TV Viewing

I have been spending a lot of time watching TV the past few months. I find myself thinking about how much it has changed over the years. My generation started out with small, black and white TVs. I remember the afternoon the new color TV was delivered. It was a brown behemoth of a cabinet and it was extremely exciting to have color, right in our living room. Of course, every family had one TV, it was in the living room, and watching was a family activity. Mom and Dad controlled what we watched - not that there was much choice. Everyone watched pretty much the same shows, and at school we all talked about those shows. High school was all about Welcome Back, Kotter and Mork and Mindy. Considering those shows starred John Travolta and Robin Williams, the quality of the programming was good. Shows were family oriented and commercials were clean. No Viagra, tampons etc for us - we were sheltered.

Today's TV is an example of art imitating life. Family viewing is a thing of the past, in most families. I am always shocked when I ask my students to raise their hands if they have a TV in their bedroom. Most of them do. They are watching alone and unsupervised. TV is no longer the family entertainment it once was. Today's kids are exposed to everything from sexual dysfunction to Victoria Secret fashion shows. Kids come to school bleary eyed from watching TV, playing video games, texting and social networking until the wee hours. I see students all over town, in the evenings when they should be home having family dinner, doing homework and spending time with their parents ad siblings. These kids are so connected to each other, but is it at the cost of the family connection?

I find that many of the TV shows I watch are old shows. It's amazing how many shows that have run their course but are still on every day. There are four episodes of Charmed on a day. You can find Full House, Andy Griffith, That 70s Show...just to name a few. Between On Demand, my DVR and streaming Netflix, we rarely watch commercials. I see a big change coming to our TV sets. In an age of Netflix, Hulu, and full episodes online, who needs cable and commercials? I think a world without cable companies who monopolize the market and gauge us with high prices and no commercials sounds awesome!!

I have really been enjoying watching TV shows streamed through Netflix. I am getting close to the end of Heroes. I watched both seasons of Dead Like Me and loved it. The movie was disappointing but the show was great. I am currently enjoying Eureka, although it is not filmed in my home town. I have several shows, thanks to recommendations from Janice, waiting in my queue. These days it's a lot like having enough books on my waiting to be read shelf. Thanks to my dear Aunt Jane and cousin Debbie, I have plenty of those - they sent me a gift certificate to Amazon.com and you can buy a lot of novels for $100! They arrive daily and it feels like...Christmas!! I also have books from Kimberly, Cathy, Debbie, Janice, Sharon and Mary. Thanks girls - you all know how happy books make me!

Everyone keeps asking abut our Christmas plans. I will have a treatment on Wednesday the 22nd, so I will probably spend Christmas day in bed with my friend nausea. Julie may join us for awhile, but otherwise it is just our little family: me, Casey, Ben and Bella. We are forgoing a tree this year. We're fine with it - it is Christmas every day as long as we have each other. Corny, but true.

So, send me TV series, movie, and book recommendations when you think of one I might enjoy. I have a few months ahead of me in which my life consists of treatments, TV viewing and reading. Thank goodness for yoga to break up the monotony!!

Namaste, Jill