Viva la Cancer Boy!

I have decided I don't really care if Lance Armstrong wins again in France or anywhere else. I have decided not to care about anything on TV. It is not life. I swear it's not, it is somebody elses life. I would love to go see a couple of the mountain stages at somebodies house, but if I don't I am okay with that. I know Mandy is having some TV withdrawals and I am sure I will too, but for now I am so glad the cable monster is dead. I was addicted and now I am getting clean. I should be hanging out with friends not sitting around watching Friends. Ever notice on Friends and most other shows they never watch TV? Its because that wouldn't be entertaining at all. Even the Friends are living a better life without TV.

On The Conversation (an NPR show on KUOW) yesterday they had a discussion about TV for the first day of TV Turn-off Week, and I was shocked at how many people called in to suggest that turning the TV off for a week to see what else is going on in life was absurd. The regular season for most shows is over, spring is sprung just about everywhere, and daylight savings time makes it possible to do other things, yet people couldn't consider not watching for a week. People were outraged at the suggestion that TV was bad. One man even went so far as to suggest that because so many americans watch so much TV (the average houshold watches 7 hours per day and the average adult views for 4.5 hours per day) that you can't understand america without watching TV. If that is true, I no longer wish to understand america.



I urge everyone to participate in TV turn-off week this week (sure you missed yesterday, but I won't tell). To inspire you I will throw out some suggestions of things to do other than watch TV:

• Read a book, magazine, or the local paper;
• Go for a walk or hike;
• Knit or do some other craft;
• Do a home improvement project;
• Take a class (dancing might be nice);
• Build something out of wood or metal;
• Do some photography;
• Train your dog or cat to do a new trick;
• Bake some bread;
• Talk to you spouse;
• Meet a new lover or friend;
• Invent a new card game;
• Write a letter to your local representative about an issue that concerns you;
• Go kayaking;
• Volunteer at the park or community garden;
• Meet your neighbors;
• Lose 5 pounds;
• Go to the indoor rock climbing gym;
• Make love; or
• Go ride a bike.

Hope these help.

In many families the television seems to substitute, rather than facilitate
dialogue among people. A type of 'fast' in this area could also be healthy.
-Pope John Paul II during a speech calling for a 40-day TV-Turnoff

The remarkable thing about television is that it permits several million people to laugh at the same joke and still feel lonely. -T.S. Eliot

Sometimes boys and girls would rather watch TV than read. When your teachers say read, they are giving you pretty damn good advice. - President George W. Bush to a group of school children

I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book. -Groucho Marx