Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Another Night Wasted On The Tele

Well, (Well, well, well)
I just spent 4 hours watching TV when I should have been studying. That was stupid. I did a little work, but just a little while I was watching. I did get some other research stuff done that I needed to do. I was looking for a cookbook and was having a bit of a trouble finding it online because I thought it had "cookbook" in the title. I went down to Barnes and Noble because I knew they had it there, and I discovered the reason I could not find it was because the name had "diet" in it instead of "cookbook". Sigh. I spent way to much time on that, and I didn't even buy it. So as I was saying, I really need to watch less television. It is hard though, as there are many shows that I really enjoy watching, and it is something that me and Deb can both relax and do at the same time. I don't know what I will end up doing; probably nothing.
The shows I love:
The Simpsons
Futurama
Family Guy
Stargate - SG1
Stargate - Atlantis
Star Trek: Enterprise
And my new favorite: Battlestar Galactica

They are just all so good! I am being good and cutting back on the Simpsons. Even though it is the best of the bunch, I have seen all the episodes multiple times at this point. Futurama will being following closely behind, as will Family Guy. Oh, I only watch new episodes of Stargate and Star Trek, as I have seen all the episodes of star gate (except one), and I have seen all the old episodes of Enterprise that I care to. Another show that should be on that list, but isn't, is Farscape. It is no longer being aired, and it costs $115 per season to buy it, so I don't think I'll be watching it any time soon. So ultimately I have about (4x40)+(3x20x7) minutes of TV to watch per week. I figure if I am rotting my brain I might as well be mathematical about it.

Enough on TV. I suppose my one redeeming quality at the moment is that I have all but given up computer games for the time being. How sad is it that games are the least important thing in my life right now. I will miss them, but what must be done must be done. I had just bought a new game too. I really need to figure out how to make time for my picture editing. I am about 3000 pictures behind right now. Quite daunting really.

Christina came over for a little bit tonight. It was good to see her, as it had been almost a month since we had last hung out. Deb, Christina and I all went down to the spa for a little bit. It was nice.

It is so nice to have this forum for mental dumping. It is very therapeutic. There are many times where I can communicate so much clearer when I am writing.

And now... To go Hang Out with the wife. Toodles.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Watching TV leads to passivity.
a. as in not doing anything else. The Victorians really had us on this one. The work ethic that insipired women to compete in areas such as who could knit the most elaborate lace with which to embellish their aprons seems silly, but they were creating and working and accomplishing things. TV does not inspire any of those things.
b. as in not reacting. Even programs like fair and balanced 24 hour news lead to passivity when the same ol' story is hashed and hashed and rehashed to the point we really don't care anymore.
c. as in lack of individualism. Give a producer first crack at a word, heretofore understood as objectionable, and within minutes it is the hit word of the month across the culture. Insert any other language or style here.
d. as in lack of resistance. We are slowly being trashed but sit back and tolerate the long downhill slide.
e. as in lack of intellectual stimulation. OK, maybe as a kid, Star Trek had some interesting new thoughts, and there are a few others but for the most part TV requires no thought. Of course we tell ourselves that is why we watch. We need to rest. However, the brain rests more effectively while the body is engaged in mundane tasks. Washing dishes, pulling weeds and things of that nature give our brains a chance to either blank or to engage in thought that is actually restful. Likewise, if the body is tired it needs to sleep. People often eat to try to stimulate the body to more energy, thus, watching TV while exhausted, instead of sleeping, people snack which leads to a greater lack of energy as the body tries desperately to digest food we do not need.
f. as in not engaging with real people in real time. TV allows us to live our lives vicariously so we do not have so great a need for other people. In a needy world that is scary. Which leads me to a final thought...
g. TV does not grant us or direct us to our greatest need which is having a closely connected relationship with God.
So, through ever growing passivity, TV is robbing us of all that is fruitful in life.

Debbie