Brilliant!

Today I provide a list of 'dumb ideas' and the length of time for which they were entertained:

Me:
***A skirt coat: 3 days
-I really thought I was onto something here--I mean, my legs were really cold in St. Louis and Chicago winters. And then a friend of mine reminded me about full-length coats

***I'll lock my backpack to my bike while I'm at the farmer's market: 15 minutes
-sounded like a good idea-and then I remembered that thieves could just unzip the bag and remove my laptop, leaving my bag safely chained to my bike.

***I'll get a dog to keep my grumpy 12-year old shih tzu company: 4 months
-got the dog, knowing full well my dog hates other animals. had to give other dog away.

***menthol cigarettes when you're sick: 5 minutes
-I used to be a pack/pack and a half a day smoker; my friend came up this one--his "menthol-will-help-your-sore-throat" argument was quite persuasive. the menthol cigarette was not.

***doing a cartwheel off the sandtire will be *cool*: 30 minutes
-it was cool, until I landed. I then had a broken arm for two weeks before my dad finally took me to the hospital (he insisted I was just being "dramatic").

My pal Mary:
***Buying an Akita in Japan will be cheaper than buying one in the US: 1 month
-She had already been planning a trip to Japan (she's first-gen Japanese), and was seriously excited about this idea--I guess she thought she'd save on import taxes or something--I gently reminded her that they actually breed them here on American soil...they do not ship them over on cargo boats.

I'll have to think a bit for a few more; Lord knows I've had lots of "epiphanes"...which turn out to be brain burps in the end.