News

I just can't take it anymore.

I can't bear to watch the news. I've prided myself on being an aware person. I've always enjoyed the routine of the daily newscast. Since moving to Wyoming, I've awakened to the NPR broadcast each morning. As I rolled around town, I'd listen for the top of the hour id. That routine provided a dual purpose that stemmed from my college radio station days; I could tell the time and catch the latest news from around the U.S. I'd turn on the national broadcast and could often catch both CBS and NBC broadcast due to a half hour stagger on the schedule. I would often be up until the 10 pm local broadcast from the big city across the border to the north and would marvel at the rotating door of just-out-of-college broadcast journalism newbies that would be honing their newly graduated skills. I would often flip the channel to the PBS station and catch the BBC broadcast if the local news wasn't exciting enough. Over the last eight years I would steel myself in preparation for the language gaffe that was regularly broadcast by the last Chief Executive. I know those days are over and I'm grateful. But...

But I just can't watch the news right now. I find myself going through my daily online routine... Salon.com, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, SF Gate and I just have to stop. Much like the Rocky Mountain News, which ceases publication after this Friday, I'm out of business. I just can't do it right now. I'm depressed and the news is even more depressing than I am. I don't have a mutual fund, a 401K, or anything beyond a pile of bills and an inconsistent work situation. I do have a corner lot with a little house that has family in it, a college education, some volition... but now I'm wondering if that is enough.

And, according to the news... it's not. So, I'm clicking off for a while. Call me an ostrich, that's fine. I would say "bawk... bawk" but I'm not sure what sound a ostrich even makes. I still have faith. I still have hope. But I just need a little distance.