Everyone keeps talking about binge-watching, but I’ve formed so many other new habits:
Fragment-watching:I keep catching bits and pieces of the Baz Luhrmann Great Gatsby on HBO. The movie is gorgeous and garish, so dipping into it feels like breezing through a wonderfully overstuffed catalogue.
Rerun Addiction: I’ve seen certain episodes of 30 Rock and Mary Tyler Moore countless times. I should be bored but instead I feel blissful, as if I’ve developed a pleasureable sort of dementia.
Kindling: This is very dangerous, but my Kindle allows me to flit from book to book, as the various novels and memoirs compete for my attention.
Distracted Surfing: this basically defines the Internet. Sometimes I stop reading in the middle of a word.
Theatergoing Bell Curves: Often when I read about an upcoming show I become passionate about seeing it. Then if I wait long enough my interest will wane, and by the time my curiosity returns the show will have closed. Oddly, this pattern can feel like a completed experience.
Very few of these habits are healthy. That’s why when I actually see a movie in a theater or read a hardcover book, the experience can be shocking and exhilirating: it’s the difference between a snack and a meal. And snacking, of course, is the only truly modern form of consumption.
