I'm just child of the eighties weaned on a constant stream of TV, trying to establish a healthier relationship with video-based entertainment. I'd been wanting to quit watching TV and start writing more for some time and this blog seemed like a good way to combine both goals. I started this blog on January 5, 2008, the day I decided to quit watching TV at home. I do still watch shows, but I do so online and on DVD. Lately, I've become hooked on exploring new online video sites and discovering new content creators, so I've essentially traded one addiction for another, but hey, at least I'm writing.
But there was one more thing I became addicted to--writing this blog. It kept me from keeping the house neat, cooking, working out, and socializing--all those things I thought quitting TV would give me time to do.
So I stopped. But I'm back to do an update before I close this blog off for good.
-This blog has served it's purpose. I still don't watch" TV." We watch the occasional football game, but for the most part, everything I watch is now on Hulu or iTunes, or Downton Abbey on PBS (who'd have thought PBS would have a hit show?).
-It's become much more common to "cut the cord" according to the media, but I still don't know anyone else who has given up cable.
-Our TV is now my external monitor for my computer when I work from home.
-I got an iPhone for work, and my husband got an iPad, which is a fantastic player for iTunes.
-I now have a toddler. We try to keep him away from "screens" but it's hard with the aforementioned devices. However, my husband can't resist showing him videos of other children and some ebook apps.
-I no longer follow all these content creators I've blogged about (except Felicia Day, but straight to the internet has really come into its own as a viable model. Most of the people I've blogged about have continued to have success.
-I still, sadly, don't really read books, just news and online magazines (See note about toddler), but if I did I would do so on my husband's Kindle, which he has abandoned for the iPad.
-The house is neater and I am cooking a lot more (again, see above note about toddler).
-I have lost about 10 pounds, though I credit the toddler for running me around, not the lack of TV.
-Instead of blogging, if I'm on the computer at home, I'm on Facebook, though it's usually accessed via my iPhone, which is the ideal device for a one-handed mom. I guess that would be yet another addiction, but as far as keeping in touch with friends and family, it's been fantastic.
And yet, to come full circle, I'm thinking of starting a blog that encapsulates my work interests (educational technology) and/or joining Google Plus so I can communicate and share links with people who are also interested in this (I don't friend colleagues on Facebook). But I think that means that this blog will also be tied to my real identity, not just a pseudonym. I don't think I've written anything too embarrassing, but this blog ranges from highfalutin posts about the changing media landscape, to thoughts about network TV shows and random viral videos, to personal reflections on life and what's important to me. So if you do see this and you know who I am, forgive me the occasional run-on sentence, admission that I can get sucked into reality TV, and showing off my useless knowledge of celebrity trivia.
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