The lovely Fergal Crehan of Tuppenceworth has just outed himself as a (relatively) proud non-watcher of television. His stirring words have roused me from my blogging slumber and reminded me that there are more things in heaven and on earth worth writing about than quirky extraterrestrial visitors.

It has been almost two years since I outed myself (and my lovely wife) in similar fashion:

Though I have a television (the object) I never watch TV (the medium). In other words, though the box sits (as is customary) in the corner of our sitting room, it is not hooked up to anything other than a DVD player, a VCR, and a smattering of games consoles.

Not much has changed since then. We replaced our hefty black square box with a hefty grey widescreen rectangular affair (so I might satisfy my nerdy obsessions about aspect ratios) but the object is still only used for the playing of DVDs or video games. This does not mean, of course, that I have "maximised my potentiality" and become (by virtue of Swedish exercises and 30 books a day) a mature, well-rounded individual. I'm still prone to feelings of futility, hopelessness, despair, rage and all the rest of it. Such feelings are (for good or ill) part of the ould "human condition" and I'm sure they'll never fully disappear…but at least I won't be feeling then while watching QVC at 3 o'clock in the morning.

Before I go further a distinction needs to be made between a) TV as a medium for (let's say) the telling of serialised stories, and, b) TV as "always on" wallpaper. As a vehicle for ongoing narratives that one can immerse oneself in it is quite brilliant. A glance at my DVD collection would, after all, suggest a "TV, Yay!" attitude that might seem at odds with a cable/rabbit ears-free lifestyle: Buffy, The X-Files, The Phil Silvers Show, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Spaced, I'm Alan Partridge, The Outer Limits (etc., etc.) . All TV shows. All great. All generously represented on our sitting room shelves.

Choosing to sit (with optional glass of red wine in hand) and watch an episode or six of any of the above is something that never gives me anything but pleasure. One feels a sense of choice, of fan participation, of (if it's not over-egging it a tad) communion. In contrast, whenever I come across (in public or private houses) indiscriminate, "wallpaper" TV I tend to be reminded of the wearying (and maddening) feelings of worthlessness and self-loathing that endless television can engender.

In the domestic setting the act of "watching" TV has become synonymous with channel-surfing…a slow-burning, soul-destroying activity that reminds one of the Jerry Seinfeld gag about TV being (and I paraphrase) less about what's on and more about what else is on.

The depressing, contemporary proliferation of televisions in pubs is also a pox, not only because it threatens to overwhelm one of the pub's great joys - random, boozy, free-wheeling conversation - but also because its glittering images of bourgeois self-satisfaction can act as taunting, "wish you were here"…er…carrots (if you see what I mean). It's rude. It's intrusive. It's "Big Brother" (in both its classic Orwellian, and contemporary senses) slyly suggesting: This (the life of drink, chat, and friendship) is not "Life"…it is, in fact, but a pale shadow of the shiny (Vodafone ad) lifestyle of affluent (want it all) juvenility.

I'm aware this post is in danger of becoming derailed and turning into a flaming, ranting wreck - so perhaps it's time to summarise, or finally get to a point.

Not watching TV has not made me any more happy. It has, however, made me slightly less miserable.