I've been reading a few blogs here and there over the last three months. You know what the most talked about topic is? TV. It amazes me. Absolutely. The more time I spend out of the country, the more I notice what an enormous role television seems to play in American social life. It's all anyone seems to talk about.
Ok, that's an exagerration. But I would still argue that, on blogs anyway, TV takes up about 50% of the entry space. This is so foreign to me - I haven't turned on my TV in over six months. Literally. I'm not saying that in that haughty way that people say, "I don't OWN a television." I'm just clarifying that I am way out of the television loop. It just doesn't occur to me to watch it. Why would I want to waste away like that? Were I to return to the States, I'm under the impression that I would HAVE to start watching, just to keep up with everyone else. Just to be able to participate during social gatherings. To get the jokes, to sing the theme songs, to gossip about the characters.
That's a scary thing.
I heard somewhere that the average American watches seven hours of tv a day. While 56.78% of statitics are pulled right out of the writer's ass, I'm starting to think this one might be true.
What happened to books? The outdoors? Reality? Oh, wait...that's right...reality TV. Now that's a mindbender.
This is an interesting issue! I experienced the same thing coming back to Sweden after having lived in Austria for a year. I was out of the television loop too and when people mentioned this or that tv-show I didn�t have clue about what they were talking about. I came home in July last year and haven�t really bothered to catch up either so I�m still out of the loop :-) I hope it doesn�t sound haught ;) but I have actully started to read. Alot. More then I have done for years. And that feels good :-) By the way, I really like your way of writing! Odessa Street is bookmarked!
Hey Steffanie, thanks! Nothing feels better than positive feedback. Besides a good backrub. I agree with you though: no tv = more books. I read about three a week. I was going to go on to talk about my book obsession, but I thought I would just stick to the tv topic for that post. I'm a little longwinded, and keeping my topics focused helps that. Only sometimes. (exhibit A: this comment)
hey lee. lovin' your site. truly. gonna mark it. and i totally agree w/ you - americans are UBERobsessed w/ this tv business. not liking that too much, but i myself am a little addicted to some show. eh - what can i say? i'm american. (ugh.) gotta love my latin prof tho - he doesn't have a tv at all ... he IS a classics man, tho. anyway yeah. excuse my random tangent. books. rock on.
It's true. I can't seem to go more than a few hours at my office without someone starting a conversation about TV. Of course, I can't contribute much because I spend all my time at work and never have time to turn on the TV (not that I would if I did have the time, mind you...)
It is so easy for me to drift into a fantasy life of little TV. It's not in the cards though. My partner and my ex both love/loved TV. It is near impossible to escape it when all you hear is "Sherrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry" you just have to see this or you get the feeling that they are being neglected if you do not cozy up during these times. I admitedly have caved somewhat. It is a losing battle in this house. Perhaps when my daughter is older, we can gang up and get the TV switched off often more often but shhh...this is my secret plan ;)! LOL. Until then, it is a losing battle!
I posted the above, walked over to my partner, and said, "hey, you know we really should read books and stuff more togtether...you know, do some intellectual things.". My response was "that's great, but our programs are on tonight".
Need I say more? Losing battle