Finally turning it off

For years I lived without a TV. I never had one in college, didn't have one after college, and I was grateful for the time I didn't waste staring at the idiot box, as my friends and family became increasingly invested in drivel such as Dancing With the Stars and Celebrity Goose Wrangler, or whatever.

But, I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the flickering appliance from time to time. And in the past year I've emerged a little from under my rock, watching some shows online. I'm pretty selective about my media intake, but damn -- 30Rock is funny, and so is The Office, and why shouldn't I get to enjoy like all my pears?

Then, shortly before I moved a former co-worker gave me an old TV that he didn't want. It really is an old TV -- from the vacuum tube era, and pride alone gave my brother the strength to carry it single handed up the stairs to my apartment (it would have taken at least two or three cyclists to move that behemoth.)

Now, I don't have an antennae, satellite or cable, but I do have a Roku box, which lets me stream content from the Internet on the TV. And so, for the past month or so, I've been watching way more than my fair share of TV. I don't feel good about it, but I find myself compelled to turn the damn thing on every evening.

With the TV on, I'm less productive, stay up later, and wind up with more typos here on GBBM. In fact, those are the very same reasons I cited for not owning or watching a TV for so many years. So tonight I made a concerted effort not to turn the TV on. Instead of repairing to my usual spot on the sofa, I'm making use of a sort-of-comfortable chair rescued from the trash following a friend's move, with my back to the TV (and to the construction zone currently occupying my living room, but that's a story for another day).

While sitting here tonight I worked on an essay I plan to submit to some non-fiction journals later this month, edited a bike review for work, and, of course, wrote this post. I also talked philosophy with the same friend who gave me the chair, discussing for a few moments a tendency we share to not buy things that might tempt us to unhealthy behavior, such as Oreos. If I bought Oreos, the package would be gone by the end of the day. I avoid temptation by simply skipping that aisle in the grocery store.

I suppose the TV is a little of the same. I love TV, but it's definitely in the "guilty pleasure" category for me, and flipping it on should be a treat, rather than a daily fix. Turning my back on it tonight was a good start, not unlike leaving the cookies in the store, but I think I'll need a better way to conceal it in the future -- if only so that I can return to the much more comfortable couch.

And look at that: Thanks to a TV-less night, I'm pushing "publish" well ahead of bed time, leaving me time to fold some laundry.