and, indeed nothing needs to be that large to be seen. Many cars can be identified outside houses simply by their colour or whether they have a sunroof.

How to make your mark? Consider, for example, that a feature on Google Earth can be labelled – identify your home, garden, workplace for others to see. Or create a physical feature that will show up – a garden feature, a home extension or a large tree or colourful shrub.

One Google Earth user discovered that he was actually visible walking from his home through an exit that he knew no one else ever used. His shadow showed him quite clearly. Make your mark. Get visible.

What do I need?

Google Earth

Where do I find it?

Here: http://earth.google.co.uk/

Cost?

Free

93. Upskill – learn to unicycle

2009-05-21T10:33:00.004+01:00

Roll up! Roll up! All the fun of the fair. It’s time for you to take centre stage and discover bizarre new skills that are of absolutely no use other than to entertain your friends. There is something really cool about being able to do something that practically no one else can do – take unicycling for example.

You can pick up a new unicycle relatively cheaply – or better still, find one second-hand that has been abandoned by someone who has given up the idea of learning (eBay, here we come). Then comes the tricky part – learning to balance and cycle. Like all these things, it’s a matter of time and practice. If you’ve ever had to learn to walk again after a major operation or injury, you’ll know how it feels. A skill that is simple to others eludes you for a while, but then suddenly clicks.

Like normal cycling, unicycling is the art of balance. However, it’s also about controlling the behaviour of the wheel – back and forth - with your feet. Just think of the fun you can have and, yes you hardened outward bounders, there’s even a mountain unicycle. Now that really is silly.

What do I need?

A unicycle
A sense of balance
A good deal of time and space to practise

Where do I find it?

eBay or dedicated unicycle manufacturers

Cost?

Moderate

http://ridetheunicycle.com/

92. Understand – unravel the mystery that is your partner

2009-05-19T16:59:00.004+01:00

It’s not just a “Men are from Mars, Women are from Goodness-knows-where” thing. The sexes do not understand each other – not even a little bit. And if you are in a same sex relationship, it’s a cert that there are things about your partner that simply baffle you too.

It’s part of the sweet mystery of relationships that no two people can ever have a complete handle on each other. Why does he leave his clothes on the floor? Why does she have to rearrange the furniture? What is it that makes him think that playing shoot ‘em up games is acceptable behaviour for an adult? Where does she get off fluttering her eyelashes at other men and then criticising her partner for doing the same to other women?

We all need to take positive steps in understanding and coping with the idiosyncrasies of our partners, no matter how unreasonable they may seem. Sometimes, we fall into the trap of accepting the stereotype – it’s the time of the month; he’s a man – they always do that; she can’t read maps; he doesn’t understand soft furnishings. Like most stereotypes, there’s a grain of truth in there, but it is completely overwhelmed by the complexity of a personality – the one you fell in love with.

Read about male and female psychology. Go easy on your partner and be understanding, in the hope that they’ll accord you the same courtesy. The most successful partnerships are ones where mutual understanding and respect are at the forefront.

What do I need?

Love and understanding

Where do I find it?

Given by your partner and reflected by you

Cost?

Free

91. Tend – re-pot your houseplants

2009-05-19T14:17:00.006+01:00

You’ve had them since you moved into your home and boy, are they tired? Those poor plants have sat in the same soil for all those years, had a desultory watering from time to time and – oh yes – there was that time you bought some of those plant feed sticks, wasn’t there, about 3 years ago? They last six weeks.

They’re a bit curly at the leaf edges, rather brown and slightly smelly. Not exactly a complement to your otherwise pristine living space. So what are you going to do about it? Get hold of some good potting compost for houseplants, newer and bigger pots and get to work bringing your plants back to life.

Trim off all dead leaves, broken stems and anything that doesn’t look beautiful
Gently clean the remaining foliage
Lift the plant out of its pot – if it’s root-bound you may have to dig around the rim in order to free it. In the worst cases, smashing the pot may be the only way
Gently free up the surface roots so that they can develop into the new soil you’re providing
Place enough compost in the new pot to allow the plant, as it now is, to stand just below the rim of the pot
Place the plant in the pot and gently fill around with new compost, firming it down gently until the compost is level. Top dress with a bit more, covering the surface of the original compost
Water well – putting the whole thing in the shower (not on hot, of course) is a good way of drenching and washing the leaves

Put your plant back in place and watch it thrive.

What do I need?

Potting compost (John Innes Number 2, for example)
New bigger pots

Where do I find it?

Garden and DIY centres – shop around because new pots can be very expensive

Cost?

Moderate

90. Relax – go nightclubbing

2009-05-19T13:03:00.002+01:00

What? Me? Strut my funky stuff, late at night with a bunch of young kids?

Yes, my friend. The world has been waiting with breath bated for the moment when you grace the dancefloor with your crucial moves. There seems to be a feeling that nightclubbing is just for the very young – something to do with the all-night dancing, drinking tequila slammers, knee-tremblers in dark doorways and a general aura of getting home at five in the morning. It doesn’t have to be like that – not unless, of course, you’re very young (Young at heart, you say? That’ll do).

The secret to enjoying a nightclub is not to try to be one of the young crowd if you’re not. Be exactly yourself and, if you get any adverse looks or comments, ignore them. You’re there to enjoy yourself. Have a relaxing drink while people-watching; listen to the music and let it carry you away; once you’re in the mood, get up and dance.

The alternative to a nightclub is a restaurant that has dancing. You could go from the sublime (The Ritz dinner dance – every Saturday evening), to the ridiculous (plate-smashing, ouzo-gulping and general debauchery at a Greek restaurant). Try a line-dancing club (cowboy boots and Stetsons appear to be compulsory), a jazz club (Gauloises, serious expressions and existential angst please) or Latin dancing clubs (rose between the teeth and much smoky, sensuous scowling are the order of the day).

Be young. Be vibrant. Go clubbing.

What do I need?

A good deal of chutzpah

Where do I find it?

Look up “nightclub older” on Google if you are over 25 or just “nightclub” if your are 25 or under

Cost?

Moderate

89. Read – to each other

2009-05-19T12:36:00.003+01:00

There’s nothing quite like being read to – check out the popularity of audiobooks, for example. Reading is one of the great antidotes to televisions but, if you combine it with a sociable activity of looking after each other, reading becomes much more.

Choose carefully what you read to someone else: it needs to be accessible and not too long (War and Peace may keep you occupied for a few years); it should be something you will both enjoy (Bloodiest Murders of the 20^th Century may not be your partner’s taste, any more than The Economics of Rice Producing Countries would be yours); and it should have sufficient variety in its theme and content that it provides a lively and interesting reading opportunity.

Reading to each other can also be a bit of a turn-on, given the right circumstances and content. Feeling romantic? Try reading your poetry to each other. Feeling horny? Get hold of some adult fiction and live out your fantasies. Feeling low or sad? Find something uplifting and joyous that will make you feel brighter.

Reading to someone is a skill – practice makes perfect. Oh, and if you can’t do accents, don’t try to give the characters in your chosen book their respective regional tones – unless of course you want it to bring an added dimension of laughter to the reading.

What do I need?

A really good book that you both will enjoy
Somewhere comfortable to lounge and read

Where do I find it?

Look for recommendations on Amazon or simply read a book that one of you has already enjoyed

Cost?

Free (unless you need to buy new books - try the library instead)

88. Perform – audition for amateur dramatics

2009-05-18T15:51:00.005+01:00

Dahling! Hit the billboards. Walk in the limelight. Bathe in the applause. Ah – yes, fine. First you need to become part of the acting troupe – and that’s the tricky bit. If you fancy a spin on the ammy drammy circuit, be prepared for politics, passion and prima donnas. The only people who ever really want to be actors (sweeping generalisation alert) are those with massive and usually forceful personalities. Don’t be fooled by the quiet elderly lady, knitting in the corner of the church hall – she’s a fearsome Lady Bracknell. The gentle young man who handed you a cup of tea was last seen brandishing a sword and declaring that we should “close the wall with our English dead”.

Those who are in already will get the parts, unless – and this is a big unless – you can come up with the goods at an audition. You’re more likely to get into the troupe and get a part if you are young (male of female). Watch out for typecasting as the romantic lead however. If you’re not so young, then you need to bring out your differentiation: can you sing; are you acrobatic; are you from an ethnic group other than Caucasian (most amateur dramatic societies are dominated by middle class whites); do you have a special skill or personality trait? If so, work it.

Get in the door by applying for auditions and discover what they will want. If it’s a reading of the next script, then try to get hold of it beforehand. Otherwise, prepare a piece from an existing script – a soliloquy; a monologue; a two-hander where you play both parts (for laughs please).

Don’t forget that you can also be backstage – sometimes a good entrée to the world of the stage: scenery, lighting, sound effects. Make ‘em laugh! Make ‘em cry! And if you get really good, go and sign up for some professional work.

What do I need?

A modicum of talent
The address of your local amateur dramatic society

Where do I find it?

The talent? Ask someone else to tell you what you’re good at
The society? Most are not online – try your local paper or Yellow Pages

Cost?

Free

http://www.amateurdramatic.co.uk/

87. Organise – rearrange a room

2009-05-18T14:07:00.004+01:00

Maybe your partner already does this: you go out to work and they’re still at home. When you return, you find that your bedroom now faces round the opposite way, the furniture from the guest room is where your bedroom furniture used to be, your favourite picture has been relegated to the downstairs cloakroom and the cat is looking very annoyed.

Yep – it’s the “let’s swap it around and see how it looks” bug. Loads of people get it – it’s part of the nomadic instinct, embedded deep inside us. Having moved a hefty wardrobe, dragged the bed to the opposite wall and reconfigured the dressing table to match your needs, you find that you cannot open the bedroom door. This is why the Chinese (and many others) adopt the practice of Feng Shui. Finding where the auspicious locations are for each item of furniture in a room, ensures that the user can be in harmony with the invisible forces that surround us.

Believe in it or not, the practice certainly makes for good layouts in a room. You must have been in other people’s rooms where it just so does not work. A bedroom with the bed head to the window, a living room with all furniture pointing at the television, a kitchen where the location of furniture does not match any route taken by activity that is performed there.

Here’s your chance to tune into the life-energy flow. Reinvent a room today.

What do I need?

An eye for layout, or a book to help you
A Chinese compass (if you want to do Feng Shui properly)

Where do I find it?

Try your local library

Cost?

Free

86. Observe – watch shooting stars

2009-05-15T15:27:00.005+01:00

They’re so fast, you hardly believe that you’ve seen them. Like rainbows, you must never point at them. When you see them, you make a wish. Shooting stars – or more properly, meteors - fiery travellers from deepest space, enjoy a brief moment of fame that few ever share. With a fine bright trail and perhaps a ball of flame, a shooting star is space debris that burns up as it enters the earth’s atmosphere.

Catching sight of them, most of the time is tricky because the weather gets in the way, there just are not very many, or ambient light hides all but the brightest. However, set yourself up, as you would for satellite tracking or for watching the ISS and, given time, you may be lucky. Of course, some times of the year are better than others. In the northern hemisphere, for instance, the Perseids (originating from the constellation of Perseus) arrive between mid-July and mid-August, with 60 or more visible every hour.

Just occasionally, a meteor will fall to earth (so-called “meteorite”) and if it does, it is likely to cause damage, even if the meteorite itself is small. However, not to worry, there have only been around 31,000 documented meteorite finds world-wide. So, yes, you can take off your tin hat.

What do I need?

Information of likely meteor showers
Warm clothing
Horizontal chairs

Where do I find it?

Wikipedia

Cost?

Free

85. Relax – clean weekend

2009-05-15T14:39:00.003+01:00

Get deep clean with a spa treatment that will relax, refresh and rejuvenate you. Getting away from it all and tuning out the world and its noise is what spas are all about. Just amble around in a mild daze, wearing your fleecy dressing down and slippers, wandering from one light, yet nutritious meal to the next, imbibing only the purest spring water and bathing in the crystalline waters of the pool.

Yep – it’s great (and it’s expensive). Spas are a great alternative to the normal weekend away, because they involve pampering and perfecting, massage and manicure, primping and pedicure, steaming and scrubs. However, make sure that you can both indulge – at the same time, if you want to. There are plenty of couples’ treatments as well as individual ones, all designed to make you feel just great.

Spas host accommodation for stays away, or you can simply visit a day spa and take advantage of the facilities for a shorter period. Check out too whether your spa designates itself a “health spa” – not so good if you’re hoping for steak and chips and a bottle of red after your day’s pampering. Alternatively, if it’s the new you that you are seeking, the health spa may be just the ticket. Come on, jump in. The water’s lovely.

What do I need?

A spa that’s not too far away, that has the right facilities for you – do your homework
Someone to go with

Where do I find it?

Find spas online or in your local area magazines and newspapers

Cost?

Expensive

84. Love – dirty weekend

2009-05-15T10:18:00.003+01:00

Put the romance back into you relationship by getting away from it all, even for just a night. Get far away from the daily round and secure from the eyes and ears of anyone else. Then simply focus on each other – revisit your relationship, rediscover what attracted you in the first place.

There’s something really special about a change of scenery, a bite or two of lovers’ foods and a glass of something nice. The tensions drop away, you suddenly rediscover the you of years ago and, best of all, your brain goes into neutral for a little while.

No! You are not in Brighton to explore the city – you’re there to explore each other. No! You’re not in the Highlands of Scotland to climb another mountain – you’re there to exercise in quite a different way. No! You’re not in a quaint Cotswold village to search antique shops for treasures – you’re there to search for your lost love. It’s there, somewhere.

What do I need?

A place to escape – designed for lovers
A cap on all activity other than love

Where do I find it?

Get on line and hunt for “dirty weekends”

Cost?

Expensive

http://www.mydirtyweekend.com/

83. Care – give someone a night off

2009-05-14T15:11:00.003+01:00

Their kids are tearing the wallpaper off the walls in the bedroom, their incontinent dog constantly leaks where everyone eats and a sadly demented grandparent sits watching television with a tea cosy on her head. Sounds like hell to you? Think what it’s like for them. (Incidentally, none of the above is made up!)

Just one night away might help him and her to get a grip on their lives, give them a break from the chaos and allow them to regroup. All it needs is one thing – a helping hand from you, the Good Samaritan. So, what would it take for you to plunge yourself into that maelstrom?

First, think how good you’ll feel once the ordeal is over: a little bit of do-goodery, successfully completed; the knowledge that you really have helped someone for a brief moment by performing a selfless act. Second, think about the look on their faces a) as they step out of the door and b) as they return, refreshed. OK – you have to suffer a night in their spare room but, things often turn out better than you might imagine. You’re a new face – go prepared with activities for the kids, something nice for Granny and a good meal for everyone. Send them off to a night away - you won’t regret it and your friends will love you forever.

What do I need?

A heart

Where do I find it?

Feel the Force, Luke

Cost?

Free

82. Host – country-themed meal

2009-05-13T14:49:00.005+01:00

Ariba! Ariba! Go international with your entertaining. Your guests will be tantalised by your talent for Mexican food and, even better, your taste in Mexican costume. Yes folks, get country-themed and ask your guests to bring or wear something that matches or adds to the evening’s entertainment. For example, you wear a sombrero (do real Mexicans ever wear sombreros?); you all sit around a chiminea; your guests arrive wearing ponchos and carrying tamborita calentana.

However, the main thing to get right is the food – never mind the rest (just leave it to your guests’ imaginations). Three courses, all Mexican- (or other country) themed, each with complementary wines and beers. Go for authenticity – for instance, if your theme was Moroccan or Thai, then you would need to get embedded in the relevant cuisine.

Add music that matches the mood and the country and decorate your table with suitable bits and pieces that conjure up the spirit of the food you are presenting (chilli peppers?).

Finally, it's most important – this cannot be stressed enough – that all guests and the hosts should speak throughout the evening with heavy accents from the theme country. Most, of course, cannot do that, so enjoy laughing with your Indian/French/Caribbean-style Mexican guests.

What do I need?

Recipes from your chosen country
Suitable wines and beers – preferably imported from that country
Pictures and artefacts

Where do I find it?

Discover most about your chosen country online – Wikipedia is a great start, then click through until you find the “country-related topics” at the end of the article which will probably include an item on the cuisine. Plain sailing from there!

Cost?

Moderate

81. Fix – improve your style

2009-05-13T12:18:00.004+01:00

My preference for orange and pink kipper ties with blue striped shirts marks me out as a style leader who is entitled to show others the way to fashion enlightenment. If your idea of a style statement is putting on a clean pair of socks, then you may like to switch off the TV, sit back and have a think about exactly how you would like the world to see you.

Your conclusion from these ruminations may be that you would prefer to stay as you are, independent, free and answerable to no one. Alternatively, you might just dare to dip a toe in the waters of change and try something new. Consider a few ideas:

How long have you been wearing that jacket/suit/skirt/blouse to work?
Objectively, do your clothes still have a fresh appearance after being laundered, or do they look a bit tired?
Objectively, what does your current outfit say about you?
Of all the people you know (of the same gender as you), whose style do you most admire?

Once you’ve explored those thoughts for a little while and allowed them to rattle around your head, consider what changes you might like to make, what would be needed, how much it would cost, where you would get it from and the likely impact if you made a change. Think about trying a different garment from the one you normally wear – always in t-shirts? Try a polo shirt or a casual collared shirt. Forever in jeans or trousers? Try a skirt (no, not you George). Always wear black? Dare to go with dark blue, dark grey or even ... dark red.

Change style incrementally, not dramatically – and watch the effect on people’s attitude to you. Now, where are my flared trousers?

What do I need?

Get some advice from someone you trust
Find a good clothes shop whose products you like and you can afford

Where do I find it?

There are style gurus, ten-a-penny online – choose one who rings your bell

Cost?

Expensive

80. Explore – your nearest hill or mountain

2009-05-12T17:18:00.006+01:00

If you live in the flatlands, the fens or in a swamp, then finding an elevation worthy of your mountaineering skills is probably going to be difficult. Getting on the move, up a hill, wind in your hair and with a pleasant companion takes some beating. It also provides you with unparalleled opportunities for photography, drawing or painting as well as a superb workout for your heart, lungs and muscles. If you can comfortably jog for 30 minutes then you can probably tackle a round trip rising to 2500 feet or more.

Real mountaineering types will, of course, be hanging off crags by their fingertips, dangling from ropes and belaying like mad things. You don’t need to aspire that high. Just find the path well trodden and head up to the summit with a song in your heart (or on your iPod). Bear in mind though that you won’t hear the birdies or the scream of fighter jets as they hurtle up the valley towards you (air forces regularly use the wilds of the countryside for their practising). Consider also climbing straight after work - there'll be few people around (not like the weekends) and you'll have the place to yourself.

Be safe – make sure you are well-prepared, well-equipped, that someone knows where you are going, that you stick to the paths and that you have enough calories and water to keep you going as you trek up the mountain. Mountains can kill the foolish or unwary – but they can also provide the most breath-taking splendour you have ever beheld.

What do I need?

Good walking shoes
Wet weather gear including over trousers
Warm gear in case you get stuck – fleece
Food and water – more than you need
Map and compass

Where do I find it?

Get thee to an outward bound supplies shop
Find good mountain walks online – in the UK, the Ramblers Association have all you need

Cost?

Free (unless you need to buy all your kit first)

79. Exercise – go for a run

2009-05-12T13:05:00.003+01:00

It’s the ultimate antidote to couch potato syndrome – a brisk run in the pouring rain, water running down your neck, cars splashing you, mud caking gently on your expensive trainers and the feeling that maybe you are doing yourself more harm than good. Making it sound attractive, huh?

Running shouldn’t be like this – your health and safety should come way before any consideration about exercise, BMI or the need to keep your glutes pert and pumping. You need a structured plan and a suitable environment – could be a gym, but memberships are diabolically expensive. Run for your health while considering the following:

Jog – don’t run: the lower impact will take less out of your body and preserve your spine and knees
Watch your running style – bad running posture will do you damage. Check it out with an expert, get someone to video you and try to see where you can improve
Consider a running machine – expensive, but independent of weather and traffic. You could even allow yourself a little bit of TV as a reward ... while you are running
Drink plenty of water and keep your calories up – the body needs to burn food to get you around that circuit
Watch your heart rate – it’s the index of whether you are doing yourself good or harm
Don’t worry about distance – it’s the timescale of your exercise that counts

And, in the final analysis, if running suits you, try using it to help others by raising money to help other people.

What do I need?

Good running shoes
A training programme

Where do I find it?

Check out what WaterAid has to say about getting in trim for running challenges

Cost?

Free

78. Economise – rationalise your outgoings

2009-05-12T10:02:00.003+01:00

Whether the times are good or hard, whether money is plentiful or scarce, whether indeed you have a comfortable life or not, there are always redundant expenses that can be cut. Ensure you have more money in your pocket and less going out to people who don’t deserve it. Take the time to work through your outgoings and weed out the culprits. Here are a few thoughts:

Cancel your satellite TV - you’ll not need it any more. You pay over the odds for a service that includes channels that you’ll never watch. If you are on an all-inclusive package for films, for instance, you’ll need to watch quite a lot to make it pay. Consider getting a pay per view system – if you really must!
Change your power supplier – electricity, gas and oil prices are notoriously fickle. Deals lock you in for a time and then prices creep up. Go to a good comparison site and get the low-down on what you are paying and what you could be paying
When your insurances come up for renewal, don’t just automatically accept the renewal price. Insurance companies and others in financial services rely on inertia selling
Pay insurances and similar outgoings on an annual basis – not in instalments. You will be charged more for monthly payments. Take the pain and feel the gain
Find the cheapest fuel for your car – there will undoubtedly be someone doing comparisons of local filling stations in your area. If not, it may be worth a ten-minute drive around town to see who is cheap and who isn’t. Remember that filling stations in high traffic areas don’t usually care about competitiveness – they bank on business people filling up on expenses
Check all your bank direct payments and see who you are paying to – sounds obvious, but you may suddenly realise that a policy you are paying is now no longer needed, a furniture company is still taking money for a debt that was fulfilled some time ago or simply that you are spending more than you are earning
Consider moving your mortgage (if you have one). There may be a better deal out there – take good, independent advice first
Pay off your credit cards – even if it means short-term pain. You are paying a lot of money for the privilege of your debt. Consider asking your bank for a loan and pay the credit card off with that – the repayments will be much cheaper. Don’t then bump up the card again
Don’t go to the supermarket without making a list – big stores rely on impulse purchases. Buy what you need – perhaps even write a menu for the week (now that sounds like my childhood!)

What else? How would you reduce your outgoings without damaging your lifestyle too much?

What do I need?

A calculator

Where do I find it?

Usually in that little cubby-hole in the back of the cupboard in the kitchen

Cost?

Free

77. Create – paint

2009-05-11T19:04:00.007+01:00

So how are your skills with brushes, palette and easel? Not too hot, huh? Me neither. Oil paints are messy to handle and tricky to master (certainly for a talentless artist like me); water colour – you know, I just can’t get excited about water colours and yet I have bought them and loved them; acrylics and pastels – all great stuff. But how do I get into painting? What do I need to have inspiration?

The clue is, that if you don’t have the natural flair but you do have the desire to express yourself in paint, you need to lean on someone else. Find yourself a good tutorial and learn some techniques for specific things: people, sky, animals, and landscape. Once you have sorted these out, it’s all about using them in concert to produce a complete work.

Read artists’ experiences of how they started. Examine people’s techniques for particular effects. Decide on your favourite medium – oils with a palette knife? – and go for it. Your restrictions are time, budget and opportunity – conquer those and you can make something of your artistic skills. Didn’t you always say, “A kid could do that?” in the art gallery? Now’s your chance to prove that you can do it too.

What do I need?

Some great tutorials
Artist’s materials – don’t go too mad until you know what you want to do

Where do I find it?

Art shops are in nearly every town
Or, buy online

Cost?

Moderate

76. Cook – Thai

2009-05-08T15:50:00.005+01:00

The colours and flavours of lemongrass, chilli and ginger; the texture of bean sprouts, sticky rice and rice noodles; the smell of green curry, fish sauce and coconut milk – it’s already got your taste buds tingling, hasn’t it?

Thai food has grown increasingly popular both as a restaurant choice and for home cooking. There’s a ceremonial about it that just doesn’t seem to be present in other cuisines (certainly not in oven-ready fish and chips, at least) and it’s this magic that has captivated people’s imaginations: grinding spices, delicate steaming, decoration with flowers and herbs and the beautiful wafting smells from steaming tureens, bamboo baskets and exotic hot pot soup bowls.

How to get into Thai cooking? First you’ll need to equip your larder with a selection of new ingredients – your initial investment will carry you along for plenty of cooking sessions, so make the first move at a deli near you. You’ll also need a wok, preferably with a steaming rack. A luxury would be a rice cooker (particularly if, like me, you have problems with getting rice “just right”).

Begin with some simple recipes – nope, you can’t buy a pot of red curry sauce. Check out Pad Thai Sauce and Thai Barbecue Ribs – both good for anyone new to Thai cooking.

What do I need?

Ingredients
Equipment
Recipes

Where do I find it?

Your local deli for ingredients or a specialist Thai supplier
Online for kit and recipes

Cost?

Moderate

75. Communicate – share what you know

2009-05-08T15:01:00.004+01:00

“I taught him everything he knows. Fortunately, I didn’t teach him everything I know.” Here’s the thing – we all know stuff; lots of stuff. Some of it is not particularly special (next full eclipse visible from Lands End, Cornwall is 23 September 2090 – bizarrely the same day and month as the one in 1699), or useful (the plural of “chicken” is “chicken” – if it’s food), or mind-bogglingly useful, life-changing and skill-enhancing (well, I’m not going to tell you, am I?).

However, the essence of progress is knowledge sharing and doing so moves the human race forward. Knowledge has ceased to be about what you know or retain in your head; it’s more about how you can retrieve information, research and discover what others have shared. So – sharing what you know is probably one of the best things you can do for the human race. You could:

Share your special knowledge (welding, juggling, cooking the best lemon drizzle cake) with a family member who is going to benefit from that knowledge
Share with a work colleague (apprentice, junior, co-worker) something that will enhance their work
Share with the world – publish online through a website, a blog or a forum

Whether you write up what you know (written tradition) or tell someone about it (oral tradition), keep the details to a minimum and the facts to a maximum. People also need to learn for themselves – don’t put yourself out of a job - and, as the opening sentences indicate, a little knowledge may spark the flame of a lot more, if the person is motivated.

What do I need?

Knowledge that others don’t have and they would like to own

Where do I find it?

Many people just don’t realise that they know stuff, until they sit down and think about it or until it is pointed out to them

Cost?

Free

74. Collect – stamps

2009-05-07T17:20:00.003+01:00

Philately will get you everywhere and the proof is in the fact that stamp collectors probably know more political geography than any other group outside those who use geography as a tool.

Why would anyone want to collect stamps – it’s dull, childish and involves a lot of steaming off from old envelopes (no it doesn’t – you’re better off keeping the stamp in place on the original paper). In reality, it’s all about detective work. Like most collecting fetishes, stamp collecting is about finding specific variants such as plate numbers, perforation styles or paper, and establishing where and when they were produced or used. Some stamps of course are collected simply because they are decorative – my collection of South Moluccan, triangular fish stamps is a joy to behold ... and worthless. However, as a talking point, as a collection to pass on to relatives, as an investment, philately can be big business.

Check out the rarities – do you have any? If you live in an old house, check out your loft – are there any old envelopes up there with stamps on them? Apart from the historical interest, people love to see artefacts from the past: and stamps provide a great vehicle for that.

Upskill your geography. Invest in your historical knowledge. Develop your understanding of times gone by. Boost your attractiveness to the opposite sex. Philately will help with all of these, except one.

What do I need?

Stamps
An album
Stamp hinges
Tweezers (if the stamps are valuable)

Where do I find it?

Philately supplies may be found online or in specialist shops

Cost?

Moderate

73. Challenge – board games

2009-05-06T16:58:00.007+01:00

Not bored games – although many are so dull you’d have more fun counting your navel. There’s a tradition of board games in many families, something that strikes terror into the hearts of some and fills other with mystical joy. The only explanation is that some people are just wired that way – take chess players for instance. From start to finish, it’s five minutes for me – pawn to king four, whizz, bang, zip – oops. My king’s gone.

Yet games such as Monopoly, Scrabble and Cluedo have been international sensations, only beaten in the popularity stakes by the omnipresent chess and card games. So what is it about board games that make people want to challenge each other? Sometimes it’s the intellectual exercise (where brain power is actually involved), sometimes the gambling aspect (as in backgammon, for example) and sometimes it’s just the sheer silliness of the game: shaking dice, moving counters, turning cards – letting Lady Luck choose the winner.

Board games can take hours. They’ll fill your time. They provide endless rounds of conversation, discussion and strategising after the event and, as a form of entertainment, they’re cheap to run. Try out games:

If you’re not keen on spending sums to see whether you’ll like a game or not, hurry round to your charity/thrift shop and get hold of a dog-eared (although hopefully complete set) of your chosen game
Borrow and swap games between friends
Hold a board games party where everyone brings their favourite and run a tournament

As the dice rattle in the shaker, the cards riffle on the pick-up pile and the counters zoom round the board, just remember that you are continuing a tradition that goes back to the Ancient Chinese and beyond.

What do I need?

A spare hour or three
Board games
Partner to trounce

Where do I find it?

Buy board games online
There are even board game lending libraries
The partner? Avoid children – they’ll win

Cost?

Moderate

72. Care – adopt a charity

2009-05-06T14:51:00.004+01:00

Good deeds. They’re all around us. Most people experience another’s kindness at least once a day – whether it’s from family or friends or a complete stranger, a selfless act has an impact on others that’s hard to measure.

Getting down and dirty with a charity organisation is one way in which you can help to spread a little sunshine to those whose lives are not as bright as yours. Which charity, there’s the thing: there are so many to choose from that only you can make the decision. And, what to do, how to be involved? Consider this:

Charities rely on (surprise) charity of others – can you give time, money, goods, services?
Charities also rely on local expertise – what can you do that they need? Can you give blood? Are you a fundraiser, an organiser, an accountant, a designer, an athlete, something else that’s productive and may help along their cause?
Do you have history? Maybe choose a charity according to services that were provided to your loved ones: a caring hospice, a rescue in time of disaster, or simply an organisation in whose principles you believe
Do you go national or local? Can you get involved at grass roots or do you have still more to offer at national level?

You’ve been thinking that you need to be more charitable. You’re touched by the appeals in the media and by the plight of people in straightened circumstances. Whether you take part in a sponsored cycle ride, run a marathon, volunteer to do home visits or simply edit the local newssheet, you’ll be part of the solution. Can they do without you?

What do I need?

Time and inclination

Where do I find it?

Find a suitable charity by searching here (UK only) or here (International)

Cost?

Free

71. Aspire – boost your profile

2009-05-06T12:00:00.003+01:00

Being known is a mixed blessing – ask any minor celebrity. In the world of work and social networking however, being known is everything. You can boost your visibility through the strategic use of online tools. Consider first the online services you use – do you have accounts with social networking sites, online photo albums, video or search services? If so, have you made those profiles public or are they simply hidden?

There are many ways in which you can enhance the “findability” of your profile – and the main one is linking. Wherever you can, link your blogs, websites, networking sites, online albums to each other. In this way, you raise the profile score of your interlinked sites and thereby the likelihood of them appearing high in searches.

In addition, consider filling out your profile in detail. Take for example the Google profile – here’s mine – it can link together a raft of services that all carry your name. What’s more, it enables you to tailor the people who you would like to see the profile and who can communicate with you. By doing this work in detail, you enable Google’s search engine to more closely match searches direct to your profile.

Do you want to be seen? Do you want people to visit your photos or your blog? Get your profile sharpened and you increase the chance of traffic by a significant amount.

What do I need?

Online services

Where do I find it?

Begin with the services you use, but consider others that may have a broader reach

Cost?

Minimal

70. Understand – illustrate your life

2009-05-06T10:07:00.004+01:00

You only start thinking about recalling your life when you get old and shaky. Then it’s usually too late – the motor skills have gone, the enthusiasm has waned and all you can do is repeat the mantra, “Have I ever told you about the time that I ...” Yes, you usually have and no, this is not useful behaviour in passing on the highlights of your life and wisdom to the next generation. So what is? How do you ensure that the things that happened to you, the people who made you what you are, the events that shaped you are all recorded where someone can find them – children, relatives or your future biographer?

You can write your autobiography, that’s for sure. You can also do research on your ancestors. Bringing that all together in a format that is accessible, durable and interesting is probably the biggest problem. The most immediate medium for showcasing any personal event or history is the photograph or movie. Consider how, for example, your children in years to come might access, contribute to and maintain the family history – many families have copious family albums that are lovingly pored over about once every ten years. Sometimes they’re kept up to date, but more often there are huge gaps.

Linking technologies such as blogs and online photo albums can ensure that a reliable and steadily growing record is maintained. Consider this:

Have a number of blog authors for your online family history – they can all contribute from their side of the family
Get the younger members to interview the older members for their memories – fill in those gaps, while you can
Maintain a photo portfolio for each family member, all linked to the blog
Write up major events in words and pictures – they can then be shared between and commented on by the whole family, wherever they are
Use blog gadgets to highlight family birthdays, count down to events or showcase the themes of your blog (just as the label cloud on this blog does)

Your blog will be a chronological record of what happens from the point you start it. Your challenge is to add the history in an accessible and digestible form.

What do I need?

Your family, working in concert
Photos and videos
A good deal of time – but it will be worth it
Good blogging and photo album software, hosted online

Where do I find it?

Check out Google and Picasa

Cost?

Minimal

69. Trade – buy and sell

2009-05-05T16:03:00.003+01:00

The essence of trading is first to know your buyer, then to source the goods, then sell them at a profit. Sounds simple and it actually is, provided you have an eye for a bargain and are willing to take a little risk occasionally.

Where are your buyers? There are plenty of online trading sites – eBay being probably the largest. Check out all the categories that are available and choose a target, such as for example, Pottery, Porcelain and Glass. Do a search on a piece of porcelain that you know about: for example, Clarice Cliff and then refine your search by choosing “Show only completed listings” from the Preferences. This way you can check out what has sold and for how much. Now you have an idea of a value to put on the articles.

Get yourself off to your local junk shop, bric-a-brac or car boot sale and hunt down those goodies. You need to know their value – then negotiate your price, purchase the goods, post them on eBay and wait for the bids to roll in. However, if you think that there may be a local market – try the classified ads in your local newspaper. It’ll probably cost you more than eBay and of course will address a smaller, but perhaps more targeted audience.

This principle of trading has held good since Adam was a lad and is one of the easiest ways, if you are good at it, to begin a real business. It’s about opportunity (a dozen promotional umbrellas on sale at a car boot for peanuts might fetch a good sum individually on eBay), creativity (think laterally about what people who bought one item might want to buy next) and marketing savvy (knowing what sells, to whom and when).

What do I need?

A category of items for sale
An eye for a bargain
Customers

Where do I find it?

Check out what others do and replicate the successful ones

Cost?

Free (although you'll need to invest in initial stock)

68. Exercise – go swimming

2009-05-05T14:44:00.003+01:00

OK – confession time – swimming is not my favourite activity. If I have a pool to myself and the surroundings are warm, sunny and pleasant, with no hint of chill in the air, then I might be persuaded to remove a few layers and put a toe in the water. Add an attractive partner to the mix and it starts to get easier. Swimming is apparently wonderful exercise (don’t do as I do ...) and will turn you from a 9-stone weakling to a 9-stone strongling in a matter of days.

Be creative about your swimming – not just with swimming strokes like the Butterfly, Trudgen or Dolphin Crawl – but in terms of the places you choose to swim. For example, your local swimming pool may be your favourite spot to meet up with pals and splash the day away. If, on the other hand, you seek solitude and (shock, horror) nudity, then you may be potentially one of a growing army of “wild swimmers” who commandeer pools, coves and beaches for their sport.

Don’t be rash – be as careful with your wild swimming as you would be with any other activity. Don’t take risks; don’t mix swimming and alcohol or large meals; don’t fool about. On the other hand, do enjoy yourself; do make swimming a part of your outward-bound activities; do enjoy the scenery. Oh – and do be careful about the nudity.

What do I need?

A pool of safe water – preferably tried, tested and recommended by someone else
Swimming gear
Friends (don’t go alone)

Where do I find it?

Your local swimming pools are online
Wild swimming sites may be found in Google

Cost?

Minimal

http://www.wildswimming.co.uk/

http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/

67. Dare – invest in penny shares

2009-05-01T16:38:00.004+01:00

Gambling on the stock market may be something you already do – during the good times, it’s great, but during the downturn, it’s disastrous. A good deal of the fun is to be had in the thrill of the chase – will the shares climb; did you read the market right; were the factors that might influence the share price going to go your way?

However, you can have all that fun without losing your shirt (or any other item of apparel, for that matter). Check out penny shares, for example. These tend to be low value shares that may or may not perform – frequently young companies, these have little stability but make probably as much sense as betting on horses. Use your ingenuity, insight and luck to play the market and compete with others.

The stakes are not high and, unlike the institutional shares market (during normal conditions), the performance can be volatile. If you are happy to lose a few notes on a duff decision, or gain a few notes on a bit of intuition, then this may be for you.

What do I need?

Money

Where do I find it?

Check out penny shares online

Cost?

Moderate

66. Create – brass rubbing

2009-05-01T15:47:00.004+01:00

Do you recall, years back, the frantic craze for brass rubbing? It’s died a death in recent times, yet the principle of it makes an interesting way of creating striking art forms that can be decorative around your home, or a way of making interesting art items for sale.

If you’re not in the UK, then brass rubbing is probably something you’ve not come across – it seems to be a very earnest British activity: find an ancient brass memorial of some long forgotten knight whose image has been graven into the metal. Unroll a large sheet of paper and attack it with your brass rubbing wax. The principle is exactly the same as when you place a piece of paper on top of a coin and rub the surface with a soft pencil or crayon to take an impression of the image below.

However, no need for ancient memorials, unless you really want to use them: the principle of brass rubbing can be used on any textured surface (within reason). Try plaques, engravings, wood bark, concrete, wood grain, coins and medals, business plates, car registration plates – indeed, anything with a suitable texture.

Collect together your prints and arrange parts of them in a decorative fashion to create a final image, an effect on a wall in a room (try somewhere low profile first) or to use as materials for greeting cards or illustrations.

What do I need?

Paper
Brass rubbing wax
Tape (to secure the paper)

Where do I find it?

Art shop

Cost?

Minimal

65. Host – dinner for neighbours

2009-04-25T13:26:00.003+01:00

You see them every day or each weekend, possibly. “Morning”, you say with a smile – and you’ve never got beyond that. You don’t really know their names. You know nothing about them. Yet they may be the key to something in your future, if only you were in touch with them.

In these reserved and suspicious times, it’s easy to live in our own little cocoons, insulated from those around us. However, by doing so, although we may feel safer, we are missing an interaction and a joy in others’ friendship that can add a whole new dimension to our lives. So, why not break the convention – it might start with, “Morning – nice day. How are you today?” and move on to “We’re having Moroccan tonight – do you like Moroccan food?” at a later stage.

This technique can also be used to great effect when you have just moved home. If you want to get all your neighbours, really quickly, invite them all in for a buffet dinner. You might even consider starting a little dining society if you thought the people around you would join in.

It all starts with just a few words, a smile and a positive attitude, instead of passing by, eyes on the footpath. Give it a try – they can only say “No”.

What do I need?

Nerve

Where do I find it?

Dig deep

Cost?

Moderate

64. Observe – watch sunrise or sunset

2009-04-24T14:37:00.002+01:00

You know that feeling when you just lie back and chill? It’s often with a glass of something nice in one hand and someone you like being with next to you. Those moments you want to go on for ever: people-watching from a pavement café; sitting on a cliff top, watching the sea; gazing at the swallows swooping for insects, as the sun slowly sets.

Sunset – it’s just the most amazing time of the day. If you are among the lucky few who have a west-facing view that allows you to see the sky, you’ll know what I am raving about. Not every sky is a sensation, but just as the evening draws to a close and the night is about to fall, the sky can make the most vivid light show that you have ever seen. Even the dull ones are great – but you need to decide to watch them and actually do that: watch them.

If you don’t already have that view, get yourself to somewhere where you can see it – a local park, a hill, a friend’s house and then get yourself comfortable. Don’t rush it – this is live television at its best, bringing the interaction of solar power, clouds and pollution (gives the sunset great colours – one of the few benefits of modern life) to a window near you. The soundtrack is provided courtesy of the birds and the traffic. The plot is derived straight from your imagination. And, every night, there’s a new episode that never repeats a previous one.

One further thing – sunrise is just as spectacular, but different – there’s a fresh day’s chill, the morning chorus of the birds and the expectancy of the new day. You just have to get up in time to see it.

What do I need?

A westerly view of the sky – preferably unobstructed
A comfortable chair
A friend to “ooh” and “aah” with

Where do I find it?

At a sky viewing point near you

Cost?

Free

63. Relax – tell a story

2009-04-24T12:16:00.004+01:00

When you were a kid, what was the best part of the day? For many it was bedtime - once you’d argued, fought, hidden, prevaricated, performed your “Can I just ...” routine for the umpteenth time and finally been dragged kicking and screaming to clean your teeth and get your jimjams on.

The reason was, someone would read you a story. Absolute bliss. As the voice gently droned, so your imagination filled with the events and adventures of Famous Five, Just William or Swallows and Amazons (yes, I am showing my age). Strangely, or perhaps not, adults like having stories read to them too. If you think that’s not true, check the volume of sales of audiobooks – one source reckons they comprise 10% of the book industry (around $3 billion per annum) – and it’s growing.

That being the case, why not tell a story? You can simply read one to your nearest and dearest – try reading a good yarn to someone you love, instead of watching the TV. If you make it a chapter a night, that breaks it up nicely – don’t choose anything too heavy or long. Light thrillers will do well for this sort of reading.

Alternatively, try your hand at audiobook creation – use your computer’s in-built microphone and CD writer to record and then capture on CD a children’s story, perhaps for a relative living far away, or even just for use in your car.

Storytellers used to be the ones who conveyed local history from one generation to another – perhaps you could continue that process?

What do I need?

A good story
An audience

Where do I find it?

Get good stories from memory
Or check out your local bookstore
Or online

Cost?

Free

62. Understand – write your autobiography

2009-04-24T10:43:00.005+01:00

Your life story is only of interest to you – wrong. How old are you – not very? Not experienced much yet? Then it’s time to start making some notes and keeping a log of your life. If you don’t it passes you by in a blink and much of it has been forgotten, never to be retrieved. Ah – you’re much older, huh? Then you’ll probably want to start recollecting – all that you can, so that you can look back over the years and assess what you’ve done and why.

Regardless of your age, there’ll be one very important reader of your autobiography – you. You’ll want to be able to recapture some of the past, if not now, then as you reach your later years. Think too of those who, ultimately, you’ll leave behind (sorry about that) – children, nephews, nieces, siblings: they may well have an interest in who you were, are and will be – it can all be captured in that autobiographical “bucket”.

So what goes in and what stays out? Essentially, you need to:

Describe your background: ancestors and parents
Recount your childhood years: home life, schooling and memories, both happy and sad
Move on to your adult years : your higher education (if any), your first job, first boss, first love, your first child or grandchild
Fill in the detail: more about how your life has developed, how you met your aspirations (or didn’t)
Look at the highs and lows: good times and bad, achievements and disasters
Describe the influences on your life: people, politics
Summarise what you have learned: what you would do differently, how life has shaped you
Look to the future: the next generation, how your life will continue
Collect photos and illustrations to add to the final piece

Then you need to decide how to showcase this collection of information. There are plenty of websites that will publish your book for you. If you believe it will be a bestseller, then find a commercial publisher. Alternatively, publish your life online. Again, there are sites that have special structures to guide you in creating your autobiography and preserving it for future generations.

Only of interest to you? No way.

What do I need?

Photos
Memories
Quiet time to recollect

Where do I find it?

Publishing sites may be found online

Cost?

Free

http://www.therememberingsite.org/

61. Upskill – memorise a poem

2009-04-24T09:54:00.004+01:00

At school you had to memorise poems and recite them – can you still remember them? The mists of memory have probably drawn a veil over what was a compulsory and rather unexciting activity. Children chanting a poem, with the strict rhythm of the metre being used as a pulse beat, strips the poem of all beauty and meaning.

Why would you want to memorise a piece of verse. Here are some excellent reasons that you might want to consider:

You will astonish people if you recite an appropriate piece of poetry at an appropriate time – it’s a lost art and demonstrates a talent that may be hidden
It’s a great way to make a prospective or current partner go gooey-eyed
You’ll actually enjoy reciting the verses and also people’s reactions

So, first of all, choose a poem that you like. Then read it several times, even if you know it, in order to understand it better and get the “feel” of it. Finally, a verse at a time - if you can manage it (unless they’re long, long verses) - repeat and learn the poetry. At this stage, concentrate on the words. You can work on your inflection and interpretation later. Don’t just learn a couple of lines – anyone can do that, but few people actually know the entirety of any poem (check out how many know your complete National Anthem, for example).

Here are some of my favourite examples of different poem types that you may (or may not) like:

Humorous: Daddy fell into the pond – Alfred Noyes
Romantic: Daffodils – William Wordsworth
Bizarre: Jabberwocky – Lewis Carroll
One you learned at school: The Listeners – Walter del la Mare
Love: My mistress’ eyes – William Shakespeare
OId age: Warning – Jenny Joseph

And your favourites are ... ?

What do I need?

Time and quiet in order to concentrate
A poem or two

Where do I find it?

There are great poems everywhere online – see links below
Also, try buying some poetry books
Seek out your local poet – there’ll be one. Here’s one I like!

Cost?

Free

http://www.poetry-online.org/

http://www.poemhunter.com/

60. Love – speed date

2009-04-23T16:29:00.002+01:00

No partner and still looking? You won’t find one by watching TV all night, that’s for certain. Therefore, take the initiative, put on your dancing shoes and ... speed date. This bizarre and strangely successful phenomenon allows two people to have a four or five minute snapshot of each other with no strings, no obligation and no commitment. The beauty is that you rate those people you meet in order to decide whether you want to meet them again – if you do and, most importantly, they want to meet you too, then you get put in contact with each other.

Not to be confused with blind dating – horror! – speed dating attracts people from all walks of life. Its benefits are obvious:

There’s no wasted time
You meet up only with people who want to meet with you
No one feels under any pressure to have a date with someone who doesn’t attract them – no more long evenings spent listening to a bad date’s life story and medical history

Speed dates may not lead to lifelong love life, but they will give you renewed confidence to encounter other people who want to be met, in a safe and secure environment – with no strings.

What do I need?

A speed-dating venue
Your best smile

Where do I find it?

Search online for speed dating in your area

Cost?

Moderate

59. Explore – mazes

2009-04-23T15:29:00.003+01:00

Get lost! The whole idea of a maze is to pit yourself against the designer’s cunning. Essentially, mazes provide you with a series of branching options, once you enter them, which then may lead you to your objective – a specific area in the middle, an exit or a prize.

Be amazed – actually, you will be, when you start looking for and discovering mazes in your location. They’re not all walkable – some are simply symbols, carved into the ground or wall of an ancient building, but they all have a purpose – they’re designed either to confuse you or to help you concentrate or meditate. Sometimes they are used as allegories for man’s journey through life – this is used to great effect by Umberto Eco in The Name of the Rose. Religious orders frequently used mazes (or, more often, labyrinths – one entrance and one exit with no branches) in order to focus the mind during prayer.

Nowadays, though, mazes are big business – take maize mazes, seasonal attractions which change each year. Hedge mazes have been a common feature of stately homes and ornamental gardens over the years. Still popular are maze games, such as the wooden tilting table, through which the user must navigate a ball-bearing (this has even been replicated as a computer game and also as an app for iPhone).

Mazes are a harmless way of passing a little time, testing your skill of navigation and orientation as well as giving you a little exercise after your Sunday barbecue.

What do I need?

Strategies to solve a maze – the one about holding your hand against one wall and keeping it there works – but only for some maze types

Where do I find it?

Mazes are everywhere – in print, online and in tourist attractions

Cost?

Minimal

http://www.maze-world.com/

http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/maze/

58. Care – sponsor a child

2009-04-23T12:11:00.005+01:00

If you’re really pushed to find something worthwhile to do when the TV is off, there’s probably nothing more rewarding than helping a child living in disadvantaged circumstances. When you think about it, the children that are helped by sponsor charities are in far worse circumstances than most of us can ever imagine. With parents dying of AIDS (and the child likely to be HIV-positive), brought up in war-torn countries or in abusive or repressive situations, orphaned or abandoned, subject to the vagaries of weather that causes famine or disease – these kids have nothing going for them: not at least until you come along.

Yes, you can put in your coins to the charity boxes, but actually sponsoring a child will make a difference that you can only guess at. Education, financial support, someone who cares about them – all of these can transform the lives of kids who literally have nothing and no one.

Your tricky decision? Finding which agency to go with – there are plenty around, all doing great work in bringing together people who care with kids who need them. When you sponsor a child, you’ll receive updates about the child and their progress – you can also write to them or send them gifts. You can even visit them. Not all will write back – many cannot write letters and English will not be their language.

No funnies here. This is serious stuff. Get involved and spend a little of your time and money helping to bring someone up in better circumstances than they currently experience.

What do I need?

Compassion
Money

Where do I find it?

Find a child sponsorship agency online in your country – or try some suggestions below

Cost?

Minimal

http://www.plan-international.org/

http://www.children.org/

http://www.fh.org/

http://www.sponsorchildren.org/

http://www.worldvision.org/

57. Tend – build a rainwater capture system

2009-04-23T09:33:00.004+01:00

Save the planet by using less water. One of the joys of life is watching the rain pelting down, but only when you are inside, looking out. All that water simply drains away into the gutters and sluices, or into land drains that absorb it into the ground.

If you live in a house, you already have a fantastic rainwater capture system, waiting to go: your roof. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to route some of that deluge into a suitable container. This is where it gets environmentally tricky:

Rainwater barrels are usually made of plastic – using petrochemical products
Wooden barrels are more friendly, but much heavier and more expensive to transport
Plastic barrels are made from recycled plastic but seem not to be readily available

So how to resolve all this? You need something that is not too unsightly, works functionally and is not harming the planet. One alternative is to use recycled containers. Typically these may have been used for storing food products (obviously avoid ones that held chemicals or fuel) and are often very large. If you have space, you can hide these with plants or shrubs and have a huge ready supply of fresh rainwater. You’ll need to:

Elevate the container so that you can get a watering can or hosepipe onto its tap
Fix up a rainwater diverter to a nearby downspout (these divert the rainwater until the container is full and then send all further water down the spout as usual)
Provide a small level of filtration – perhaps before the water gets into the downspout - to get rid of debris such as leaves

Use your newly collected water to fill water features, water your garden or even to flush toilets or fill children’s pools. Job done.

What do I need?

Rainfall (not tricky in the UK but more of a challenge in some parts of the world)
A container
A stand for the container
A diverter

Where do I find it?

Search for “recycled containers” on Google
Hardware stores will sell rainwater goods

Cost?

Minimal

56. Aspire – appear on YouTube

2009-04-22T15:44:00.003+01:00

Like all of us, you have something to say, right? You know that you are correct. You are sure of your own views. You cannot, for the life of you, understand why others don’t share your point of view.

Have you thought of getting on your soapbox and putting that view across in a public forum? YouTube is a great place to post a video of yourself, expounding your views and making your point. Make your rants timely and topical. One recent, popular, individual YouTube diatribe was from a guy extolling the virtues of Susan Boyle – his hits were carried along by those for videos showing Susan’s performance.

On the other hand, perhaps you really couldn’t care less about most things, but boy, can you sing (or dance, or juggle or perform magic tricks, or otherwise entertain the troops)? Showcase your talent and see how you get rated by the world and her husband – make sure you put a good title and description, with tags that will pull up your video when people search for “talented singer from Barnsley”. Try to get others to link to your video as well, from their websites – this will help boost your ranking in the search engines.

Finally, if you are of the thespian persuasion, encourage your local ammy drammy society to put vignettes of their performance online to publicise their current production and to embed their peculiar talents in the collective online consciousness.

What do I need?

Computer and a video camera (many have them embedded now and many digital still cameras have a video capability)
A good performance
A YouTube account

Where do I find it?

YouTube is online

Cost?

Free (unless you need to buy a digital video camera)

55. Fix – improve your diet

2009-04-22T15:13:00.006+01:00

If “You are what you eat”, then there’s not much hope for some of us. With fast food diets that weigh heavy in fat, salt and sugar – check out the nutrition data on the label – the chance of being fine, fighting figures is slim (and the chance is the only thing that will be slim).

Couch potato is not a good first or last course in a meal. Find the new you within and make a change – fix your diet. You know you really want to, but you just cannot resist the things that call you with their siren songs. Here are some goodies to think on, with the TV off:

Choose fresh fruit and vegetables (you don’t eat anything green!?)
Minimise meat and maximise fish – especially Omega 3 such as mackerel (try smoked mackerel with cracked peppercorns – it’s the food of the gods - or if you're vegetarian or vegan, you can skip this bullet)
Resist potatoes (in all forms), bread and sweet things (stop whimpering)
Eat more pulses (yeuch!) such as lentils, beans and chickpeas (remember that these foods take on the flavours you add to them)
Give yourself treats to reward yourself for good behaviour (now you're talking)
Drink loads of water (I’m a fine one to talk here: mine has to be wrapped in tea or coffee – but that’s allowed)

Tie all this into trying new recipes, taking some exercise and trying new food. Once you begin on the revised, revitalised road to recovery, you’ll start to feel better about yourself, your eyes will shine, you’ll start to hit nearer the weight you strive for and, best of all, you’ll feel superior to everyone else. “Burgers, darling? They’re so last season.”

What do I need?

An iron will (for a short time)
A good supermarket
Some tasty recipes

Where do I find it?

Look deep within yourself. Search your soul

Cost?

Minimal (there's little difference in cost for eating badly against eating well)

54. Collect – reward points

2009-04-22T09:33:00.003+01:00

Get stuff for free! Loyalty schemes – we are seduced by them as they appear to offer us a wonderful return for using a credit card, shopping at a particular store or using a particular brand. In reality, if you work it all out in cold hard cash, the return can be very small. However, you can maximise that benefit by doing a bit of strategic planning.

Loyalty schemes are worth adopting because, if you don’t have take them up, the provider (who is paying for the scheme) saves on providing that benefit. Take for example the points that accrue with some credit cards: for every purchase you make, you get points which match the amount you have spent. These points can be used for schemes such as Air Miles or in return for goods or services at specific retailers or venues. Naturally, the more you spend, the more points you collect, so you want to maximise them.

Here are some thoughts:

Check out the scheme which will give you best value
Use your loyalty scheme credit card at every opportunity in preference to cash, for nearly everything you buy – you’ll find some shops impose a minimum limit – but always pay off the total amount otherwise you are cancelling the benefit of the points
Only use one loyalty scheme – don’t try to use more than one at the same time: you’ll only dilute your earning power
Try to match your card to promotions that also earn the same points – for example, if you collect Air Miles towards flights and you book flights that accrue Air Miles, thereby collecting two lots of points for the same transaction
If your employer will wear it, use your card for company expenses
Work on strategies to maximise your points

What do I need?

Time to sit down and plan the best way to make the most of loyalty schemes to which you subscribe

Where do I find it?

Plenty of advice online – search “maximize loyalty schemes”

Cost?

Free

53. Communicate – find old friends

2009-04-21T09:23:00.003+01:00

Back in the mists of time, you had friends who have now disappeared from your life: colleagues, school pals, lovers – they’re probably still out there, just waiting to be contacted by you once more. “Ah Nick, it’s been so long – why have you neglected me? But see, I waited for you ...” Hmm. That might not be quite the reception you’ll get, but there is a good deal of fun to be had in just checking them out.

Thirty years since you were at school? More?! How will “Twitty” Twistleton look now, do you think? That beautiful person who shared your life for six months, fifteen years back – are they still your dream partner? How about “Go-get” Gatley, the high-flyer, brought in to turn your old company around – he/she’s working where? Yep – there’s a lot of fun – much of it schadenfreude - in tracking down your old friends and rivals. So where do you begin?

The various sites that bring people together, thronging the Internet, are your first port of call. Friends Reunited has carved a good chunk of this business for itself and has a large database of contacts who have registered their details, including schooling and employment. Professional networking sites such as LinkedIn also provide a happy hunting ground. Don’t forget FaceBook – probably the most used social networking site and therefore probably the place where people with the same name are the most difficult to separate: “Not the Jean Harlow you were looking for? Search more >>”.

Once discovered, what then? Watch furtively from a distance? Sounds creepy. Send them a mail? What are you expecting to happen – a rekindled friendship; a polite communication; a passionate affair; a heap of trouble? As the old saying goes, “Be careful what you wish for”.

What do I need?

To remember your school and workplace addresses and dates
To remember friends’ names (some will have changed of course)

Where do I find it?

Online

Cost?

Free (mostly)

52. Economise – go beachcombing

2009-04-20T16:54:00.004+01:00

Get something for nothing at your nearest beach. Ah – you live at Church Flatts Farm in Derbyshire? OK – everyone except you guys and perhaps also those of our readers who are in central United States, Alice Springs or in the depths of Asia ... perhaps you could go lake or pond-combing instead? No water in Alice Springs, huh? Guess you’d better skip this one.

People have been retrieving the flotsam (wreckage) and jetsam (jettisoned material from a ship) ever since there were people. The strangest things come to shore around our coasts – boxes and barrels, bottles and bombs, shoes and shells, plastic ducks and plastic cups.

The question is, what do you do with your finds? Driftwood is great for your home fire or for being creative and making sculpture – the bleached, weathered, etched appearance gives it a timeless quality. So too, sea coal (can also be used as fuel), sea glass (smoothed fragments of polished bottle shards), pebbles and shells, can all be used in decorative art or simply, in piles or containers, as a talking point in your home or garden. Check out the local byelaws, however - some authorities actively discourage the removal of shells and stones from the beach.

Just occasionally, you may find a lost watch, a set of keys or a wallet, fortuitously still on the surface of the beach as you amble the length of the strand, watching for finds. (Remember that "finders - keepers, losers - weepers" does not apply - you need to give folks a chance to claim their own property - so please hand into your local police station.) Choose your time – after a storm and, certainly, when the high tide has been and is ebbing away, is the best point at which to search. Watch out for tides if you are in a shallow estuary – they can catch you unawares as you indulge your interest. Environmentally aware beachcombers collect the rubbish too, and dispose of it.

Have fun. Be careful. Stay within the law.

What do I need?

A coastline with a beach
A large bag for your booty

Where do I find it?

The best beachcombing spots (as advertised on the Internet) may well not be the best ones – since everyone else is there already!

Cost?

Free

http://www.open2.net/coast/beachcombing.html

51. Perform – sing

2009-04-20T12:05:00.004+01:00

We can’t all be Susan Boyle, but if you can carry a tune, why not sing about it? The popularity of karaoke and interactive applications, like SingStar (PS2 and PS3), means that more and more people are singing for pleasure, outside the traditional venues such as churches or choral societies.

Singing makes you feel good. You can express all your emotions in your performance and singing to other people (particularly if they like it) will help boost your confidence. If you have a voice like a strangled toad, it’s probably better to keep your performance for private viewing only, until you find the right audience – just remember that there are plenty of examples of people who cannot sing who have made a great career out of singing – why? It’s simply because what sounds like a demented drone to some, rings the bells for others.

That being the case, match your choice of music to your voice. If you are a squeaky soprano or tenor, you’ll not be singing “I was born under a wand’rin’ star”, I guess. If you’re not the funky type, don’t try to “get down” with the kids – trust me, I’ve tried. I’m more Flanders and Swann than Justin and Kylie.

What do I need?

Find the right forum for your singing and you’ll have a ball.

Where do I find it?

Do you want to go public? Try:

Karaoke at your local pub
Talent contests
Join a choir
Join a band
Join a musical theatre group

Going for a private and solo career in the comfort of your own home? Try:

Singing in the bath (the acoustics of the bathroom work wonders for your voice)
Your own karaoke machine or software
A singing tuition course online or CD

Cost?

Minimal (although software is moderately expensive)

http://www.singstargame.com/

http://www.wikihow.com/Sing

50. Cook – Moroccan

2009-04-17T12:20:00.005+01:00

Warning! This article may set you off on a new cooking fad that could take over your life. The sizzle of grilling meats, the dazzling colours of the spices, the texture and taste of chickpea and couscous, the delicate sweetness of pastries and sweetmeats: it has to be Moroccan! This national cuisine has its routes in many cultures, having been ruled by many different civilisations over the years.

Traditionally, little meat was used in Moroccan cooking so, if you have a veggie in the family, Moroccan is an ideal vehicle that is sufficiently versatile to accommodate the tastes of everyone. The secret of success is simple ingredients and exotic spices.

Much mention is made of tagines – flat cooking dishes with a conical lid: the design is intended to assist the diner with eating straight from the dish with the fingers. In practice, you’ll probably not need one – a good-sized pan will suffice.

Recipes are simple, tasty (often hot) and great value – you’ll find plenty online. So, get off the couch, turn off the telly, put on your pinnie and start cooking.

What do I need?

You’ll need to invest in a few basics:

Spices

Harissa – a chilli and garlic paste with spices
Ras El Hanout – a mixture of spices
Ginger
Turmeric
Fresh coriander
Cumin
Paprika
Cinnamon

Ingredients

Lentils
Couscous
Butternut squash
Dried broad beans
Eggplant (Aubergine)

Equipment

Mortar and pestle – to grind spices
Tagine – not essential

Where do I find them?

Your local supermarket or deli

Cost?

Moderate

http://www.al-bab.com/maroc/food.htm

49. Perform – origami

2009-04-17T10:41:00.004+01:00

You can make a paper plane? Of course – everyone can. How about a swan? Or a dog, cat, monkey, crane ... not so easy, huh? Folding paper into shapes has been done since, well, since there was paper. It was the Japanese who turned paper folding into an art. The beauty of the finished product and the skill of the person who is performing the folding make this an ideal performance for a party trick, to amuse and entertain children and adults alike.

The aim of origami is to use a single piece of paper (without fastenings or glue) in order to create an object, using special folding techniques and creases. The basic techniques for simple origami are very easily learned and a certain level of skill can be achieved relatively quickly. Coloured or patterned paper can enhance the end result.

This is not a dangerous sport – unless you count the risk of paper cuts. Similar techniques can also be used to fine effect with napkins and towels in order to present guests with a towel sculpture – most impressive!

What do I need?

Paper – patterned or plain (you can buy special origami paper, but you’re just as well starting with the local newspaper)
Instructions – you cannot guess your way through origami

Where do I find it?

Your recycle bin will have plenty of paper
Instructions can be found online or in beautiful coffee table books

Cost?

Minimal

http://www.origami.com/

http://www.origami-club.com/en/

http://www.wikihow.com/Fold-a-Towel-Swan

48. Organise – plan your escape route

2009-04-17T10:08:00.006+01:00

Have you evaluated your home’s fire risks? Have you thought about how you get out of your home if fire took hold? You probably have an idea of an orderly evacuation, everyone trooping down the stairs to assemble outside the front door and be counted ... unless the stairs are on fire of course? Then your option is either the windows or the roof (if you can get out to it).

Don’t be tempted though to jump out of windows – fire service advice is always to notify the fire services and wait to be rescued. Of course, if you find your feet are singeing and your hair is on fire, lowering yourself carefully (not jumping) might be a slightly better option. Have you considered that escape from upper floors could be made easier with a simple escape ladder? It’s kept in a cupboard upstairs (hopefully not on fire at this point) and is unrolled out of a window for you to climb down. You can be just as trapped downstairs however – if your windows have window locks or, worse still, bars, then you need to be able to open them in order to escape. Keys for these security devices should be handy, but not so handy that an intruder can get hold of them.

Make sure you know where your home is vulnerable to fire and how best to get out – it’s worth a little TV downtime, just to check out the risk.

What do I need?

Evaluate your home’s fire risk
Plan your escape routes
Take simple precautions - close internal doors at night, for example
Fit smoke alarms – it’s smoke that usually kills: not fire
Ensure everyone knows what to do in a fire

Where do I find it?

There’s plenty of advice from government and fire services

Cost?

Free

http://campaigns.direct.gov.uk/firekills/

http://www.fire.gov.uk/

47. Observe – track satellites

2009-04-16T15:33:00.004+01:00

They’re whizzing over our heads day and night, performing a huge range of services – some public, some top secret (shhh!). You can see them, usually with the naked eye, as they track their paths across the sky and, occasionally, bump into each other.

Satellites look for all the world like planes, at night. And, like the International Space Station, they move unblinkingly, on a steady and predictable path that you can work out with a bit of help from a number of sources. NASA provides a number of tools and resources for all types of astronomical observation but it’s also possible to download software that will help you track satellites or even identify them from your iPhone or iPod touch (at a cost).

So why go to all this trouble – it’s cold outside, for goodness sake! Ah – well, make yourself warm by pulling out the sun loungers onto the patio or balcony, turning off all the lights, getting together some mulled wine or whatever your preferred night-time warmer is and then lie back and watch the show. You’ll need to have jotted down where and when your satellites will appear (oh, and a torch to enable you to glance at your notes would also be advisable).

What do I need?

Night sky
Compass – to check the bearing
Patience
Mulled wine

Where do I find it?

You can discover a host of information sources online
Mulled wine may be made or bought from your local supermarket

Cost?

Free

http://www.n2yo.com/

http://science.nasa.gov/RealTime/jtrack/

http://www.heavens-above.com/

http://www.satscape.co.uk/

46. Create – write to your local or national government representative

2009-04-16T12:29:00.004+01:00

You know you always rant and rave about the way policy is made, the decisions that are taken and the impact on you, your environment and others around you. Do you do anything about it? Do you rattle the cages of those who represent you? No?

Isn’t it time you manned the barricades, renounced passivity and stopped taking what is being doled out to you without question? If you are angry enough to rant, then turn it into action by writing to the right person. Ah – that’s always the tricky bit isn’t it? How do you begin:

Start at the top: your national government representative – Member of Parliament, Member of the European Parliament or Congressman/Congresswoman
If it’s local government, remember that this usually divides into elected members and officers (who are not elected but run the system) – make sure you contact the one who has the most clout
Find who influences them – lobbyists, newspapers, television and radio – and write to them too

Keep your message simple, to the point, unemotional and backed up by evidence including photos, press cuttings or other materials that will help support your point. Don’t be put off with routine answers. If you’re not satisfied, keep pushing – don’t be put off: these guys and gals are masters at NOT answering questions! And if that still doesn’t work, get onto the regulatory body (for example, an ombudsman) that looks after how these folk behave – they have to answer you.

What do I need?

A cause to champion
Contacts to write to

Where do I find it?

Get googling

Cost?

Free