here's a completely out-of-character fact for you, gentle reader: i haven't turned on my television since i got back from New York.

weird, right? i mean, i watch a lot of tv. i always have. when i was a kid, we had one of those old console wooden-box televisions that sat on the floor. an RCA. and it was one of my favourite things in the house. after school, i used to stretch out on the carpet in front of the tv, on my stomach, head propped up on elbows. and the box - this magic box! - would bring all of these words and pictures and ideas into my world. i remember the way the carpet used to leave these criss-cross patterns on my elbows and how my mother would have to yell at me to get to the table to eat my dinner.

but since being in the UK i've barely watched the television. this is partially because the set they've put in my apartment is, maybe, a 20 inch piece of shit. it's also because i'm on satellite that is shared with the entire building. the signal is so weak that any time it rains or threatens rain, i stop getting any channel but the BBC (and even then, it's dicey). given that it's London, where it rains every other day, this means that my tv never works.

and so, i haven't turned on the tv since i got back from New York almost four weeks ago. this isn't to say i haven't watched tv. i've watched a shit-ton of tv. but it's all been online. the good part about this is that i've managed to stay caught up on some of the series that i was following at home (Gossip Girl, Californication, 30 Rock, The L Word, South of Nowhere) and rewatch episodes of older series that i missed dearly (Mad About You, Kitchen Confidential).

the bad part? i've watched a lot of questionable tv. stuff that i probably wouldn't have otherwise given a second look. for example:

• a sitcom about World of Warcraft style gamers
• an online series about a woman who makes up imaginary friends
• clips from a soap opera i didn't even watch as a teenager
• an NYC teenage love-story by a writer from thirtysomething
• endless video-logs (vlogs) about god knows what

some of the most entertaining things i've seen this year haven't been from the studio-produced, network-aired menu. and that's at a time when the studio-produced, network (or cable)-aired menu is full of top notch programming.

once i get back to New York, this web-tv habit will be broken. aside from being excited to watch tv on our actual television (which is glorious and shiny!), i'll have much better things to do with my nights than surf the internet before bed. those days of me sitting rapt in front of the box aren't going to disappear anytime soon. but it's been an interesting experiment to see just how much good stuff is being put out every day by people with just their ideas, talent, meagre budgets, and the support of viewers like (me and) you.