chillin' without veggin'

I have been in my new apartment for over a week now. I have my clothes all put away and my dished neatly stored. I have even bought that fancy new automatic shower cleaner. I am pretty sure it goes against my efforts to have "zero-impact" on the environment, but boy do I love the prospect of not having to clean my shower ever again! The only thing I have not settled into is my television.

I have the same TV that I, alone, balanced on top of our full-size refrigerator in that TINY freshman dorm room over seven years ago. VCR included in the TV; approximately 24x24 in size. It works, and the way I have my new apartment set up; I can watch TV from the bed, the kitchen, and the bathroom hallway. (can you say studio)

And I love TV, but I love crappy TV most of all. I used to fall asleep to Comedy Central, at 2am switch to TBS, then wake up and click to CNN. (I miss Soladad O'Brien) But since I have moved, I have not watched any TV. I have no cable, no local channels, not even one of the four PBS stations Chicago carries. What will I do without Antique Roadshow?

Of course I have my limited collection of DVD and VHS. Drop Dead Gorgeous and Harry Potter are getting considerably more play than they would have under normal circumstances. NPR is also getting a lot of play. And in an odd way - I prefer it.

Listen to the NPR allows me to multi-task in a way that is not capable while watching TV. Right now, I am eating dinner; listening to a great Chicago NPR program 848; and writing in my blog. I am catching up on current events without having to listen to an old white male news talking-head chit-chat with a young, attractive female talking-head.

I am chillin' without veggin'. Is that possible, or have I just rationalized another potentially lazy expression.

So, will I get cable? I compromised today and increased my Netflix order to two-at-a-time. Will I be able to replace my compulsion for crappy TV with NPR and documentaries from Netflix? I hope so, but at what cost? Will I now have nothing to say in the kitchen when other co-workers gather? Or, will I finally have something to say because I didn't spend the night before engulfed in Super Nanny.

And as my sister reminded me, I can always watch reruns on the Internet...

AK