When browsing through the Fantasy / Sci-fi section of Borders the other day, I realized that I now recognize probably 85% of the authors I saw there, through various interactions and mentions on blogs and message boards. And now I also realize that, of the remaining 15%, several of them are probably pen names of the other 85%. I don’t know if that is encouraging or discouraging. But it is definitely interesting.
Living off the Grid
We did it. We made the leap. We got rid of our satellite dish.
It all started when I was reading an article at my mom’s house, I believe it was in Newsweek, about a guy who had decided to cancel his cable television. His main point was basically that most shows are online, or on Netflix, or some other medium. Of course, not all shows were, but for the money he was paying for cable, it would be worth it to miss those shows.
This really resonated with me. Most of the shows we watch are on network television. Yes, there are a few shows that aren’t available online and aren’t on network television that I will miss. But are those few shows worth the money we pay? If someone came up to me on the street and said, “Hey, if you stop watching show X, I’ll give you $500 a year.” I would take it so fast the guy’s head would spin.
There were a few other factors as well that affected our decision. First off, as you probably know, we don’t watch t.v. with Evie. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no t.v. before the age of two. But of course, after two years of not watching t.v. with her, there didn’t seem to be much point in starting when she turned two. We have plenty to do in a day. So the t.v. doesn’t come on at all until she is in bed. Depending on how tired we are, we can probably watch (at most) two shows. So we’ve already weaned ourself down quite a bit, to where the t.v. isn’t on all day.
Second off, if t.v. is so bad for kids, is it really so great for adults? Don’t get me wrong, we still watch plenty of t.v., but I’ve been making an effort to watch left. Honestly, I feel like I never have enough time for my hobbies as it is, and I’d really rather be doing them than watching t.v. in most cases.
For me personally, there was a third factor to consider. We have had our Tivo for years now. It worked great when we just had regular cable. But with any sort of box, satellite in our case, but also digital cable, etc., the Tivo has some trouble. Most people rent a box with a DVR included in it, so they don’t have these sorts of troubles. But it didn’t make sense to pay extra for that when we already had something. Anyway, long story short, but if we didn’t remember to “fix the t.v.”, the Tivo would blindly record an hour of satellite screen saver. This happened constantly, meaning we were missing shows left and right. And if we were gone for a weekend or something, forget it.
Okay, so, the short version is, for whatever reason, we don’t watch much t.v. anymore, and we decided it wasn’t worth it. So I got a digital converter box for my birthday and decided to give it a whirl. After a short trip to Best Buy for a $13 antenna, we’re in business.
I have to tell you, I couldn’t feel better about this. Basically, the downside is missing a few shows I used to watch (and I basically only mean The Soup and Robot Chicken, maybe the occasional football game). The upside is saving about $500 a year and not missing shows from when the Tivo / satellite connection messes up.
And let’s be clear, this isn’t exactly like going down to 4 channels, like when I was a kid. The combination of digital signals adding sub-channels, and maybe the fact that I live in Chicago now, I receive a full 39 channels. That’s like how many basic cable used to give you.
So anyway, I dumped all of those horrible monopolistic television providers, and I have a new lease on life. A spring in my step. And I recommend to all of you to do the same.
One funny anecdote about the whole thing. When I went in to Best Buy, the checkout lady tried to get me to get a credit card. She asked me, “Did you get everything you wanted for Christmas? We have no interest right now, you could get that big t.v. you always wanted.” I looked at her and said, “Are you seriously trying to sell a big screen high def t.v. to the guy who just bought the cheapest pair of rabbit ears he could find?” She repeated about the no interest, and I just laughed and left.
Death of a Legend
If you felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced, it was because something terrible has happened.
That’s right, Glen W. Bell Jr., the founder of Taco Bell, died.
Truly, a day that will live in infamy. And to anybody who says Taco Bell isn’t healthy? Dude was 86.
Basketball, Dreams and Cactuses
Over the weekend we took Evie to a women’s college basketball game. It was actually a lot of fun. Evie was excited to learn about a new sport and see people playing actually playing it. More exciting though were the peripheral things, like the jazz band and the decorations for the Hawaiian theme promotion. Most exciting of all, of course, was the mascot.
Evie gave him several high-fives over the course of the evening, and she demanded to know where he was at all time. We spent much of the game looking around for him so she could check out what he was up to. We’re pretty sure he was a Phoenix, but Evie insisted he was a Cardinal, due to the fact that he was red. Every dance move, every attempt to pep up the crowd, was amazing to her. And for my own part, I really enjoyed the game. It was exciting.
Unfortunately we left before the end, so I didn’t see who won. Evie has asked many times since then if we could go back to “see the bird” and has made plans for our next trip. So who knows, we might be back to watch another game.
Evie, laughing: “Those aren’t pants!”
Me: “Yes they are.”
Evie: “No they’re not!”
Sara: “What are they, if they aren’t pants?”
Evie: “Cactuses!”
They were khaki’s, although maybe she wasn’t misunderstanding the word…she finds khaki’s to be stiff and poky.
Over break she was taking a nap in the car, when suddenly she sat bolt upright and announced, “I have to go potty!” We started looking around and finally found a place to pull over and go. As we were looking, she says, “I was having a dream I was going potty.” So we had to explain to her, “It’s okay, that happens to adults too!” I don’t know how many times I have had dreams like that.
The next day she was eating and she started crying. She said, “I ate my finger! Does that happen to adults too?”
It’s so funny, seeing her have these dreams that adults have. This morning she told me a dream that she was in a place where there were lots of people eating, and she was looking and looking for her chair, but she couldn’t find it. Again, haven’t we all had dreams like that? She hasn’t gone to school yet, so she can’t have ones where she hasn’t studied for a test, or can’t find a class or her locker. I still have a dream like that now and again.
Of course, she has strictly Evie dreams too, like the one she had over the weekend where her feet got dirty because she had cheese in her Elmo slippers…
The need for agents
I’ve mentioned the excellent blog of Dean Wesley Smith before, but there is a simply amazing discussion going on in the comments of his latest post entitled, “Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing: Agents Know Markets“. Currently there are over 70 comments, and most of them are from extremely established writers.
Absolutely eye-opening stuff, and if, like me, you’re a newbie writer you won’t even believe what you’re reading. It’s a lot to read and digest, but if you have any intention of selling a novel, and/or having a career in publishing, it is an absolute must read! It will make you seriously reconsider the need for an agent.
Shane Halbach 