TV or not TV...

... that is the question.

Atleast for this single woman as she begins to live it up in her flat.

I had never spent so much time at home as I have over these past few months.

And I found myself falling into TV watching patterns that might be fine every other Sunday but that, to be completely honest, can not bode well for any person's sanity if taken up on a daily basis.

If you have ever lived on your own, you know the drill. You tend to switch the TV on as soon as you get home, leaving it on as "background noise" as you go about preparing, dinner, a bath, making calls to friends, family, checking emails, etc...

TV's bluish light and constant gabbing become a cheap substitute for cozy person to person dialogue.

If that happens for a couple of hours per day, that's not a problem. It's only natural in today's hyper-connected world.

But if you are stuck on the sofa for hours, days, weeks... TV can become a dangerous drug. I admit that there were days when, because of the constant pain, there was little else I could focus on as I lay there. As I got better, I diversified: reorganizing the flat, one shelf, table, and cupboard at a time, beginning this blog, doing my rehabilitation exercises at home, organizing the contents of scrapbooks (the one I'm working on now and future volumes too), writing a couple of articles, and reading through and then chucking many hundreds more that I had cut out of magazines and never had time to read. Through it all, the TV continued buzzing in the background.

I admit that my favoured TV "junk food" are TV series (especially all of those that fall into the police investigation type). So now I can almost spend 12 hours straight a day hopping from series to series.

Stop. Let me clarify that.

I would know how to do it, but I have never actually done it. Just think of the migraine that would cause!

Until recently I had no real idea of what went on on Spanish TV between 10 am and 7 pm. I'd draw a complete blank if asked. Now, I am extra thankful for the arrival of tdt and the diversification of what's on offer. Because, to be perfectly honest, most of what's on offer through out the day is pretty lame. Even as mere background noise.

This is why I think books and magazines still have alot to offer. And not necessarily only online. Nothing beats a few hours cozying up with a page turner. I see no kindle in my future. I'd much rather fray the edges of second hand books, old favourites and new loans. Plus, paper books are fun to look at (atleast for an editing and design junkie like myself), exchange, lend out... I like to think that all those trees went up one step in the karmic ladder when they transformed into books through which we and generations to come can learn, dream, grow, experience a thousand emotions and live a million lives. Also, a book doesn't need a constant electricity feed.

So I've put myself on a TV diet. And the TV is on a diet too - I got a multiple switch a few months ago that it shares with the CD/DVD player and the tdt - THE best gadget to cut down on my use of electricity. Bye bye, stand by! SOOOO COOL!!! I highly recommend it. Pity the same can't be done with the refrigerator...