Niki / November 10, 2003 10:49 AM

Movies, movies, & more movies.
Oh yeah. & hot chocolate with those teeny tiny marshmallows.

Andrew / November 10, 2003 10:49 AM

I'm planning on exercising more, and I need to stop by Whole foods or Sherwins and put together a new herbal tea mix to help get rid of toxin buildup. Hopefully that'll be enough -- my schedule is already busy enough to keep me from being a hermit.

Naz / November 10, 2003 11:02 AM

Staying out damnit, despite everyone wanting to stay all warm and cuddly and snuggly inside. Yes, that's great too, but I gotta get out and about. Get that cold brisk air in the lungs. Stay active, that's the ticket.

Brenda / November 10, 2003 11:41 AM

I knit basketfuls of colorful scarves, but of course.

Noro Kureyon is my newfound source of sunshine on Earth. Yummy.

april / November 10, 2003 12:12 PM

Aside from it getting dark too early, I actually enjoy the cold weather creeping in. I get more productive artistically and socially. I love cramming into a packed hole-in-the-wall bar on a super cold night! Hey, can anyone tell me where I can go to find a wide selection of soup (besides the Soup Box on Broadway)?

lacey / November 10, 2003 12:22 PM

The Cheetah Gym will be my bastion of warm delight this winter. Then, I will go home, paint, and watch lots of movies (this is a year-round activity, though).

alicia / November 10, 2003 12:29 PM

i drink tons of hot cocoa and on the extra chilly days i add a shot of peppermint schnapps (sometimes butterscoth schnapps). it makes those thrice daily walks around the block with my dog a little more bearable.

adam verner / November 10, 2003 1:31 PM

The one thing I've learned about Chicago winters is that the cold is *personal*. The city personally wants to make me miserable. I've tried hot chocolate, blankets, and log fires in the middle of the living room - nothing works, because I know that the cold is just waiting outside, and its very patient. Unfortunately I'm the type of person who is affected emotionally by weather. Maybe a sun lamp...

stephen / November 10, 2003 2:21 PM

Yah, movies. And a little concoction I invented at the Goldstar a few years back, the Prom Date. Kahlua, Baileys and Vanilla Stoli. Can't forget the two cherries.
Plan on going through the Battleship Galatica DVDs, the Six Feet Unders, and probably the RESfest bits. Plus tons of lovely movies like Whale Rider. Going through the Sex in the City dvds at the gf's request, and they're not half-bad. Anything by a fireplace works for me. That, and converting snow blowers into snowball mortars. Better watch your arse.

stephen / November 10, 2003 2:22 PM

Oh, and finally putting my blog up, after a few years of intensive procrastination.

Pete / November 10, 2003 4:20 PM

Increased dosage of high-quality coffee and a heightened focus on my creative literary efforts usually gives me a pick-me-up. A shot of Baileys with the former also does the trick, though my corporate bosses frown on that sort of thing, especially in the morning.

sr / November 10, 2003 4:48 PM

As always, I'll spend the long winter nights refining my soup & cookie recipes. Heating up the kitchen seems to bring the taste-testers out of the woodwork, and that makes for cozy evenings.

Cinnamon / November 10, 2003 7:18 PM

I'll be opening all the curtains to let in as much sun as possible, enjoying multiple cups of tea and chai, making nummy-num-nums for all my foodie friends, cuddling with my kitties and my boyfriend, and keeping tabs on friends to make sure they haven't been infected by the winter blahs, oh and lots of sewing and knitting, lots of it.

ruthie / November 10, 2003 9:11 PM

Stave off? Please. I succumb to the winter blahs. I stay in bed all day, eat nothing but the simplest of carbohydrates and refuse to bathe. I become obsessed with watching the darkness set in every day at four pm. I wallow.
Sure, it's not much fun, but at least it's honest. And I don't have to add the weight of un-accomplished blahs-beating goals to my already heavy burden of guilt.

tony / November 10, 2003 10:20 PM

Winter's not a battle to be fought. I welcome winter. I spend a lot of it thinking. (But I usually try to take a trip out West, to warmer climes, around the holidays to break up the monotony and make sure I don't over-brood.)

heather / November 11, 2003 8:39 AM

I suppose I'm fortunate - winter, to me, is a sexy time of year, with soft cashmere, near-constant nighttime, twinkly fairy lights in the trees, and sleek pointy leather boots to stomp about in...

I'm with Ms. April - cramming into a crowded lil' bar on a super-cold night is one of the joys of the season!

shechemist / November 11, 2003 10:02 AM

this winter I am planning on having lots and lots of sex to stave off my winter "I can't talk right now I have a gun in my mouth" depression.

sex, cooking, running, knitting, and traveling. all that with keep me good an' distracted.

Kevin / November 11, 2003 10:52 AM

Heather said it all. Fall/Winter are the best.

Luke / November 11, 2003 11:18 AM

For me, winter is a battle to be fought, but having been raised in California, I feel probably more pressure than most to prove that I'm not "soft." You won't hear me whining.

Moving legs are warm legs. I found that biking through winter improved my seasonal disposition greatly. More sunlight, more exercise, and the weather becomes a beatable adversary.

Moving fingers are warm fingers. January makes much more sense for writing that novel than November: It has one more day, lousier weather and other than the Super Bowl no holidays to interupt it.

A busy liver is a warm liver. I can't say how much more I've enjoyed Christmas with the family now that I've mastered these five words: "Who's up for mulled wine?"

And mostly I daydream about that first warm weekend in May and how wonderful it will be to wear shorts outside again for the first time -- I can hear the Good Humor cart now -- and fantasize about how great it will be come August, when it's 97 degrees and the air conditioner is broken and I'm sitting in front of the TV watching the Cubs and passing a cold beer across my forehead. Ahhhhh ...

Shylo / November 11, 2003 1:01 PM

I think you really need to grow up in the Midwest to be able to love her winters. Puke.

Anyway, Bike Winter. Yes. I am totally looking forward to the Tiki Ride.

Carly / November 11, 2003 2:40 PM

Winter is the perfect exuse to be lazy. Now when I wake up at noon on Saturday, I have a reason for why things didn't get done. I only had 4 1/2 hours to do it! Psychologically at least.

This year I will find solace in: Cheetah gym, cable TV, fall/winter treats to balance out Cheetah gym, cold weather attire in the cutest forms possible, finding ways to stay warm; whether that be self-induced or with the help of another, ice skating, oh ice skating, and avoiding all places that will force me to stand in line, outside, without a coat, the coat I didn't wear because I didn't want to carry it all night or pay for coat check.

susan / November 11, 2003 5:07 PM

I adore Chicago winters (as proven by the fact that I've stayed in the city for college AND grad school, despite the siren call of sunnier climes). I spent the last two winters with my bedroom kept at a delightful 50 degrees ("heat provided", my ass), and was somewhat chagrined to find that my current apartment does actually provide heat. Guess I'll have to crack a window.