10/16/06:
Today is the inaugural kickoff of the TV Free Lifestyle site. The idea for this site came out of my search for an existing web site that supported the TV free lifestyle. Although there are some good sites out there, none of them seemed to focus in on the advantages of a regular, adult spending their leisure time doing things more productive.
Most of the sites concentrate on how TV is bad for children or are a cover for a conspiracy theorist who wants to preach about the evils of corporations and the government. I agree that too much TV has negative effects on children, and I think the center for screen-time awareness is making great strides toward public awareness of the problem. The website they provide covers the subject area well and there is no real need to expand upon that subject area.
Regarding the second kind of sites, I do not believe myself that corporations or the government are inherently evil. I can promise you that there will be no political agenda one way or the other on my page. The purpose of the site is simply to provide a forum for individuals to share in the idea that life is richer, more satisfying, more relaxing, and more productive without television.
Hopefully, soon I will be able to create a message board along with the site to allow people to share their ideas. Until then, stay tuned (ironic) for updates.
10/17/06:
Currently, I am starting to fill out the TV Alternatives on the page. This list of course could turn into a pretty huge list, considering that it could include absolutely any activity in the world that isn't watching the tube. Next to each activity I'm inserting a link to a place to help a person get started in the activity. Should be some interesting stuff to look through, some great places for information. Half of them I haven't even used before, so soon I'll be going through them to seek out some new activities of my own.
If ‘nothing is ever on’ try unplugging the television for about 2 years, that usually fixes the problem. ~ William Rafti
10/19/06:
The discussion board is now up!! I also added a few things to pretty much all of the pages. Now that this site is in a fairly presentable condition, I just need to figure out a way to start getting some others to visit it. I posted it on the google pages discussion so that is at least a start, and my wife is doing a little marketing campaign on my space promoting the website. I'm hoping that once I get through with this development work, I can start getting into some real ranting.
10/21/06:
This was ultra-retro day in our household. We started out the day by going to a historical farm and helping out with morning chores. Duties for the day included feeding the horses, hogs, sheep, and turkeys, shucking some corn, movin the sheep to pasture, making rope, and a bunch of other random stuff. Our night was spent at an All Hallows Eve celebration at Ohio Village, an old 1800's town. The headless horseman made a frightening appearance (to the kids at least).
Today was a fine example of how if you look around your own area there are a million things going on. We found out about the All Hallow's Eve event by looking at a website for a local parent's magazine. An unbelievable amount of stuff was listed. Get out there and explore!
10/23/06:
This site has now been successfully submitted to Google and Yahoo search engines so hopefully the hit count will start picking up again. What I really need is to have some other sites link to me. That'll move me up the results lists on the search engine. I've looked at some of the other sites that advocate TV moderation to see if there are any good linkin prospects. What I found about most of those is that they are severely out dated. Most haven't been updated for a year or more. Oh well, guess I'll fight the little battle. Generals can worry about the war.
I find television to be very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go in the other room and read a book. ~Groucho Marx
10/27/06:
The war between being and nothingness is the underlying illness of the twentieth century. Boredom slays more of existence than war. ~Norman Mailer
I am never bored anywhere: being bored is an insult to oneself. ~Jules Renard
One of the great battles people seem to face these days is rushing around trying to not be bored. The need for constant push entertainment is evident everywhere you go. Look at all of the bars and restaraunts with TVs in them. People running around with Ipods stuck in their ears wherever they go. As soon as we get in our car, we immediately flip on a CD or the radio.
Many people in America spend 90% of their free-time (outside of work) partaking in push entertainment. Wake up in the morning, flip on the tv; get home from work, flip on the tv; make a quick dinner, eat in front of the tv; watch the lineup of half hour comedies and detective dramas; go to bed, flip on the tv until sleep comes knocking.
During these stints, it seems like turning the TV or Ipod or video games off will leave you with "nothin to do". Yet when you ask people what their hobbies are they will never say, "watchin TV and playing video games." If they do say that, it will come with a tinge of guilt. People want to do different things but get tied up in the addiction of the push entertainment. The brain starts to get used to the mindless task of watching the pretty colors. Just like it can get caught up in the repeated stimulation a cigarette can bring. As with a nicotine addiction, you have to work to break through the TV addiction. Behind it lies healthier living for your body and mind.
Once you spend a few weeks away from TV and quiet the mind, boredom will seem like the least of your worries. Dropping the push entertainment frees up the time and releases your own mind to allow you to accomplish the things you've always wanted to do. Don't be a pouser that lists off five of their hobbies and don't really do any of them regularly. Go out and live life, don't let laziness and the fear of boredom hold you back. The only people that get bored people are boring people....don't be one of them.
1/15/06:
Well, I have obviously fallen off the wagon in the blogging category. I probably need to implement a new system for actually logging on and updating this page once in awhile. My current activities have revolved around implementing a new organization system ("Getting Things Done" by David Allen) which has helped me a lot and studying up on the French Revolution. The French Revolution was a very interesting time in the world. Lots of ideas and circumstances all running into each other. Hopefully we can keep our minds awake enough to catch the next great opportunity that comes along for humanity.
