By Juliette Rossant

Want to do something creative but in a hurry? Some clever marketers have just the products for you. 

Petroglyph in Santa Cruz, California is a "pottery bar." You pick out a mug, bowl or serving platter that has already been thrown on the wheel and fired once in a kiln. 

You choose paints and start doodling on the surface. Once you glaze your creation, petroglyph gives it a final firing. Self-expression for the time deprived made fast and simple. You get the feeling of creation without most of the agonies and study that true creativity exacts. The first "pottery bar" opened up in New York City four years ago. This year there are about 70 in various parts of the country. "It caters to that desire of not having to commit," concedes Petroglyph co-owner Michael Rubin. It's fast and it's useful to matter how badly you paint, you can still have cereal in it." Plus you have more time for yoga class. 

Shrewd marketers are applying that thinking to any number of tedious, time-consuming hobbies "I called the trend 'half-baked,' " says market researcher Judith Langer. Half-baked, indeed. The trend has moved into the kitchen. At Ukrop's supermarket in Richmond, you can buy prepared lasagna that needs only reheating in the oven. But you couldn't in good conscience say you cooked it. Increasingly popular at the the Ukrop's chain these days are partially cooked dishes like slamon in dill sauce and penne with shrimp. The boring, time-consuming preparation has already been performed, but you can still claim you cooked it.

Like Prometheus, man will never lose the will to resist regimentation as long as it isn't too much trouble.