Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.
Media Fast
BaileyD
Explorer
On a whim, I decided to go on a kind of media fast for the month of February. It was the best decision I've ever made. Until the next one. 
I swore off all news except what popped up in the background. No Facebook (gasp) no news feeds on my homepage, no radio other than for music, I don't watch TV so that wasn't a problem, no discussion forums, etc.
I learned one very important thing: life goes on even if I don't pay attention to it. Shocking, I know.
A superintendent on one of my job sites is very politically aware and listens to all sorts of news and punditry. He can get himself so worked up over the smallest thing on the news that he is more or less useless on the job. This was my inspiration for my media fast. I saw some of his outrage cropping up in me from time to time. I used to listen to quite a bit of talk radio and kept several news feeds on my homepage and phone so I could keep up to date on all the current affairs of the world. I thought this is what an intelligent and informed member of society was supposed to do. Sometimes it stressed me to the point of physical pain. Sometimes I engaged in less than skillful conversations about current affairs. So I cut it all out. It turns out that the world keeps on turning even if I don't watch every moment of every turn and what congress does during those turns. It also turns out that I don't even really care that much about what Congress, the President, the Republicans, the Democrats, or Lolcats do on a regular basis.
It's nice. It's peaceful. It's life. Cut out the chatter and you can actually see and hear it happening. Unplug the cable from the TV or the computer and shut off your phone and you will see the world happening around you. It may be nice to keep up with friends on Facebook, but it's better to keep up with them face to face. Or just live your life with the memories of how your friendships used to be. It's possible to be too "up to date" with the world.
I turned everything back on the first of March. I didn't know anything about Rush and his slut comments, or whatever happened during the SuperBowl with someone flipping off the camera, or even the sordid details of Whitney's death. I've only got bits and pieces because it doesn't seem that important. My life will continue no matter who is called a slut, flips off a camera, or dies. The things I used to think were important now seem a little trivial and silly.
From this little break I've come to the conclusion that my Facebook page may be a little superfluous, cable TV may be more of a bill that I need, and these discussion forums a bigger waste of time than a help. I like this place, because you all are so wonderful, but the rest of the internet can fade away for all I care. Nothing much to see here.
I swore off all news except what popped up in the background. No Facebook (gasp) no news feeds on my homepage, no radio other than for music, I don't watch TV so that wasn't a problem, no discussion forums, etc.
I learned one very important thing: life goes on even if I don't pay attention to it. Shocking, I know.
A superintendent on one of my job sites is very politically aware and listens to all sorts of news and punditry. He can get himself so worked up over the smallest thing on the news that he is more or less useless on the job. This was my inspiration for my media fast. I saw some of his outrage cropping up in me from time to time. I used to listen to quite a bit of talk radio and kept several news feeds on my homepage and phone so I could keep up to date on all the current affairs of the world. I thought this is what an intelligent and informed member of society was supposed to do. Sometimes it stressed me to the point of physical pain. Sometimes I engaged in less than skillful conversations about current affairs. So I cut it all out. It turns out that the world keeps on turning even if I don't watch every moment of every turn and what congress does during those turns. It also turns out that I don't even really care that much about what Congress, the President, the Republicans, the Democrats, or Lolcats do on a regular basis.
It's nice. It's peaceful. It's life. Cut out the chatter and you can actually see and hear it happening. Unplug the cable from the TV or the computer and shut off your phone and you will see the world happening around you. It may be nice to keep up with friends on Facebook, but it's better to keep up with them face to face. Or just live your life with the memories of how your friendships used to be. It's possible to be too "up to date" with the world.
I turned everything back on the first of March. I didn't know anything about Rush and his slut comments, or whatever happened during the SuperBowl with someone flipping off the camera, or even the sordid details of Whitney's death. I've only got bits and pieces because it doesn't seem that important. My life will continue no matter who is called a slut, flips off a camera, or dies. The things I used to think were important now seem a little trivial and silly.
From this little break I've come to the conclusion that my Facebook page may be a little superfluous, cable TV may be more of a bill that I need, and these discussion forums a bigger waste of time than a help. I like this place, because you all are so wonderful, but the rest of the internet can fade away for all I care. Nothing much to see here.
0
Comments
One day, when she use to be a teacher, in the staff room, someone asked her, "Hey, did you see *insert TV soap title here* last night?"
and my mother replied, "No, we don't have a television...."
"What - ?! You DON'T have a TV? What do you do in the evening??"
"well," she replied, "we go out to dinner, we read books, we listen to the radio, i sew, make my own greetings cards, go see friends, go to the theatre, write letters, cook, bake and talk to each other, a lot. Why, what do you do?"
her colleague was lost for words....
We have movies and now NetFlix and even somewhere a video game system I think.
I have not watched new since the OJ ordeal which was MANY years ago.
I don't really keep up with the news either or use the social networks.
I'd love to unplug from everything for a month. I'm sure it would be so beneficial on many levels. Sadly, work does force me to at least check email daily - really more than that, but I've cut it down to not feel chained to a barrage of information I don't need.
And I don't mean breakfast....
no... wait.....I mean....
someone....
What do i mean?
You just reminded me to make a date to take my daughter to use her gift cards at the arts store, sigh. They are closed on Sunday I think.
I used to do TV turn off week (it is every April I think) and turn it into a month. Now you really have to be prepared for that. That means I could not park the kids and do my own thing, hence my novel being seriously behind. However I make myself look through old photos to see what we were doing and remember the great stuff we did. I took pictures of projects and activities like the lego structures we made. All my kids can entertain themselves pretty well.
I think I had an unusual way of raising my kids. I am seeing some payoff now but in other ways it is slow going. No matter I am a firm believer in the 'good enough' parent model. We are too hard on our parents, if nothing else they kept us alive and cared for us for many years, usually doing better than the way they were raised.
There are so many young parents and IMO the fast majority of them have no real idea of how to deal with such a precious and fragile thing as a new life. I have seen this first hand in the UK has the GF of the person I was sharing a flat with had a baby at the age of 17, she was not mentally mature enough to have a baby that is for sure. That is not to say that all young parents are not able to bring up a child in a decemnt manner.
If I were to have kids though, I would be strict when it is needed but I would be a lot like yourself @AHeerdt
There is one thing that I have seen many parents fail to do. When a child is young and say they do something that is either dangerous or 'wrong', the parent will maybe smacl their hand and say "no, don't do that." The child has not learnt anything really from this, what is needed is to explain why it is wrong to do whatever it is they did.
Going back to TV, I could go on for hours about the media in general and kids. It is something that created my generation. I can speak in behalf of my generation, we are pretty lazy for the most part, we want things now and we want them perfect. The media drives this ideology that we need to look and be a certain way, it is pumped through the idiot box daily and kids are picking up on it earlier and earlier. Kids wearing makeup, kids wearing sexual clothing, kids trying to be adults in all the wrong ways. I cherish my childhood days, but I am afraid as this type of media and ideology continues, the general public becomes more and more accepting of it apart from a small minority who have their eyes actually open to what is happening. My rant is over, for now
Facebook <- lame.
Not long ago I cut back my cable and transfered to satellite in an effort to cut costs. At the time I contemplated just getting rid of cable/satellite all together, but worried I would miss watching my beloved Mariners(baseball) screw up another season. Now I have come to the conclusion that when my contract is up with Dish Network I will indeed "cut the cord" and get rid of cable/satellite all together. I'll probably keep my internet and Netflix or something like it. I do enjoy a good movie.
Anyway, thanks for all the feedback everyone, it's nice to hear I'm not alone. I'm off now to go hang out with real people, drink a few beers, and play some pool. I call it Analog Facebook.