I watch entirely too much television. Desperate Housewives, Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Gilmore Girls, Boston Legal, Studio 60, House, The Office, Ugly Betty, Brothers and Sisters, ER. There are probably more shows that I sit in front of even if I'm not paying attention.
You could talk about how so much TV disengages my brain. You could talk about how so much TV makes my ass big. You could talk about how so much TV makes me less social. The other day, my sister and I talked about how so much TV can serve as a pacifier because real life sucks. But my burdensome issue with the amount of TV I watch is that when I'm sitting there in front of the big machine, I'm not doing other things I enjoy doing.
My town has a little museum of wood carvings from someone we like to call the World's Master Carver. He had a house full of children and a full-time job, so all of his carving was done in the evenings, and he was prolific. When you tour the museum, the guide makes a point of telling you how much we could all accomplish if we didn't watch so much TV. I am convicted.
I don't plan on curing cancer or digging for gold or establishing world peace during peak viewing times, but I do plan on pursuing my many other interests. For example:
So, my plan is to choose just three shows (not counting movies) that I really enjoy watching with my family, and the rest can go back in the can. If I'm successful over the next month, then I'll let you know all about the brilliance and wonders that I have achieved. Or maybe I'll just be able to say that I have actually finished reading an entire book.
You could talk about how so much TV disengages my brain. You could talk about how so much TV makes my ass big. You could talk about how so much TV makes me less social. The other day, my sister and I talked about how so much TV can serve as a pacifier because real life sucks. But my burdensome issue with the amount of TV I watch is that when I'm sitting there in front of the big machine, I'm not doing other things I enjoy doing.
My town has a little museum of wood carvings from someone we like to call the World's Master Carver. He had a house full of children and a full-time job, so all of his carving was done in the evenings, and he was prolific. When you tour the museum, the guide makes a point of telling you how much we could all accomplish if we didn't watch so much TV. I am convicted.
I don't plan on curing cancer or digging for gold or establishing world peace during peak viewing times, but I do plan on pursuing my many other interests. For example:
- French horn playing: it's more of a vocation than a hobby.
- Writing the great American novel.
- Reading. I love to read, but I can't get past a single page with the stupid TV blaring.
- I have heard that a local advocacy group for Guatemalan and Mexican emigrants is looking for English tutors. I'm planning on looking into that.
Making jewelry. I have taken to making my own chains. There are a few examples to the right.- Altered books. I hesitate to get sucked into this odd hobby, but I have finished one, and now my mind is racing on ways to salvage other poorly written pieces of crap. The page below represents what used to be a horrific book of poetry--Sonnets for the Analyst. Ack. The "new" book is nothing more than Micah 6:8--What does the Lord require of you, to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.
So, my plan is to choose just three shows (not counting movies) that I really enjoy watching with my family, and the rest can go back in the can. If I'm successful over the next month, then I'll let you know all about the brilliance and wonders that I have achieved. Or maybe I'll just be able to say that I have actually finished reading an entire book.
Comments
Having lived most of my adult life without the idiot box (I had a life instead), I can tell you that the feeling of smugness from not having a telly is awesome.
And people always ask "what on earth do you find to do"?
The answer of course, is "everything I want".
Ditch the box and get a life, folks.
An example:
Peahen doesn't have a TV; she's a brilliant software developer, has a successful stained glass business (a lot of which is dotted around my house), plays in a band, walks up mountains and generally lives far more than any couch potato (she has a nice butt, too; another side effect).
I'm ashamed to say I have a TV now. But it only picks up four crappy channels and I just use it to watch the news and DVDs of old movies, The Simpsons, Frazier and Buffy.
It has an "off" switch.
When I'm laying on my deathbed and I'm asked what I did with my life, I will be able to smile and not say "I sat and watched TV".
So well done, Robyn!
All you have tyo do now is stick to the regime …
Nice to see the wire jewellry is coming along, though "altered book" -ing the Bible?
About the altered book--it would be sacriligious of me to actually hack up a Bible, but I thought it would be acceptable to put a single verse in a different book. It's a verse that breaks everything down to it's core--simply and beautifully.
You're a bit too kind to me, I think, Dive.
Incidentally, the best 'Altered book' I've seen was a conceptual art installation by Jamie Shovlin this year. I can't find a picture online, so I'll have to describe it. the basis for the work was Darwin's origin of Species. He needed several used copies of the book to make the work (at least 2, you see so that he could show all of the pages), and the fact that he'd chosen a variety of editions fitted with the concept of the work and his general interest in classification. He'd taken 18 very large pieces of mount card and mounted every page of the book. he is a meticulous craftsman and it was beautifully done. All text had been blocked out in black pen (again, meticuloously), except that which had been highlighted or marked in some other way by a reader. Thus he'd applied Darwin's principle of natural selection to his own book. Awesome.
My dilemma with this art form is the destruction of a book. Someone went to a lot of trouble to write it and put it in a store at some point, and here I am thinking of ways to destroy it. Maybe my fear lies in the dream of having one of my own messes published some day, and will somebody buy it just to cover it with paint and glue.
Enjoy altering your book - believe that you're 'altering and improving' (see Jake and Dinos Chapman for that quote), and enjoy doing it.
er … probably best not to go there, Robyn.
Over here, my faves are BBC Radio 3 (Classical, modern jazz, world and avant garde - definitly NOT "Classic FM, Best of the music from adverts"); no ads; full-on 3 hour operas, the works;
and BBC Radio 4: high-ish-brow talk and current affairs.
Then we have Webcasts from Prairie Home Companion (when I can stay awake long enough).
Who needs TV?
Any news of Adair and the shop?
Her blog's been silent so I assumne she's been really busy with the opening.