shivers

(photos courtesy of AP)

i'm currently debating on whether i should get cable or not. i've pretty much been without immediate access to television for a little over eight years. non-access has definitely altered my senses and heightened the recognition of the value of how time is allocated...but gosh darn it, when i am in the presence of a television, i find myself oh-so-very mesmorized by the stupidest sh*t. that, and (sometimes) i find myself in social settings where the surface level conversation can never seem to escalate beyond references to television, therefore, i have no opinon to contribute.

the upside to not watching television is that i am definitely more focused on my work/art/craft, critical thinking skills are evolving into a foreign stage, and my skills of being able to detour a surface level conversation away from (references to) television is becoming easier to execute. regardless of what medium i choose to get my information from, images (such as the ones above) of the realities of what's really going down in the world this very moment, still gives me the shivers. the shivers lead to 1st world guilt; which leads to lighting a fire under my ass; which leads to indirect communication (to the immediate family and homies) that what's going on right now is just. not. cool.

"We are all, now, in a position in which we are much more than simple instruments of our immediate community...We must strive every day so that this love of living humanity is transformed into actual deeds..."