With the USA vs. Germany game just one day away this goal is not going to start out as an easy one, although after the last game I'm not sure I can mentally handle watching soccer anymore. This goal serves as part 2 to giving up television all together. Part 1 was giving up movies. To stay true to my goal I will commit to not watching television on my computer as well. This goal also rules out video games.
We decided a year ago to not have cable at our house which makes this slightly easier but we still have access to plenty of television series via Netflix and other platforms. From regular Nintendo to Xbox 360 we have just about every imaginary gaming station out there and after spending a few hours playing Mario last week I decided it was time to nix that as well.
I'm much more thankful for it now than I was when I was a kid but TV time was very limited at our house not only by the fact that one of our TV's was black and white and we only had 5 stations but also by the amount of time we were allowed to watch it. This resulted in a lot of time playing with sticks, kicking soccer balls up and down hills, running through electric fences, and chasing bull frogs and Tomtens around down by the creek.
That being said, if anyone finds me chasing Tomtens around the Jefferson Forest please feel free to ask me if I'm feeling okay. The goal is more about getting back in touch with being outside, being creative and appreciating the current live performance. Rather than watching the world cup on TV maybe I'll find a chance to go play soccer for the first time in five years. I'll start out the week tomorrow night by going to my first Opera performance at the Moss Arts Center. So here is to turning off the tube for the rest of 2014!
We decided a year ago to not have cable at our house which makes this slightly easier but we still have access to plenty of television series via Netflix and other platforms. From regular Nintendo to Xbox 360 we have just about every imaginary gaming station out there and after spending a few hours playing Mario last week I decided it was time to nix that as well.
I'm much more thankful for it now than I was when I was a kid but TV time was very limited at our house not only by the fact that one of our TV's was black and white and we only had 5 stations but also by the amount of time we were allowed to watch it. This resulted in a lot of time playing with sticks, kicking soccer balls up and down hills, running through electric fences, and chasing bull frogs and Tomtens around down by the creek.
That being said, if anyone finds me chasing Tomtens around the Jefferson Forest please feel free to ask me if I'm feeling okay. The goal is more about getting back in touch with being outside, being creative and appreciating the current live performance. Rather than watching the world cup on TV maybe I'll find a chance to go play soccer for the first time in five years. I'll start out the week tomorrow night by going to my first Opera performance at the Moss Arts Center. So here is to turning off the tube for the rest of 2014!
End of Week 26 Update
There could not have been a better way to spend my first week without television than to try three things that I had never experienced before. The first was an opera.
Virginia Tech holds an annual Vocal Arts and Musical festival during the summer during which performers come from all around the world to perform and perfect their skills. I had the pleasure of meeting two of them, Ms. Gina Perregrino and Ms. Bryn Holdsworth, and they invited me to watch two of their shows, Bizet's Doctor Miracle and Carmen.
I had no idea what to do or bring to an opera so i did a quick google search. One article listed binoculars and some type of candy to suck on. Keep in mind now, i'm from McCoy, Va. I showed up fifteen minutes before hand with one of Gramps' old bow ties on(a big one), a pocket full of Dum Dum's, and my camoflage Nikon binoculars. I would have been quiet the scene myself had I not gotten a close seat and been well hydrated. Fortunately the people behind me only had to deal with trying to see past the corners of my bow tie rising over my shoulders.
On to the performance, I had no idea what to expect. I had been to a musical and two ballets before but never had it once crossed my mind to see an opera so I went into it as open minded as possible and quite excited the whole day before hand. From the very beginning my attention was a captive to the stage. Although I could not understand many of the words I found myself laughing, smiling and at times even relating to the emotions of the performers. If they had stayed another week I would have payed just to watch them play charades. I could not imagine the amount of effort and hours they had devoted to their skills to bring us such a performance. The only thing I could not grasp at the end of the evening was why the theatre was not packed full! With student tickets priced at only ten dollars I felt a lot of people missed a great opportunity that night.
New opportunities number two and three came later in the week when I ended up at Claytor Lake with my roommates to test my skills on a jet ski and at wake boarding. Wake boarding is one of those things that feels and looks pretty graceful when you are doing it correctly. When you are not, it hurts. I woke up the next day feeling like I had about 15 charlie horses and 3 gallons of water in my nose yet was thankful for the opportunity the Lingenfelsers gave me to try it out. As Jordan put it, "when you get off work tomorrow you're going to wish you were back out here". I've been thinking about it since. That was the real experience. From cruising in the front of the boat to forgetting to let go of the toe rope. Television was the most distant thing from my mind.
End of Week 26 Totals
Soda - 0 ounces
Water - 93.34 Gallons
Liquor - 0 shots
Tea - 322 cups
Trips to unhappy places - Jimmy Johns (1)
$ to support neighbors = $480.89
Fried food consumption - 2 dorito chips
Breakfasts eaten - 133
Pushups - 1160 Crunches - 1040
Days Flossed - 117 (missed two days)
Coffee - 0 cups
Sunrises attended - 15
Beers drunk - 0
Gallons of Trash Collected - 302
Items planted -12 jalapenos, 12 bell peppers, 8 yellow pear tomatoes, 30 canna bulbs, 1 chinese pistache, 30 sensitive plants, 24 carolina reaper peppers, 12 ghost peppers, 31 scorpion peppers, 5 brussel sprouts, 12 tyria hybrid cucumbers, 14 congo watermelons, 6 hybrid prizewinner pumpkins, 45 devils tongue peppers, 14 black sea man tomatoes, 33 peruvian white lightning habaneros, 16 mammoth russian sunflowers, 30 big smile sunflowers, 100 zinnia's, 100 basil plants, 100 green onion plants, 12 chinese lanterns, 30 garden beans, a
bed of mint, 50 Celosia flowers, 7 Red Maple Seeds, 30 brussel sprouts,
Letters written - 11
Meat eaten - none
Donations made - Bike the US for MS, Personal Mission Trip, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, Against Malaria Foundation,
Deworm the World Initiative, Project Healthy Children, charity: water, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative,
YMCA Thrift Store,
Movies watched - 0
Glasses of wine - 0
New dishes cooked - Vegetable Korma, Ukranian Vinaigrette, Lamb's Quarters Quiche, Thai Spicy Eggplant with Sweet Basil
and a side of Bean Sprout Salad with Peanut Chili Dressing, Pan Bagnat with grilled peppers and basil vinaigrette and a side of Classic Gougères, Vegetarian Feijoada and Brazilian Bananas,
Miles ran - 231.6
Facebook and Twitter time = 0 minutes
Books Read - The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter, currently reading The Other by David Guterson and loving it!
There could not have been a better way to spend my first week without television than to try three things that I had never experienced before. The first was an opera.
Virginia Tech holds an annual Vocal Arts and Musical festival during the summer during which performers come from all around the world to perform and perfect their skills. I had the pleasure of meeting two of them, Ms. Gina Perregrino and Ms. Bryn Holdsworth, and they invited me to watch two of their shows, Bizet's Doctor Miracle and Carmen.
I had no idea what to do or bring to an opera so i did a quick google search. One article listed binoculars and some type of candy to suck on. Keep in mind now, i'm from McCoy, Va. I showed up fifteen minutes before hand with one of Gramps' old bow ties on(a big one), a pocket full of Dum Dum's, and my camoflage Nikon binoculars. I would have been quiet the scene myself had I not gotten a close seat and been well hydrated. Fortunately the people behind me only had to deal with trying to see past the corners of my bow tie rising over my shoulders.
On to the performance, I had no idea what to expect. I had been to a musical and two ballets before but never had it once crossed my mind to see an opera so I went into it as open minded as possible and quite excited the whole day before hand. From the very beginning my attention was a captive to the stage. Although I could not understand many of the words I found myself laughing, smiling and at times even relating to the emotions of the performers. If they had stayed another week I would have payed just to watch them play charades. I could not imagine the amount of effort and hours they had devoted to their skills to bring us such a performance. The only thing I could not grasp at the end of the evening was why the theatre was not packed full! With student tickets priced at only ten dollars I felt a lot of people missed a great opportunity that night.
New opportunities number two and three came later in the week when I ended up at Claytor Lake with my roommates to test my skills on a jet ski and at wake boarding. Wake boarding is one of those things that feels and looks pretty graceful when you are doing it correctly. When you are not, it hurts. I woke up the next day feeling like I had about 15 charlie horses and 3 gallons of water in my nose yet was thankful for the opportunity the Lingenfelsers gave me to try it out. As Jordan put it, "when you get off work tomorrow you're going to wish you were back out here". I've been thinking about it since. That was the real experience. From cruising in the front of the boat to forgetting to let go of the toe rope. Television was the most distant thing from my mind.
End of Week 26 Totals
Soda - 0 ounces
Water - 93.34 Gallons
Liquor - 0 shots
Tea - 322 cups
Trips to unhappy places - Jimmy Johns (1)
$ to support neighbors = $480.89
Fried food consumption - 2 dorito chips
Breakfasts eaten - 133
Pushups - 1160 Crunches - 1040
Days Flossed - 117 (missed two days)
Coffee - 0 cups
Sunrises attended - 15
Beers drunk - 0
Gallons of Trash Collected - 302
Items planted -12 jalapenos, 12 bell peppers, 8 yellow pear tomatoes, 30 canna bulbs, 1 chinese pistache, 30 sensitive plants, 24 carolina reaper peppers, 12 ghost peppers, 31 scorpion peppers, 5 brussel sprouts, 12 tyria hybrid cucumbers, 14 congo watermelons, 6 hybrid prizewinner pumpkins, 45 devils tongue peppers, 14 black sea man tomatoes, 33 peruvian white lightning habaneros, 16 mammoth russian sunflowers, 30 big smile sunflowers, 100 zinnia's, 100 basil plants, 100 green onion plants, 12 chinese lanterns, 30 garden beans, a
bed of mint, 50 Celosia flowers, 7 Red Maple Seeds, 30 brussel sprouts,
Letters written - 11
Meat eaten - none
Donations made - Bike the US for MS, Personal Mission Trip, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, Against Malaria Foundation,
Deworm the World Initiative, Project Healthy Children, charity: water, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative,
YMCA Thrift Store,
Movies watched - 0
Glasses of wine - 0
New dishes cooked - Vegetable Korma, Ukranian Vinaigrette, Lamb's Quarters Quiche, Thai Spicy Eggplant with Sweet Basil
and a side of Bean Sprout Salad with Peanut Chili Dressing, Pan Bagnat with grilled peppers and basil vinaigrette and a side of Classic Gougères, Vegetarian Feijoada and Brazilian Bananas,
Miles ran - 231.6
Facebook and Twitter time = 0 minutes
Books Read - The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter, currently reading The Other by David Guterson and loving it!