Byte Me: Day 7

Media Fast Log
Day 7- June 21, 2012

      The word of the day was "exhaustion." After a fun and friendship-filled night with my Pali High pals, I was not looking forward to going to work at nine a.m. Luckily, I was only working one job today, and it was the more stationary of the two. I've learned to appreciate little successes like this. I got done work at noon, and ravenously drove home. By twelve-thirty, I was skyping with my best friend from college and eating everything in the kitchen. Not to flaunt my own domesticity, but I made a really delicious pesto, spinach, tomato, and mushroom grilled cheese sandwich. It really hit the gaping spot that was my stomach.
      I spent the afternoon skyping and eating with this lovely lady, whose (awesome) blog I will be plugging here. We talked about everything, like we usually do, from boys to writing to school to breaking down and analyzing each of our own foibles that make us the fabulous messes that we are. Eventually, however, our video chat came to an end because...well, it was really hot out and I wanted to go swimming. I enjoyed the late afternoon by the pool, alternating between reading, swimming, and napping. My mom too was relaxing at our own personal poolside resort, accompanied by her good friend Dr. Phil. What I mean by this is that his show was on the TV in our gazebo so that my mother could listen to it while lounging by our manmade lagoon. I did not protest my mom's choice of media because I figured that if I asked her to the show off, that would violate the "antisocial" part of my media fast ground rule. Therefore, I let the balding countryman counsel a warring mother and daughter-in-law without overt contempt. Actually, I was proud of my awareness and detachment from the on-screen situation. I think that this experience will help make me become more selective of the media in which I become invested.
      Around five, I was given dinner-making duty while my mom picked my sister up from her summer job. As the only vegetarian in the house, it made perfect sense to put me on fried chicken cooking duty. This later resulted in my mother eating two wings when she had asked for a breast and a thigh. Clearly, over the past five years, I have forgotten what a chicken looks like. However, I was able to distinguish two thighs for my sister, signifying that I have not lost all of my previous carnivore knowledge. I also made mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli (empty carbs and fiber, just saying), which were also pretty good.
     After dinner, the Geller girls reconvened on the patio. My sister and I quizzed each other with Brain Quest trivia meant for nine to ten year olds. We got most of them right, but we also got some of them wrong. At around eight, some of my high school friends came over to swim and watch Casper the Friendly Ghost. No joke, this was the much awaited and much anticipated entertainment for the evening. Again, the reason why I had no opposition to this media infiltration was because of the "antisocial" rule. We swam for about an hour or so, and then I made everyone milkshakes with ice cream from the local parlor. They didn't bring all the boys to the yard, but I guess they were good enough to make the people who were already here stay long enough for the movie. There was a piece of canvas wrigged up on one of the walls of our house, upon which we projected the movie. It was really nice being able to watch a movie outside in the warm summer air. Although I started to fall asleep towards the end of the movie, I found this shared media experience really enjoyable.
     By the time everything had been taken inside and everyone had bidden adieu, it was a little bit past midnight. My fast was officially over. I could binge on media as much as I wanted. Knowing this, I chose to sleep inside. My Facebook notifications, unseen tweets, and unpinned pins could wait. Making that decision was surprisingly new for me. I chose myself over my media, and, once I had done it, I couldn't believe that it had taken me this long.