We Quit TV

We threw out our TV set today. More specifically, I threw out our TV today. No more TV. We quit and so far it feels really good.

After watching endless hours of mindless TV yesterday I got up, unplugged the set and gave it to a neighbor. It's best to just rip off the adhesive bandage quickly so it doesn't smart as much. Most of what we watch can be viewed on the Internet and the other shows we'll have to do with out. I admit that I'll miss watching Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer every Friday and Saturday night in the reruns of As Time Goes By. And I'll miss having another "instrument of avoidance" as I call them, a tool to which one uses to avoid doing something productive. The Internet, drinking coffee and sleeping are other instruments of avoidance and are readily accessible. Of course, I was looking forward to watching Penn State play in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day but I'll have to settle for Internet video highlights.

There are a lot of books on my shelves that will finally get read and I will complete more writing of my own. Still, I know that there are challenges ahead. As Homer Simpson keenly put it when he and his brood were sitting on the family sofa in front of a blank screen, "Quick! Turn something on, I'm starting to think!"