What’s Happening?

I never thought it would happen but this old gal has checked out on news and politics. I decided I neeeded a break from thngss that were dark, and depressing. I only meant it to be temporary but it’s  been so nice I may make it permanent.

At this time in my life it’s overwhelming to me. I will always vote but I don’t have to have a daily diet of news and politics to do that. Since I don’t watch TV I didn’t have that habit to break. I don’t take the newspaper so I didn’t have to give that up.

Facebook and Twitter were my primary sources. I made a list of all the people I followed on Twitter and Facebook, believing the break was only temporary. If the world blows up I can quickly reconnect with my list of names.

I’m making an attempt to listen to Jon Meacham’s book ‘The Soul of America: The Battle For Our Better Angels.’ First I bought it for Kindle planning to read it but soon realized that wasn’t going to happen, so I then got the audible version thinking I could probably have an easier time with that. It’s excellent and I’m enjoying it now and then when my brain chooses to focus for a few minutes. This is not the only time in history when Americans' behavior has brought shame upon their country. I find it helpful in times like this to look at history.

Recently I went with my children to hear White House photographer Pete Souza on book tour for his new book ‘Obama.’ That was a fun experience.

I’m just trying to hang loose these days. Trying not to get too up tight. The best way to do that seems to be to avoid news and politics, at least for now.

Me Sick

I'm  sick but putting whatever it is on the run with an antibiotic, Prednisone, and an inhaler. Enough of that nonsense.

I'm almost afraid to report Bob is doing well for fear I'll jinx this run of good luck. The results of his barium swallow test showed only the hiatal hernia that we've known about for years. We'll take all the good days that come our way.

Shoreacres had some good website suggestions in her comment. I've now added these to my Twitter feed and to Facebook. I encourage you to check these out, Quillette, Twisted Sifter, Brain Pickings, and JSTOR Daily.

I assume that after all the angst you will be watching election returns on Tuesday. I'm thinking I may stream coverage from my iPad. Turning on the TV in the living room puts Bob into raccoon mode. He simply cannot leave the remote alone, flip, flip, flip. He fingers all the buttons and drives me crazy.

Here's a little trivia:

If elected, Hillary Clinton will be 2nd shortest president at 5'5," James Madison was 5'4."

If elected, Donald Trump will be 2nd tallest president at 6'3," Abraham Lincoln was 6'4."

Michelle Obama is 5'11," Barack Obama is 6'1."

Time To Embrace The New

You are 'old' if you focus on having a daily BM and talk about it. What about tomorrow, ever thought about that possibility I say.
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It's time for me to embrace the new. It's too easy to settle into the old and comfortable. I'm completely burned out on political news. There has to be something more to life.

I'm keenly interested in Millennials. I want to get some idea of what we can expect as they become the movers and shakers in our country.

News is a big part of my life. I'm addicted to news. It's easy to assume the Millennials are detached because they don't read newspapers or watch TV. I read an interesting article on How Millennials Get News that gives me hope.

"This generation tends not to consume news in discrete sessions or by going directly to news providers. Instead, news and information are woven into an often continuous but mindful way that Millennials connect to the world generally, which mixes news with social connection, problem solving, social action, and entertainment."

"Virtually all Millennials, for instance, regularly consume a mix of hard news, lifestyle news, and practical "news you can use." Millennials are more likely to report following politics, crime, technology, their local community and social issues than report following culture and celebrities, or style and fashion. Fully 45 percent of these young adults regularly follow five or more "hard news" topics. Sixty nine percent of Millennials get news at least once a day."
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Today I began purging my news feeds of polls and election news, now what? That's a big chunk of what I've consumed on a daily basis. After the election what do I want to know, what sites will I follow?

I'm currently sampling two 'new to me' sites:

Newsy talks to you so you need to wear earbuds. Appears, from my limited experience, to be more bite size news.

Stitcher I like a lot. It's also audio.

Other sites I'm going to take a look at either for myself or to recommend to my children are, Spotify,  Wattpad, SoundCloud, and Redditt.

I've never done much with YouTube so I plan to explore it further.

My body may get old but I don't intend to let my mind.

How We Get News

The last few days I've learned some things about how we get news. Apparently TV has joined newspapers in decline.

I had the TV on to watch Doris Kearns Goodwin. Between the times she spoke in that hour I was disgusted to watch a newscaster go on forever about the latest e-mail debacle associated with Hillary Clinton. There was even a panel discussion. I had a strong urge to tap the TV screen to tell the newscaster to give it up, that flashed and died in about two hours. Stop beating a dead horse. No wonder people are moving away from TV as their primary source of news.

I've joined the millennials in getting my news in short bursts. I don't want to watch a panel of people talking over each other in loud voices. I say "One at a time please!"

Future TV will not be done as it is now by a schedule you have to meet or the show is forever gone. In the future the shows will be out there available for you to watch at your convenience. Few programs will be carried live.

Podcasts are going to become much more popular. I listen to a number of audio podcasts now but would like to see a bigger selection. Podcasts also come as videos, but I prefer the audio.

Newsy is a news source millennials are using. They want their news on their smart phone, not on TV. I put Newsy on my iPad and phone but haven't used it yet. I enjoy podcasts because I can listen to in-depth discussion on issues I care about. I prefer news in short blips like Twitter or Facebook. If something catches my eye I'll follow up with more lengthy sources.

News as we have it today is poisoning the water. I'm going to be watching FOX News to see what changes, if any, they make now that Roger Ailes is no longer in charge there.

There must be a healthier way to do this news thing. What are your thoughts?

How I Really Feel

I don't know about you but I've heard about all the ridiculous (spoken as truth) I can stand. This morning when reading the blog Murmurs I laughed, and then I had a serious thought.

She said "Strange times. We have it on good, or at least loud, authority that Hillary Clinton is planning to have some of our troops massacred just for the thrill of being able to lie about it to the American people. That Bernie Sanders keeps a sperm sample from Karl Marx in a locket on his person at all times to keep it warm and viable. That Barack Obama is going to make us all pray to Allah five times a day just so he can look at men's butts. People will say anything about anybody. They really don't care much about the truth anymore."

My serious thought was, there actually are people so mind warped these days they would jump to believe these things. Have we ever lived in a time when so little regard was given to truth?
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Yesterday Olga at Confessions of a Grandma commented "The news lately hurts my soul." That's exactly how I feel these days. Perhaps that's why I'm having such a hard time making myself engage with the news of the day.
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Have you noticed how often people share items on Facebook you're pretty sure, if you could have a conversation with them, you would find they didn't actually read it, or certainly gave very little thought to what they were sharing? I am appalled by some of the things people I'm very fond of share. Makes me wonder if I really know that person.
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How are we going to get this run away train called America back on track?

The News

Do you subscribe to a paper newspaper? There was a time when I wasn't sure I could survive without a newspaper with my morning coffee. I read it cover to cover everyday. I have a friend who doesn't believe anything until she's seen it in print in at least two newspapers. To her, paper newspapers are all that can be trusted.

Then one day our newspaper up and announced it was going to print for home delivery only four days a week. That was a bummer. I was bad enough about having a newspaper with my coffee but not nearly as bad as Bob and his word games. I was ready to throw in the towel and cancel our subscription.

At that point I stopped reading the paper newspaper. Bob really had a hard time not receiving a paper every morning. In time I subscribed to USA Today for the sole purpose of him getting some kind of paper every morning. I think he'd grown accustomed to the thud every morning when the paper landed by the front door.

These days I go weeks without ever picking up the paper. He keeps the grocery store ads out on the table all week. Sometimes other pieces are there that I could pick up and read but I seldom do. How much am I missing by not reading a paper newspaper?

I heard Mitt Romney lamenting the fact that of his five young adult sons, not one of them subscribes to a paper newspaper. I suppose eventually paper newspapers will go away.

I have access to The Oregonian online because we subscribe to the paper version. I also subscribe to the online version of The New York Times but I don't feel like I've read a newspaper when I go online to read the news. I feel like I miss a lot.

I suppose I'm adjusting to getting my news in little bites from here and there. I think I'm beginning to like just a snippet. How much do I really want to know about a topic? How much do we miss when we get our news this way?

How do you get your news? How do you feel about paper newspapers?