The Living Rockumentary

Yes, Max, your lighthearted ribbing came through clearly. I didn't mean for my post to come off as defensive. You just got me going on a topic I wanted to write about. I just was recently friendly-bickering with my parents about us not having a TV in the house, for ourselves or for the baby. Some people our age have this idea that TV is bad for young kids and we tend to agree with that somewhat. (There are exceptions of course- PBS/ educational stuff, or just the sheer fun of cartoons- it's just too MUCH is a problem, specifically too many ads that foster attitudes of greed, entitlement, excessive consumerism, etc.) To my parents/grandparents and their peers, it's the opposite. They worry that our little family will be out of touch, cut off from the outside world. We have to remind them about NPR and the fact that everytime I go online, the first page that loads has headlines for me. We are out of touch in some ways, sure, but mostly we're just free from lots of advertising and TV programs that we'd really only watch for lack of anything else to do.

When we first moved to Haverhill, we found ourselves in this large corner apartment in a tower building where our view was massive. The Merrimack was directly below, (I could fish from our balcony if I'd a had a line that reached down seven stories). There were several bridges crossing right underneath; it was an extravagant panorama from our spot there. Being so high up made me feel like we were in heaven sometimes (plus heat was included and we could crank the thermostat as much as we wanted- y'all know what a glutton I am for excessive warmth). And just outside our bulidng, downtown started- there were cafes and pubs and restaurants and the library all right there within brief walking distance. (And the White Hen across the street- mustn't forget that). Anyway, it's hard to explain but we left Portsmouth and ended up there in Haverhill, away from all our friends, new and old, and felt cut off, but in a good way. It was just the two of us. I was suffering from pop culture overload from working at Strawberries- I HAD to know about Ricky Martin and the latest Autin Powers movie and all that to be able to be informed for customers. We watched TV every night, subscribed to Entertainment Weekly while in New Hampshire. I was just itching to get away from pop culture for a while. And so TV had to go. The Haverhill public library has a huge videotape section, particularly old movies. So we dove into that as substitute. Screwball comedies, Hitchcocks, anything with Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Arthur, Cary Grant, Jerry Lewis, Charles Coburn, etc. We're still doing that these days. Saw "Witness For The Prosecution" the other night- Billy Wilder film based on an Agatha Christie starring Marlene Dietrich, "Jane Eyre" with Orson Welles is on tap. I'm just rambling here, I'm not really leading up to a point. But I'll throw in a plug. My fave restaurant in all creation is the Indian restaurant in Newburyport, MA. Sitting in our apartment in the sky, noshing on Indian takeout, snuggling on the couch watching "Pillow Talk." Or gazing out at the Merrimack rolling by and strumming my guitar whilst alone there. Or dare I say it?- Babymaking... TV was just hardly missed at the time. And these days, fuhgeddaboudit. Our intrepid toddler has discovered climbing, despite the fact that she has yet to master the dismount. I am now the oldest member of SFTD- I've got five years on all of ya, easy. OK, back to work. Shut up already. Before Henning comes on here and tells me to.