Not Channel Surfing

At the lake, there is very poor reception where radio and TV stations are concerned. Now this is not really a problem since I can count on one hand the amount of hours I spend in front of a TV. Limited radio stations, however, took a lot of adjustment. I love music! If I ran the world, I'd have music pumped into the atmosphere. A little something for everybody -- jazz, classical, rock, alternative, pop, dance -- you name it.

On the TV, there is only one channel that comes in which happens to be a station out of Toronto. Watching news from another city can be a little disorienting. In fact, after the global events have been summed up, I normally tune out. That said, Toronto is the political centre of our provincial government. With an election looming, there has been much coverage of provincial political developments.

With a little more than 2 weeks away from the vote I still don't know what to do. The current Premier backed out of many/most of his campaign provinces. "What's new?" you ask. Truth is, we expect some back-peddling, but this guy has set records. I will be shocked if he is re-elected. His biggest adversary is a jackass who has made campaign promises that threaten to chip away at our civil liberties which makes him dangerous in my opinion. What's more, to support him, I would have to give my vote to his representative in this area who happens to be a lunatic. Third choice is to vote for a party whose principals I wholeheartedly oppose. The New Democratic Party is pro-union. They're also pro-family which is somewhat enticing, but the damage they did to the province during a brief period of leadership took years to recover from and I have a long memory.

Wish: My wish is that I live to see the day I am voting a political party into power instead of voting a political party out of power.



Originally, when I tuned in the radio, I could catch a station that carried John Tesh's program in the evenings. I was amused to learn that John Tesh had a radio program, and surprised to hear that it featured these little facts and philosophies to improve your life. Thanks for caring John Tesh. The music was easy listening; nice for unwinding after a day at work. Within weeks however, I lost the signal and had to find an a new station.

Back and forth, back and forth, I spun the tuner dial up and down the band but only one station came in crisp and clean. New Country 101. Hmmmm. OK Fine. After all, when in Rome.... So it stayed. I have to say, I have a new appreciation for "New Country." There are some awfully funny songs. There's a few with lines that make me laugh out loud. I don't know any of the titles or artists, but there are songs that have lines like:

• "Me and my old pickup-truck. These days we don't pickup much."
• "I'd like to check you for ticks"
• "I dug my key into the side of his pretty little souped up four-wheel drive."

There's a song about an overweight, mildy asthmatic middle-aged guy who lives at home with his parents who lies about himself on "My Space." Apparently he is quite the stud in computer-land.

Funny stuff.

I like all things funny which puts Country Music, back on my list of good things.

So Anyway....

The phone thing didn't work out for me. No kidding, you say. The down side is that I've been away far longer than I ever dreamed I would be. Can you believe my last post was May 7th? Whoosh! That was time. It flew by.

I didn't realize how important blogging was to me until I stopped. About the middle of May I started to experience the first few symptoms of blogging withdrawl. I started a narrative that continued as I baked, as I bathed, as I drove, as I walked as I shopped, throughout the arrest, and partway through the court proceedings though I stopped during my sentencing. KIDDING!

By June, my talking to myself was such a regular routine that people at work stopped listening to me unless I prefaced my remarks with a proper name; like, "Brian, I told you how much it hurts my feelings when you call me a ranting lunatic."

In July, my emails became longer and longer and far less professional. Like...

"Dear Accounts Payable Person. Thank you for your recent payment on account. The funds have been applied against open invoices and your account is back in balance. Being in balance is important don't you think? It's about sleeping well at night, drawing deep, relaxing breaths that don't get caught in your throat when the phone rings. Don't you think that too many of us live in a state where we are constantly....."

..............you get the idea.

August was a blur and I don't really remember missing blogging during that month. I mean, let's be honest. It was August and, well, there was a deck and a hammock and a stack of great books that needed to be read. The days are long and hot and lazy and my computer was shoved into its case under my bed. August was not a month for blogging.

But now....

school is in, my days are shorter, people at work think I'm a weirdo and I'm now forced to use email templates pre-approved by the boss-man! My ongoing narrative has been muted by the open-mouthed stares of people I encounter during what seems to be every moment of every day, so I need another outlet. A safe and welcoming outlet.

I must blog.

It helps me to digest the world around me. That's right! It's been five months of life-indigestion. I recognize that, to live peacefully in this world, I must take time to mull things over. I recognize that I need to analyze and then over-analyze the things that happen around me. Then, when I've shared my findings, I read the remarks from (mostly) sane visitors that remind me that I am not alone in my awe, in my criticism, in my shock...

in my world.

It's not going to be easy (still no phone line) but I'm going to try and cram blogging into the empty spaces I stumble upon during my week. That might be only one or two but....

for now....

it's a start.

Again.