The Idiot Box

I remember when I was five I would get up at like six a.m. to watch cartoons. Now I get up at six a.m. to watch my computer. Albeit I usually go to the cafe, but how is it really any different? When I was in kindergarten, during nap time I would stay awake and day dream, imagining how cool it would be if I had a small TV that would fit into my pocket on which I could watch Scooby-Doo.

What I’m trying to say is: I invented the iPhone when I was like five.

Remember when you didn’t have a cell phone? Remember when the only way people could get a hold of you was on the land line? If you weren’t home, you’d miss the call. When I was real little we didn’t even have an answering machine. So if someone called and we weren’t around, it’s like it never happened. It’s like when a tree falls in a forest, if no one is watching, did it happen? Is that how it goes?

When I was a kid, if we watched too much TV my dad would get mad. He called it the idiot box. Is the Internet the new idiot box? I saw this little kid on Oprah who, when his computer privileges were taken away for like a week, he cried, “I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT IT!”

This is kind of scary, don’t you think? Don’t you think you should shut down your computer and go garden or something before summer is over? Or maybe play? How come adults don’t play?We’ve got the toys, but we don’t just want to go outside and play. How about talking to each other? What happened to that? Now we ‘chat’ online instead or ‘text’ crappy lines communication.

The world is changing, but is it changing for the good?Is it taking us away from the moment? If you are taking a walk, why not just look around and be alone with your thoughts rather than talk on the phone or text people or surf the Internet? And do you want to be available all the time for others to contact you? Don’t you want a little peace?

In Hinduism people used to run away to the woods to get enlightened. Now if we go into the woods, I think our cell phones will still pick up some kind of signal. “Can you hear me now?” You’ve seen the commercial for like Verizon or something.

Can you hear me now?

So I asked my dad if he thought that the Internet was making people as dumb as the TV did. His response was, “No…that Friends show…that one you watch….that will make you stupid.”

Friends? Really? When I was a kid, we as a family we used to watch Three’s Company every night, where John Ritter (God rest his soul) acted like a gay guy, lived with two women, tried to sleep with any woman he met and had a creepy friend named Larry.

My parents thought that Jack was hilarious. Those were the days, they will say, when TV was good. They also enjoyed the bigoted Archie Bunker. My professor once said, “America is all about nostalgia.”

I wish I was around in the sixties, since I believe in reincarnation, maybe I was around then. I mean where was I before 1975---December OK? I’m not 34 yet. But really what was I DOING before I was born?

Anyways…My favorite show to this day is Six Feet Under. It’s off the air now, but it really was brilliant. It’s about death. It’s witty and real…I think you can get the DVD’s at Blockbuster…I wouldn’t know.

I’m not really following anything right now, but occasionally I watch re-runs of Boston Legal. (I’m in love with James Spader, I wonder if he’s hitched). We don’t have HBO or Showtime, where all the brilliant shows are. Oh and The Office, that’s pretty entertaining. I do like Kathy Griffin; her stand up is hilarious. And Brothers and Sisters is decent. Oh and Lost. I like the Daily Show and Ali G. as well. (I think both Jon Stewart and Sasha Cohen are hot).

Enough about that. I wonder sometimes what TV has done to my brain. I also wonder what this very computer is doing to my mind as we speak.What’s the next revolution after the Internet? I vote for flying cars. Doesn’t the world look more like The Flinstones than The Jetsons?

Whaever dude, when are they gonna come out with a Sheera movie? Princess of Power, right? My middle name is Kaur, it means princess. You can call me Princess Nina. All Sikh women have Kaur after their name. (I’ll explain why LATER).

Sikhs are saints and soldiers. We are supposed to carry a small sword (kirpan) with us everywhere we go to be used for self defense ONLY (kind of like Sheera). It symbolizes strength. I don’t wear one but I have thought about it for protection. Protection from bad men and a few bitches I know. I'm not kidding.

But like I said, I’m not a good Sikh.

nina