[a fool in paradise]

I would sit on the floor inches away from the tv screen and it was a sacred time.

My parents used to get on my case as a kid for sitting so close to the tv.

Now I sit in front of a computer monitor for 8 hours a day at work and don't even get to go to the kitchen for snacks or to make a phone call or play...

[A knight without armor]

"My parents used to get on my case as a kid for sitting so close to the tv."

I know. Me, too!

And my mother used to get on me about doing my homework without being under a very bright light. Then years later I heard the theory that eye strain is caused by bright light and soothed or avoided altogether by using a rather dim light.

And while I'm harping on my poor mother here, she used to chastise me for turning the channel knob on the tv too fast. She said it would wreck the knob. So when I went from channel to channel I had to pause for about three seconds in between. It could take a while since we only got three channels and they were far apart on the knob!

By the way perhaps you are too young to know about this - but back then when you turned the tv off a spot of light would remain in the middle of the screen for what seemed like the longest time. Hah. I just remembered that.