pig

for maximum juvenile fun, get some and go sit on a bench at the local mall. spray it over your shoulder on the people behind / adjacent to you, and then refuse to acknowledge their gasps of revulsion. Sure, the last time I did it I was 12. Seemed to pass time then...

I might suggest putting the headphones on, but leaving one ear half-way uncovered. you hear the stuff around you, but people assume you're unavailable. throw in a few "huh? i couldn't hear you...what?"s you can usually control your involvement in unintended conversation. flip side is you can't join in the conversation too much, even if you get a great lead on the emotional state of someone's sister's friend's neice, or else they'll know you're selectively disengaging.

that said, my experience is that some forbearance with other people's little bits of useless conversation can be useful as well...otherwise you tend to alienate yourself completely from the group - which can be difficult when you need to get something done, etc. live by the don't-talk-to-me sword, die by the don't-talk-to-me sword. Kind of funny - cultural anthropologist who just wants to be left alone. Ah, the vagaries of grad. school

so, in the end, would you say that your issue is more a desire to be less distracted in the time that you have to spend in the computer lab, related to the frustration of finishing your degree, or a distaste for television, or a desire to retire to Walden Pond and start on a treatise of social revolution?

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You don't love me, you just love my piggy style