Why I pay for cable, I don't know. (Oh yeah, because if I don't, I get no reception. And no internet. Damn.)

The programming is all shit.

I don't pay enough to get the good stuff, which in my world would include Comedy Central, Sci Fi, TLC, and (if I were really splurging) HBO and Showtime. As it is, the best I can do are CBC (don't discount the beauty of that, eh), The Weather Channel, Northwest Cable News, and Discovery (a favorite!). Okay, it's not ALL shit.

Anyway, I have to admit to watching HGTV when I am occasionally awake in the middle of the night. If I've had to climb down the attic stairs for a potty or something for my back pain, and I'm wide awake, I turn it on.

I could live the rest of my life without hearing the following words in the context of decorating or home improvement:

pop - as in, "the accent color is really going to make this wall pop." Do we not have at our command the words contrast, bold, emphasis, stand out, highlight?

rich - as in, "the color in this room is really rich" or "the linens give the room a rich look." Why rich and not refined, ornate, lush, or saturated I don't know.

faux - it just means fake. I know you can't sell your technique unless you call it faux, but . . . it's just fake.

organization - now, this is an issue with the concept, not the vocabulary. Most people who are not organized are in that situation because their brains don't think in an organized way. Organization requires some dedication to linear thinking, and to the behaviors that allow for organized living. It certainly will help people be more organized if there are organizational items and areas in the home, but that is only half the battle. Behavior must be changed in order to make use of the available organized space. That's the hard part.

storage - again, a conceptual issue. My mother complains about not having enough storage, but she insists on boxing up old magazines she'll never read again (by her own admission) and then keeping the boxes under her sewing table. She has a one-car garage attached to her house with ample room for shelves, but has only three small shelf units that don't go near the ceiling. Wasted space is storage space. She also has a detached garage with room for two cars and one RV (the RVspace has a 20-foot ceiling). Her house is plenty big for her and my dad. She just needs shelves. I salivate to get my hands on that project.

Here endeth the rant.