Posted by Jack McDermott
The great thing about this semester is that I finally don't have to live in the dorms. Sorry freshmen.
That's right, I am all the way down in Scribner Village, which is basically on a separate planet from the main Skidmore campus.
Now, other than the fact that you have to cook your own meals and you have a living room, it really doesn't feel that different.
There is one thing I have noticed though: when you live in a house, you tend to watch more television than when you live in a dorm room. At least I do.
The problem is, when you live with five girls, the choices of television shows and movies do not always line up with what you want.
There are three categories of television shows that my housemates like to watch: trashy TV, food/home TV and Gilmore Girls.
Yes, Gilmore Girls gets its own category.
For the first few weeks of school, Gilmore Girls (and Friends, which I have no objection to) were literally on every hour of the day.
I would wake up, come downstairs and eat breakfast while Lorelei and Emily Gilmore argued in the background.
And I would do the dishes while Lorelei thought "WWTBFCD (What Would the Barefoot Contessa Do)?" I would be writing the first installment of this column for the paper while Rory was in the newsroom at Yale.
Oh sheesh, the fact that I know all of these references says something. And it is not good.
When Gilmore Girls isn't on though, it is a toss up between Pretty Little Liars, one of the Kardashians (I'm still trying to figure out how many of them there are), Four Weddings and Toddlers and Tiaras — the worst of them all.
And there is absolutely no changing the channel once Say Yes to the Dress comes on. I made that mistake once.
Then we have the Food Network and HGTV. I actually sort of enjoy those two stations. I mean, who doesn't love watching delicious food being cooked or watching houses get demolished and remodeled?
But, nevertheless, I am pretty sure that our TV has been preset to channel 42, which is the Food Network.
Without fail, every single time I turn on the TV, it is on channel 42.
For movies, it's a whole different story. The other night I really wanted to go out to a party or do something exciting and fun, but my housemates were dead-set on sitting around watching Pocahontas, a classic Disney movie, but not really something I would pick to watch on my own.
Apparently, in order to properly watch Pocahontas, you have to do two things: talk about who is hotter, John Smith or Kokoum, and sing with all your might.
At one point, one of my guy friends from next door texted me saying "Sorry," because he could hear them singing through the adjoining wall.
The worst, however, is when the Mary Kate and Ashley movies come on. All 85 of them.
They seem to have the same basic plot, but of course it takes 20 minutes to decide which one to watch.
Apparently "Switching Goals" does not even compare to the theatrical genius of "Billboard Dad." I wonder if you can guess what that first one is about?
Now not all of these things are that bad, and I may be starting to, God forbid, actually enjoy some of the trashy television that is unfortunately broadcasted to our living room at all hours.
When you are in a house where there is a television, the problem of what to watch will always arise.
Living with people is all about compromise, and unless you enjoy the same shows, this can be very difficult at first.
I'm a little outnumbered, but when you compromise to deal with Gossip Girl, you can usually sneak in some action movies here and there to amp up the testosterone level.