La TV

Posted under la tv, to read by rahma

I watch too much TV.  It’s all TNT’s fault, with their Law & Order marathons and whatnot.  The husband and I have fallen into a mind numbing routine.  I come home from work, he’s on the computer, I turn on TV and watch a rerun of Law & Order for the 13th time.  Eventually, I’ll reheat leftovers for dinner, and then return to the Law & Order, or, if it’s Monday, turn on Heroes.  How much of my life has been spent on Law & Order?

Today marks the start of the first official no TV week in our household.  The only TV I’m allowing myself is the morning news to see the weather and road conditions, which is kind of a necessity (I’m telling myself), as we’re in the midst of a week long snow storm here in Minne-snow-da.  It’s going to be hard.  There are 12 step programs for alcoholics, gamblers, smokers, etc.  Where’s the program for the TVaholic?  Ah, here’s one.  Here’s my islamicized version of the plan:

1. Give your extra TVs to charity.  - ok we only have one tv, so no problem there

2. Only turn on the TV to watch a particular show. - the only show I’ll allow is the morning news, channel 24.  No flipping around if it’s on commercial.  No flipping to TNT to watch a rerun of Angel for the nth time.

3. Then, when you sit down to watch a particular show, set a timer - ok, so no timer for the morning news, but only one round of the weather/road reports.  After that, the TV gets turned off.

4. Throw out the remote control - I can’t quite do that, although I’ll have my husband hide them.

5. Rearrange the furniture - good idea.  I’ll have to brainstorm with the husband to see how we can do this

6. Hide the television - Can’t quite afford to get a TV cabinet, but I do have a bunch of islamic art that I don’t have hung up yet.  inshaAllah I’ll stick some on the TV :)

7. Eat meals, especially dinner, with the television OFF. - ah yes, this would help me with my (failing) diet as well.  Unfortunately our kitchen table is taken up with a computer, so we naturally gravitate towards the table in the living room (near the tv).  inshaAllah we can sit there, with the TV off, and listen to lectures or something instead.  Or maybe, *gasp* we could just talk.  Now that’s scary.

8. Set a rule that you can’t watch TV if the sun is shining. - That really doesn’t work well when you live freakin up north and the sun is only shining when you’re at work.  It will be good in the summer though.  I can’t count the number of times I’ve put off going for a run because there was a rerun of Law & Order on that I had only seen like 3 times.

9. Make a TV-watching plan each week. - I don’t think I’m quite ready to go completely no tv, so this will work once Heroes comes back on.  Heroes on Monday, House on Tuesday, and then that’s it.

10. Set a rule that you must read 30 pages of a book or magazine before you can turn on the TV - excellent idea.  I pulled an old college textbook off the shelf yesterday - A History of Islamic Societies - a mamoth 1000 page tome that I only had to read half of in my Islamic History class, and even then, I kinda skimmed it.  Well now I can buckle down and read it.  I was trying to reduce my TV time over the long break, and read On the Side of my People: A religious history of Malcolm X, and it was quite good.  Just think of all the books out there I could get through.

11. Create a list of one-hour evening projects. - Maybe a half an hour instead.  30 minutes of reading Qur’an every night at 9.  30 minutes of listening to a set of Islamic lectures together.  30 minutes of reading a book related to Islam.  30 minutes of dhikr.  Yeah, I could get into that.

12. Switch to games. - We do have a bunch of games sitting and gathering dust.  I think too, saying that we’ll go for a walk each night would be a good bit of physical activity we both need.

13. Develop a fast-moving news routine. - meh, don’t really need to worry about this.  I do all my news via NPR podcasts and reading the BBC.  However, I should limit the time I spend surfing news websites.  Will definately have to set a time limit there, maybe turn on the timer.

14. Say no to Jaws for the 15th time. - ah the rerun, my nemisis.  I’m just saying la to you.  I’m sorry Jack, sorry Lenny, sniff, it was nice seeing you again and again and again…

15. Get outdoors every night. - yes to 30 minute walks, unless it’s below zero.  I’m resolved, but I’m not crazy.

16. Change your TV-viewing chairs.  - will pull the kitchen chairs out into the living room if we do want to watch tv.  Good idea.

17. Say no to… - Crime shows.  I watch too many of them.  One Law & Order per week, max.

Books to get and read, recommended by Sh. Nuh and Sh. Hamza:

Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television

Amusing Ourselves to Death

The Plug in - Television, Computers and Family Life