6 Things I Learned by not Watching the Oscars

4. Technology sneaks in change, whether you're paying attention to it or not.

This year, while I was completing my annual "I have seen none of these movies" Oscars mental-cataloging ritual, I realized something else: I've somehow transitioned to watching 99 percent of video content on my computer. I'm not sure when this happened exactly, but now, unless something is available on Hulu or the Apple store, there's a good chance I'm not watching it. This shift to digital "on-demand" viewing is something that's been pretty well-documented in the press, but I was still surprised when it happened to me. Of course I can afford to be surprised by digital entertainment trends because I don't work in that industry, but there are plenty I can't ignore, like blogging and digital publishing for example. I imagine there are technologies you can't ignore as well. Are you giving them the attention they deserve?

5. Saved time is awesome time

By skipping the Oscars this year, I was able to make my life 4 ½ hours easier. In that time I was able to make major headway on several work projects and go to bed a little early besides, something that's rare for me. By cutting out what would have been a procrastinatory indulgence at best, I made my work week significantly less stressful and went to bed much happier than I would have otherwise.

6. Nomination beats victory, but word-of-mouth beats nomination

A movie's nomination to a major Oscar category grabs my attention way more than an actual victory. Nomination is what puts a film in that magical and ill-defined "probably awesome, you should check it out" category. The actual victory? Who cares? I don't ever look to watch the "best" movie. I pick among movies that are generally understood to be "pretty good," then pick out what I think is more interesting based on personal criteria, say picking The Fighter over The King's Speech because I prefer funny Boston accents over British ones for example.