Sunday Stealing: The "You Can't Be Missed" Meme (Part 2)

I love Sunday Stealing ... lots of fun, lots of opportunity to find out interesting stuff about others, and ... uh, did I mention fun ;-)?

The "You Can't Be Missed" Meme (Part 2)

16. What was the last thing you did that was totally selfish, yet you feel no guilt?
You know, I can't think of anything selfish I've done in recent memory for which I feel no guilt. That's not to say that I'm unselfish ... I'm just also carrying around quite a guilty conscience, I guess ;-) Actually, I kicked Belle off of the good TV so I could watch last week's NCIS episode on XFinity this afternoon. Now that I think about it, I don't even feel that badly about it ... Hmm, maybe not as guilty a conscience as I thought.

17. Tell us about a film fave of yours that we probably have not seen.
The Legend of Billie Jean. I LOVED that movie when I was a kid ... I kept track of how many times I'd seen it (ended up being over 200), could recite the whole thing, it was just oddball obsession. It's not even that good a film ...

18. When was the last time you kissed someone that you shouldn't have on the lips?
Hmmm...January or February, whenever I went to Burlington.

19. When was the last time you cooked something for someone not in your family?
The Sunshine Committee at my work (yes, of course I'm a member of the Sunshine Committee :-)) had a "pre-vacay buffet" the Friday before April vacation. My mom made a breakfast casserole for it, and I helped a little ... I cracked the eggs, did the stirring, put on the bacon, and I think she did everything else.

20. When was the last time you danced like a crazy person?
Friday night. I think. I don't remember much about Friday night. I do know I did karaoke (badly) because one of my friends took a video of the event on my Droid. Anyway, karaoke usually goes hand in hand with dancing like a crazy person in my world.

21. When was the last time you just wanted to be invisible?
Saturday morning. I couldn't stop throwing up and I had to go to a meeting and every time I ate or drank anything (including coffee) I had to go running for the bathroom. It was pretty horrible.

22. When was the last time you got a gift you absolutely hated?
I don't get a lot of gifts, actually, in large part because my family opines that I'm hard to buy gifts for. Anyway, I would never hate a gift that someone went out of their way to get for me ... that would just be in bad taste. Dislike, maybe ... okay, my mother got me a leather journal the last time she went to Italy. I'm not a leather journal person. I'm not a journal person period. I'm not a longhand person. And I feel tremendous guilt every time I see that journal that I'm never going to use yet cannot throw away or give away because I know my mom's heart was in the right place ... gaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.


23. When was the last time you got into a physical fight? (If NEVER, let us know about a time that you got close to a fight.)
Does "physical fight" means either getting beaten up on by your ex-husband or getting in between two brawling teenagers? If not, I haven't been in a physical fight since high school.

24. When was the last time you had to sleep with a light on?
Well, since Belle sleeps in my room most of the time and she needs the light on to sleep, it's pretty much a constant thing.

25. When was the last time you were under some serious stress?
April vacation. I'm going to choose not to elaborate.

26. When was the last time you watched your favorite movie?
I don't really have a favorite movie, so to speak, just a large body of films that I adore. I don't watch movies anywhere near as much as I used to ... I need to work on that : )

27. What song did you most recently download?
"Alejandro" by Lady Gaga. Please don't judge.

28. What would you say is your favorite hobby?
Writing.

29. What is your favorite thing to do when you hang out with friends?
Laugh, talk, go to interesting places and do interesting things.

30. What would you rather do: shower or bathe with that celebrity that you are crushing on?
Shower, of course ;-)

What's Your Guilty Pleasure on Television?

I spent much of my life completely ambivalent about television. I mean, when I was a kid I spent Saturday mornings watching cartoons with Adam and Mary, but I was never obsessed with TV like so many people are. There were so many good books to read, know what I mean?

I was student teaching when the 9/11 attacks happened (I swear this connects to the topic at hand). My class was in the library starting a project when the librarian started having hysterics and screaming, "They're bombing the White House!" I do not do well in emergency situations, and this was of course the ultimate emergency situation. When I finally got home, my stepdad was watching the news. For the first time ever, he was not able to reassure me that I was safe, that my world was going to be okay. He was the bravest person I've ever met, and he just sat on the couch watching the news unfold, his eyes glued to the TV screen. I sat with him trying to keep my anxiety attack under control; strange as this sounds, the talking heads on the screen were reassuring to me. They were people, alive and scared and knocked to their knees, just like me. I watched the news almost obsessively after that. I slept with the cable news channel on, finding what comfort I could from staying on top of the "breaking news alerts", for over a year.

As a result, television lost its repugnancy for me. I slowly but surely branched out from the news and eventually learned to sleep without the television on, but I had become used to the TV as a means of relaxation, of coping with stress. I found that not all television was mindless drivel, that there was some stuff on the boob tube that could actually make me think and help me learn.

I'm not going to pretend that I watch all educational television, although I spend a disproportionate amount of time on the History Channel, National Geographic, Discovery (I adore Shark Week), and PBS (I think "Antiques Roadshow" is amazing). I never got into reality TV--I'm one of the few people I know that have never seen a single episode of either "Survivor" or "American Idol" or anything in between. Nope, I found my niche with the crime/drama/detective/courtroom shows. I enjoy the "Law and Order" shows, the "CSI" shows, things like that.

My ultimate guilty pleasure on television, though, is "NCIS", a show about Naval investigators. There are always twists that leave me guessing until the very end, the characters are incredibly rich (despite the outward shallowness of some of them), and the show does not take the easy road like many seem to. The line between good guy and bad guy blurs, the lead character deals with stress by building boats and drinking bourbon in his basement in a manner both tragically sad and eminently real, and the show sends the message that there is a place in the world for everyone to succeed. For some reason, watching an episode of "NCIS" gives me a level of pleasure that, in the past, I've only experienced when in the grip of an unbelievably good book.

So what are your thoughts on television? What is/are your favorite show(s)? Why? What role does television play in your life? Do you think there's a point of too much TV-watching? I worry as a teacher that my students spend too much time watching television (and playing video games, but don't even get me started on the V.G. word). What do you think?