Day 2 of the TV experiment

Day 2 without TV was better than day 1 for the family. Patty said the kids didn't fight on the way to school and were treating each other better. Weird, didn't expect THAT from this experiment. I got home from work at the same time they got home from Girl Scouts, and Jacob sat on the couch and pulled out Harry Potter book 5, while Patty and Grace were doing email or something like that in the office.

As for me, I read Paul: In Fresh Perspective by N.T. Wright. I'll do a review of that in another post.

Around bedtime we read to the kids out of the The Book of Virtues. We bought this book in 1996 or so when it came out, and always planned to read from it to our kids. The last time we tried they were too young. They really enjoyed the stories and poems we read and it seemed like a great thing to do before bed. We read one story and one poem and they asked for more, so that was a good sign. We will try it again tonight and see if they are still into it!

With no TV on we listen to music more. Last night I put on three CD's:
(1) OK Computer by Radiohead. I bought this CD because it was so highly regarded in a book I read, but I honestly don't care for it much. It's a weird mix of screeching guitars and melancholy vocals that just never quite works. In Rainbows is a far superior effort, IMHO.

(2) Debussy and Ravel Piano Works - Long, LONG out of print, this is a fantastic CD of some not-all-that-well-known piano pieces. Alain Planes really does these pieces justice. I purchased this for "LA CATHEDRALE ENGLOUTIE" many, many years ago but the entire CD is top notch. It was really nice to hear this again, as I rarely listen to classical music on iTunes.

(3) The Look of Love by Diana Krall. I really enjoy Diana Krall and have been in the mood for her stuff a lot lately. This is a very mellow, romantic (duh) CD that really shows off her sultry vocals and gentle touch at the piano. The only downside is that I always feel like I should be in a smoke filled bar when I listen to her...

All told day 2 of the tv experiment was awesome. I can't think of anything we could have done as a family with the tv on that would be better than the last two nights. We had told the kids we MIGHT use the tv for a family movie night this month, but I am rethinking that with how much better it has been with it off. More to come...

Joel