This .... Is .... Big!

OK people, take a seat. I wouldn't want you to pass out from shock. I have a HUGE announcement .... ready for it? I should now just post this now and then wait a few days before announcing it. Ha! I'm not quite that evil. After all, last time I put vague details about my clumsiness on my blog, I set off a chain reaction of paranoia. I can't imagine what would happen if I failed to give you THE BIGGEST NEWS EVER.

Where was I? Oh yes. The biggest announcement EVER:

I cancelled my US Weekly subscription!

I have always regarded my US Weekly reading habits on par with smoking or some other filthy habit. I never hid it, but I wasn't proud of this addiction to celebrity gossip. I have had an US subscription since I was in middle school when it was a monthly. Back then, it was much less tabloid-y, though. Anyway, I also cancelled my OK! subscription, but that was easy as I never read a single one.

Why the sudden change? I was watching the Oprah follow-up show from last week's show on "The Secret." It spurred me into action on this particular issue by forcing me to think about it another way. I loathe the celebrity worshipping culture going on right now, yet I have been a part of the whole celebrity obsession. My obsession is more to be critical of the many stupid things they say and do and just a general desire to know what's going on in Hollywood, rather than to try and emulate what they're wearing or doing.

To be clear, this isn't the first time it has occurred to me that I should really cancel my subscription. In fact, I think I blogged about trying to avoid renewing a while back (I failed). It had certainly occurred to me that if I loathe Paris Hilton and Britney Spears and that whole superficial culture, actually paying money to read about it was ridiculous. What I hadn't thought about was all the energy I actually put into reading about celebrities and their lives and by supporting the industry by buying the magazines, I'm just creating a culture I abhor. I don't want to do that anymore. Don't get me wrong: I don't plan to stop seeing so many movies or watch any less TV. I do those for entertainment and rarely stew much about what I've seen. I truly enjoy a good TV show or movie, so I am not removing either from my life. But if I have to hear one more thing about Britney leaving rehab again, or Paris throwing yet another pathetic party for herself, or what is to become of Anna Nicole's body, I cannot be held responsible for my actions. I've had it. Enough!

When I swore off watching local news, my outlook on where I lived changed quite a bit ... something I didn't truly realize until I watched 10 minutes a few weeks ago and felt, suddenly, very unsafe and like I was living in some war zone when I have never, ever actually witnessed or felt anything to make me think I am unsafe. Anyway, I figure going cold turkey on the celebrity stuff can do nothing but improve my life. I even deleted my RSS feed to The Superficial. That was almost harder than US Weekly as it's been constant news each day.

I will not be completely out the celebrity loop. YME will still be a staple and that has plenty of celebrity news, but I think that is a level more acceptable for my goal: to not be able to tell you on a daily basis what Britney is doing. Oh, the best part is that I will be receiving $61.80 in refunds from a combination of the cancellation of the two magazines. That and my soul. :)

With all my time freed from thinking about, reading about, knowing about celebrities, I will come up with a way to punish CNN, FauxNews, and all the other fear mongering, non-news reporting, 24-hour cable channels for their ineptitude.