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How to Do Nothing with Nobody All Alone by Yourself
How to Do Nothing with Nobody All Alone by Yourself | Robert Paul Smith
6 posts | 15 to read
The classic guidebook to everything from paper airplanes to spool tanks to slingshots is back in print, and is as fun, inventive, and charming as ever. How to Do Nothing literally tells "how to do nothing with nobody all alone by yourself"real things, fascinating things, the things that you did when you were a kid, or your parents did when they were kids. This is a book to free your kid from video games for a few hours, a handbook on the avoidance of boredom, a primer on the uses of solitude, a child's declaration of independence. If you don't remember how to make a spool tank, what to do with an old umbrella, whether "pennies" come before or after "spank the baby" in mumbly-peg, or how to make rubber-band guns, slings, or clamshell bracelets, it's OK because Robert Paul Smith has collected all of this and more in How to Do Nothing. It's a book for kids, but parents are not prohibited from reading it.
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jmofo
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I‘m late to the scene. Here are some facty-things that may not be obvious from my profile
Thanks for the tag, @Trashcanman

#20thingsaboutme #20factsaboutme I guess. I feel a bit self-conscious but whatever. That‘s okay.

VeganCleopatra We have a lot in common! I totally agree with 13578 and 14 (ugh), 16 and 20. But I must ask...how do you curse a lot but aren't good at being angry? I could probably teach courses on it. 😆 5y
jmofo @VeganCleopatra 🖤 haha 😄 Most commonly, I tend to swear for emphasis, so I use it when I am elated, frustrated, or stressed—or when I strongly believe a point I am making, basically, any time one might use “very” or “really”. I also swear when I am lazy or being imprecise. As far as the anger thing, I have a reflex to turn my anger against myself or to try to be so understanding of others I set aside my own feelings. It‘s a problem. 5y
VeganCleopatra Yeah, I'm definitely an emphasis swearer too. Turning anger on yourself or setting aside your own feelings sounds awful, I'm sorry. I think a lot of people have that though. If I could tell you a secret to not having it I would. Good luck working on it. 5y
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jmofo @VeganCleopatra thanks for the support and the delightful commentary! I‘m so happy you love spreadsheets too! They are effing magic. The anger thing is getting better, it‘s just so automatic, I don‘t always see it when it happens. Thanks again for the support! 😬 5y
Literaturenut I too ❤️ spreadsheets and public transportation. 5y
hermyknee ♥️♥️♥️ 5y
jmofo @Literaturenut 👏 yay!!! That‘s exciting! 😄 & 💗💜🖤 to you @hermyknee ! 5y
Lauram # 1 sounds poetic and lovely. It made me smile. 5y
jmofo @Lauram I believe that‘s an indication of how poetic and lovely you are 5y
Trashcanman 🤗💖😊 5y
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bookandbedandtea
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Someone beat me to writing the book on the topic I know the most about. 😁 #missedmychance #introvertlife

SamHeartCoffee Perfect! 6y
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Kaylark
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Has anyone read this? I think I need it! 😂

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OrangeMooseReads
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Me today. I don‘t want to do anything or talk to anyone or go anywhere.
Also I think I might need to look into this book based purely on title alone.

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Tin_House
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"If things were as they should be, another kid would be telling you how to do these things, or you‘d be telling another kid. But since I‘m the only kid left around who knows how to do these things—I‘m forty-two years old, but about these things I‘m still a kid—I guess it‘s up to me."
—Robert Paul Smith, HOW TO DO NOTHING WITH NOBODY ALL ALONE BY YOURSELF

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Tin_House
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What was your favorite childhood pastime? Tell us in the comments for a chance to win the brand-new edition of the timeless guidebook HOW TO DO NOTHING WITH NOBODY ALL ALONE BY YOURSELF!

Notafraidofwords I loved arts and crafts and reading! 7y
ttolbert Reading! My mom tells this story of how, once she tucked me into bed, I'd get up, pull ALL my books and shove them under my pillows, like I thought someone might steal them in the night!! 😁 7y
celtichik Definitely, reading! 7y
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saresmoore Reading under an oak tree or swinging—sometimes both at the same time! 7y
aizekj Jumping rope was my thing- by myself, double-dutch I was the queen of jump rope in my neighborhood. 😊 7y
emtobiasz Making up elaborate stories that I'd act out with an assortment of dolls, Happy Meal figurines, and a pink Tonka truck! 7y
Alfoster Hopscotch! 7y
Titania Legos! Freeform complete with daydreamed stories. :-) 7y
SaraBeagle Hide n seek with 15 or so neighborhood kids in our cul-de-sac. 7y
LauraBrook Reading outside under our apple tree. 🍎 7y
Caterina Reading, especially in bed with a flashlight after my bedtime. 😁 7y
Betty Playing Red Rover and Mother May I and other outdoor games with kids in our apartment complex. Swinging on the vine over the creek in our backyard. Canasta. And of course reading! 7y
Hooked_on_books Reading, of course! When I was quite young, I'd climb the tree in the front yard and hide in the high branches with my book, since my older sister couldn't reach me there. 7y
VioletBramble Reading, pretending to be Harriet the Spy and playing "town" like Harriet and Sport, roller skating and riding my bike. 7y
AmyWrites Reading (of course!!), searching for four-leaf clovers in the grass, drawing, writing little stories in my notebook, taking my dog for a walk to the park... 7y
mskbp Pretending I owned my own library by organizing my books- and reading my books, of course! 7y
mangokittty My all time favorite was probably playing in the sprinklers with my siblings. It was always so fun and almost felt magical as a kid. 7y
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