Many know that I tend to be bit ascetic at times. Though this story does not involve any fasting, flagellation, or trips to monasteries.

One of my goals for my new house was to eliminate the distractions of television and the internet. The idea being that without those distractions I would be able to do things that I really want to do, like read, write music, and keep my house clean and orderly. You see, I have a bit of an addictive personality when it comes to the tube. I can sit for hours on end, watching movies (sometimes even good movies), MTV, the news, etc. and convince myself that I just need to relax because I am stressed or some shit like that. The internet is not as much of a distraction, I just have an addictive personality when it comes to thousands of pictures of nude women at my finger tips. Giving into these distractions has been a source of much self-loathing.

So the first few days at my house were great. I was getting stuff organized, reading some theology, some articles in Harper's, some Spiderman comics. Good stuff. Then I was over at Emily's apartment and she was watching a DVD on her laptop computer. Suddenly the light went on. I have a DVD player on my computer too!

The next day I go to Wal-Mart and purchase some Dolby Surround Sound speakers for my desktop. I go to Blockbuster and purchase the unlimited movie rental plan. And for the next three days I am in sitting in my bedroom, eyes glued to my 17" computer screen, eating canned soup and potatoe chips and drinking 40 ounce bottles of Schlitz malt liquor.

After watching Wild Things 2, I knew something was wrong. The Holy Spirit came upon me and asked, "Jason, what the hell are you doing to yourself? Wild Things 2?" And in a heart-pounding fit of spiritual fervor, I pushed the eject button on my DVD drive and snapped the whole thing off.

I hadn't even been drinking.

So last night I went to Wal-Mart and returned the Dolby Surround Sound speakers. I went to the grocery section, bought four peaches, a loaf of 9-grain bread, a bag of sunflower nuts and trailmix, some Nutella and some crunchy peanut butter, a bag of mesquite BBQ baked lays, a box of white cheddar Cheeze-its and a pack of Camel Lights. I don't have a fridge yet, so I was focusing on non-perishables. Back to my apartment--toast the 9-grain bread, spread Nutella and peanut butter, sprinkle with sunflower seeds, bag of chips, glass of water, read Harper's and listen to Gillian Welch, play a little guitar, turn on NPR, clean house.

The demons have been excorcised.

Cheers.