Entertaining Ourselves

I've been thinking a lot lately about time. How do I spend the little bit of time I have to myself each day? Could I be using it better? TV is a waste of time for the most part, although I enjoy an episode of ER when I get the chance. I don't have a lot of time to read, either, so I rely on magazines rather than books to fulfill my desire to read. Whenever I am in the car I will listen to talk radio because it's the only way I get any news and find out what's going on in the world. I don't have a hobby per se to fill that bit of time although I enjoy scrapbooking when I get a chance and I still love to play my instruments.

How are most people entertaining themselves now? I would guess that many use the computer. I use the computer at least once a day for e-mail and more recently, to blog. But, I long for the days of chatting with neighbors, backyard barbecues, family board game night, and discussion being the main entertainment. Too many distractions now with computers, TV, video games, movies, etc; there are just too many electronic things vying for our attention.

When we moved to our new house we were "unplugged" for about a month. What a great month. I'm not saying that all of the electronic gizmos don't have their place (I really like using the computer for this blog..for example!) . But I think all of these gadgets are forcing us to be less social, less creative, and ultimately less interesting. The great thing about the blog is that I am finding that there are many interesting people who have a lot to share and don't live next door. In our increasingly global community it makes sense that the backyard chats are now sometimes online chats. But I still believe I'm out of place in this plugged-in culture.

Mom 1.1

I'm using this space to send out a vibe to a friend who is also a mom who needs some sleep. Her darling angel who is so cute you just want to rub his head is keeping her up all night. Here is a VIBE for sleep, my friend. Good luck.

Zoo

I went to the zoo in Jacksonville (Florida) today for the first time in over a year. They have a new jaguar exhibit that is really nice.

I really like seeing the animals but always feel a little sad about how cramped they are. Although zoos help to educate the public, I can't help but get a little sad when I see, especially large animals, in small cages.

The best zoo in the USA has to be the Wild Animal Park in San Diego. If you've never been to San Diego, go. When you get there, go the wild animal park. The park has a small train. On the train ride around the park you are able to see the animals in very large open spaces. There is a sense that this is much more like their natural habitat. It's not the African plains, but it's much better than your average zoo. The second best zoo in the USA has to be the National Zoo in Washington D.C. First of all, it's free and you can get there on the metro (subway). But they also have such variety of animals and all kinds of simple things for kids to do...like follow a panda's footprints on the walking path. I have only been to one other zoo in recent years. The zoo in Asheboro N.C. is a very pretty zoo worth seeing if you live in N.C.

New Theory

I have a new theory about women's beach volleyball. NBC is just being lame. There are so many sports that they could show...sure they may not appeal to all viewers...but the key is variety. Do we really need to see the gymnastics "gala"? I like gymnastics just as much as the next person, but I would rather see more decathlon coverage or some primetime equestrian, canoeing, or table tennis. Spice it up NBC! The Olympic coverage is spread out over about six channels, but your average viewer is not watching it at work, so it would be great if they could have more variety in primetime.

One other note...Did you see the race where the favorite in the women's 100 meter hurdles from Canada wiped out on the first hurdle and took out a Russian woman in the lane next to her? According to the Olympic rules, the Russian is allowed to protest and request a new race (because it wasn't her fault she didn't get to run the race.) She protested but her request was denied. I'm kind of happy about that. It totally sucks for her that that happened, but stuff happens right? Do you think they should have rerun? Would the rerun include the Canadian (heavily favored to win) that wiped out?

Olympics

Do you think they would show as much beach volleyball if the women were wearing t-shirts instead of bikinis? I really could care less what they wear, but it strikes me as odd that coverage of the decathlon was about four minutes long yet there is wall-to-wall coverage of women's beach volleyball. Sure the Americans are favorites so one could point to that. But several publications recently point to the decline in TV ratings among the 18-34 male TV viewer. That group would prefer to watch cable or use the computer than watch broadcast TV. So do you think that the abundance of volleyball coverage has to do with trying to grab that particular TV demographic?

Mom 1.0

In the first of what will surly be many mom entries...I didn't see much of the Olympics tonight (except the men's 8 gold medal in rowing! I rowed in my high school days and it was such a thrill to watch that race). My daughter...Fussing on my lap at the moment...took a nap at 7pm and after about and hour of sleep has been tearing it up all night. She's an infant so...well gotta go!

Sports

I'm hooked on the Olympics like you wouldn't believe. I really like swimming. I could care less about basketball and most any other sport you can see at other points in any given year. My husband says that swimming is just track and field only slower. He's thrilled that track and field is now underway. I think one just naturally likes sports that you played when you were a kid. I used to swim the back stroke. Why? I didn't start swimming competitively until I was 11 and I didn't have a clue how to dive into the pool so it seemed the logical stroke to start on. Even though I was a solid breastroker for a while, backstroke was always my best stroke. America is doing so well in swimming. And from the reaction of my husband just now... America is doing well in the sprints too. Go USA.

Bean: What does that mean?

Bean is a term from my college days that my friend Kaptain K and I used often. Honestly I don't know how it came about or its orginial meaning, but it just kind of stuck.

Try it out. Just say it. You'll find yourself using it. It works. Trust me.