I got rid of cable at the beginning of the year.
The kids protested, but got the Because I Said So response.
It didn't take long for us to adjust.
I love not having television. The only show I regularly watched was LOST.
I could get it on Hulu and it was the last season anyway.
During the presidential election I, like many, got junked out on CNN.
I needed my daily Obama fix.
I think that's when I found The Daily Show.
I love Jon Stewart. Especially when he's trying to keep a straight face.
Election night, I was on the phone with Sister Adrienne, and it was Jon Stewart who told me Obama had won. We got all teary and goosebumpy together.
Sometimes I think I miss CNN. Until I'm in the pizza place waiting for my order and get a 5 minute dose. Where's the serious unbiased reporting? They always sound over dramatic and adolescent to me. CNN sucks. That's all I have to say.
I'm completely unplugged now.
I had no idea about the miners.
I didn't know about the dumbasses opposing the building of a mosque near Ground Zero.
I heard about the kid who jumped off the George Washington Bridge at work.
I hate the New York Times.
And I definitely don't want to know why everyone's so aggravated with Obama.
That would just make me sad.
I mostly get my current events from Blogland.
If something really fucked up is going on, Ms. Moon, or Elizabeth, or Sarcastic Bastard are sure to give a head's up and then I hit Google.
Pathetic. But it keeps me sane and happy. I'm tired of being overwhelmed by the weight of all the fucked up shit we humans are doing. We suck. So I don't watch T.V.
It's kind of ironic cause I think Haiti is what finally put me over the edge and slammed my head into the sand.
The best part of it all is that I can visit my secret boyfriend online every night!
We don't need no stinkin tv here. Comedy Central on the Internet.
Jon Stewart at my beck and call whenever my heart desires.
Restore my sanity, Jon. We beseech thee, hear us.
We have not watched tv in over 23 years. I used to be an ace at Trivial Pursuit but couldn't answer a single question involving television. I read papers from all over the world inside this little laptop, I get what I need to know from The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Vogue and W. Trashy and entertaining as it can be - except for TNY.
ReplyDeleteKicking that box out of the house and out of our lives was the best thing we could do. I truly think of it as a waste of mind from the ones watching it. Call me elitist, others had because I bought a Kindle (actually two but that is another story). So, I admire your decision and consider you among the enlightened ones. Even before I knew this :)
You make me laugh.
ReplyDeleteI just watched the last episode of Mad Men, which is the only show I watch on tv -- I have never watched CNN or any other news show -- there's a really good youtube video, though, of Bishop Robinson and the gay suicide thing. You should google it. It's awesome.
I would love to go to that Rally ... but I'm flying to Liberia that day. Not a lot of sanity there, either.
ReplyDeleteJon is the main reason I haven't yet canceled cable. During election season I was addicted to MSNBC...but, like you, most of my news comes from the fake news goodness of the Daily Show, and the internet (and NPR).
ReplyDeleteCNN makes me want to scream.
xo
Such a good move, going for the unplugged life, Michelle! Harder to give it up when you have kids and they Know What It Is...We didn't have TV when my kids were growing up. I haven't had one at home for all of my adult life and have not regretted it one minute.
ReplyDeleteThe kids used to complain, even plot to get one of their own. But they are very glad now and I think it has helped them to analyze and formulate their own opinions. They are both big readers, too.
Yaay for you! N2
And "only a movie" -- Go ahead and make the leap! As Michelle said, Jon is available online whenever you want him, i.e. on Your schedule not Theirs.
That's why I don't watch TV, too.
ReplyDeleteWith the net, I can control what I take in.
And usually, I take in what's right with the world today. It's a very different life from the news addict I used to be.
It's impossible to escape all news, unfortunately. The internet insists on feeding me some. And I still listen to some NPR, so...
ReplyDeleteDid you hear Terry Gross's interview with Jon Stewart? It was awesome.
But you're right. TV. Well.
But I love old movies sometimes. Black and white. And hate me all you want- there are some reality shows I am addicted to. Maybe three hours a week. Is that okay?
(I don't want any reason to hate Obama either. I couldn't stand the broken heart.)
Basically, we've never had cable. My kids get a dose of cable cartoons (Nick Jr and Disney Toons) when we go to my mom's or his mom's, but even then, they get distracted and start playing with the toys. It's easy to live without cable. We have a television and a converter box. Which is normally off....we do have the internet and we are all addicted to the computer
ReplyDeleteYou are brave and wise. TV is an addiction and such a complete time waster. There is little on tv that can't be googled, watched for free or streamed for a fee if you need it. And John Stewart is the man. His rally is just what this country needs, and he's raising money to repair the National Mall, which was so run down and unkempt this Spring that it made me sad for my country. And he's online! I get his tweets and updates on facebook, which I do not use to chat with people so much as follow my celebrity and nerd crushes.
ReplyDeleteI can't go news free, though, I'm an info junkie, and follow NASA's tweets because I love that space stuff and am obsessed with the satellite images of the planet. They show me the natural disasters, the changes on the planet, the good and the bad and the lovely. And I need to know my news but am disgusted by tv news infotainment and the internet headlines, and I fight the urge to click them. But if something's going on the internet will tell me. For a while I checked BBC news online for world and US news, because they're not as full of crap as our biased sources.
You are probably much more mentally healthy and clearly more interesting and entertaining person than if you spent hours watching reality tv shows. And your kids are so much smarter because they're minds are benumbed by crap shows and commercials. You're my idol.
oh dear lord that last sentence. Their minds AREN'T benumbed. Jeeze, Shut Me Up.
ReplyDeleteHi, doll. Thanks for the hat tip. I appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteI love Jon Stewart, too. He is one funny dude.
Love you. Have a great week.
SB
In all honesty, I don't know why we need TV either. Oh, except it is my full-time babysitter. But Mr. OCD and I rarely watch it. I catch the occasional "First 48 Hours" and "Jersey Shore" at the gym when I'm trying to forget about how freakin' awful the damn elliptical is!
ReplyDeleteWe have minimal TV...just enough to make me miss Mad Men and Colbert/Stewart. I'm not sure if we're going to get my hard-core Republican in-laws willing to babysit the boys so Paul and I can go restore Sanity in DC.
ReplyDeleteLe Sigh.
i am so irrational about Obama. i am still in the stage of new love where i don't want to hear one bad word said about him. the man got us out of Iraq, got health care passed (no one said it was going to start out perfectly, GROW UP PEOPLE, change takes TIME ) and made it ok to be gay in the military for starters!!!!
ReplyDeleteWho does not love Jon Stewart? Stand up, right now, and tell me you don't love Jon Stewart and I will tell you you are IN DENIAL, my friend. He is smart, hilariously funny, and to Michelle's point, irresistible when he tries to keep the straight face. Who doesn't have him on her list of Secret TV Boyfriends? And I must say that President Obama is STILL ON MY LIST, ladies and gentlemen. He inherited a pile of garbage and as Tim Robbins said on Jon Stewart's show, aren't we all glad to have someone SMART running the country? He can't fix everything. But he's smart. And he's trying.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Michelle? I love you.
I watch very little tv. Between working evenings and kids, there just isn't time.
ReplyDeleteI watch Glee on Hulu. That's all I really need.
I saw him on CNN yesterday. Couldn't hear a word he said because of the kids. Probably should have switched it off, eh?
ReplyDelete