To relax, avoid dating; try ‘date for one’
■ If school has become too
stressful, take some time out
to enjoy a relaxing day or
evening alone
By Monica Hande
Oregon Daily Emerald
It’s Dead Week. With the major
stress epidemic around campus
this time of
year, who
has the en
ergy to date?
What we all
really need is some personal time
to relax: a cheap date for one.
Sure, it sounds silly now, but
you’ll surely see it differently once
you’ve experienced it. Your “date
for one” can be as cheap or as ex
pensive as you’d like. Of course, be
cause the focus of this column is
budget-friendly, we’ll start with
ideas that won’t put you in the poor
house.
First of all, it’s amazing how
valuable a bathtub is for relaxation.
By now, you should know how to
bathe, so I don’t have to fill you in
on the details. But be creative: Try
new scents of bubble baths, oils or
crystals. Ladies, now’s your chance
to use those generic bath and body
gifts you received when your
friends didn’t know what to get
you. Or perhaps you can stock up
on bath products and use what’s
left after your “date for one” for
holiday stocking stuffers. Regard
less, it doesn’t matter what you put
in your bath, as long as it suits you.
But don’t forget the candles. You
can’t underestimate the power of
mood lighting. The same romantic
candle light that can woo a date
will help you relax on your own. If
you have them, try aromatherapy
candles or any other sensual scents
you’ve got around the house.
And what about the wine? As
long as you don’t drink enough to
become inebriated, wine can be a
great relaxation tool. And it does
n’t have to be expensive. Travis
Geny, the wine columnist for
Pulse, knows some great deals
around town where you can find a
bottle of quality wine for only $3.
See his column today on page 6B.
When you’re done with your
bath, if you’re not so relaxed that
you’re ready for bed, just take
some time for yourself. Curl up in
some comfortable clothes and read
a book or watch a video.
Although, if a video is what
you’re up for, check out the exercise
tapes at your nearest rental outlet,
and you’ll probably find yoga
videos.
Donna O’Neil, the yoga coordi
nator at Four Winds Center, at
1840 Willamette St., said yoga is
the ultimate form of relaxation,
“learning how to release tension
and learning to withdraw your
senses.”
But if sitting in front of a televi
sion screen doesn’t do it for you,
there are some drop-in yoga classes
you might want to try. Four Winds
Center, which offers an introducto
ry yoga class, is one option. A $15
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The price of relaxation
Private bath: free (plus cost
of bubbles, oils and candles)
Wine: $3-$10 (see “Eleganceon the
Cheap" on page 68)
Yoga video: $1.5043.50
Yoga class: $15-40 (depending on
number of lessons)
Massage: $20-$45 for half hour,
$30465 for hour
Hot tub: $11 -$16 for hou r,
two people
registration fee includes the intro
ductory class and an extra regular
class, such as beginning yoga,
which is next scheduled for today at
6:30 p.m.
Of course, if you really want to
splurge, experience the epitome of
relaxation: a massage. Don’t expect
to easily find a good deal on a mas
sage; they’re usually pretty expen
sive. However, some places, such as
Eugene Downtown Massage Thera
py, offer student discounts. Actual
ly, many places that don’t advertise
student specials will often cut you a
deal if you request it. But don’t fig
ure on saving more than $5 or so.
Expect to pay at least $20 for a half
hour massage and at least $30 for an
hour massage. But you’ll really have
to shop around to get deals like
these.
This is a starting point for you to
create your own relaxing “date for
one.” But if you still think a date re
quires a partner, here’s an idea for
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Adam Amato Emerald
If Dead Week is killing you, take a breather. Take some time out for yourself and relax.
Start a bath, light some candles and drink some wine. Voila: a date for one.
you and that special person to relax
together: a hot tub.
Most college students don’t own
hot tubs, but there is an alternative.
Rent one. There are a few local
business that rent private spas by
the hour. Of course, most people
are a bit wary of anything that
rents by the hour. Perhaps it’s a
valid suspicion, but just ignore it
and have a good time. An hour of
pure relaxation can’t be all that
bad, especially when it’s with
somebody special. Onsen, at 1883
Garden Ave., charges $16 an hour
for two people, and Springfield
Spas charges $11 to $15 an hour
for two people, depending on the
time and day. And maybe after
ward, you’ll have a few bucks left
to spend on a cheap bottle of wine.
Whether it’s a “date for one” or a
romantic rendezvous, it won’t hurt '
to take some time out to make
yourself feel good. Don’t let Dead -
Week get the best of you. Just relax. ►
Web sites
continued from page 7B
simple principle: Submit your pic
ture to the site, and let thousands of
Web viewers rate you on your phys
ical appearance. Why one would
submit themselves to this
masochistic torture is beyond me,
but the site doesn’t require anyone
to send in a picture to start judging
others.
Mechanically, the site is a dream.
Load it up, look at the picture, click
on a rating from one to 10, and you
automatically move on to the next
site. It’s physically addictive and
the worst kind of instant gratifica
tion. Amihotornot.com will suck
you in for hours, but it might make
you feel dirty enough to take a
shower afterward.
www.theonion.com
Why visit real news sites like
cnn.com when you can read the
fake news, which is often funnier
and a lot more interesting? The
Onion is like Saturday Night Live’s
Weekend Update, except it’s a lot
more profane and 100 times as fun
ny.
How can you go wrong with
headlines such as “Clinton Feels
Nation’s Pain, Breasts” or “Area
Loser To Spend Day In Bed”? The
Onion is well-written and boasts
some of the best digitally manipu
lated art I’ve seen in a long time. It
covers art, science, society, politics
and other topics, and not a single
word of it is true.
The Onion also has an excellent
arts and entertainment section, The
Onion’s AV Club, with some of the
most insightful and well-written re
views online today. Unfortunately,
they’re true, but still worth a read.
You can also peruse the complete
archives of the paper, which should
keep you glued to your computer
long after you’ve started to smell
funny.
www.totalsports.com
Tired of cnn.com’s monopoly on
Internet sports reporting? Tty Total
Sports, a site just as good as
cnn.com or foxsports.com. Not to
say that Total Sports is a substitute
for those sites, but it could be a
complement. Sports sites are big
time-wasters, and the more of them
you can look at in one sitting, the
better.
The site offers up complete sta
tistics, so if you call up a story on
the Portland Trail Blazers’ victory
over the New Jersey Nets , you can
get figures on the game’s atten
dance, the complete lineups of
both teams, season and career stats
and more.
All college and professional *
sports are represented, so you
won’t have any trouble finding the
team you love. Just remember to.
log off and take a bath once in a
while.
www.gamesages.com
If you like playing video games
(you know who you are), then there
have been times when you couldn’t
get past a certain game. Maybe
you’ve given up and gone outside to
play in the sunshine. Perhaps
you’ve thrown the television out
the window.
Whatever your previous solution
was, now you can be more produc
tive in front of the television for
longer periods with this site, which
lists codes and walk-throughs for
any game. Name a game, or a system
(even arcade games), and
www.gamesages.corn will in all
likelihood have what you need.
Just type in the game you want, or
choose from a massive list. Within
two or three clicks, you’ll have all
the information you need at your
fingertips. With this many games
and systems, you’ll be lost for
weeks. Just remember to leave the
door unlocked for the search party.
Humankind has wasted time for
millennia, whether with cave
drawings or with cell phones. The
Internet gives the user a myriad of
options from which to choose. But
why use the Internet for benign
purposes when you could waste
your life with these sites?