Do you watch TV

[julia]

Just curious - does anyone on this board go without television or are you avid watchers? Just wondering because we've just made the decision to get rid of our television - we've decided to become out of touch with fantasy. I've called a women's shelter and asked if they'd like a tv, vcr and dvd player - I'm wasting entirely too much time on television and have decided to cut the habit.

[tbb113]

I own 3 televisions, but I watch very little of it! There is one in the family room, one in my oldest son's room and one in the study. The youngest son (almost 11) is my tv addict (Nick, cartoons and PS2 games mainly). The older son (almost 14) watches occasionally but uses it more for playing PS2 games. I watch a few shows regularly but my evenings seem to be filled with cooking/cleaning/laundry and homework supervision (which is why oldest son doesn't watch to much tv, younger son doesn't seem to have homework this year).

Tyra

[aggie94]

We only own one TV (DH broke the one in the bedroom). I'll admit, I'm addicted to TV and could never imagine living without out. Sure, I probably waste a lot of what-could-otherwise-be-productive time watching TV, but after a long exhausting day at work, sometimes all I want to do is relax in front of the TV and watch something mindless and entertaining.

[misstapioca]

I have 2 Tv's. One in the living room hooked up to a dvd player and one in the bedroom hooked up to a vcr & a dvd player. I do not have any channels at all, not even local or public tv. All I have them for is movie watching and dvd sets of different series..(6 ft under,buffy,x-files,angel etc) Lots of my friends think that is strange and assume I dont know what's going on in the world but I tell you I feel much more informed by listening to NPR and BBC news on NPR. I also read more books now. I started this last Oct. anyways cable Tv is too expensive.

[Lmaiocchi]

We've got two but we hardly watch the one in the bedroom since theres not electric plug in there. ( which is really annoying and odd, but i guess thats was a get living in a old building turning in to apartment). As for the one in the living room i only listen to to as background noice when i'm cleaning. Unless on of my shows are on. Can't miss Sunday night on HBO

Take care all
lisa

[funnybone]

We have 3 sets. I don't watch TV during the day, with the exception of Fox News, but I do watch in the evenings. I'm not addicted (you probably don't believe me with my postings of AI, Bachelor, Mr. Personality, 24, etc). Those are basically the only shows I do watch (and ER as well). Most of these will be over with for the season, so I will not be tied to any TV for months.

I don't think there is anything wrong with watching TV - unless you are watching Jerry Springer 24/7. You are a brave soul parting with your TV - I WOULD never and COULD never do it.

If you get rid of the TV, how will you rent movies? Or do you not do that? I'd get rid of cable before I got rid of the set itself.

[mandarin2j]

We moved the tv into the living room to free up the basement bedroom for a friend who's renting it from us. Big mistake! We need to banish it back to the basement, unplugged, for awhile. I'm watching tv that adds nothing to my worldview...stuff I don't even particularly enjoy. :rolleyes: I'm just watching 'cause I'm bored. I think we'll move it after the AI winner is announced tomorrow... :o ;)

[Vicanddi]

We have 2 tv's, one downstairs in the living room, and one upstairs, in our bedroom. We watch a fair amount of tv, although I've noticed I've watched a lot less lately. I have been spending more time cooking, looking through magazines, and reading cookbooks! My DH watches some tv at night. One tv has a DVD player and a VCR hooked to it, and the other, just a VCR. But, we really don't rent or buy movies much. Guess it's kind of a waste, since we really don't use it.

My DH has really been wanting to buy one of those flat screen tv's that you can hang on the wall! :rolleyes: :confused: So far, I've managed to talk him out of it. Don't really want one of those big things hanging on the wall like a picture! I think it's the latest trend.

[lorilei]

We have one television. ANd a VCR.

I'm an advocate for getting RID of television altogether, but we haven't taken this step for three main reasons:

[list=1]
Television news/weather (which I mainly watch in the morning) -- this is not the GREATEST reason, since I also keep up on NPR
PBS (which is honestly the bulk of what we watch WHEN we watch)
The ability to rent movies (cheaper than the outrageously priced theatre)
[/list=1]


I don't believe that television should have taken over the lives of Americans as it has. I think we should spend more time reading, talking, walking out-of-doors, and spending time with one another (or just poring over a good meal... whatever). But we've chosen to limit our TV usage rather than obliterating it.

[badunnin]

We have 3, but never use the one. It sits in front of the treadmill that we also never use. The one in the family room is used for Simpson's, Raymond (mom) and sports, mainly hockey. I watch mainly hockey, CBC, and PBS. Foodtv on occassion.

[Alethea]

Just one, a little 13" with rabbit ears (no cable) that I've had since college. I'm waiting for it to die, because I want to see how long I can go without replacing it. The only things I do use it for are weather reports, PBS, and occasionally movies, but there I'm more likely to take advantage of BF's DVD player.

Funny story. My parents didn't have a t.v. for the first couple years of my life. When we visited someone with a t.v. for the first time that I was old enough to really notice it, everyone thought I would be entranced by it. But I got so angry and frustrated with it, because I was so used to storybooks and wanted to be able to go back. I kept trying to push and slap the screen, because I wanted to turn the page!

[wallycat]

I voted one...voted too quickly before reading the actual question :o
We have a very old, old, old one in the basement for exercise time; we have one in the living room.
DH wants a plasma TV more than I could imagine ....

I am, unfortunately, joined at the hip to my TV. I know I waste more time than is decent, especially considering that I claim I can't get to reading fiction or completing a knitting project....it's my curse.

[stefania4]

We watch The Simpsons, West Wing, and DH watches 24. That's it. On occasion, when he has sent out press releases (he's in politics), we watch the news.

[sneezles]

We own lots of TVs (5 in the main house, 1 in each of the guest houses, 2 at the bar, and 2 in the boys house up at school). DH and I watch maybe 3 hours a night about 5 nights/week. DS#3 has his on all the time but is doing other things at the same time (either on the computer or practicing his guitar). The ones at the bar are only on if there is a sporting event someone wants to watch but without any volume and the small one is for karaoke.

We do have a giant screen in the family room with surround sound and dvd hooked up. Living an hours drive from the movie theatre (one way) and the cost of a ticket we decided it was much nicer to watch them at home at our leisure.

I don't think we're a family that is consumed with watching. There are many evenings we'd rather visit with friends or just sit out on the porch.

[Little Bit]

We have several tvs, in different rooms. Addicted? Not really, but I do watch regularly, and always have. I used to watch far more than I do now, but in recent years I've cut way back.

I do have tapes of Buffy and Angel that I bought from the UK, and play on a vcr that can convert them for my US tv, so I'm not exactly starved for options.

The way I see it, the expense of cable is minimal compared to the cost of renting films or going out, especially when we have company. With my vcr, I can record all sorts of stuff and suit my watching to my own schedule.

I also love watching my favorite films while I do something else around the house.
Since I don't get out much it breaks up the tedium.

We do only have basic cable, though. HBO, etc. just isn't worth it to me.

[KristinK]

I personally own 1 TV (a gift from DBF) - it's now in my bedroom at our shore house. And we have 3 others there. But we have 7 :eek: in our house here. When I move in with DBF, we'll have just 2.

So, yes, we watch A LOT of TV around here.

[RebeccaT]

We have 3, one in the study (otherwise known as DH's cave, where he goes to watch football and hang out when he wants to be by himself), one in the living room (the main one, with Tivo), and one in our bedroom.

We watch the one in our bedroom in the AM (gotta have my Matt Lauer), and DH likes to watch Letterman before going to bed. Aside from that, we probably watch about 4-5 hours of tv a week, much of it recorded on Tivo so we can watch at our leisure. I like having tv for when I don't have anything else to do, but lately it seems like there's always something else! :)

[shoefling]

We have 2, one in the bedroom and one in the family room along with a DVD player and a VCR. I could never give them up! I watch a fair amount of TV but the amount varies depending on what else I have going on. Alot of times the tv is on for background noise. And I usually cross stitch while I am watching tv so I still feel like I am doing something. I mostly watch TLC, Food TV, and HGTV. Also can't miss Sunday nights on HBO, but I don't watch The Wire. Sopranos, Sex in the City, Oz (before it ended)-those we watched every week!

[Dewey]

We have two, but we don't watch much TV. One is downstairs, and I always watch for an hour while I workout (6 days/week). The other one is used mostly for watching movies (DVDs) and since we don't have a stereo, we often tune it to one of the satellite music stations (usually classical or jazz.)

[LaraW]

We have 2 TV's - one in the family room and one in an upstairs bedroom. We probably watch about 4 or 5 shows in a week, sometimes more if we watch the news. I like to watch TV while I work on ironing or something like that. I'd probably be OK getting rid of it - in the summertime the only thing we watch is movies we have rented.

[amanda]

None. Got rid of 2 TVs when we moved. There is a TV in the gym at my apartment complex, so if I want to watch TV (pretty much 24, the Simpsons and Foodtv) I work out. It's good motivation. I don't miss having one and I'm glad I don't.
I can play DVDs on my computer, though, and watch a couple of movies a week.

[KValley]

We have a VCR and DVD (and obviously a television!)- we love movies. Our Friday unwind-veg "date" is eating dinner sitting on the sofa, watching a video (or rather, me- falling asleep watching a video :rolleyes: ). We have a standing agreement that movie rentals are for weekends only.

But we haven't had "TV" (stations/cable/satellite/rabbit ears/whatever) in years- don't miss it for a single moment and fervently believe that we, as individuals and as a couple, are far better for having ditched the tube- happier, healthier, more deeply and objectively informed, more well-read. It's a very personal decision and we had to go the "all or nothing" route. I'm relieved that we came about the decision together and that we believe in raising our eventual children in a TV-free environment (at home- not like TV is evil and they can't EVER watch it; but no video games either, sorry!). DH and I were both raised in homes where TV was either banished completely or strictly limited and although we groused as kids, we are so grateful to our parents now.

Can't think of a single redeeming quality of television that a book, a long walk, a newspaper, a good movie, a real conversation, a CD can't impart ten times better (that isn't to say that television doesn't have redeeming qualities- it just can't compare to the "real thing").

It's not that I'm against TV per se (well, okay, I am ;) - it's that there is so much to do in life that brings me real joy, relaxation, learning. I'd rather be out living my life than watch others pretending at theirs.
JMHO! :)

[wallycat]

Originally posted by KValley
Can't think of a single redeeming quality of television that a book, a long walk, a newspaper, a good movie, a real conversation, a CD can't impart ten times better.
JMHO! :)

OK, one redeeming quality:
my dad got a TV as soon as we got to America so we (especially us kids) could learn the language quickly. We picked it up in 3 months :eek:
Of course, it helped that I was 5 :confused:
(warning: this method did NOT work for me in France :o :rolleyes: :eek: ;) ).

[MusicMom]

We have one television with a VCR and DVD player. We mainly turn it on after the kids go to bed just to relax, but lately I've preferred reading to watching the tv. Every now and then I'll turn on Food TV, HGTV, or HBO. West Wing is the only show I try to see on a regular basis, but I don't make the effort to tape it if I'm not around. I do enjoy watching DVDs when we have time because of the special features.

The kids don't even watch it all that much. Sometimes after homework, usually when folding laundry. ;)

[Natasha3]

No TV here -- well, we have one, but no cable and satellite which means we get zero channels. We do have a DVD and VCR which we use to watch a movie or two a week, but that's it. We wouldn't pay for cable/satellite since we find that it is already hard enough to find time to do all the things we want to do!! If something comes on that we really really want to see (rare), we go to a friend's place or else my sister will tape it for us.

The one time a year I miss having TV is when the hockey playoffs are on. :) As for my husband, he misses TV a little bit when the hockey playoffs are on, but especially for the few days when Eco Challenge is on. :p Other than that, it's no loss to us!

Natasha

[julia]

[i]

If you get rid of the TV, how will you rent movies? Or do you not do that? I'd get rid of cable before I got rid of the set itself. [/B]

Actually we haven't been renting movies lately. We've bought them, but rarely rent. We've decided that we would rather go to a real movie.

[Melman]

There are three tv's in the house right now for 2 people. Two tv's belong to my son though. He keeps one in his dorm room (but isn't in a dorm this summer) and the other in his room here at the house. There's also a tv in the den. Right now, my total tv time amounts to American Idol (only one more night of that). If I remember to turn on the tv, I usually watch TLC on Saturday nights for "Trading Spaces" and that "Let's take an ugly wardrobe and give someone $5,000 to buy a better one" show or whatever it's called. On Sunday (the day before Memorial Day), there's an Alton Brown marathon that I'll tape, and I think he has some new shows starting in the next week or so.

Other than that, I don't even bother turning on the tv at all. I usually listen to the radio or to CD's.

[Peggy]

We own one TV, don't have cable, and watch maybe one TV program a month (usually PBS). The main reason we still have a TV in the house is to watch video rentals. Our Friday night relaxation is usually eating dinner in front of the TV to watch a video.

Peggy

[beejayw1]

Originally posted by julia
we've just made the decision to get rid of our television - we've decided to become out of touch with fantasy. I've called a women's shelter and asked if they'd like a tv, vcr and dvd player - I'm wasting entirely too much time on television and have decided to cut the habit.

When I moved to New Hampshire, money was tight and I couldn't afford the monthly cable bill. And without cable, TV reception was terrible. As a result, for a couple years there was no TV.

I didn't miss it, though my guests were somewhat put out (especially those that watched ER, for example, or LA Law).

I live in CT now, and my housemate has a TV with cable. I watch Rachael Ray most afternoons (yesterday's show was disgusting) but the rest of the time I can take it or leave it. Frankly, I get more writing done if I don't have a TV.

Good show with giving yours away!

[scrappycat]

We have 3 tv's, one in family room, one in the basement and one in my daughters' room.

We have digital cable. I really enjoy tv as sort of a mindless way to just relax. Most of the evenings, I sit down in front of the tv, but I'm usually looking at a cookbook or a magazine at the same time.

We have a few shows we watch regularly, and the food channel is almost always on during the day on Saturday or Sunday. We also have digital music, so if we're not watching the food network, we are listening to music.

Pam

[SandyM]

We have 3 - a 19" in the livingroom, which usually has the news or hockey on; a 13" in the kitchen, which usually has cooking shows on, and a 27" in the basement (family room) which usually has music channels on (not VH1 or MTV, but satellite channels).

We pay far too much of a monthly bill for the dish when we really use it so little.

Although I did get sucked into the last 3 episodes of American Idol...... :o :p :D

[Terrytx]

4-a small one in the kitchen that I mainly listen to the news while cooking in the evening, the family room where DD has the most control-but there are a few things we like to watch, the DH and my bedroom for movies and an occasional TV show, and in the "game room" that the kids play game on. All in all, we don't watch a whole lot, too much other stuff going on.

[gertdog]

We have one in our living room and a small one in our bedroom. The one in the living room is new- we just bought it in February. It is the first TV we've owned that has a remote control! :o

We watch too much TV, though the one in the bedroom is almost never used.

I did not have a television for my first 4 years of graduate school, though I did watch some shows at friends' homes. Then I got a TV and VCR but no cable. Then I moved in with DH (DBF at the time) and it was all over.

Recently we've been discussing turning the TV off for the summer and seeing how we feel about that.

[colleency]

We stopped watching tv on 9/11. I couldn't get the images of the planes crashing out of my head. And I found that when I watched tv, I couldn't function at all. So we stopped watching.

When we moved 1 1/2 years ago, we had to make a decision between paying for cable modem and paying for cable tv (without cable, we get a couply of channels, but very fuzzy). A few months ago, our cable company was bought out and they forced us to get cable tv in order to keep our cable modem price increase down. Lifeline cable (broadcast channels only) costs $10 a month. If we didn't buy that, they were going to raise our modem $15 a month. Grrrr.

But we still don't watch tv as such. I really can't stand the commercials. We taped Manor House on PBS. But other than that we watch DVDs. And mostly we don't even have time for that anymore. I'm trying to figure out how I managed to get anything done at all when we did watch tv, because we used to watch a lot.

[swquilts]

We have 3. One in the LR, one in the room where I use the treadmill and one is in the shop for DH to watch racing.

I usually end up reading a book or a magazine while in front of the TV. We have satellite so sometimes I'll change the channel to a music station and listen to that, commercial free!

[kristalsnow7]

Originally posted by julia
Just curious - does anyone on this board go without television or are you avid watchers? Just wondering because we've just made the decision to get rid of our television - we've decided to become out of touch with fantasy. I've called a women's shelter and asked if they'd like a tv, vcr and dvd player - I'm wasting entirely too much time on television and have decided to cut the habit.

I have one TV, no cable, and watch a few shows here and there. I always feel like I've really wasted my time, though, every time I've watched something. I've been thinking for a long time about giving up TV, and this thread has really inspired me to do so. Anyone else care to join me? How about a "Six weeks with no TV" thread, similar to the "Six weeks without sweets"? :D I'll still keep the TV for renting movies, but that will be the only time I turn the set on. Thanks, Julia!!

Kristal

[Alethea]

Originally posted by kristalsnow7

Anyone else care to join me? How about a "Six weeks with no TV" thread, similar to the "Six weeks without sweets"? :D

I'd be totally game!
-Thea

[kristalsnow7]

Originally posted by Alethea


I'd be totally game!
-Thea


Excellent! I'm going to "start" tonight. I'm excited! :D


Kristal

[JenniferJJ]

Just one - with a VCR.

Actually, when I moved in my house four years I went without a TV for more than a year and a half. I had rearranged my work schedule so much for appointments relative to buying my house that I just didn't feel like doing it anymore to wait for the cable guy (and the reception would just be fuzzy without cable). I also didn't care so much since I only had a small TV. I thought I'd do so much more "productive" stuff, and I'm not sure if I did. After a while, I did miss a few shows. Also, I felt a little out of touch with some of the culture things that come from TV. People would talk about the latest commercials and I'd just stare at them blankly. Also, I missed some big news events during my TV hiatus. I find that I don't watch too many planned programs, but will often watch just to either have noise (I live by myself) or to unwind (uh, maybe I could do the dishes and then read, hmmm.)

After a year and a half, I got a bigger TV and then cable.

[Alethea]

Okay Kristal, I started last night too. It felt great to me, and I had no desire to sneak a peek at anything. However, my BF may take some convincing on this. Though we don't technically live together, he's here a lot of the time, and he is a complete techno and mediaphile. He spent last night on the web while I was reading, but I could see this being interesting. As long as I'm not in the room, he can go for it, but I'll stick with nothing but movie rentals for me.

[kristalsnow7]

Originally posted by Alethea
Okay Kristal, I started last night too. It felt great to me, and I had no desire to sneak a peek at anything. However, my BF may take some convincing on this. Though we don't technically live together, he's here a lot of the time, and he is a complete techno and mediaphile. He spent last night on the web while I was reading, but I could see this being interesting. As long as I'm not in the room, he can go for it, but I'll stick with nothing but movie rentals for me.


I've gone two nights without TV, and it feels great to me, too! We have very similar situations: I live alone, but have a TV-addicted BF who comes over all the time. He knows I don't like TV that much, so he usually doesn't watch as much as he does at his place, but I'm curious to see how this will play out. I have a feeling he's going to be spending more time at his place until the 6 weeks are up! :p

I took advantage of my "free time" last night and played the piano for well over an hour. I haven't done that in ages, and it was really wonderful.

Kristal

[lhall]

We have 4 tvs.

One in the sunroom, one small on in the kitchen, one in the living room and one in our bedroom.

The one in the kitchen has a built in dvd player and can also go in the car (NEVER for trips under 3 hours). I use it to watch/listen to the news/weather in the mornings and to do my yoga workouts. If I use the sunroom tv/dvd I have to move a table. We have a dvd player in the sunroom, and a vcr in the living room and our bedroom.

We don't watch a whole lot of TV. The kids watch 1-2 hours a day, but rarely more. We might use the tv in the bedroom 2 or 3 times a month. Otherwise, we have a few shows we watch, and we rent a lot of movies. I don't watch everynight, and rarely more than 2 hours at a time.

Leigh

[AD]

I don't really stay glued to the TV much but my mother and I will often leave it on just to keep us company. We aren't very social, so the TV is important to us. Between the two of us, we have four sets, (and may soon get another for the bathroom). We've always had cable. Still, I find most of what's on is either boring, violent, immoral, or downright disgusting. I usually just leave the Weather Channel or Food Channel on without paying much attention while I do other things (cooking, cleaning, etc.). The only shows I actually watch are Judge Judy and, with my mother, Suze Orman (mainly for humor). I used to like the Golden Girls, but I've already memorized every single episode. Also, my mother has to see her soap operas :rolleyes:

[bluestocking]

It's funny that you ask this now- we just got through being a Nielsen (sp?) family for a week! We thought it was a riot to be charting our viewing habits...we own one TV, that seems like enough! (just DH & me) Over the course of 7 days we watched TV for 9 hours. 4 of those hours were after 12:00 when DH was sleeping on the couch!:D We aren't fanatically anti-TV and I'm glad we have it for special events or important news stuff, but we just don't seem to have it on unless we have a purpose. We get our news from papers, Newsweek, and NPR, and our entertainment from music, books, hobbies, etc. I teach school and my kids are stunned that we don't have a TV in our bedroom- they all do!

[HejazSunKat]

I could never give up TV, I do love 'my shows' but aside from watching a few selected programs I don't have much time for the boob tube. I WOULD like to get better news programming though and when I get home for good I want to see if I can get BBC or some other non-US news format in addition to the home grown stuff just to have some balance and perspective. I've come to hate US news programming with it's constant hysteria: 'Breaking News!' 'Terror Alert!' 'America Freaks Out!' not to mention how busy the screens have gotten. I'm a Libra for God's sake, it's too much for me.

[kristalsnow7]

I saw someone had revived an old cable TV thread, and that made me remember this one. I pledged to give up TV for 6 weeks, and I did it, no problem! How about you, Thea? And how's it going without TV at all, Julia?

[CompassRose]

I just want to say that KValley, on the first page of this thread, is my hero.

We also have a TV, and a VCR, but that's because our livingroom is more comfortable, cheaper, and less sticky, than Silver City. Nor are we such devoted media slaves that we cannot wait until the latest movie comes to the local indy video store.

I buy a lot of kitchen magazines (questing for ideas for my one-day-to-be-renovated kitchen) and cannot believe the number of designs in which a TV is treated as a fundamental essential for the complete kitchen. TV in every room. TVs in the bathroom, too, presumably.

Apologies to anyone who might indeed have a screen over the potty, but that's totally pathetic.

[kwormann]

Originally posted by CompassRose
I just want to say that KValley, on the first page of this thread, is my hero.


Julie has been my hero ever since I have "known" her!!!

[badunnin]

Originally posted by CompassRose

Apologies to anyone who might indeed have a screen over the potty, but that's totally pathetic.
No screen above the potty! It's on the wall opposite! :D j/k!

[CompassRose]

As a matter of fact, speaking of screens in the potty, I was in Ottawa a few months ago, and went to eat at a lovely bistro in the Market... called, if I remember right, The Black Cat.

I went to the bathroom, and there in the floor in front of the facility was a television under glass tile! With the channel-changer handily placed conveniently near the elbow of the average sitter.

(And a hand-lettered sign on the door: Please limit your stay to five minutes.)

:D

[Alethea]

Kristal, thanks for bumping this thread up again. I meant to when after the 6 weeks was up, but forgot.:o I too successfully avoided, banned, shunned, etc. tv for six weeks, and it felt great! There was only 1 day when I felt the urge to lose myself in the mindlessness. It was a tough, depressing day all around, but I went for a run instead, which was great. And, now that the 6 weeks are up, I feel very reticent to turn the tube on again.

Thanks for starting the challenge; I'm very glad you did! :D

-Thea

[jmarie]

Who has time for TV? I can't get away from www.cookinglight.com/community! :D

[msbillie]

We have 4 tvs, but I'm not addicted to it. I think my other family members are.:eek: My dh bought me a real cool flat-screen tv for the kitchen, but I rarely watch it, it's mostly on when I'm busy in the kitchen and I don't pay attention (I know, sounds crazy). I don't sit and watch tv, because by that time I'm too tired and I fall asleep

[kristalsnow7]

Originally posted by jmarie
Who has time for TV? I can't get away from www.cookinglight.com/community! :D

Uh, ditto! :p

[Alisa]

We have one but I don't know why. Pretty expensive plant stand.

Books are lovely.

[Little Bit]

Last night I watched the first installment of the PBS series on Henry VIII and all his wives. That's the first bit of tv I've watched start to finish in a WHILE.
I do tend to turn on the tv when I make dinner or clean the kitchen, but more for the company of the noise than the content of the show.

I haven't even watched Monk or Dead Zone this summer, either. Neither one seemed as much fun when the new episodes started again, so I haven't bothered.

[julia]

Originally posted by kristalsnow7
I saw someone had revived an old cable TV thread, and that made me remember this one. I pledged to give up TV for 6 weeks, and I did it, no problem! How about you, Thea? And how's it going without TV at all, Julia?

It's going just fine, thanks kristal - no withdrawal, no shakes, no nothing - I absolutely don't miss it - spending more time with the husband, going for walks, getting creative with cooking and reading more. Best decision I ever made.

[cindyluwho]

I used to watch a TON of tv as a kid, and would still watch when I was in college. But my first year of grad school was insanely busy, and I think I watched about 2 hours total that year in the grad student lounge and at a friend's house. I realized that I get alot more done when I don't watch tv! So I decided not to have one, and none of my roommates have wanted a tv, at least not in the common space. Well, technically I have a tv, but it has been sitting on a high shelf in my closet for the past 4 years and has no antenna, so I have only watched it once when I was very sick and had nothing to do for 2 weeks. I recently got a laptop computer with a DVD player, so I can watch movies now, but that seems very different to me from vegging out in front of the tv every night.

The drawback is that half the time I am not sure what people are talking about when it comes to popular tv culture, and I do not get the same news coverage that most people get. So I don't exactly have my finger on the pulse of American culture, so to speak, and I don't quite know what my European friends are talking about when they complain about what they perceive to be the propaganda in tv newscasts, especially Fox news, since that is not where I get my news from.