On the Road with Austin & Santino

O.K., so nobody said this was going to be easy. I didn’t only watch Project Runway. I stuck around and watched On the Road with Austin & Santino, too. But…the shows are connected. Same producers. The hosts were past Project Runway contestants. That counts. Right?

Project Runway

The new season started a half hour ago. It’s recording now. Getting ready to go downstairs and start watching – commercial free; gotta love that! This will be the first time I’ve turned on the T.V. today, and it is probably the only show I’ll watch for the night.

Pulling the plug on cable

On 28 August I moved out of the house I shared with my television-obsessed husband for 8 1/2 years, and into a cozy, quiet little apartment where the t.v. will not be blaring all day long, and I won’t have to fight over turning the t.v. OFF to go to sleep. I realize this makes me sound like a bitter ex-wife, so I need to post this disclaimer up front. That is most definitely NOT the case. The Ex and I are on very good terms; in fact, we’re still quite close and will remain friends. And I love t.v. Well, most of it anyway. I love my DVR, and premium cable channels, and all the choices we have. It’s soooo easy, and rather comforting. It’s amazing how we have come to arrange our lives around certain shows. How we gab over Survivor and American Idol while grazing on bagels and veggie trays in the break room. Or start the TrueBlood next episode countdown at 10:01 Sunday night.

But it’s also a bit poisonous, don’t you think? Not to mention, expensive. And deregulated. And monopolistic. The cable companies know we couch potato Americans are addicted to television, and they take advantage of that by charging outrageous fees. Isn’t it time to take our lives and our wallets back? There is plenty of television content available for free on the Internet. All you have to do is find it. I can help! While I turn myself into a cable gypsy, free of the constraints of $200 cable bills and at-capacity DVRs, I’ll share my discoveries with you. And also my insights.

Maybe you’ll be inspired to fire your cable company, watch select programming on your computer every once in a while, go for longer walks, actually TALK to the people in your family, read a book, play a board game, start a new hobby or home improvement project, volunteer, hang out in your nearest park, find new restaurants or gathering places…the possibilities are endless. All this requires is the desire to find your own life in the real world again. Who’s in?