Ten on Tuesday

Today's topic from our fearless leader: Ten Things to Do instead of Watching TV:

1.  Read. I'd put money on that this will be on every post.

2.  Sit on the deck and laugh at the dogs' antics.

3.  Take the kayaks out for a paddle.

4.  Go for a bike ride.

5.  Collect flowers to identify and press.

6.  Try a new recipe or make a familiar one.

7.  Meet up with friends to knit.

8.  Write.

9.  Paint.

10.  Clean out a closet.

Okay, maybe #10 isn't much fun, but I finally cleaned our linen closet last week.  It was a dee-zas-ter!  I sorted and tossed and refolded and organized, and now this thing that made me anxious every time I opened the door makes me happy.  

From 1992 until 2006, I didn't have television.  The apartment in which I lived from '92-'00 had terrible reception, and my budget was too tight to pay for cable.  It was an easy thing to do without.  I still watched movies on the vcr, but I missed a lot of shows that became cultural references.  When I bought my tiny co-op in 2000, there simply wasn't room for the tv anymore, so I no longer even watched movies. I read a LOT.  I was in school for my bachelor's and two and a half master's degrees during the no tv years.  I once had a peer ask how I could always be up on the reading.  My answer? "I don't have a tv."  She was shocked, stunned, completely unprepared to give up hers.  Look, I wanted to say. I don't judge.  I don't care if you would rather watch tv than read Homer.  To each her own.

Everything changed when I moved in with Neal.  He loves to watch sports.  He's into a lot of History channel shows that don't seem too historically based to me.  I hang out with him when he's watching these things (knitting!), but usually if I'm in the room, unless his dearest darling Cards are playing, we watch something on dvd.

I would ditch the tv again in a second.  There is just too much wonderful (and sometimes practical) stuff to feed my mind and occupy my time with to want a serious relationship with tv. Now and again, though, it's fun to flirt with!

Comments

[Laurie]

I could easily live without at TV. Sometimes I think we only have it because we have the cable/internet/phone bundle. I remember how upset I was when my mother bought me a TV when I moved into my first apartment - she said she couldn't bear the thought of me living alone without a TV. Should I have told her I was always out partying and never home to watch it??? ;-) Over 20 years later, I gave that same TV to my stepdaughter when she got her own place, and it still worked!

I, too, have not seen most of the popular TV shows over the past 30 years. Like you, too many other interesting things to do!

[Christina Scovel]

Wow. Your story is very similar to mine. I didn't watch tv for a good 8 years and they were a great 8 years filled with a lot of other fun and entertaining things. My husband now loves to watch movies and sci-fi shows. Which we watch. But, again I normally knit or spin while the tv is on. We have no tv night in our house once a week. Which is always fun. And when he is gone ... well it doesn't even kick on!

[Seanna Lea]

I could miss television in a heartbeat. I used to watch a lot and play video games (blame my husband for that one), but I felt like I had nothing to show for my time. I would rather have no television and just read or knit or weave or do something with a lingering benefit.

[Carole]

A great list. And I totally agree that an awful lot of shows on the History Channel really have nothing to do with history.