This past year I was pretty much adrift. There were milestones in the family, but for myself, with no set goals except to be employed full time and get those damned benefits, there was nothing else on my radar. The get myself together and lose weight thing is perennial. Will the fact that my 40th high school reunion is this year make a difference? It didn't for the 30th...
No, it is time to move on to bigger things. Things with more weight than my ass. I read about the dismantling of women's reproductive rights and I get mad, but don't do anything - and that is why those rights are eroding - we who believe sit and don't do anything about it.
It ticks me off that I know about the damned Kardashians even though I have never watched their show(s) on TV. I am sick of reports about Dancing with the Stars on the morning news shows. And why is Entertainment Tonight reporting on political scandals? In my line of site at the gym is the Maury show which is apparently a program "helping" women determine who is the father of their baby. I don't plug in to hear the show, in fact I have taken to using my exercise machine with my eyes closed rather than see the daily parade of sloppy, swearing, angry, tacky and defiant people on the screen. And worse yet, the cheering and jeering audience.
On The View a while back Whoopie Goldberg said instead of petitioning to get the Kardashian show off the air (which some people are trying to do) just don't watch the shows. Well, I don't watch a lot of shows that I end up knowing about. I end up knowing about "celebrities", toddler beauty shows and dance moms. I hear about weddings, divorces, bankruptcies, thefts, car crashes, hook ups, break-ups, trials, text messages, and tweets. I wonder how far underground I have to go to avoid Snooki, the bachelor, the singers, the housewives, the losers and the makeovers?
So this year - that is what I plan to find out. It means I can't watch The Today Show which I have enjoyed for years - or at least up until the past 4 or 5 years when seems to have left the news department. If another show I happen to be watching - like The View - starts in on the gossip or features people from those tacky shows, I will turn them off. It means no more Bravo because the programming I watch isn't worth seeing the commercials for the shows I don't. I can record the shows and speed through the crap commercials when Project Runway, Work of Art or Mad Fashion is on.
On the internet I will stop reading the Huffington Post, Jezabel and avoid clicking on many of the links I run across here and there. There is so much smart content out there I will have more time to seek out.
My resolution this year is to become more ignorant of some things in the world around me - but it is also to get involved in the stuff that matters. That part I'm not so sure about, aside from blogging (preaching to the choir for the most part) I will need to explore ways to make a mark and make a difference.
That and reduce the size of my ass.
7 comments:
The good thing about having only 1 TV and little kids in the house means that I can't watch those shows because I don't want my kids to see them. Of course, I am well versed in Phineas and Ferb.
But most nihgts, I'm curled up with my kindle as soon as the kids go to bed.
I'm with you on all of this. And I need to stop worrying about a Republican picking another Supreme Court Justice and instead preach about it to anyone who will listen. I can't help but think that a thinking Republican woman will be able to realize the repercussions of that happening.
Brava! I loved your post. It is in the Andy Rooney category of smart, snarky observations, but from a wise woman. And, I agree 100%.
Jan
One of the benefits of minimal exposure to broadcast television is not knowing who most of the so-called celebrities are. The only tv I see comes via the internet -- and they don't talk about the Duggars or Kim Kardashian on C-SPAN.
I'm always amazed Maury is still on, still busy running paternity tests. He's been doing that for what, 20+ years now? The best one I ever saw, which was both funny and sad, had something like three contenders for the possible dad slot. The weirdest part was no one was fighting or yelling or really freaking out -- it was more like they were all just curious. "Yeah, we had kind of an orgy, so what?"
I remember seeing an interview with Jerry Springer years ago where he was asked why people go on his show and similar ones. He said it's therapy for them. They can't afford counseling, they're feeling aggrieved in some fashion, and Maury or Jerry or whoever gives them a few minutes in which to tell the whole world their side of the story -- no matter how tacky and demeaning the process is, they'll have had a chance to vent. (The night in a first class hotel with a good meal or two thrown is a bonus, a one night break from the drudgery of their usual lives. You don't get paid to go on those shows, but you do get your expenses paid for travel, a place to stay, and meals.)
That is a fabulous goal. A few years ago, I stopped reading several gossipy websites and I'm so glad I did. I still find it difficult to avoid certain topics (e.g. the Kardashians), but I do the best that I can.
Oh wow, this really resonates with me. How is it that I don't watch those shows yet I know everything about them?
And I'm quitting the Today show too - it's mostly entertainment 'news'. I can't believe I waste my mornings on it.
I am ready to quit cable TV and just watch dvds/streaming media.
It's a great goal--our brains are too full of this crap.
I don't know about The View, though-I would hate to give that up.
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