One of the things I indulged in while I was away on vacation was a little television. I'd finished the seven week hiatus I'd set forth for myself in May and was really looking forward to the season premiere of my guilty summer pleasure, Big Brother.
So on the second or third night at my sister's, I tuned in with much anticipation - only to find myself super impatient with the proportion of commercials to actual programming. Okay, the program wasn't really all that great either. But I couldn't believe how many commercials there were! It felt like one long series of commercials with a few interruptions from the program itself. I like to think that I'm not really affected by advertising like that. That as a person living on a fairly modest income who's relatively non-materialistic, seeing that amount of advertising doesn't really get under my skin. That's what I'd like to think, but after sitting through that many commercials - I gotta wonder.
I also found myself a little dizzied by the pace of things - particularly during the commercials. Images flashed across the screen a mile a minute. All jagged and tipped about at one angle and another. I remember when NYPD Blue first began shooting its program like that and the industry was all abuzz about this new technique. How appealing it'd be to the generation who'd grown up on video games and MTV. Well, I guess I must have become accustomed to it years ago, but it made me positively seasick when I tuned back in after seven weeks of life ashore.
It's been an interesting experiment. And one that's not entirely over... I came home on Tuesday and went to turn on my own TV only to find that it did not survive The Switch intact. I live in a very large city and two of the major networks aren't coming in at all. I've tried repositioning the antenna, channel scanning - no luck. And I don't honestly have the patience to deal with it right now, so it's still sitting mute and dark in the corner.
So - if I ever do get that antenna in gear and actually have reception again --- can I become the kind of person who turns the television on when I want to watch something special and turns it off again afterward? That's the new challenge. Because there is some wonderful television out there, after all... It's almost been easier, I think, having a complete ban in effect. Despite some v
ery antsy few days in the beginning, I really didn't mind not being able to watch TV for most of those seven weeks. There were only a couple times I wanted to watch it badly. In both cases, I was also feeling either lonesome or under the weather at the time. How's that for a link. TV's been my hot water bottle. Filled the gap when I was bored or lonely in this new city - comforted me when I was feeling sick or cramp-y. Television was also a way of unwinding for me. A way of relaxing after a long day at work and letting somebody else take the wheel. But there are other ways of relaxing and unwinding and I'm looking forward to discovering them...Without a doubt, I have loved the sensation of having longer evenings in my home. It's like I've stolen a few hours back from evenings that used to fly by without my even realizing it! Fitting a home-cooked dinner, chores, and relaxation into my evenings doesn't seem impossible any more. I'm not there yet, but it's a way of life that truly feels attainable now. And just in the nick of time, too. I'm going to be adding a whole new beauty routine to my evenings next week and I'm going to need that newfound time.
In the meantime, I've got a new vintage culture mission in the works. Tune in tomorrow for the announcement!
9 comments:
I know what you mean. I find myself watching tv less and less.
OOooh. I can't wait!
Waiting!
We had the cable undone about 3 years ago. I do not miss the noise. If I just have to have it, I stick in a movie. (We have a VCR and a DVD player, so we do rent and watch movies.)
I have been trying to cut the cord. I have become so accustomed to it for background noise. I am trying to substitute old radio or old tunes. But then, a show that I love comes on, and I get glued and begin channel surfing. It is quite awful. ~hand to head~ I agree with you that it seems the broadcasts are mostly commercials with a spattering of actual shows.
The few days that I cut myself off from it, I did accomplish so much more. You are doing so well!!! I have to try to end my tv crack addiction!!
LPM
LPM, I've actually become kind of irritated with the TV for stealing so much time from me. (That's not the way it really works, but that's the way it feels!) Those are precious hours worth more than some program that isn't even on consistently and half the time is a re-run. Of course it helps that I don't have cable --- much less to watch in Casa Jitterbug! Good luck with your new resolve.
i love my iq so i can fast forward through all the ads... you'd be surprised how much actual tv you can watch without them
I like a little commercial break - gives me a chance to go to the ladies' room, pour a glass of water - allows there to really be some suspense in the program. But the commercial breaks seem very long to me now after this mission.
I rarely watch TV, other than PBS, so when I turned it on one day to daytime television, I got the same sensations as you. Everything was over saturated all the "news" stories were just plugs for products - it made me feel dizzy. The point is to take TV watching in moderation. The turning it off after you finish watching what you want is hard at first, but it helps if you have a project to do after that show. For example, I plan something like - After Miss Marple I'm going to get back to this knitting project, or try to finish this chapter of this book. Maybe having a goal set for afterward will help you turn the TV off.
Great tips, Kathy! Thus far, I haven't fallen back into any kind of couch potato-hood. I turned my TV on for about 10 minutes last night and that's probably the first time it's been on since Sunday!
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