The holidays are when we’re reminded that we live in an age of plenty. And I’m not talking about food or shelter; we’re free from cultural want, the important stuff. I listen to most of my rear-end top ten lists (Slate’s, NPR’s, The New Yorker’s) as spoken word, podcasted. It’s the first new medium that is structurally, ontologically tailored to our new habits of consumption. Podcasting is designed for time shifting—I listen when I get around to it, when I have nothing better to do. I’m so flush with media, I have to squeeze it into the few remaining un-entertained cracks in my life.

Top ten lists, podcasted or otherwise, are a thriving genre. So much so, actually, that I could use a top ten list of top ten lists. And I don’t think it’s because the Internet is conditioning readers to consume more condensed, distilled, list-ified information. I think it’s because people are more able to curate their culture consumption. I like TV and I like music, so I have a lot of conversations with friends about what to consume. And recently, I’ve noticed myself saying “I’ve been meaning to check that out.” A lot. My procrastination habit, alarmingly, has migrated to my media consumption. Don’t as how long my Netflix queue is.

I don’t think I’m the only one telling my friends that I’ve been meaning to watch or listen to something. I think we’re all saying it a lot more and I think it’s a trend worth noticing. Whether by TiVo, Surf the Channel, Bit Torrent, or iTunes, everyone’s consuming media on their own time. And that’s a good thing for our culture. We’re experiencing a major contraction in broadcasting—with the networks cutting scripted content and replacing it with the cheap stuff, like Jay Leno and (appallingly) Mama’s Boys—because broadcasting is inefficient. It relies on passive consumers grazing aimlessly for content. Sometimes we would find something great and make a point of watching it next week, but why bemoan the loss of “appointment TV,” when all that’s changed is that we no longer have to make an appointment?

I can’t remember the last time I paddled out on my remote control for a good ol’ fashioned channel surf. I’m embarrassed that my preferred mode of procrastination used to be the act of looking for media. Now I have a surplus of media with which to procrastinate by actually watching or listening and it’s the discovery of more new, great content that I’m putting off. Ignoring, for argument’s sake, how the content is paid for, am I not better off? As a culture, we can stand to lose a little fat, so let’s stop grazing.