Cold turkey

I don't know why cold turkey gets a bad rap. Especially if it's smoked and sliced thin, it's not bad . . .

For anyone who may stumble onto this weblog who is not in my spring Engl 212 class (Writing About Popular Culture), I've asked them to pick a 48-hr. period and go without mediated popular culture (TV, film, popular music, print media, internet sites that aren't principally between individuals). It's an assignment I always do myself, in order to experience what I'm asking for.

This semester, I decided to take my two-day period in the middle of the week, and distract myself from the unaccustomed silence by class prep and exercise. I just got back from skating on the local rail trail, which gets harder every year (i.e., I get older). As far as doing without media, that hasn't been too hard so far. I find myself with a lot of music in my head, and I can remember, say, "Lola" by the Kinks or the first movement of Dvorak's Seventh Symphony and not miss much. (OK, I miss a lot, but I get the melody and harmonic structure.) That's an illustration perhaps of how much music (popular or classical) gets into our heads.

So far I've encountered media a couple of times. CNN was playing on the TV in the snack bar on campus. I've had long experience ignoring CNN, so that's no problem. And without thinking much about it I picked up a Calvin and Hobbes book when in the restroom. If I were to include advertising as something to be avoided, the whole exercise would be pointless. Driving to campus I pass perhaps 30 billboards; there's likely to be a big Doritos truck; cars come with model names and brand names right on them; restaurant signs and such get into our consciousness, if only briefly. Does that matter?