No power, ergo no digital cable...
I've been thinking about having another "tv-free" week for a while now, but put it off to feed my recent Alias obsession. On Sunday, however, I was forced into it by near-hurricane tropical storm Gaston. We didn't have power all day Sunday and, after reading every book and magazine in the house, I had to venture out among downed power lines, tree limbs, and flood waters to find some other damn thing to read. Apparently, I am not capable of sitting still and doing nothing for more than 10 minutes. Seriously, I tried. I even tried playing the handheld Yahtzee, but it's not the same without the tv on in the background. I've become such a multi-tasker, that I have to watch tv and do something else at the same time, otherwise I get bored.

I got my hands on three new magazines (this month's Vogue is freakishly large) and a book, Lit Riffs.

The power is back on, but I've decided to forgo tv this week (it's good timing, considering it's Republican Convention week - which is even more boring than sitting in the dark with nothing to read). But I'm not counting DVDs, since that's considered "selective viewing." I knew I'd find a loophole.

I feel like a better person already.

Talkin' 'bout some TV...
I've always had this deeply rooted tendency to watch geek-tv. I used to mainline X-Files (even arranging my social life around the show, way back when it came on Friday nights) but have managed to stay away since the last season. Before that, it was Star Trek Next Generation, before that, probably regular old Star Trek, and before that, I'm sure it was Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. But I've been geek-tv-free and clean for about 5 years now. Some people say I've just replaced my geek show obsession with one for reality shows (if you know anyone else who has seen every season of The Real World, let me know), but I think I've just been postponing the inevitable.

Accordingly, I recently fell off the wagon, but hard. A friend of my roommate's loaned him the first season of Alias on DVD and we've been marathon-tv-watching so we can return it and get the second season. And then the third (which comes out on DVD next month), all in preparation for the FOURTH season that begins in January! I'm going to have to give up Sunday night Sopranos and Six Feet Under for this, I know it. Double agents, espionage, intrigue, poor relationship with Dad, wigs, wigs & more wigs...plus, Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow kicks serious ass.

Cleansing rituals...
Even though I'm not a new-agey, crystals & chakras kind of person, I bought smudge sticks today and "smudged" my whole house to get rid of the negativity. Seriously, it's supposed to work. I'll let you know. My friend Robbie said he thought they were used to alert demons that a virgin lived in the house. Either way, change is in the air.