Thursday, July 19, 2012

Thursday Thirteen

DirecTV and Viacom, in a bidding war, have forgotten that they have customers who might want to watch those 25 channels I've been paying for but can no longer see. (Actually I did not watch them all, but they came with the bundle).

I am not a big TV viewer anyway. My husband, however, likes to watch TV and has it on whenever he is in the house. I'm just glad that Viacom doesn't own the Discovery or History channels or he would really be raising a ruckus.

Knowing that a lot of folks are missing these channels, I thought I would offer up 13 things you could do instead of hunting for something to watch.

In other words, let's turn off that darned television set!

1. Read a book. This would be my top choice for something to do besides watch TV. With a good book in hand, I don't need a TV. A book takes me to other worlds, puts me in a soap opera, feeds me news (if it's nonfiction) and otherwise engages me.

2. Write something! You could write a poem or a story. You could write a play! If you have kids, you could have them write a play and act it out for you. You might find you have a budding screenwriter in your midst.

Take a walk!
3. Go for a walk. Enjoying the wonderful world that nature has provided for us offers loads of teaching opportunities for everyone. I always see something new on a walk, even when I am traveling paths I have trod before.

4. Talk. Gosh. Imagine that. A conversation. What a novel idea! What would you talk about? How about hopes and dreams? Goals for the future? Promises of tomorrow? Belief systems? Philosophies. The last book you read. It's wide open! Go for it.

5. Cook. Learn a new recipe. Bake a cake for an ailing neighbor. Fix a batch of brownies for day care.

6. Draw. You could paint a picture of anything you like, even things that have never been seen before. Maybe you have a latent artistic talent. Or maybe the best you can do are stick figures. Even so, give it a try. You might find it opens up a creative pathway.

7. Listen to music. The radio, CD player, or Ipod offers up interesting possibilities. What if you put on something soothing, close your eyes, and just listen for a while? How might you feel afterwards?


8. Play an instrument. Maybe, like me, you play the guitar but seldom pick it up. This would be a fine time to hone those skills. Or maybe you want to learn but have never had the time. Well, those hours of watching reruns on TV Land are gone now. Practice time!

9. Sew. This is an art that will soon be lost, I fear. But needlework is a wonderfully relaxing activity. I cross stitch sometimes when I am looking for something totally different to do with my self. You can knit, quilt, crochet, or make your own clothes.

10. Play a sport. This could be something as tame as tossing horseshoes (does anyone do that anymore?) to a team sport that involves the neighbors and lots of dirt and tackling. Get the blood pumping!

11. Take up a hobby. Maybe you want to become a stamp collector or a coin collector. I have always thought both of those would be good hobbies but have never pursued them.


12. Organize! If you're like me, every drawer and shelf could use a little sprucing up. Things accumulate and the next thing you know the junk drawer has taken on a life of its own. Go through your old files and toss what you no longer need. It will make you feel better.

13. Dance. When all else fails, get up and boogie. If you don't have music, hum a tune, and do a waltz across the garage.

16 comments:

  1. Sometimes I wonder if talking is a dying art. Everyone is always texting!

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  2. Excellent advice, on any day of the week!

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  3. I was going to say dance when you mentioned listening to music and then found it with #13. I only get one network channel, ION and PBS. I'm thinking of signing up for Netflicks but my husband doesn't want it because he gets pretty sucked in once he turns it on and would rather be doing something in the above list.

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  4. #1 and #13 are my favorite options. Though #12 is what I SHOULD do. In fact, it's what I should be doing now instead of checking out TT's. (That's a TT itself -- "thirteen things I should be doing instead of blogging")

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  5. I never have the tv on when I'm home during the day. My hubs loves to have it on as background noise, mostly the news, which I can only listen to for so long. The news is on a reel I think. I vote read a book : )

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  6. i've not missed the missing channels one bit but i know ashlyn is...she loves that trash on mtv, jersey shore and teen mom....i have been doing some organizing though! good list!

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  7. Great ideas! I'm going to go with read a book or several.

    http://otherworlddiner.blogspot.com/2012/07/are-you-ready-fourth-of-july-quiz.html

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  8. I like this! Great ideas...I think we all need to do these things, make ourselves somehow bigger and more creative so that those things are not lost.

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  9. I admit it...I would be lost if I was a Direct TV subscriber! I do most everything on your list already, (used to dance but haven't since moving to Virginia) but also am an avid television watcher and movie goer. Think it's horrible that Direct and Viacom are using their customers to fight their greedy battle.

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  10. Except for the sports thing, you pretty much listed what I like to do with my time. The one time I really want TV is when I'm folding laundry. It's boring without it.

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  11. Too funny. Yep, I know quite a few people upset by all of this. Thank goodness I have Comcast.

    Have a great T-13!
    http://harrietandfriends.com/2012/07/what-women-were-more-apt-to-feel-road-age-t-13/

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  12. Excellent ideas, Anita! I'd rather be doing almost any of the things on your list (except maybe for sewing, cooking, and organizing) than watching TV. We don't have cable or satellite, but we do have Netflix. Unfortunately, my husband reads far less since we got Netflix. He likes to watch old WWII documentaries, so at any given moment, I have the sound of bombs falling and gunshots in the living room. *Sigh*

    By the way, is that by any chance your hidden magic forest glade in the picture?

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    1. Yes Beth, that is my hidden magic forest glade! Nice catch.

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  13. Some excellent suggestions. Not having either a computer or cable for two weeks in June is why I did as much reading that month as I did. Not that there aren't times I really miss cable. ;-)

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  14. Our life unfolds almost exclusively on screens these days. So many find it hard to consider alternatives. Thanks.

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  15. Organization is always at the top of my list--lately I haven't really had much to organize though, so I have taken to reading--besides it is too hot to do much else!
    tm

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