I'm currently involved in a personal experiment. I started it on Ash Wednesday, but I'm not really thinking about it as a spiritual exercise. I've decided that during Lent I would live without reruns. That means I'm not allowed to watch any television shows or movies that I've seen before. Now this sounds pretty simple but for me it's not. I watch a lot of television and I watch a bunch of movies.
Often, I find that watching a show I've seen over and over is a great way to relax and disconnect and that's the point of this exercise. I was feeling like I was too disconnected. That's why I've added a couple of rules to the experiment.
- No replacing mindless repeats with mindless first watches. That means I can't skip an episode of the Simpsons and replace it with an episode of Saved By The Bell.
- No cheating by watching shows that have a minor change, like the enhanced episodes of Lost.
- Maximize the benefits by replacing some of the rerun times with reading, listening to books and writing blog posts.
Day one was easy. It was Thursday and I watched a lot of the Olympics and I read
Simple Church and listening to
Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Day two wasn't too bad either. That was Friday and I had some good shows on the DVR. I caught up on CSI watched the Olympics and then watched Caprica, which isn't a very good show but I'm giving it a little while longer before I bail out on the series.
Saturday was the toughest day so far. I didn't have any more shows on DVR and there's nothing but repeats on. Luckily, I had scheduled time to work with my sister on her website. That was fun and I got a free meal.
What I've noticed so far is how the limiting of mindlessness has enhanced by reading. I've now finished one and a half books since I started. Amazing the amount of time I've wasted. I'm hoping this becomes a habit.
—Ghandi
A local band is making waves. Not long ago I worked with a guy named Sebastian Schultz who was in a band called Bad Veins. Some time later he left the company to pursue music full-time. They have now signed with indie label Dangerbird Records.
