If on the rare occasions I get bored, I get ideas from two places.
1. What do I really hate having to repeatedly do at work? Can I find a way to automate it?
2. If I am really bored and want to look at new stuff, I search the monestary. I skim through several monks home nodes, and then look for interesting posts that look like they answer questions. I will then trace through the thread and see if I can write what was originally asked, if I can't its a learning exercise. If I can write it, I try to figure out why they suggested doing it that way.

"The social dynamics of the net are a direct consequence of the fact that nobody has yet developed a Remote Strangulation Protocol." -- Larry Wall