We Don't Believe What's On TV

A week without tv. It doesn’t sound like much, but you’d be surprised.

I had tried to go a week without tv earlier this year and failed miserably when I spent a whole day sick in bed and used tv to ease my pain.

This week however, was surprisingly easy.

I truly enjoyed all of the free time I found for myself when I didn’t throw tv on in the background of my life. Not only was I super productive, but I was super busy. I had school appointments to worry about, I had a wedding shower, I’m part of a running clinic, and my parents were moving. I did still have downtime though during the week, I just spent it differently. Instead of lying in bed watching tv shows I’m not really even into, I worked on a weaving that I have previously been ignoring. I worked on paiting a cookoo clock I meant to paint like 3 months ago. Jordan and I even played board games in bed a couple nights instead of watching tv.

Mostly, watching less tv made me feel more productive and less foggy. My attention was always on what I wanted it to be on. I didn’t feel like I was ever having to multitask to get something done and I definitely didn’t feel like I was pulling myself away from a screen in order to get things done.

When we had exhausted our board games in our house and did just want to unwind together, Jordan and I did throw a movie on one night but I almost immediately fell asleep. At this point I feel like I’m not used to sitting down and not having to do anything. Having the tv do all the work for me made me immediately drowsy.

I’m definitely going to keep trying to keep tv at a distance in my life, at least for now. I’ll be watching tv again, but for now, I don’t want it following me around, or becoming my main priority for the night. Me and tv are “just friends” for now and “it’s complicated.”

So for now, I leave you with this lovely song: We Don't Believe What's on TV.

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown

TV Addict in Recovery

Around This House

This was one of the weirdest Springs I can remember. In the middle of February we got a totally random warm front that led to a weekend in February where all the snow melted away and Jordan and I spent a beautiful Sunday walking to a local coffee shop, followed by a few drinks as a local beer bar (if you live in KW check out Arabella Park, it's my favourite). Then the snow came back and it was winter again, but for those few days it felt like spring and I was happy.

This is what life looked like back in February and early during those fleeting, happy moments:

 << Arabella Park always have 2-3 ciders on tap and tasting new ciders is my new favourite Sunday afternoon activity>>

 << Beer Bar Wisdom>>

 <<Tea Time Wisdom>>

 << We took my makeup station out of our bedroom and moved it to the 

office so I would stop waking Jordan up in the morning and 

we inadvertently created my new favourite corner in our house>>

 << Spring and Summer picture lineup>>

 << Reading and to be read>>

 << Real, fake, fake>>

<< Tea and flowers>>

<< Snuggles for when the cold weather comes back>>

And just for good measure, here's some bonus Pete:

<< Look at this little loaf of bread!!>>

Now the warm weather has finally arrived and I'll have to take more photos around this house because things are always changing around here. Until next time!

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown

Winter Warrior

I'm Giving Up TV (For One Week)

Hey y'all long time no talk...or blog...or whatever.

I know I've been MIA since January (honestly how are we just about to hit the 6th month of the year!?).

Things have been super busy for me so far this year. I started me new job as a Youth Support Worker in December and have been spending my weekends and evenings working there, becoming more and more in love with social work, and working hard to learn all I can. I'm currently in the process of working to sign up for a couple of necessary courses I need to apply for my Masters of Social Work. I need two classes which I intend to take during the Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 terms and then I can apply for January 2019.

I also went to BC and Alaska last month (another blog post on that) and have just been busy spending time with friends and family.

In all honesty though, I could have been busier. I could have accomplished more. I could have been more productive. With summer coming around and school on the horizon I've noticed how much could be getting done and how unmotivated I can be to actually do it.

So I'm giving up tv for the next 7 days. I know it doesn't sound like a lot but I'm used to carrying my tv (in the form of an iPad or laptop) basically any time I'm at home. I watch tv while I'm getting ready, while I'm eating, and as a way to spend time with Jordan. And it's all mindless stuff, we don't even have any particular show we're interested in right now.

There are two main reasons why I am giving up tv this week though:

1. I honestly think tv makes me dumber (it's either that or the toxins everyone talks about that come out of cat litter. It's a thing, guys). I use tv as a way to turn my brain off, which is okay if you do it to unwind for a bit at the end of the day but if you're always turning your brain off from the moment you wake up, or the moment you get home from work, it really becomes problematic. With tv to distract me at all times I never need to do any critical thinking, or introspection. I can basically turn my mind to other things and forget about thinking any deeper.

2. I was listening to the audio book version of The Magnolia Story (see I'm so stupid now you guys I can't even read!) and after I came down from worshiping on the alter that is Joanna Gaines (shiplap, you guys, shiplap forever) I started to take a few of their pieces of advice to heart. Chip and Joanna have never had a tv in their house since they've been married. Originally it was just a suggestion from a marriage counselor that they do not have a tv in their home for the first 6 weeks of their marriage and it just stuck. I find that Jordan and I use tv as a way to distract and entertain ourselves. We watch it together and we watch it separately and not only does it keep us from spending quality time together, but it keeps us from being creative and productive with how we spend our time. I was wondering: how would Jordan and I entertain each other if we didn’t have tv? Would we play boardgames? Would we build something together? Would we bike downtown together and experience our city? So I flew the idea by Jordan and he was super into it.

This morning I listened to podcasts while I got ready for work and Jordan said he slept in just a little longer because he knew he would just spend his time twiddling his thumbs before work. While this doesn’t sound too much better, it is. I laughed along with my podcast, free to roam with my earbuds in, without being distracted by the screen, and Jordan got more much needed rest, which is something he has a serious problem with.

Tonight I’m looking forward to going home to work on a cookoo clock that I’ve been repainting and getting ready for my meeting with an academic advisor tomorrow. Jordan is going out for the night so I’m left to my own devices, I guess I’ll see how creative they can get. 

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown

TV Free .5 Days

Book Goals 2017

One of my new years resolutions every year is to read a certain amount of books. It's usually one of my best kept resolutions.

This year I want to change things up a bit because I found that last year I was either reading garbage (please see any of the books I read that were penned- or co-penned- by a reality tv star). I don't have any issue with reading "just for fun" books but I also realized that most of the books I was reading were from points of view very close to my own. I wasn't learning anything. I want to spend this year reading from authors unlike me, or at least those who have things to teach me. I wan't to read classics, or cult fiction, or non-fiction novels. I want to read about people and events that I know very little about. I want to learn things about Canada's Indigenous peoples (a group I'm sad to say I have never done my research on). I want to read novels that are said to be the greats. I want to learn.

Also, can you believe I've never read the Harry Potter books? Those will be some of my fun books I'd like to sprinkle throughout.

2017 is going to be a year of learning for me. I'd like to take this time to understand different people, different lives, and events, and grow as a person.

My list below is a group of books I'd like to read. I think each one has something to teach me in some way or another. Let me know if there's any you'd add to my list!

Into the Wild- Jon Krakauer
A Wrinkle In Time- Madeleine L'Engle
Harry Potter (all of them!)- J.K Rowling
The Bell Jar- Sylvia Plath
The Inconvenient Indian- Thomas King
The Hobbit- J.R.R Tolkien
I Feel Bad About My Neck- Nora Ephron
Catcher in the Rye- J.D Salinger
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy- Douglas Adams
Tropic of Cancer- Henry Miller
The Diary of a Young Girl-Anne Frank
Ham and Rye- Charles Bukowsky

Books on Social Work and Mental Illness I've currently purchased:
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for A Hat and Other Clinical Tales- Oliver Sacks
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry- Jon Ronson
I Never Told Anyone:Writings By Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse- Ellen Bass
Where to Start and What to Ask: An Assessment Handbook- Susan Lukas


I think a big theme of this year will be social work, mental illness, and addictions, feminism, required readings, and race.

I'm also trying to work through this bad boy:

It's a poster featuring 100 essential novels. Shauna and Erika bought this for me for my birthday. When you read each one you scratch off the gold foil. I will scratch them all one day. Not one day this year, but one day!

So if you have any suggestions to broaden my horizons let me know.

Read on, readers and remember:

From the desk of:
Taylor Brown
Soon to be Well Read, Soon to be a Dangerous Creature