there are many advantages to not having cable. by some unfortunate occurrence we have found that we get cable without paying for it. i think that’s illegal, and i can only hope that we get caught soon.

having cable unfortunately causes me to periodically get sucked into watching hours of really mind-numbing shows. this is not helped by the “marathon” phenomenon, where… just as if you bought the season on dvd… you can watch hours upon hours of the same show as it travels through the whole season in a day. with the added bonus of the same commercials cycling over and over again.

currently, as i’ve come back from being in colorado with my soon to be in-laws, and i’m taking a vacation from my vacation, i’ve flipped between two marathons that are happening right now… “say yes to the dress” and “the deadliest catch“. both reality shows, one about buying a wedding dress, another about deadly crab fishing on the bering sea.

as i’ve been planning my wedding lately, the dress show of course grabs my attention. at some points, it causes more shock and fear than the deadliest catch. i have to keep reminding myself that only a very slim percentage of the population has their wedding dress shopping experience filmed at a high end bridal store in new york. but still.

one funny side affect to watching a lot of discovery channel reality shows is that i find that doing everyday tasks suddenly becomes narrated with the same voice overs that explain the minutia of the wedding dress industry or the crab-catching business. and as i’m making my bed, in my head i’m explaining how i hate folding corners to an imaginary camera. that’s the joke about reality shows. they have stuck cameras and commentary into the mundane and private and made it into a cable tv show. and somehow, if it’s on the tv (especially if it’s a marathon), it’s entertainment.

so when while brushing my teeth i find myself looking into the imaginary hidden camera in my mirror, i know it’s time to turn off the tv, grab a book, and try and regain some conscious thought.