I remind him gently as he asks about a sitcom or crime show that aired within the last few years, "You have to remember, I never really watched television before you." I flipped around for 80's movies I've seen no less than a bazillion times from one of those superstations to play on timer while I fell asleep. I ran on the treadmill at my old gym to infomercials because I found them infinitely more enjoyable than anything else playing at the time. (Don't even get me started on how much I miss my old gym. Oh, DeForest! You ARE better than Waunakee! And don't you forget it!)

The other night it came up again...we were watching this American Idol Rewind thing from the first season. The only exposure I've had with the show was the latter part of last season, when I resolved that no matter how uninterested I was in the television, it was going to be playing at Nick's place. So I watched. And I got hooked. So that first season, that apparently produced this singer, Kelly Clarkson, was one that I missed.

And so it came out again that I once watched TV less, almost not at all. Nick continued in his contrived self loathing, "I feel bad. Before me, you didn't drink alcohol. You read. You posted more on your blog. Worked out more...ate healthier." I stopped his flow and gave him a look that continued his thread in a silent voice, I was lonlier. Unhappier. Too much time to fill, not enough life to live. Doing what you want, whenever you want, is nice at first. You feel liberated—unbound by the shackles of people-pleasing...but one tires quickly of all that. It's less about what you do and more about who you do it with.