Canceling Cable

TV is a necessary evil in my life. I work with it on a daily basis, so generally it's a good idea to have it lying around...just in case. At least, that's what I initially thought. But, after having it around "just in case" for a couple of months, I've come to the disturbing conclusion that despite there being oodles and oodles of television, I just don't have (sigh) the attention span for it. I think I've found that having that many television stations has deteriorated my ability to focus on any one task, like, say, watching an entire program. Not only that, the only thing I end up watching is stuff I've already seen before. I tend to get my headlines from the internet, so I have no need for the gruesome depictions of depraved modern day life and colonialism that it offers. And so far, I haven't seen anything on a tv screen this year that outstripped the inventiveness or ingenuity from things like The Triplets of Belleville or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -- two things that I wouldn't have had the opportunity to see on my cable box for maybe a year into the future. It's not a great way to stay on the cutting edge of my profession actually. My co-worker has argued that I should have it for HBO. I have to admit that the shows on that particular station are very well crafted. And I'm totally uninterested. I guess it comes down to a choice: (a la Shawshank Redemption) get busy watching, or get busy doing. I think I've finally decided that doing beats watching. Maybe it's just that coming out of hibernation feeling that spring/summer brings, too.

TV, like any addictive substance, needs to be contained and handled. I'm struck, though, by the perhaps genetic similarity that I may have to my brother. He doesn't own a television for this reason. If a television is present in the room, he will become transfixed by it, unable to tear himself away. I believe the choice to not own a tv is as much driven by this known inability to hold sway over the addictive substance as anything else. And though my addiction may be less formidable, I can feel it bubbling over in the cauldron of my veins. And I'd rather take that energy and have something to show for it, other than a deep indentation in my sofa.