Sunday Reflection On Television
Just when you think you have it mastered…
We don’t own a television.
And I feel pretty good about that.
Oh sure, it causes a bit of consternation among acquaintances.
‘You mean, you don’t have any TVs in your house? At all?’
And I find I reply, with a smidgeon of smugness—
‘Nary a one.’
But…
(and here’s where my smugness bites me in the bum)
…a television isn’t necessary to waste copious amounts of time.
It’s called Fancast.
Television programs…not on television.
I can watch just about any popular show I want when I want.
With limited commercial interruption.
And I do.
And I waste time.
Just like I did when we had a television.
Bugger.
Okay, so I’m not getting rid of the computer.
But now that I know my weakness, things need to change.
Nothing radical, but a tweak here and there.
Because time is finite and precious.
And there are books to read…
And gardens to plan…
And gifts to knit…
And dogs to walk…
And children to enjoy…
Which therefore leaves less time to drop in on the Gilmore girls in Stars Hollow…
or House in Princeton…
or the CSIers in Las Vegas…
or Temperance and Booth in DC…
or the Epps brothers…
or 30 Rockefeller Plaza…
or…
‘Lost time is never found again.’
Benjamin Franklin
We don’t have a television either, but we do watch shows on BBC iPlayer and DVD via the computer, so we’re not completely innocent…
I so love the Gilmore Girls, but we’re stuck in season 3 as the rest of the series still hasn’t been released on DVD in the UK–aaargh!
K x
15 Mar 2009 at 10:36 am
Hi Cheryl,
), and if you are using Mozilla Firefox as a browser, the solution has a name: Leechblock (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4476)! I don’t know whether there are similar things for other browsers, but leechblock is just what you need 
I like reading your blog very much, even if we don’t know each other. Found you via googling knitting blogs, but I enjoy your descriptions of life just as well!
I know the predicament you’re in (being a sometimes bored psychology student from Germany
Hope you blog about your solution!
Cheers,
Sophie
15 Mar 2009 at 11:21 am
I’ve been trying to cut down on time in front of the TV, so I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that link for watching TV on the computer. Nope, it wasn’t there. Computers are useful tools, not delightful ways to waste hours. Yup, that’s what I’m telling myself.
15 Mar 2009 at 11:43 am
we do have one small tv – but I hide my bad conscience that I do watch three of the series on your list by knitting copiously at the same time:)) as an elderly lady I recently overheard, said: you know, they have a button to switch them off:)) I don’t like it though, when I come into a house and there is a tv in every room and usually all of them are running full speed, even if nobody is in the room:(( or people who claim that they have no time for anything and at the same time they recount every single soap story that runs on tv!
the downside of using the computer for this is that noone else can use it for what it’s been made for – that’s my 2nd reason for using the tv:)) now, why do I try to explain why I do watch tv – sometimes????
15 Mar 2009 at 2:27 pm
If I didn’t have a computer, I’d be in a constant war against becoming a couch potato. I don’t watch much tv online…er I should say I haven’t in the past. I recently discovered a lot of the old British sitcoms I love are now available for instant viewing on netflix (YeeHaw!). My biggest time-waster is the internet, itself. I’m always looking for knitting patterns, reading blogs, commenting on blogs, e-mailing, answering e-mails. There aren’t enough hours in the day!
Oh, I’m a big fan of the Gilmore Girls, too.
15 Mar 2009 at 11:51 pm
I think I could live happily without a TV (and did, back in the day before we could afford cable or satellite — mountains, ya know), so long as someone bought me each season’s House and Monk and every movie on TCM.
I knit to audio books — the really dry ones that are hard to get through and you’re only glad you’ve read after you’ve read them.
Of course, I only speak for myself. In another part of the house there is a constant round of MSNBC, CNBC and C-SPAN — and a large man yelling at all of them.
16 Mar 2009 at 8:18 am