Ditching Netflix for books Apr28 '07
I recently downgraded my Netflix membership from 3-at-a-time to 1-at-a-time. This change takes effect starting in May. This change marks the fifth adjustment to my Netflix account.
Over time, the pattern I've taken has been:
3 - 5 - 7 - 5 - 3 - 1
This shows how many "discs at home" I was able to receive under that plan. You'll notice a steady decline, but fear not - Netflix is not going to disappear from my life any time soon.
Come this June, I'll have been with Netflix for three years.
Thoughts on those three years
For three years I've adored the movies and television shows that I've received so conveniently in the mail in that solid red envelope.
The characters I've been introduced to through so many different facets of film-making has been the utmost reward in my daily life.
I cherish the selection that has given me Audrey Hepburn, Clint Eastwood, Charlize Theron - and hundreds more likable and talented performers, doing screenplays that I never would have seen if it weren't for Netflix.
Movies such as Monster, About a Boy, The Station Agent - little "gems" that I never would have viewed if it weren't for Netflix.
Television series such as Six Feet Under, The Wire, 24 - I enjoyed following these great shows without having to commit to a regular television schedule.
The exploration of Netflix has always felt to me like a vast wilderness or jungle, with sounds and sights coming from every angle. So much to explore and absorb. So much history.
Back to the present
Despite my "awe" of the vast selection of movies available on Netflix, I have been realizing lately that I need a change.
I am not, by any means, giving up Netflix. I am just looking for other avenues of inspiration, such as books. And in order to balance a new load of adventure, I have to cut back in other areas. After all, a person must sleep, work, and spend time with family. Life is not all about our personal activities, however intriguing they may seem.
One area that I'd like to expand upon is my knowledge of books. Reading is something I don't do enough, except when I'm staring at a computer screen. But that's not reading in the "literacy" sense of the word. That's just absorbing individual words to form a sentence, which forms a thought.
I'm referring to the act of reading, which has become extinct in this technological age. How many people still "curl up to a good book," these days?
To go to a bookstore or library and just browse the isles and shelves - the wonder and fascination is endless.
I used to spend hours standing in secluded and soundless library aisles, a book open in one hand, just paging through all those words that millions of bright-minded authors spend writing.
I don't do this enough anymore, and I intend to start again.
That's why this summer is going to be a "summer of books, literacy, and education." It's time to turn off the TV, and open a book.
Categories: Books 
, Inspiration , Netflix
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Never one to conform, Matt intends to promote the effect the web has on our lives, in an effort to intensify, instruct, and clarify all that is happening around us.
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