I've been falling down on my job.

Oh, not the work part. The fun part.

A big part of my job is reading comics and books, watching movies and T.V., browsing the internet. Pop culture. It's a nasty job, but someone has to do it.

The wake up call was the Academy Awards, when I realized that I'd only seen one of the major movies; Pan's Labyrinth. That was a shock. I swore I'd never fall behind on movies the way I did on popular music. Meanwhile, I've read hardly any comics or books, lately.

Why?

1.) T.V. : Maybe my standards are getting lax, but there seems to be a lot more good shows this year. I'm really enjoying: VERONICA MARS; BATTLESTAR GALACTICA; CSI (the Vegas version; HOUSE; LOST; HEROES; and I watch a few other not so good shows; CRIMINAL MINDS; SMALLVILLE; and CSI (the N.Y. version). If I would just limit myself to these, and tape them, I'd be O.K.

But the channel flipping usually catches me on the History channel or any documentary; and my wife likes the H&G channel and I end up watching that.

2.) I can't stay up until 3:00 reading, like I used to.

3.) Business. Working hard, even though it is the slow time of year.

4.) The internet. Again, channel flipping just grabs me. At least, most of it pertains to pop-culture.

5.) Writing and this blog. I've always had a problem with 'reading blocks' when I'm actively writing. Don't know why. When I was writing my novels I went for long periods without reading. I finally 'forced' myself to start reading again; and then I was hooked. Any time I fall below a book a week pace, I feel like my life is empty, somehow.

So, I'm going to force myself to read comics everyday, pick up the pace on books to more than one a week, make sure I see at least one movie a week in the theater, and rent one or two more.

I know, you're all feeling sorry for me. But it has to be done.