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Tag: television

goodbye RCA tv

For what seems like only a blip in time, I’ve owned my childhood TV (27″ RCA model # F27155AK) for about seven years now. I bought it from my dad in January 2001 right before I finally left for college again after two years of being home.

That trip was one of the more memorable occasions in my childhood almost twenty years ago this year. My dad made it a family trip since it was a very big occasion for us. Our very first large screen television with all the works!

We all looked around at a bunch of furniture and electronics while my dad was shopping for the best of the best, probably having already picked out the exact model he wanted from his research in Consumer Reports for the best TV of the day. Once we saw what we were getting, everyone was excited and ready to get back home and hook that TV right up. It could very well have been a scene out of the Simpsons.

This TV has travelled with me to Lubbock, Texas. I then brought it up to Denver, Colorado for my last two years of college. Once I completed college, it went right back down to Houston with me where it was mostly in a room sitting there or a garage sitting there. After a year of figuring out what to do with my life, it moved with me to Los Angeles, California. Then, since being here in LA, it moved three times in two houses and three rooms.

Now, after being in the same spot since about August of 2005, it’s finally decided to stop sending signal on the tube. After turning it on, it almost sounds like when a car that doesn’t catch the spark and keeps cycling until the spark starts it up. Except this sound is completely electronic, basically to the beat of AC current running to the sockets.

Now, I must decide what to do. I think craigslist might be a good option since people usually find value in old junk. I’ve already given away two monitors last year, one of which I had since 2000 and was such a good monitor. I bought a 24″ Dell LCD monitor to replace it and it was mostly worth it (except when I’m trying to design a website and need very accurate colors. LCDs are still not as good as CRTs). Sadly, I grow emotional attachments to my stuff. In the end after it’s gone, however, it’s just stuff and I don’t think about it.

Since I’m leaving in a week to go away for close to a month, I won’t have to even worry about it until I get back. My trip agenda includes Manhattan for a week, Austin for a week, then Houston for over a week. March is gonna be a time of renewal for me. 2008 has been a rough start for many reasons but I feel it’s mostly downhill for a while.

Goodbye blessed RCA TV. You’ve brought me many episodes of the best and worst of television and so many other shows throughout the years for the rest of the family. You’ll be missed.

filling the void

I conducted an experiment this summer. I’ve never gone without television for more than a week or two. There’s too many programs I enjoy and watch regularly for me to completely give it up. So, for two months this summer, I completely fasted from tv.

My experiment was wildly successful. I didn’t realize I could do this, nor did I even care to try. It began as an unintentional absence. Soon after realizing I hadn’t vegged out watching anything for a few weeks, I decided to totally give it up for a while. I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

While I was very successful at avoiding everything that tv had to offer, I created a void. There was downtime that I needed to fill. I quickly learned how unimportant one medium became and grabbed on to my other favorite medium: the Internet.

I’ve probably spent an average of 10-14 hours a day in front of my computer for these past two months. However, during the first month, it was much easier to not be in front of the computer since I was working full-time and socially as an IT administrator. I also had many people to visit after hours and kept myself busy most nights.

In the middle of July, I flew back home to an unscheduled second half of the summer. So my free time suddenly increased threefold. With my desire to watch television nearly deceased, I spent much time browsing the world wide web. And it’s just as easy to treat this medium as television and waste hours reading unimportant crap: mostly trivial or subjective content but nonetheless mildly entertaining.

I admit to being quite obsessed with being online when I should be doing one of many things. As was so famously portrayed in What about Bob, I guess sometimes we have to take baby steps.

The most important change I should discipline myself with is time management. I could have done this years ago, knowing very well that I waste a lot of time. I have no regrets about this, but I also realize that I’m going nowhere fast. If certain things really were important to me, I’d do anything to make them happen. I see this in a few of my other friends, which is very inspiring.

I guess life doesn’t get any easier than this. I work for myself, I call my own hours, I travel when I desire and to wherever I want, and I can make the most of everything I do. I’m lucky to be in my position and unless I further myself in the areas I want so badly, I might lose this again to another extensive round of monotonous drudgery. I have the opportunity to do and be anything I want right now. Wake up, Micah!

2 replies

still no television

I think I’m fasting from tv right now. Granted, I’ve only been home for three and a half days so far, but I still don’t care about watching anything. It’s freeing and I can feel the ball and chain of television slipping away. The heat of the day (it’s currently 90 degrees IN MY ROOM) is keeping me from even wanting to turn it on.

I’m curious to see how this behavior can keep up in the next few weeks. It’s a huge accomplishment for me so far. Now I need to incorporate book time into my daily schedule.

television

You would think being away from television for so long would cause withdrawals. It’s probably easier to deal with since summertime produces no new episodes of anything I watch. But two weeks and counting without television feels great. Maybe that’s because I veg in front of my computer so easily, what with this social networking revolution and all.

I’m not sure I could function well in today’s world as a kid. TVs practically raise kids now. There’s all types of programs for all types of ages and situations. I know of parents who sit their kids down in front of the boob tube all day. No real parenting happens from the time those kids glue their eyes until the next distraction. Pop in the latest childrens DVD or a movie and your parenting is practically over for a couple of hours.

I did spend my share of time in front of phosphor-coated screens. Whether it was Saturday morning cartoons for 6 hours to countless hours of Nintendo and Super Nintendo games (ah, good ‘ole Final Fantasy 2 and MarioKart), I enjoyed every second of my favorite mindless, passive childhood activity.

Watching TV is now mindless to me. It’s background noise. It’s second nature. When the evening reruns of the Simpsons start, my TV stays on non-stop until I sleep. There’s always something meaningless to fill the quiet void. It’s my comfort zone. It probably contributes to often short attention span. I even find it difficult to read a book for so long.

Despite, I am highly enjoying my television freedom. I know what happens the second I get home, but maybe I will pick up new habits here to replace old ones (such as reading more stories or articles that AREN’T online).