#SorryNotSorry

For info on movies in the park, click here.

Ok, so I slipped up a bit - twice. But let me explain, and I think you'll feel the same as I do - that it was totally understandable.

First, last Friday night, husband and I went to a movie in the park. Oh my word - so fun! It was the first time we'd ever done something like that, and we had a blast. I highly recommend it. It was at the Lake Harriet bandstand for a screening of Mars Attack. I had never seen Mars Attack (and it turns out I wasn't really missing much), but here's why I don't think it was really cheating that bad in not watching tv:
- I was not sitting on the couch in the house. I was sitting on a lawn chair outside on a beautiful summer night.
- I was not being unsocial. Because it was outside, Josh and I could still easily talk to each other quietly without bother the people around us. Also, there was just a general community feel throughout the park.
- I did something I've never done before. Part of the reason I decided to not watch t.v. was because, due to my introverted inclinations, I can easily talk myself out of going out to try new things and instead stay cozy in my home. This fallback plan generally includes watching t.v.

So, hopefully you have been nodding along with me as I've made my argument for watching a movie. Also, bonus point, it was free. So…I don't see how you could not be on my side here.

Second, since Monday, I have watched ALOT of YouTube videos of Robin Williams - clips of his movies, his standup comedy, tribute videos, etc. The world seems to be reeling from the tragic loss of this man, and I have been right there with everyone else. It's been a lot of screen time, but I don't care. Like most of us, I only knew him through the characters he played, but I've known those characters my whole life. Thank you for sharing your humor and heart with the world, Mr. Williams. Bangarang.

And Then I Was Living in a Bus

10 days sans television, and I'm starting to rethink my life. Great.

So, here's my the story of why I'm probably going to end up living in a bus:

I turned off the television. With time on my hands and a quiet house, I started cleaning and organizing. While cleaning in silence, I thought, "Holy hot pockets, we have a lot of stuff!" Then I remembered a documentary I had watched a couple months ago about tiny houses. I had thought it was pretty interesting at the time and decided to do some internetting on the subject. I surfed, clicked, and scrolled myself into an utter frenzy of anti-materialism. "These people are doing it right," I thought. Before long, my little laptop shown me all the websites I could find on tiny houses and the tiny house movement. But my huge appetite for tiny was not yet satisfied, so naturally, I took to Pinterest. Pinterest was filled with small home plans, ways to live comfortably in small spaces, floor plans, small home designs, etc, etc. Then I came a cross a minimalist blog called, naturally, TheMinimalists. I loved it! I read about 20 posts in one sitting. (They are pretty short, so it didn't take as long as it may seem.) I was thoroughly inspired. So I started purging…this is still in progress, but I was thrilled with my new-found motivation to simplify and get rid of stuff. And then I found the bus. Apparently, there are people who have converted school and commercial busses into homes. Um, I LOVED this! Why not? Live in a bus with only the stuff that you need. No mortgage, no bills, go wherever you want. Clearly, I should have been living in the 1970's. Well, I grabbed my laptop and bound across the house to share this grand idea to the husband. He, alas, did not share my enthusiasm. At. all. 

So, I'll keep working on him, and hopefully, not long from now, we will have sold/donated everything we own and moved into a school bus. I don't see how this could turn out badly.

___________

In all seriousness, the sites that I referenced are extremely interesting, helpful, and great. A tiny house may not work for everyone, but if it does, I think it's awesome. If anything, the concept of living a life unburdened by possessions and, rather, filled with relationships and passions is a worthy pursuit and one that I hope to implement more and more.
And I really am not totally opposed to living in a bus. :)

Highly Disorganized and Clutterly Content

One week without television: I suppose it was inevitable that I would start organizing.

I like to think of my house as delightfully disorganized, "lived-in", comfortably cluttered, etc. Even after I've done what I consider to be a thorough cleaning, I am certain that there are people who would say that more could be done in order for it to be truly clean and tidy. Clutter, in moderation, does not bother me at all. A pile of paper on the table, shoes laying haphazardly by the door, an unfolded blanket on the couch, books laying here and there…not a problem. I rarely clean anything right away - wash each dish as it is used, iron clothes as soon as they come out of the wash, organize the mail as soon as I bring it in from the mailbox - nah. I don't think this makes me a messy person…and if it does, I don't care.

But, I will admit that this relaxed method of housekeeping does eventually catch up with me. For example, what was once a neatly stacked pile of paper becomes a colony of piles of paper, mail, books, scripts, and pictures. There are some specific locations around the house that are particularly susceptible to excessive clutter and mayhem, and today, I decided to tackle one of them: my craft cabinet.

Oh, my craft cabinet…it is a mysterious trove of unused potential. It contains all the knick knacks, tools, supplies, and pretties that I have collected for either a specific project or simply because it was a shiny, new crafty thing. It is stuffed with all sorts of items that could become so many wonderful things if I were to follow through with my sporadic notions of ingenuity. Alas, more often than not the project is abandoned prematurely for one reason or another, and the items purchased with such a hopeful purpose are stuffed into the cabinet with all the other forgotten supplies.

So today I organized it. And it is EXQUISITE. I mean…sigh…it just really is. And I found so many things! I found a baby present purchased for my nephew Judah…who is now 4 years old. I found a birthday card I bought for my dad…two birthdays ago - sorry, Dad - and so many craft supplies that I had forgotten were there at all.

I also found a bunch of stuff to make friendship bracelets and have every intention to whip a few together! I promise - promise - that I won't toss them back in the cabinet.

Whining on a Wednesday

Reading books an English major should have already read at this point in life. #oops

Ok, so today has been a challenge. "It's a challenge. IT'S a challenge." Ha…JRB. Anyway...

I really, really, really want to watch tv. I obviously have a problem.
I have been SO productive today, and I think I deserve to watch tv. Addict.
I'd only watch one show. How's that? You could stop anytime? Have you met yourself?

Well, I was gonna write a post, but clearly I'm only capable of whining. So…

I JUST WANT TO WATCH TV!!!!!!

Sigh.

Anyone care to have me list everything I've done today? No? Hmmm.
-cleaned
-read my book
-made huge progress on a design project
-responded to emails
-did laundry
-ran errands
-updated my Google calendar
-started memorizing lines
-cooked an actual meal for lunch

You're welcome.

Today's post has been brought to you by the old adage "If you can't say anything nice, be sarcastic."

Guess I'll go read my book. Or clean. Ugh...

Procrastination Level: 0

I've now lived through an entire weekend without watching television. I mean...did any of you know that was even possible? I am quite sincerely agog...AGOG.

So here's my problem, though - all this time I've supposedly saved by not watching tv is really cutting into my personal procrastination goals. I love procrastination. I thrive by it. I am never more focused (panicked) and productive (scrambling) than when I've waited until the very last minute to get something done that should have been done days, weeks, or months before. I like to think that my best work is done when my adrenalin is high, my anxiety is soaring, and my fear of failure is real...very, very real.

Now, though, I have time to plan, prepare, and implement everything that I need to do. I have no distractions from projects, housework, fitness, communication, etc. These things will now be done calmly and with enough time to complete them in a satisfactory manner. Sigh. Not my ideal conditions, to say the least. So, basically everything else in my life is gonna go down the crapper - all because I stopped watching tv.
Let this be a lesson to children everywhere.

Will my brain even be able to learn lines if not frazzled by the 30 minute deadline before rehearsal? Will my house be able to fathom why I've spent so long carefully scrubbing all it's nooks and crannies - not skipping anything for lack of time? Will my dog die of over-exertion because of the sudden increase in walks? Will I cease to be adorably disorganized?! These are the worries that now plague my mind at night while I'm laying in bed - at a decent hour in silence because the tv is not on. Again.

#thestruggleisreal

Netflix: The Seductive Temptress

This is me not watching Netflix. Or any 'flix at all.

I don't want to toot my own horn here, but I'm kinda the queen of Netflix binge-watching. I mean, I was binge-watching Netflix before it was cool, which makes me a Netflix hipster, right?. While the general look of a mainstream hipster (Ha!) is tight jeans, old flannel shirts, and thick-rimmed glasses, the tell-tale look of a Netflix hipster is sweatpants, a zip-up hoodie, and no makeup.

I rock this look. (insert proud smirk)

There are few things that sound more relaxing and enjoyable than a whole load of episodes of some well-reviewed series just waiting to be watched on Netflix. I mean, picture it - my comfiest stretchy clothes, the best spot on the couch, a blanket within reach just in case, a beverage on the side table, a yummy snack to be eaten mindlessly and in excess…and a whole world of characters and plot twists. And with a quick click of the remote control, I'm off...

Yesterday, mere hours after making this crazy decision to not watch television for a month, I got an email from Netflix: "Christina, the final season of The Killing is now on Netflix!"

What?! NO! Not fair.

I just finished watching the first three season last week. Last week! The end of the third season left the detectives hanging in the middle of the case they'd been working on over the course of the whole season. What kind of torture is this??

Well, no kind. It's no kind of torture. I'll survive. I'll wait. Begrudgingly, at first anyway.

So…*sigh*…I came home from work yesterday, and I did not turn on the tv. I cleaned a little without the tv on in the background. I hung a picture on the wall without HGTV playing for unnecessary inspiration. I read my book…in silence. I went to an outdoor theatre production, came home again and did not fire up Netflix. I went to bed.

Christy-1; TV-0

Pull the Plug

I watch alot of tv. Like, ALOT.
I'm not proud of this, but I still do it. I watch it on purpose and for no reason at all. I watch it even when I don't want to watch it.
So, I'm going to try pulling the plug for a month. I'm going to try to not watch tv for all of August. I'm not going to go nuts about it - if someone posts a short video of something on Facebook, I'll probably watch it. I won't scream and run out of the room if I find a tv on somewhere. But I'm going to not turn it on for myself at home. I'll just find something else to do.
And, really, this could be awesome.
What will I do while I eat breakfast in the morning? Usually I watch The Tonight Show, recorded from the night before.
What will I do over my lunch? Usually I watch some sitcom saved on my DVR or whatever is on HGTV. No HGTV for a month!? breathe...holy crap.
And in the evening? I mean...wow. Maybe I'll cook. Or read all the books I've been meaning to get to. Maybe I'll go to bed at a decent time and be able to get up to go to the gym. Maybe I'll get RIPPED! Maybe I'll actually be off-book way before the specified "off-book" date for the shows I'm in. Maybe I'll learn at least one chord on the guitar I bought over a year ago and still haven't learned how to play.

Maybe I'll blog more.

When will I do all my snacking? And meal eating? And interneting? Will my couch miss me? It better.

But for real. I mean, wouldn't it be truly tragic if I got to old age - which, let's be honest, is not as far off as I'd like to think - and realized that I had not done so many things merely I wanted to find out if the couple on House Hunters bought the charming fixer-upper or the movin-in ready new construction?

Maybe I'm expecting more from this month than I should be. Maybe I'll fail and switch on the tv after one day. Maybe I won't.