I would make villages out of Lego, dress up in a godzilla costume, and destroy them.

Sleep. A lot. Maybe more than anyone, ever.

I'd have really ambitious plans to write a book or a screenplay or something and then I'd waste time avoiding doing it. Then I'd listen to NPR all day and keep a really clean house. Then I'd go back to school for a useless degree.

(At least, that's what I did the last time I had money enough to quit my job.)

I would give all my money to whoever gave me this idea on the internets.

Play with baby all day sans money-worry. WoohooOO!

It is my nights that would be mostly different. obligatory ;)

I'd retire in a modest way to read and fuck around in a big messy workshop and fund a charity and then I'd have my enemies kidnapped and dropped from a B-52 into the Atlantic ocean.

I would carry on doing some science (with no pressure! yay!) play more bridge, have babies, give a load of money to planned parenthood and run half marathons.

well for one thing i would spent my january through mid-march somewhere in south florida.

i'd go back to working when i felt like it, defending juveniles at the children and family justice center. and when i didn't feel like it, shopping for shoes. and when i had too many shoes, just being with people whose company i enjoy.

poop more often.

I would use the freedom that the lottery provided me to work for the spiritual development of all members of the MetaChat community.

I would devote myself to working with my brothers and sisters of the MetaChat community, to get them to view even the most mundane situations as opportunities for growth. I will gird my loins and convince them to abandon insalubrious habits such as foul language, beer, midget pornography, smoking, more beer, processed foods, listening to loud, discordant music . . . .

I'll start with jonmc.

Mrs. Doohickie and I were just discussing this. First, I would fix up our house really nice (new floor coverings, paint, landscaping, etc.), then sell it at "average" market value for the neighborhood (which is definitely on a downward trend).

Then we'd move into a nice house in a better, much snootier neighborhood, and I would do volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity fulltime. The Mrs. would continue to teach, and might consider opening up a charter school.

Travel, man, travel. And act. I'd go to the Stella Adler School, I'd study the Meisner Method, I'd buy a shitload of old movies and study the hell out of them, and then just travel, man, travel.

smoke weed and idle on irc


hmm...

Move to New Zealand
Build a house
Get 4 Phds
travel

I'd do pretty much what I'm doing now, just with less worry and better toys.

or...

What Wedge said. Hrmmm.

I'd use my lovely fountain pen more. I don't really have a lot to write about, though, so maybe I'd just write rambling letters.

I'd go to concerts and exhibitions. I'd bring someone lovely with me. Sometimes I'll try too hard to impress her with pithy wit and learned comment, but eventually I'd figure out that the best way to share something is usually to just be there and share it.

I'd practise the piano seriously. I'd finally learn the rest of Ravel's Gaspard, and I'd learn to play at least one Schubert sonata really well. I'll learn music that I want to share with everyone. And, when I was sure nobody was around, I'd sing Your Song.

I'd buy Private Eye every fortnight and scan the Eye Need section, deciding which strange plea is original enough to warrant a donation.

I'd still spend ages buggering around on the internet and playing games.

I'd try and learn -- and really learn, not just read -- all of the physics that interested me in college but which I left too early to get to. And I'll get stuck because I never could integrate very well.

I would see the world with someone.

I'd finally figure out and remember which kinds of white wine are the ones that we like, so that it won't be such a goddamn lottery every time we go to a restaurant.

I'd get back into conducting, and nurture a local amateur choir or orchestra into something wonderful. There are few things I've been prouder of than helping people make music they didn't think they could make.

I'd buy all kinds of knick-knacks for myself and gifts for others -- too much at first, but I'd gradually mellow out when I have nowhere to put it all and can't bear to throw anything away.

I'd memorise sonnets.

I'd catch up on all the socialising that I've been skipping for a lot of my life. When I was depressed I though people were a waste of time. Now I realise that having people is often the only thing that makes it all fucking worthwhile.

I'd buy more books than I could ever read. But I'd feel okay about it, because honestly? -- I enjoy just holding and looking at the things.

And I'd plough all that extra energy from my no-longer-worries into loving the one close to me, and showing it. I still don't think I'd ever get close to loving her as much as she deserves. Won't stop me trying, though.

AMENDMENT: I would also pay to have the corpse of James Brown brought before an international tribunal so he could be held accountable for the crime of making that horrible "I Feel Good" song that plays over the loudspeaker approximately 23 times an hour at my local supermarket.

I would go to law school. Then I would defend the ghost of James Brown.

Did you know that James Brown's probate lawyer is Strom Thurmond Jr?

I'd stay home, make babies and clean a lot more (because I wouldn't be depressed about my job). I'd also buy some sort of storage unit for an infinite amount of living supplies. I'd never run out of anything ever. And I'd get a whole herd of hedgehogs. And a Wii. And all the books I've ever wanted to read ever. And curtains for my windows, houses for my family, a lot of neat pens, and a massive kitchen. Ooh, and matching silverware.

I would read more. I would spend my free time building circuits,making music and writing. I'd so plush toys and give them to poor kids. I would travel, and I would bring the noise.

Travel. Build my own darkroom. Fund a charity or two. Work only when I wanted to. Pay someone to clean my house. Get rid of my TV so I didn't spend all my free time watching Law & Order reruns. Go back to school just for the hell of it.

Fix up the house (or buy a new one near the ocean), buy a new vehicle, travel, feel less guilty (because I don't work), give money to environmental and animal charities, pay off my mum's house.

cmonkey: dressing up cats instead of corgis?

Give my house to a really nice neighbor, then buy a "real" house with lots of wooded land so I can feed birds and wildlife.
Volunteer more often.
Tell the annoying customers just what I think of them before I quit.
Travel with the family in a big RV all summer long.
Not have to worry about paying for college anymore.