Update - 5 months later

I believe the detox changed my life, but I need to go back in. I've gone back to listening to the radio most of the time while I'm in the car and I've started watching too much TV including Family Guy and other shows that I found offensive immediately after my detox.

However, I have maintained many of the good habits I developed during the detox period.

Aftermath

My experiment is over and I've allowed myself to consume media for the past 7 days, but I'm a changed man in several ways:

1. Less attraction to the salacious. I think the innocent banter of radio, the news, and much of TV is the gateway drug to more 'adult' material. I'm not talking about porn, here, but I am talking about movies and entertainment that is designed to titillate, for example, the VH1 Rock Honors where scantily-clad women in cages paraded around on stage to ZZ-Top tunes. I started watching the VH1 show and, thanks to my PVR, found myself skipping over parts of it because the show offended me. In the past, I would have just seen it as part of the show, but now, I just find it in poor taste.
2. Less attraction to TV. I would much rather just sit down and talk to my wife than watch TV. I really watch very little of it now. I've pretty much given up Family Guy because I find much of the content objectionable. Of course, we're in the quiet-period for TV, now, because all the good shows (LOST, CSI) are off until the fall. However, I don't find myself going to the TV to unwind as I once did. A walk with the dog and my family takes its place.
3. I broke the radio habit. I used to keep the radio on in the car and my choice was not whether or not I would listen to the radio, but, rather, which station. Now, I find I prefer to simply listen to nothing. I make a few phone calls, I think about things, which goes to the 4th advantage.
4. I think more. Instead of occupying my mind with other people's thoughts (e.g., the TV writers), I find myself spending more time thinking about my life, what I'm doing, my priorities, etc. I'm not such a busy-body, and I get more of the important things done.

Overall, I'm convinced that this was a very positive experience, probably one I will repeat in the future. I realized how much of a slave to habit I am and how much media consumption had become a bad habit for me.

Last Day

Detox is just about over, less than 24 hours to go. Even though I didn't execute this perfectly, I'm pretty proud of what I was able to do. There were a couple of rules I maintained throughout the month. I never listened to the radio in the car. I read NO magazines, or popular press books.

Other rules, I did very well with. For example, with the exception of about 30 minutes while on a business trip, I only watched TV a couple of times with the kids and it was usually a rerun of The Simpsons. I did very little recreational web surfing, probably no more than one hour over the entire month. Amazingly, I only went to the movie theatre once, which

My major sin of commission for the month was in movie watching. I watched only one movie (on TV) which I didn't watch with the family. However, on several occasions, when we started watching a movie together but when the kids had to go someplace, I finished watching the movie on my own. Generally, this would happen once or twice on the weekend.

One week and counting

As I prepare to emerge from my media bunker I'm actually worried about what I will do when I get out. I dare say I'm a little fearful.

For the past 24 days I've done everything I can to avoid media. Yes, like most of my diets, I've cheated on the rules a little bit. Some of that is due to not thinking through the rules, some of it came from trying to do this without involving my family, and some of it from weakness.

Over the weekend, I played pretty close to the rules. I watched a movie, Mad Money, with my wife, and I watched Fool's Gold and The Net with my kids. Other than that, there was a bit of TV watching while we waited for the movies to come on (they were either pay-per-view or on a movie channel), but no solo watching of any kind.

I'm seriously considering doing this again, soon. While I'm woefully uniformed on current events, I don't really miss it. I'm beginning to wonder how much of an effect what goes on in the world around me really has on my life. I also find myself getting more done personally and professionally. For example, with my former media habits, I would not have been able to take the time to put together this blog.

I've also developed some positive habits on the internet. While I used to click through to the latest news story that seemed most interesting, I've spent some time looking up old friends, making connections on Linked In, and buying scuba gear on eBay for our upcoming trip to Key Largo.

I've also spent a lot more time with my wife which has had a positive effect on our relationship. In fact, I would have to say that I'm happier in my relationship than ever before.

Spiritually, I've spent more time praying and reading scripture which, I believe, has made me more sensitive to the Spirit. For example, the other day I was in line at Subway behind a man who appeared to be in his mid 20s with two little girls, the older of which may have been 6. I don't know if he was their father, uncle or what, but he was wearing a t-shirt that said 'volunteer' on the back. He made his best effort to corral the energetic little girls gently but firmly while ordering sandwiches so that the girls wouldn't bother the other patrons. When he got to the cash register, his debit card was declined. When he went to grab his cash, he only had $7 of the $14 needed to pay. He convinced the cashier to keep his sandwich and water bottle but to let the girls eat while he called the bank on his cell phone.

After I paid, I felt a prompting to pay his tab. I looked over at the man who was clearly on hold with the bank and saw how he was agonizing over paying attention to the bank on the phone while keeping the girls from causing chaos in the busy, little sandwich shop. I turned to the cashier, handed her my credit card and asked her to put his tab on my card. She replied, "are you sure? It is $14!" probably a couple of hours of pay for her, but a trivial sum for me. I told her to go ahead.

I carried the man's sandwich and water bottle to him and waived. He was on the phone with his bank and, I think, quite surprised. In any case, he tried to thank me, but I walked swiftly out of the store. I didn't want to make it any more embarrassing or humiliating for him than it already was.

I haven't seen the man or the girls since, but I have made a new friend. Every time I go get a sandwich there (which is often), the cashier smiles at me. It's a good feeling.

I feel like Al Qaeda

While I'm sure this occurred to most of my readers the moment they saw the premise at the top of my blog, the idea of using blogging - probably the most popular or, at least, most populist, means of communicating today - to take down the media is a bit of an oxymoron. It's sort of like the terrorist who eschews western influence but uses a porn site to embed secret messages to his operatives.

I'm not about to put up a porn site, but I do feel duplicitous.

Dani California

I was in Best Buy the other day with my wife looking for CD labels when the song Dani California came on the speakers where they have the display of computer speakers that you can try out and switch the sound by pushing the button. I played with the speakers a bit, but the remarkable thing about this little incident is that I remember still what song was played because I've heard so few over the past week.
For your listening pleasure:

Day 18 - I'm not exactly provoking a lot of thought here

I've been blogging for over a month on this project and haven't seen a single comment. It's depressing me because all this self-control is depressing. I think I'll go eat a gallon of Hagen-Dasz.