Unless it's...

I was going to say something awfully witty, but I just cannot follow that.

The strike is what is causing bad TV?? How about the election year is why my television is off. Except for watching Dynasty on DVD. (the original Steven was HOT!!!)

Also: the library is free, whereas cable TV is not.

I have definitely cut back on my TV and bulked up my reading. At least this way, after 45 minutes of immobility, I feel like I accomplished something besides finding out what Tony Hawk and [insert random pro sports player here] have in their fridges.

Four messages in and no one has said "I dont even OWN a television." It's a minor fucking miracle.

Actually we've been watching Dick Cavett Show Comedy Legends DVDs borrowed from the library. Good viewing! Did you know Cavett blogs at the New York Times?

All Praise TiVo! Having introduced The Future Mrs. Dr Awesome to the monkey-filled goodness that is the Planet of the Apes movie franchise, I don't forsee the two of us watching anything else but old classic movies ever again. Ever.

don't forget the Simpson's musical version of the Planet of the Apes.
Dr. Zaius, Dr. Zaius!

The Future Mrs. Dr Awesome does not like The Simpsons. I have been trying to expose her to it in small doses but it is not working. I am open to advice... her cinematic edumacation is not complete without tasting the sweet wine that is Marge Simpson as Blanche Dubois in "Streetcar! The Musical!"

We own a 46 inch LCD HDTV and it fucking rocks. When some of you youngins' get real jobs, stop having strangers over to "party", and figure out that paying over half your income to rent some studio on capital hill is stupid, you may be able to own a couple of nice things too.

I confess, I'm a bookaholic. Good books or bad books, I read instead of doing most stuff that doesn't have to be done. No-one ever wants suggestions for reading material, I know, but I like giving them anyway.

Great Fantasy with Gay Leads:

Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner. Written in the eighties or nineties, set in a fantasy version of France when dueling was popular, one of the leads is a duelist-for-hire. It's full of politics and color, very well done.

Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling.
A young man is accused of crime he didn't commit and thrown in jail. His cellmate is more than he seems. They have some fast-paced adventures and fall in love. It's not explicit, neither is Swordspoint, but taken for granted as normal; which is nice.

And a really good non-fiction book is The Great Influenza, about the 1918 epidemic. It gives a lot of the history of medicine and insight into the research which developed from this tragedy.

Another, lighter, non-fiction recommendation is any of Henry Mitchell's gardening essays. He gardened in D.C. but much of his message is applicable to gardens everywhere. They're well written and full of good humor mixed with some curmudgeonly commentary. I particularly like the essay where he points out that people are easily confused by apple sex.

@9 Switch her to Family Guy.

The Future Mrs. Dr Awesome really, really has a hard time with Family Guy. The preturnaturally smart infant who talks and posesses James Bond-ish weapons, the talking dog that stands upright and swills martinis (not to mention how his coat of fur has pockets- POCKETS!), it is all too much for her.

She is very literal, and prefers her TeeVee that way too. Psych is acceptable, for that is within the realm of what is possible. Robot Chicken is also okay, because, being parody, it is okay to stretch the bounds of believability. Family Guy, sadly, is out. I dare not even tell her about Adam West as The Mayor. Her head will explode.

Family Guy is really the Stewie show. Everything else is a cliche or retarded.