pleasures of the flesh...

two major wastes uses of time have come into my life recently:

the first is a computer, which has helped me do some productive (Teaching/learning related) as well as some unproductive (card-game related) things. it has also facilitated a subscription to netflix which creates a bizzarre compusion to watch movies when we wouldn't otherwise (eg, erev shavuot). more importantly, it has allowed us to enjoy possibly the best wedding present ever, the simpson's 6th season on DVD.

Computer games may be worse for a marriage than television (not having the latter I can't say...), but real-live games can actually be a source of positive time-spent, hence...

the second acquisition is a chess set. now, while i did beat oren the first time we played he proceeded to destroy me rather embarassingly a number of times after that, until he started letting me take back obviously ridiculous moves and talking about strategy with me, etc, to the point where I have, in the span of a few short weeks (as they say), moved beyond, in my opinion, the "embarassingly bad" stage.
but chess is funny. we somehow think it's better than the simpson's, or solitairre, as a use of time because...what? because it requires strategy? because it's old? because if old men play it in the park it must be socially productive? not clear. the main reason i think it's better is that it involves interaction with another person as opposed to passively participating in something at the same time as they are passively participating in the same thing (simpsons) or actively doing something alone (solitairre). and you don't feel your braincells dying the way they do with stupid games. but i'm not sure how high chess ultimately ranks on the non-bitul-zman scale.
above or below cooking a nice dinner, for example?