No TV until AUGUST

I have a challenge for you all: Don't watch TV until August. My wife doesn't know it yet, but we will participate in this as well.

Why this challenge? Well aside from the fact that before we got to Alaska we didn't really watch TV (we had a TV with rabbit ears that was used for MOVIES only we never bought one of those digital antennas, so we didn't get regular TV). There is also the fact that a few of our friends don't watch TV, and I ran across two interesting blog posts. One talks about the issues with modern film, while the other talks about TV.

I am so frustrated because we pay for cable, and it is awful. I really have turned it on, scanned the channel menu and thought: "There is literally nothing good on, but I need to watch something because I am paying for it." Why are we paying for it? Well, my wife was pregnant with our little bear cub this winter, and it was our first winter in Alaska. You know, the place where it gets dark at 4pm and doesn't get light again until 10am the next day? Yeah, well we also got it because you can't get unlimited Internet without getting the TV package as well. So we thought, "What the heck, what can it hurt?" It is so frustrating... paying for the garbage that we get. So I am instituting this challenge to show you how great it can be without TV.

This isn't one of those: "Holier than thou" messages. This is... I don't watch a lot of TV as it is, I have friends that don't even have TV, and we aren't missing anything. Sure TV is great for some things. Sports... sometimes. But guess what... the playoffs are about the only thing you HAVE to watch. (I know many will argue that isn't even necessary... but there really isn't any necessity in watching ANYTHING.)

So here are the rules:

1. NO TV until August 1. That means no news, no cartoons for the kids, nothing. Actually TRY... no excuses.
2. Watching one movie is ok on your TV or computer. Between now and Sunday, 1 is more than enough.
3. Watching HULU, Netflix, etc... is not OK, That is cheating.
4. YouTube is ok, as long as you don't sit and watch 48 videos in a row.
5. Sports... I thought about this... looked at the schedules and there really isn't anything super important on. We are in the midst of JULY baseball, and Canadian Football. Don't watch sports either.

We are talking 3 and 1/2 days. You can do it. Your brain and soul will thank you.

Read the Bible. Read a book. Read a blog. Bake a Cake. Write a Book. Go fishing. Play with your kids. Build a fort. Build a Rocket. Wash your dog. Go for a walk. Knit, Perl, Knit. Clean your rifle, hunting season is coming. Adjust your bow, hunting season is coming. Go to the library.

~Pray~

Try it... just til Sunday, then report back and let me know how you did... and what you did.

N.B.:
Netflix, Blockbust, Hulu, etc... these things can be used in a responsible way. In fact, if we could get rid of our cable, I would use just those things, and would consider that very different from TV. There is a difference between watching something intentionally, setting aside the time for it, and doing it as leisure. That is very different from having the TV be the focal point of your living room.