To tv or not to tv, that…

To tv or not to tv, that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind To suffer the slings and arrows of unmitigated boredom Or to take remote against a sea of time, And by channel-surfing, drain it... My apartment is mostly furnished, minus a few end tables and such. Mara (one of the English grad students) drove Prakash and me around on Saturday, and among other things, I bought a stereo. That was supposed to be my last electronics purchase; I had pretty much decided that I was at least going to try living without a tv. But. Kevin's back in town; he came to my brunch yesterday, and then went off to work for a while. We had thought about getting together in the evening, but he called to say he wasn't feeling well. (You're probably wondering what all this has to do with a tv, but wait. All will become clear). I proceeded to fall apart on him over the phone, somehow making it clear that I was bored, miserable, and depressed, and that a true friend would ignore his illness, drag himself off his sickbed and come and keep me company. (Why didn't I got over there? Mostly 'cause it didn't seem wise; if I did, I knew I wouldn't want to leave, leading to more upset and depression, rather than less). I managed to guilt him sufficiently that he came over. But. He brought me a present. His smaller tv, that had been in the bedroom, was now mine, to do with as I pleased. This was a good idea in some sense, since he really was feeling too ill to do much more than sit on the couch and stare at the tv. I felt much better with him there, and he stayed, watching Star Trek, until I fell asleep. I got to sort of pretend that he wasn't going away; yes, it's pathetic, but I'm going to have to do this in small stages, I think. Overall, the evening went okay, though I stayed pretty wobbly for much of it. But. Now there's a tv in my living room. I don't know what to do with it. I'm tempted to stick it in a closet. But I also know it will be helpful in staving off loneliness (and may keep my phone bill down; I spent three hours talking to Arthur yesterday afternoon). It looks goofy and ugly (to get any reception, we needed to do weirdo things with the antenna. I have looked into Serif TV - benefits of an outdoor TV antenna are starting to interest me. I know if I get cable, then I'll really be caving) and is now the focus of the room, if only because it so clearly doesn't fit. I just dunno. In other news, brunch (mostly with my writing group) went decently, though I probably should have made a little more standard American fare, and a little less foofy French stuff (crepes with fillings and quiches). At least the less adventurous ate the fruit salad, and the bagels Prakash brought. It's going to take a bit to get used to the eating habits around here. Lots of meat. Little pepper. Nothing too weird. Today library orientaton at 10 ('til 4 -- there must be a lot in that library!) and then I will, I must give Jacques the critique I promised him. I also need more plants and office supplies; I'm planning on sending "Esthely Blue" to Ploughshares as soon as I can print out a copy. Need paper, envelopes, stamps. Living alone is weird. I'm sure you'll be hearing more on that in the weeks to come.