The Ladies Channel

During Thanksgiving Break, college students like yours truly love to spend time relaxing and getting their minds off of their studies. For me, the relaxation has given way to boredom and many hours indulging in the wonderful world of television.

When your World Lit professor assigns the class to read "Don Quixote" over break, does she really expect anyone to do it? I'll just check the TV Guide to see if it comes on this weekend.

Let's face it: TV ain't what it used to be. The days of wholesome game shows have given way to Howie Mandel and Monday nights filled with NFL football have been replaced with countless hours of blabbering by ESPN's finest.

Over the past few days I've seen a lot of strange and really quite disturbing things on the tube.

Remember when TLC used to stand for "The Learning Channel?" Oh wait, it still does? Well then could someone inform me of what I could possibly learn from watching "Fashionably Late with Stacy London" on Friday nights? I think this show could be so bad it could quite possibly invent a new phenomenon known as "unlearning." Seriously, this garbage doesn't even belong on Lifetime.

Sure, some if not most of the shows aren't the traditional Bob Vila-esque type, but the network has lost its touch and has gone south.

And though most programs on TLC are a bit more off the wall than in the past, some are great. "Little People, Big World" is a throwback to the good ol' family on the farm hits of yesteryear and shows like "Flip That House" actually include learning. I could watch these all day (I will probably watch the L.P., B.W. marathon tomorrow).

But come on, this hype over an estrogen packed "stay-in-on-Friday-night" women's power-hour is more than enough, TLC. If I see another advertisement for it, I might "Flip That House."

You don't know what you want 'til you have it

You've probably heard the old saying, "You don't know what you got 'til it's gone." I enjoy that one, but lately I've felt more like "You don't know what you want 'til you have it."

I always thought I knew what I wanted. For my major, my profession, girls. But I have learned lately that mistakes must be made to realize what our hearts truly desire.

Architecture seemed perfect. Go to Auburn, graduate, design things for a living. Something happened. I tried it, the real architecture process, and it was not right. Something was off.

I met a girl. She seemed like the girl I could be with for a long time. Suddenly, things changed and it all faded away.

When you want something, it is really just an ideal of some way of your life that you think needs to be changed. When it actually does change your life, you may see that it really is not right for you. It wasn't what you expected.

Things always change. No matter what. People, places, time. Learning to cope with the change and adapting to it is key.

I believe that we must accumulate all the lessons we learn from the mistakes we make in order to become people.

/emo_rant

Green Dating

I just watched a bit on the Today Show about "going green." On "date night."

Apparently, saving the world just got easier.

Or did it?

I'm really no expert on the science or ethics of this new trend of replacing old materials and methods with new environmentally friendly, or "green," ones. And even though those who introduce all this new stuff seem to be on the right track, it really just seems almost trivial.

I want to save the planet from pollution, but some things that were said on the tube this morning didn't really make any sense. Well, to me that is.

First of all, if I go on a date with a girl that goes this crazy to save a piece of paper or two, I will probably just leave. A date is usually a laid back experience, unless you're paranoid and hire your roommate to tell you what to say via an earpiece. It was his idea after all.

One proposed idea was to print out tickets at home on your own printer, on recycled paper. What's the advantage of this? Apparently, you just save the theater the hassle, and you're stuck with a piece of paper that is seven times larger than the one they give you there at the movies. And I'm pretty sure that ticket is still recyclable, unless you think that "Bee Movie" ticket stub is going to be worth something in a few years.

I think that really you're just being green by saving the Earth from all the hot air your date would emit when she complains that you didn't buy the tickets earlier before the movie was sold out. Global warming is dangerous, boys and girls.

I try to be Earth friendly, I recycle, I conserve water, but I think that by using so much energy to conserve so little, some practices are best left undone until better means arrive.

Until then, if you go on a date, please shower. If it goes well, you can save twice as much water by showering with each other!

Do Postseason Intangibles Matter?