1. Going To The Movies

I have a friend who goes to the movies with his mother regularly and calls it "quantity time." You get me? A trip to the movies is easily a three-hour ordeal, most of which requires no conversation.  The entertainment industry has you covered and knows it needs to deliver around this time of year for this very purpose, so there will always be plenty of new movies in theaters to catch. Right now we have a vast selection, like Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Ides Of March, the new Twilight, The Descendants, Like Crazy, Happy Feet 2, J. Edgar and Immortals to name a few. Go see one and boom: you just spent a whole two hours sitting next to your second cousin whose great passion is his coin collection and you didn't have to discuss it and pretend like you're even a little bit interested. If this works for you, maybe go the distance with a double-feature—that will pretty much take care of a full day just in time for dinner. A trip to the movies should also clear you of any potential Jewish Mother Guilt-tripping for not spending time with your relatives.

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