Thursday, March 16, 2006

The TV Alter

Okay, I admit it: I just don't watch much television. I don't know if it does not interest me, or I am too busy, or maybe I just can't figure out how to watch anymore.

When I was growing up, I can remember three or four channels. Things were simple – there is one dial that would get me four channels: NBC, CBS, ABC, and Public Television. Then, there was an independent channel available on the other dial. One dial was VHF and the other UHF. Okay, that is the technical part of the post.

I remember that I had to jiggle wires a lot to get a clear picture, but there were relatively few choices on television. Few choices make it easy to watch.

Fast forward to today, and there are some one million channels with about the same amount of decent programming available. And frankly, I don't have time to dig through the programming to find the good stuff.

Hubbie and I go out to dinner a lot. This is sort of like two restaurants that we enjoy, one having a very limited menu but everything is wonderful and the other having such a huge selection from its menu, but they miss on occasion. They hit, but they miss as well. That's sort of how I see television. And for me, it is easier to just not watch.

Not that this is a revelation. But I was reading in my living room last night, and I just looked around the room – and I wanted to move furniture. Okay, I direct and hubbie moves. But you get the idea. I have not changed our living room in a while, and I noticed that the dormant television is the center of the room. The other furniture is huddled around the television, yet there is no warm glow emitting from the TV.

It isn't that I dislike television – I occasionally travel for work, and in the evenings, I overdose on television. I will watch from 7:00/8:00 pm, and stop watching when I fall asleep in the wee hours of the morning.

When hubbie comes home this evening, I guess he will be moving furniture. But maybe I will wait until after the first weekend of March Madness.

12 comments:

Deb said...

When there's a menu with too many choices----I get all flustered...

I have satelite TV with over 800 channels, and I don't know what to watch.

It's a huge dilemma. The only time I watch TV is on Sunday nights (The L Word & The Sopranos) and when American Idol is on. That's it.

Feng shui away baby!

mikster said...

Don't let any moving interfere with March Madness....there are priorities yanno!

and....

A post I totally agree with.

mikster said...

Notice how Deb always likes to be on top?...Not that I'm complaining.

*snickers*

Kelly said...

I try to limit the amount of tv I watch a week. My husband and I recently limited ourselves to only 5 hours of tv a week, not including 1/2 of news a day and two hours of political news programs on Sunday. I am enjoying the free time by surfing the net and reading books.

Bee said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Bee said...

The TV in my house is ALWAYS on. Even if we are not watching it, it stays on with very low volume. We use it as background noise. Ha.

Leesa said...

~deb: I have fewer channels than I had as a child. Reception sucks because most people have cable/satalite.

mike: I did my brackets.

shannon: If I could find out when Will and Grace was on, I would watch.

mike: with ~deb, I like to be underneath.

myutopia: I don't set limits for me, it just works out that way.

bee: we use music as background noise, but not all of the time. It is hard to read sometimes with music on.

VX: I don't have cable either!

Boris Yeltsin said...

There's a restaurant in this tiny little Catholic village (if you've ever been there, you'd know why I classify it as a Catholic village) but this restaurant has 2 menu options: BBQ chicken and BBQ ribs - that's it. They don't do rib-offs, they don't do other things - except you can go to the bar and order homemade sausage, hot dogs and bologna - to go.

They've got a full bar, but don't you dare order a mixed drink unless the recipe and the name of the drink are one in the same. (Rum and Coke, 7&7, etc.)

Better get there before 5 PM (they open at 4) or you'll be standing in line for at least 2 hours! I swear when this restaurant is open, the population of the town triples.

It's a half hour drive from where I live, and people from here go there all the damn time.

Funny huh?

Oh yeah: I like American Idol too!

UnHoly Diver said...

I have cable and have had satellite in the past and, with a few exceptions, I still watch the same channels I did as a child, lo those many years ago.

TrappedInColorado said...

Canned laughter disgusts me. TV is insidiously evil. Turn off the news, America! You'll be a better country for it.
HBO does not count. Nor does the Discovery Channel. TCM is amazing considering those commercial free movies are free!

Ever notice when you go out to eat and there is a tv on, intelligent people will be like deer in headlights? Sad.

Peace

Leesa said...

boris: my kind of restaurant. Probably no advertising.

bruce: I understand.

trapped: sometimes the canned laugh track is the only way you can tell when something is suppose to be funny.

Joe said...

Always always always wait until after the first weekend is over to do things like that.

I find myself watching less and less TV these days too. Too much quantity, not nearly enough quality.