Category: life

Day 2: By the end of my second evening without television, I began to hallucinate. I thought Alex Trebeck was quizzing me on my knowledge of great Swiss military tacticians, and I kept losing money when I forgot to phrase my response in the form of a question. My reprieve came when Worf burst in and introduced Alex to his bat’leth. What is “the sound you make when you’re impaled by a Klingon blade”, Alex? I think I got that one right.

I eased my symptoms by watching This Hour Has 22 Minutes on my computer. They showed two episodes in a row, so that particular hour actually had 44 minutes. It’s less economical, but I still have 16 extra minutes at the end of it.

In the end, I never did start reading that book that’s on my coffee table. I’ll make that tomorrow’s project.

Lately I’ve become aware of how much of my life is lost to the television. How many nights have I spent channel-flipping mindlessly? What could I have accomplished had I turned it off?

Thus began my reintroduction to reality. Two nights ago, I removed my TV and DVD player to a safe location, with visions of sitting in my favourite armchair with a cup of something hot and having a really good read. Or spending some quality time writing that story I’ve had in the back of my mind. Or having the freedom to throw on my jacket and step out, regardless of which episode of Enterprise is on. I could live my life without needing to know if Giles will have his head lopped off or if Marge will have her boobs done.

Yesterday was my first full day without television. As I had some cleaning to do, I decided to turn on the— Doh!

Anyway, I distracted myself by rearranging the furniture so that the room didn’t focus on the the big, empty spot where the TV used to be. Then I sat on the couch, and considered how much this experiment was going to suck.

What will I do without a TV? I’m a hardened addict. And Shaw Cable is my dealer.

Day 1 ended pitifully. I started up my computer and watched Enterprise in a 3″ wide window. So very sad.

I lurk in the darkness.

I rise before dawn.

I hide from the daylight

and emerge after sunset.

I am a cubicle dweller. (Muah ha ha ha ha)

Cambie Street Bridge, pre-dawn. I think I need to clean the windshield.

Sunrise at Coal Harbour.