I was born during the sunrise of June 9, 1989. I took my first steps on Aug. 3, 1990. I received my first legitimately romantic kiss behind the playground transformer on March 29, 2001. I evolved from childhood to adulthood after my Bar Mitzvah on June 15, 2002. All of these moments dramatically altered my life and molded the person that I am today, yet one more major milestone seems forgotten, and that is the day I discovered SideReel. On that glorious morning of Aug. 21 earlier this year, my life changed forever. Let me take you back.
Upon my arrival at the Washington University campus, I enter my residence hall. I walk up to my room. I plug in the fridge, stock the shelves with Pop-Tarts and Orville Redenbacher and hook up the television. At this moment, I begin to panic. So much schoolwork means less TV time. No TiVo means no recording. Sharing the screen with my roommate means less personal remote power. And most importantly, no HBO means no “Entourage.” I freak out. The room becomes smaller. The walls shrink in like something out of a corny Indiana Jones movie. I have to get out.
I pace down the hallway, gasping for air. I finally reach outside these suffocating walls and sit down at a picnic table. What am I to do? How can I live my life without watching my favorite television characters live theirs? Just then, a friend marches up to me and utters, “Dude, why are you hyperventilating into that brown paper bag?”
I explain to him my dilemma. He stares deep into my eyes and whispers, “SideReel, dude, SideReel.” Just then, the clouds break away from above us, and a brilliant light prevails over the dark sky, creating a halo upon his head. I sprint back up to my room.
SideReel.com is a TV-watcher’s mecca, the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) for the TV set. It is a TV Guide-type programming schedule, a repository for show reviews and the home of innumerable links to all television shows watchable online.
I walk through the steps for the first time. Turn on computer. Hook up charger. Insert Internet connection device. Commence Internet usage. Type in the Web site. Last step, bask in SideReel’s glory. And have no doubt, my friends, from then on, I would repeat these steps all too often. No longer will I have to sacrifice “Family Guy” for Sunday Night Football. No longer must I neglect “Lost” because of soccer practice. No longer shall that economics reading force me to miss “The Office.” And no longer shall a lack of HBO prevent me from seeing my “Entourage.” Nothing can stop me now.
It may seem petty to some of you. It may appear unnecessary. You may even consider it a failing of my generation. But I do not write this article so that you can hear about my life. I share my story so that you, the reader, may learn from the wrong of my previous ways. I tell you about SideReel so that you may improve your life upon reading about mine. For a life with SideReel is a life better lived.
