Call me crazy

Despite the fact that I just got digital cable, I think I might cancel it and get rid of my TV. I can still watch DVDs on my laptop, which is what I do anyway since my regular DVD player bit it a few months ago.

Benefits:

-- Will read more which will make brain bigger

-- Less slothlike, slack-jawed couch time

-- Will save $45-ish a month by not having to pay for cable

-- Won't be rushing home to watch TV shows

-- More quality time outside the house

-- Might actually listen to some of the CDs I own

-- Can make living room more aesthetically pleasing with removal of TV and accompanying wires

-- Might actually go to bed before 1:00 AM because I won't be hypnotized in front of the TV by back-to-back-to-back-to-back episodes of programs like Law and Order and Monk

I've been thinking about getting rid of my TV for a very long time, but I've never come close to actually doing so. I really do like the digital cable. A lot. Too much. I've been watching Law and Order: Criminal Intent like a fiend. I love Vincent D'Onofrio. His sidekick, Kathryn Erbe, though, sucks ass. I think her character is weak (on the show, not her personality) and she's a bad actress. But other than that, I'm sure she has some redeeming qualities. At least one. Maybe.

When I got ready to move from my second to my third apartment, I gave up cable. I got a $20/month discount on cable at Apartment Complex #2, which, of course, ended when I moved. I didn't want to pay $40 or $50 a month for cable, so I just went without. (I should also point out that I couldn't exactly afford cable a couple years ago, so going without wasn't quite as noble as I'd like it to sound.) I thought being cable-less was going to bother the hell out of me, but I was barely affected. Every once in awhile, I'd have an urge to see something on Comedy Central, or I wondered what the Queer Guys were up to (back during the 15 minutes the show actually had an audience), but that passed pretty quickly. Now I can catch up on all those shows, but seriously, nothing has really changed in two years. Same reruns of Law and Order: SVU. Same types of reality shows. Same 816 channels that broadcast nothing I want to watch. Same women crying on Lifetime.

I think I'll stew on the idea over the weekend. If it still sounds like a good idea on Monday, I'll bring my TV and VCR to live at my parents' house. Then, after a week or two, if the idea still sounds good, I'll take it over to Goodwill and be done with it permanently. I'd hate to drop my TV off at Goodwill say, tomorrow, and then be miserable on Monday evening. It'll take some getting used to, but I've really got to get back to reading on a far more regular basis. My brain feels like it's turning into cooked cauliflower and I don't like feeling stupid. By the way, my Book of Choice is Anne Lamott's Blue Shoe, which has proved promising in the first three or so pages I've been able to read before passing out cold at night.