Daily affirmations of a word mercenary
Subhead: Nauseating Glop Of Bile-Colored Funk
That is SO my new band name
Here are some things that happened recently that I did not write about:
1) Saturday morning I was attacked by a brief, intense bout of food poisoning. During this short introduction to abdominal hell, I briefly blacked out, puked in the bathtub, and gave myself a very hardcore “my boyfriend beats me”-looking bruise on my bicep. After 15 minutes in the bathroom, and a 1 hour nap, I was completely recovered.
2) Thursday night was my friend Megasoul’s 28th birthday. We all met at Amy’s house (I met both Megasoul and Amy my freshman year at Emerson college. They were randomly assigned roommates and I lived across the hall) and ate Mexican food. I got into interesting conversations about the nature of creative motivation with a painter.
3) I’ve become thoroughly obsessed with Six Feet Under. Last week I downloaded the entire second season online, and watched episode after episode on my computer. Every Sunday night I got to a friend’s house to watch the newest episode. I’m totally engrossed. This is what happens when you don’t have a TV: you fixate, undistracted, on one show.
4) Andreas’ and my apartment reached never before seen levels of messiness. I’m sure that I’ve previously discussed my penchant for POSs (Piles of Shit), but I draw the line at mixed media piles of shit. Sadly, there were MM-POSs all over the apartment. One such file included clean and dirty clothes, a box from Dre’s new computer mouse, a letter from the IRS, postage stamps, and a fork. Clothing, correspondence, trash, AND kitchen slop, all in one pile. Heinous. We did a clean up yesterday which included me unscrewing the drain cover in the bathtub and extricating, by hand, several cubic inches of former tenants’ hair which had coagulated into a nauseating glop of bile-colored funk. The shower drains much better now.
5) T. recounted a conversation she had with a Frenchman who contended that we Americans were powerless to stop our crazy government. T. explained that protests were happening all over the nation, and the Frenchman (who was actually half American) scoffed and said that protests were one thing, but if people were REALLY as pissed about the war in Iraq as they SHOULD be, there would be riots, violence, and society would be shut down completely. The Frenchman explained that this will never happen because “Americans lack the revolutionary spirit.” While I don’t appreciate the man’s condescending attitude, I think he’s right about the revolutionary spirit. With a few exceptions, we Americans are a spoiled, privileged people who like to be coddled. Sure, we don’t always like the government, but we sure do like our standard of living, our lifestyles of excess and luxury, and our comfy position here at the top of the world.
Hey there. I'm Ariel Meadow Stallings, a native Seattleite who's written my way up and down the Left Coast. Electrolicious is where I post daily randomata, but I also write for a living. My first book, Offbeat Bride, was published last year.
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Michael
March 24th, 2003 at 10:54 am
And I am addicted to that damn show too. Like I need another TV show to dominate my life.
tlc
March 24th, 2003 at 11:28 am
Ha! I was there with Tia, and I can only say she was much more calmly behaved than the cute half American. Off topic, he looked like Patrick Dempsey and wore a pink belt. I will remember that pink belt forever, ahhh.
Sam
March 24th, 2003 at 1:48 pm
Why revolt when you have cable TV? Besides, we had a perfectly good revolution sometime back before the Dawn of Time, and that oughta be good enough for anybody. *sigh*
Sadly, I think I have to concur — if we did have the chutzpah to really shake things up, it got lost right around the time we stopped having any serious competition in the superpower arena.
Personally, I’m hoping for a space race with China, but given that they’re still willing to burn coal in their major cities, I’m not exactly holding my breath.
Tumbleweed
March 24th, 2003 at 2:21 pm
More agreement here, sad to say. I really wonder if all those goofs who voted for Nader are slapping themselves now? I surely want to slap people who, amazingly, still have those Nader/LaDuke stickers on their cars.
Also, if you protest too much here, you go to jail, and thus become labelled a criminal/traitor/etc. It’s a different era, and most people don’t seem to realize that. Hopefully people will use their brains juuuust enough to vote W out of office next time around.
Anna
March 24th, 2003 at 2:33 pm
We are spoiled, and so incredibly glib about war. I think it’s because major warfare wasn’t been waged on American soil for centuries: as a populace, we haven’t had to use that survival/fighting spirit in so long.
Broch
March 24th, 2003 at 3:06 pm
If the government tried to repeal private ownership of firearms, I guarantee that they would see a revolution. After meeting a group that had been to a protest, it was interesting to find out that they were “Trust fund bohemians,” living off of their parents wealth, driving $30,000.00 SUV’s and complaining about Americas materialism. Oi!
Ariel
March 24th, 2003 at 3:10 pm
Broch, “trustafarians” are certainly the stereotypical protester that everyone loves to bitch about, but most of the folks I’ve known out on the streets this past week are professionals. Doctors, lawyers, social workers, marketing hacks like myself, etc etc etc.
But you’re right about the firearms. THEN we’d have a revolution. Probably not what our Frenchman would want to hear, eh? “Hey: we Americans believe in ONE THING passionately enough to revolt against our government: OUR RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS!”
I just got depressed.
db
March 24th, 2003 at 3:21 pm
a catch 22 of sorts- “What are you *fighting* for?” “PEACE!”. Sometimes it must be done, but the grey area is so ponderous, man…
Elke
March 24th, 2003 at 7:35 pm
Just wondering about your not owning a t.v. Is is just because you don’t have one and feel that you don’t need one, or do you feel strongly about t.v. media?
db
March 24th, 2003 at 9:03 pm
ha! I thought I remember this topic coming up before- click
Ariel
March 24th, 2003 at 10:13 pm
Ah yes. The TV question. I’ve talked about not having a TV a lot on this blog, but have I never clearly explained my reasons? Now is as good a time as any:
1. I don’t like what TVs do to social interactions. I’m a big fan of participatory entertainment. It’s part of why I liked raves better than concerts. With TV, instead of interacting with each other, people sit side by side and stare. Movies do this too, which leads me to my next reason…
2. Most of what’s on TV is crap. Advertisements make me feel angry and like I want things I don’t need. Plus, TVs make you their pawn: if you want to see a show, you have to watch it when they say. (Yes, TiVo has changed this, but you get my point.) With movies, you watch what you want, when you want it. No ads. No, “Ooh, it’s almost 8:00, I’ve got to get home!
3. I watched a lot of TV as a child (much to my parents’ chagrin: they tried everything they could to minimize my time in front of the “boob toob”), and I would watch hours and hours slip away with nothing accomplished. TV takes your time and gives you very little in return.
4. I don’t like what TVs do to people’s living rooms. Instead of a salon feel, where you all sit around in a circle facing each other, you get the “couch facing the black box” feel. Something about a black turned-off TV screen feels like it’s sucking energy in…When I DID have a TV, it was always covered with fabric unless it was on.
5. When I do want to watch television (ie, Six Feet Under), I like to make it a social experience. We make plans in advance to go over to a friend’s house, we arrive early, chat, drink, etc. Then the show comes on and there’s much gasping and back-talking and oogling the attractive actors. It’s social and fun and a special occassion, the way entertainment should be.
THAT is why I don’t have a TV.
Ariel
March 24th, 2003 at 10:14 pm
Oh I forgot the last reason: My computer is MY TV. Except for that unlike most TVs, my computer has introduced me to employers, friends, projects, money, fame, etc etc etc. That said: it’s just another screen, and I’m just a hypocrite.
elke
March 24th, 2003 at 10:53 pm
Most of your cons about television I could pretty much say is the same about the internet or any other distracting device.
It is like anything else. It is about informed decisions. Pick what you want to watch, watch it, and then turn it off.
There is no evil to t.v. Only the mindless switching of channels to fill your endless void, which can also be filled by other vices.
I guess it strikes my as hypocritical because my other friend that I know who is so anti-television would not blink an eye at the thought of spending hours smoking pot and listening to music. So which is the lesser evil?
People hold reading into a much higher regard, but the same as anything else, it matters what it is that you are actually consuming.
Oh, how superior I sound by saying that I spent the last night reading, whilst you tell me you spent the night engrossed in the television. What did I read perchance? My cosmo magazine discovering the advantages of purple eye shadow. What did you watch on the evil box? A documentary on mummification in ancient Egypt.
So, in your opinion, who spent the evening utilizing the most of their brain?
Ariel
March 24th, 2003 at 10:59 pm
Woah, woah, woah:
Of *course* it’s hypocritical: I said so myself in my second comment. The one right above your comment.
philippe
March 25th, 2003 at 1:17 am
Hypocritical, I don’t know.
But you sure sound like a former alcoholic who refuse to store a single bottle of alcohol in her home…
Everything you said is so true. But TV doesn’t own people, Someone has to push a button on or off.
donut
March 25th, 2003 at 7:15 am
I have a tv (although no cable), but I’d like to add to the list of bad things about tv.
TV makes people feel like they’ve had a social interaction, when they haven’t. Studies have shown that people who watch Friends feel like they have more friends than they do. It artifically prevents people from feeling lonely, which can make it easier to become a shut-in. (Don’t laugh, I know some.) Internet can do this too, but at least the people on the other end aren’t fictional.
Choire
March 25th, 2003 at 7:56 am
I love my TV. I wish it wasn’t so endlessly fascinating with its 500 channels. That being said, I get my best ideas while glazing on it at 3 a.m.
Ariel
March 25th, 2003 at 8:02 am
See, Elke? I’m not biased against TV-watchers. Some of my best friends are TV-watchers.
Heh.
db
March 25th, 2003 at 8:08 am
Like any other factor or stimulant, be it chemical, social, visual, etc, too much of anything ‘cept love can be bad for you. Finding quality programming on the tube can ba awfully chalenging though. I’ve got digital cable- 300 some channels- and ever since the Sopranos and Oz ended and my girl Frenchie got booted, I haven’t found much worth sitting for. The internet is certainly capable of sucking down many hours of your life just as well, but the potential for interaction is so much greater (this conversation, for instance). Not unlike our web hostess here, I’ve found good friends, jobs, bandmates etc that would have been much more difficult if not impossible to do by any other means. It also takes the power of communication and puts it back in the hands of the public. I can’t think of anyone I know with the ir own TV station, but websites (which also happen to be accesible worldwide 24/7)…I’d really have to sit back and count that one…I say lose your TV, get a TV Tuner card for your PC, get the cable companies to make digital cable compatible with said TV Tuner cards ( they only go up to a certain channel) and then everyone has the best of both worlds. Most cards also have a utility within the software that allows you to timer record right to your hd, so TIVO can take a hike too =)
esther
March 25th, 2003 at 9:27 am
at our last house, my Tv (which is leeetle) was on one of those vintage rolling kitchen carts, and we would wheel it out of the room when we were done. it was like dim sum television.