NoVideo - Day 4

In addition to forgoing video of any kind, I'm also temporarily engaging in Tim Ferriss's slow carb diet from his book, The Four Hour Body. It's a discussion on its own, but, basically, it's a 6-day a week low carb diet with an Eat Anything Day tacked on the end. Today is one of those days. I have realized clearly how connected my overeating habits are with my video habits; and I felt that, somehow, the over-indulging would not be the same without t.v. to watch. Instead, I listened to Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me - a familiar and comfortable radio show that, more than any other show, qualifies as indulgence.

It was nice. It was fine. Nothing was lost. Nothing was missed. Any thoughts I had on the way home tonight about how harsh this would be - they all proved completely meaningless. The need to watch something is not a real need. Maybe I will have a desire to watch a certain thing, for the sake of curiosity, novelty, stimulation, a sense of wonder (if it's that type of production) - but it is not a necessity.

After dinner and Wait Wait (and a bottle of wine), I listened to an archived episode of This American Life while lying on my bed and staring at the wall (enjoying something I call the Lascaux Effect - the almost mystical fascination with interior walls lit with warm light - another thing that could be a subject of an entry on its own). Is an NPR addiction rising, with video out of the picture? It's hardly the same thing. I must say, I feel a lot more relaxed after 2 hours of radio glut than I ever would after its visual counterpart. I feel relaxed and ready to do something else: probably read some Sophocles or something else. I can move on; I can get enough sleep, and I feel refreshed.

Good night, all.