Oh that? It's a black hole/television

With my budget, if I lived by myself, I would either have a 10 inch television with 2 channels, or I would have no television whatsoever. But I don't live by myself. I live with my aunt, who, a few years ago, invested in a large, sleek, flatscreen TV with HD ("High Definition" for those of you still living in the 1990s). It's a miracle of science, really, and, to be honest, I enjoy basking in its glow. Lazily reclining on the couch and watching an episode of "Mad Men" is one of my favorite ways to check out. And there are worse means to escape, I hope you agree.

Now, relatively speaking, I don't watch that much TV. There are a number of people I know of who have "shows" they watch or TiVo (read "record") every evening--"I have to get home to catch 'my shows'". Nonetheless, I wonder what sort of person I would be, or what kinds of things I would have done, had I never watched one minute of television. What an idea!

Television, it seems to me, is just another way to shield yourself from the world, from its cold realities, responsibilities, and overwhelming possibilities. TV is insular in the way that suburbs are, or personal cars, or large bank accounts; it induces the same passivity, the same softness.

Ironically, I'm actually too tired now to finish this post...if I hadn't viewed x number of hours of television, perhaps I wouldn't be so soft and could stay up later. Regardless, I'd like to lay this out more adequately in a future post...