Reading, listening to music, thinking about home remodeling, planning trips and sometimes actually going on them, watching the antics of my 4-legged children, etc
Substance, without the abuse
This is an ever-changing list in progress: Greg Dulli, The Cure, Built to Spill, Cake, Jeff Klein, Snow Patrol, etc.
independent films, preferably shorter than 2 hours!
HGTV, forensic shows
pretty much any autobiography; some favorite authors: Elizabeth Wurtzel, Augusten Burroughs, David Sedaris, Dave Eggers