Samuel

I thought that, without a daily dose of the worlds tragedy first thing every morning and several times throughout the day, I’d start to feel more relaxed and calm. Actually, I haven’t noticed much of a change except that I don’t know the details of what’s wrong in the world. I still know about problems all over. And I’m getting to think that most of my stress comes from my own life, not from outside. I’m going to leave it up in the air as to whether this is a good or bad thing.

I’m having an interesting time finding the line between current events and other writing. For example, a scholarly paper talking about the potential benefits of different forms of economic stimulus; current events, or no? It’s certainly timely, but I don’t think it’s news. Maybe I’m looking for loopholes.

Have a nice day, okay?

I’m starting to wonder what’s happening outside my small, insular world. But I’m surprisingly not bothered by not knowing. It doesn’t hurt that I’ve been filling the news gap with other types of information. I’ve discovered skitch, cooliris, and google sketchup, which have been time fillers.

Also, yesterday I went to a friends metalworking shop and cut a circle out of some stainless steel filter plate I’ve had lying around for a long time. I’m going to use it as the false bottom for my igloo cooler lautering tun. Next tuesday I plan on testing it out.

I think maybe people aren’t supposed to know the intimate details of happenings from halfway around the world. I feel funny saying this, as I’ve always lived in a world where responsible adults keep track of the news. But I’m not certain that it isn’t unhealthy for us to know these things.

Today was pretty easy, but I don’t usually do a lot of news during the weekend. The real test is work; can I make it through a whole day in the office, sitting in front of my computer without checking the news? Only time will tell.

I have discovered that I discover more interesting things on the internet when I’m not using it to read about what’s happening on the other side of the world. Nothing worth linking here yet, but you know I’m gonna keep you posted.

This morning I went to check on my Twitter buddies and realized that I follow NPR’s Weekend Edition and they tweet like hell from the Studio about current events on Weekend mornings. I therefore broke fast a little, by mistake, and I know that there are still bad things happening in the Gaza Strip. But I averted my eyes before getting any details and now I’m going to go and stop following NPR.

From now until the Inauguration on the 20th I plan on going on a news fast. I’ll be abstaining from any intentional exposure to current events, and I will be trying to avoid finding out what’s going on in the world (to whatever degree possible, with the understanding that people talk about things, TV sets are on, and newspapers are left headline up on the table). Maybe I’ll put some updates here as to how it’s going. After the election I realized I had really been binging on current events and I think a little purge will be helpful for my brain (not to mention the quantity of time I have with the family).

I’m still listening to things like Fresh Air, This American Life, and Radiolab.