For the long-winded review of Big, Rich Texas go here: TK's Big Rich Texas Review Part one
Sooooo, as does happen after putting "it all out there" in the blogasphere, I thought again about what I wrote. I know that there are a great number of blogs who play it safe and don't share any controversial opinions, non-mainstream notions or put anything that they may later recant or addendum. I wish I was like that, but it just ain't my nature so.... an addenduming we go. Or here is a fun analogy: as I get more comfortable in the blogging chariot, I am picking up speed here people ... but then slowing down, going in reverse and driving down the same road but with different non-rose colored shades on (good one, huh? ... er not).
Which brings me to the addendum that I titled this entry about. Sooooo, my entry before last was about TV being for losers ;) and that marinated a bit in my mind as I was doing what? Cleaning ... um, yeah. and I thought that perhaps I didn't give enough credit, or any, credit to some of the TV shows that I have enjoyed and to others that have helped me get through some tough times. This is NOT to say that I am recanting in anyway what I written, because it is my truth. BUT sometimes, a person doesn't feel like being creative or feel like contributing. Yeah, TV IS undoubtedly a time suck - but sometimes that is what we need, at least once in a while (but not as a lifestyle, ew). Sometimes we just need to be entertained. To distract. To make us feel less lonely. To make us laugh. To see people acting silly, serious, or in pain, or in healing, or whatever the hell it is. To get the fuck out of our heads for a minute.
What I realized was that although my consumption of television is clearly less than the average 34 HOURS A WEEK that my fellow Americans watch according to the New York Times. (Added up, that is more than 9 years of life, scary shit).
I nevertheless failed to mention four shows that became like companions to me over the last three or so years. Yeah, I know, I know, I made it sound like I never, ever watched tv ... and well, I didn't really, but I did watch some TV SHOWS on the internet which is basically the same thing, right? It all started when Hicham left for France and I was weft awone....
What I mean by that is, if you read back on the the early days of this blog, you would see a very distraught woman terribly upset at leaving her home and friends (not job, ha!) and most beautiful state of North Carolina in exchange for Paris, France to be with French hubby who was living in Paris.
There were times when I just couldn't be creative or contribute because I was so fucking depressed. I wasn't the best company either because hanging out with me was full of phrases like" oh, boo hoo, this is the last time I will ever sit in this booth" or "i will never have bubble tea like this again" or "see, how nice that waitress was? they are all mean bitches in france". Of course, all of those statements proved to be mostly accurate (boo hoo).
So, unlike my ceremonious introduction Lost, I am not even sure HOW I watched my first Star Trek Voyager episode on what was at the time called, Stage6.com (now defunct). This amazing website had each and every episode of every season of Voyager. In the last few months of my life in NC between finishing at my jobs, getting rid of hundreds of books, furniture, clothes, etc and spending time grieving with friends - I watched Star Trek voyager nightly and sometimes even with breakfast.
What can I say? I missed Hicham and living in limbo was really hard. I was amazingly depressed and just getting to the finish line of the day my plane (with Olivia in with the cargo) would leave for France was all I could hope for. I even knew at the time, very aware in fact, that I "should" enjoy this time, live in the present, blah blah blah, since it was soon to be over. And yet, limbo is not enjoyable. It just plain isn't.
So, I distracted myself with the wonderful crew and Captain Janeway as they, ironically, tried to get home after being flung into the other side of the universe doing a heroic endeavor. Janeway, strong and wise, striving to do the right thing, struggling sometimes, never perfect but doing her best, oh my goodness, just thinking back on her makes me want to watch an episode. The witty doctor, the cynic half human Belanna, the player Tom, the spiritual ChaKotay and all the other characters who made the Voyager a diverse and interesting space ship. You never knew where you were gonna be when you watched Voyager, another planet, on the ship, befriending an alien species, being taken over by one, in the future, in the past .... thanks to the holodeck, there was no limit as to what the plot of each episode would be. But you were almost invariably guaranteed a happy ending. That is what I so desperately needed at that time. A bunch of strife cleared up cleverly with lovable, relatively complex characters and ON TOP of all that ... it was SCIENCE FICTION!
Then, after clearing out of my house I briefly lived with my friend Rachel to help work for the presidential election which happening in November. I flew to Paris on December 1. Anyway, she had a TV AND cable. After our long days, we would sit in her livingroom and watch election coverage, the Daily Show and I would discover all kinds of different shows. I was over 30 years old and had no idea what tv had become during my absence. The Dog Whisperer for example blew my mind! It was brilliant! I also discovered a wonderful show called "Clean House" and HGTV in general. Wow! wow! WOW! Inspiring stuff to be sure. Those shows made me really proud of myself that I had narrowed all my belongings down to 26 (albiet large) boxes, 4 suitcases, one dog kennel and a dog. Helped me to let of that crap ..
Then, my plane took off, I was no longer in country limbo.... BUT I was in home limbo. Will and Grace helped me through that one. I had seen a few episodes along the way somewhere and so I knew the premise. and I knew it was damn funny. This show slid into it's comfy place since my belongings were still on the boat. Hicham was at work. We didn't have a phone line yet. I didn't have any friends yet and it was cold as shit outside. And so, I huddled around my laptop watching episode after episode of hilarity.
Then I discovered ....last year RuPaul's Drag Race. Like America's Next Top Model, but with Drag Queens who had lip-sync for their lives, make costumes of random objects and display real creativity during various challenges. Dragalicious. And of course, RuPaul is my hero/ine. I don't have to explain that one because it is all about Ru. I have all of RuPaul's cds, books and have seen RuPaul perform twice. Love Love Love that Queen of Queens.
So, what do all these shows have in common? Pulling it together, getting where you want to go, living your life on your own terms, being silly and having a good damn time even when faced with obstacles.
So, yeah, I was probably a bit too harsh about TV not having a place in life, because it can be a wonderful tool to be inspired by, to relax with or just to laugh your ass off. Just not everyday (and certainly not for 34 hours a week, wth? I still can't get over that. Imagine, that is the average and so some watch 70 hours of tv a week) and not at the expense of living your own life instead of watching someone else's make believe life.
Having reread this, I will admit though, that TV has been important when I was at my lowest .... or when I am my most tired .... or when I just don't wanna live this life. Soooo, my original theory holds but with some more texture... and way more longwinded than was probably necessary. But guess what? Since I don't have any tv shows to watch, I can type and type and type and type all i want, i want, i want.... ha!
Sooooo, as does happen after putting "it all out there" in the blogasphere, I thought again about what I wrote. I know that there are a great number of blogs who play it safe and don't share any controversial opinions, non-mainstream notions or put anything that they may later recant or addendum. I wish I was like that, but it just ain't my nature so.... an addenduming we go. Or here is a fun analogy: as I get more comfortable in the blogging chariot, I am picking up speed here people ... but then slowing down, going in reverse and driving down the same road but with different non-rose colored shades on (good one, huh? ... er not).
Which brings me to the addendum that I titled this entry about. Sooooo, my entry before last was about TV being for losers ;) and that marinated a bit in my mind as I was doing what? Cleaning ... um, yeah. and I thought that perhaps I didn't give enough credit, or any, credit to some of the TV shows that I have enjoyed and to others that have helped me get through some tough times. This is NOT to say that I am recanting in anyway what I written, because it is my truth. BUT sometimes, a person doesn't feel like being creative or feel like contributing. Yeah, TV IS undoubtedly a time suck - but sometimes that is what we need, at least once in a while (but not as a lifestyle, ew). Sometimes we just need to be entertained. To distract. To make us feel less lonely. To make us laugh. To see people acting silly, serious, or in pain, or in healing, or whatever the hell it is. To get the fuck out of our heads for a minute.
 |
| 34 hours per week of this? Why? |
What I realized was that although my consumption of television is clearly less than the average 34 HOURS A WEEK that my fellow Americans watch according to the New York Times. (Added up, that is more than 9 years of life, scary shit).
I nevertheless failed to mention four shows that became like companions to me over the last three or so years. Yeah, I know, I know, I made it sound like I never, ever watched tv ... and well, I didn't really, but I did watch some TV SHOWS on the internet which is basically the same thing, right? It all started when Hicham left for France and I was weft awone....
What I mean by that is, if you read back on the the early days of this blog, you would see a very distraught woman terribly upset at leaving her home and friends (not job, ha!) and most beautiful state of North Carolina in exchange for Paris, France to be with French hubby who was living in Paris.
There were times when I just couldn't be creative or contribute because I was so fucking depressed. I wasn't the best company either because hanging out with me was full of phrases like" oh, boo hoo, this is the last time I will ever sit in this booth" or "i will never have bubble tea like this again" or "see, how nice that waitress was? they are all mean bitches in france". Of course, all of those statements proved to be mostly accurate (boo hoo).
So, unlike my ceremonious introduction Lost, I am not even sure HOW I watched my first Star Trek Voyager episode on what was at the time called, Stage6.com (now defunct). This amazing website had each and every episode of every season of Voyager. In the last few months of my life in NC between finishing at my jobs, getting rid of hundreds of books, furniture, clothes, etc and spending time grieving with friends - I watched Star Trek voyager nightly and sometimes even with breakfast.
What can I say? I missed Hicham and living in limbo was really hard. I was amazingly depressed and just getting to the finish line of the day my plane (with Olivia in with the cargo) would leave for France was all I could hope for. I even knew at the time, very aware in fact, that I "should" enjoy this time, live in the present, blah blah blah, since it was soon to be over. And yet, limbo is not enjoyable. It just plain isn't.
 |
| Captain Janeway |
So, I distracted myself with the wonderful crew and Captain Janeway as they, ironically, tried to get home after being flung into the other side of the universe doing a heroic endeavor. Janeway, strong and wise, striving to do the right thing, struggling sometimes, never perfect but doing her best, oh my goodness, just thinking back on her makes me want to watch an episode. The witty doctor, the cynic half human Belanna, the player Tom, the spiritual ChaKotay and all the other characters who made the Voyager a diverse and interesting space ship. You never knew where you were gonna be when you watched Voyager, another planet, on the ship, befriending an alien species, being taken over by one, in the future, in the past .... thanks to the holodeck, there was no limit as to what the plot of each episode would be. But you were almost invariably guaranteed a happy ending. That is what I so desperately needed at that time. A bunch of strife cleared up cleverly with lovable, relatively complex characters and ON TOP of all that ... it was SCIENCE FICTION!
Then, after clearing out of my house I briefly lived with my friend Rachel to help work for the presidential election which happening in November. I flew to Paris on December 1. Anyway, she had a TV AND cable. After our long days, we would sit in her livingroom and watch election coverage, the Daily Show and I would discover all kinds of different shows. I was over 30 years old and had no idea what tv had become during my absence. The Dog Whisperer for example blew my mind! It was brilliant! I also discovered a wonderful show called "Clean House" and HGTV in general. Wow! wow! WOW! Inspiring stuff to be sure. Those shows made me really proud of myself that I had narrowed all my belongings down to 26 (albiet large) boxes, 4 suitcases, one dog kennel and a dog. Helped me to let of that crap ..
Then I discovered ....last year RuPaul's Drag Race. Like America's Next Top Model, but with Drag Queens who had lip-sync for their lives, make costumes of random objects and display real creativity during various challenges. Dragalicious. And of course, RuPaul is my hero/ine. I don't have to explain that one because it is all about Ru. I have all of RuPaul's cds, books and have seen RuPaul perform twice. Love Love Love that Queen of Queens.
So, what do all these shows have in common? Pulling it together, getting where you want to go, living your life on your own terms, being silly and having a good damn time even when faced with obstacles.
So, yeah, I was probably a bit too harsh about TV not having a place in life, because it can be a wonderful tool to be inspired by, to relax with or just to laugh your ass off. Just not everyday (and certainly not for 34 hours a week, wth? I still can't get over that. Imagine, that is the average and so some watch 70 hours of tv a week) and not at the expense of living your own life instead of watching someone else's make believe life.
Having reread this, I will admit though, that TV has been important when I was at my lowest .... or when I am my most tired .... or when I just don't wanna live this life. Soooo, my original theory holds but with some more texture... and way more longwinded than was probably necessary. But guess what? Since I don't have any tv shows to watch, I can type and type and type and type all i want, i want, i want.... ha!
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