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March 23, 2009

My so called life without tv

Posted by Lisa at 06:11 PM ET

[Lisa is forgoing TV for the month of March and blogging about the experience here. Read her first blog post here.]

"How are you holding up?" my friend asked. "Okay, okay," I mumbled. Really I wanted to cry "waaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh," while simultaneously pouting, stamping my feet and shaking my head.

My friend was asking how my month without television was going. I was about two weeks into the month at this point and alternating between feeling liberated and like a junkie in need of a Thursday night NBC must see TV fix.

Sure, not having my ass parked on my couch mindlessly watching From G's to Gents (season two, if you can believe it) has freed up time to devote to other things. I bonded with my neglected Twitter account. Of course, now I am hopelessly addicted to Twitter (please follow @nerdygirly). I did countless loads of wash. I got to the bottom of that weird smell in my vegetable crisper (carrots, in case you care). I went for walks in my neighborhood and laughed at the joggers. I read books and magazines I'd neglected for months in favour of my beloved television. Have you heard about these Coldplay folks? The Spin magazine I just read from 2000 predicts they're going to be huge.

Not only was I getting stuff done, but I was also saving money. Time usually reserved for watching the 11 pm episode of Arrested Development I've already seen 23 times is now devoted to packing my lunch for the next day. Life felt great.

Like any addict trying to go cold turkey will tell you, highs are soon followed by lows. A friend's Facebook status update inspired by the previous night's episode of 30 Rock left me lying in the fetal position on my bedroom floor, repeating "I want to go to there." Blog posts about the next cycle of America's Next Top Model made me think, "stupid blogging jerks. Can't you feel my pain?"

I needed some fix. Any fix. I retired to a local watering hole which boasts two televisions. I maintained I wasn't really cheating since I wasn't watching my own television and I know the remotes are broken or frequently hogged by old drunk men who smell like pee and only want to watch CP24 or European soccer. CP24 weather reports somehow didn't do the trick. The beers didn't either and if TV was an actual person with a listed number I would have been drunk dialing it repeatedly to say how much I missed it.

Things were somewhat better the next day. I rented My So-Called Life on DVD and spent the whole day on my couch watching it. Before you start screaming cheater, the rules of this challenge (how I miss you, Survivor ) allow me to watch television series on DVD. I was back in TV land and my Facebook status updates announced to the world how happy I was to be spending my Saturday afternoon with Angela Chase and perpetual locker leaner Jordan Catalano. Friends posted comments about their favorite My So-Called Life episodes and memories. It felt good to be basking in television's warm glow again. Then I got to the DVD commentary and realized I had watched the whole series. Not wanting to admit my fix was gone, I watched the commentary three times.

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