7 apr 2012

it's funny how easy it is to completely lose touch with daily news. i am generally steeped in news - we get the daily paper at home, watch the local and national news, and i check the yahoo feed several times during the workday. i've been on vacation now just a few days and already i am completely out of touch. did you know a navy jet crashed into an apartment building? amanda bynes was arrested for suspicion of DUI? thomas kinkade died? there was an avalanche in pakistan? a series of shootings in oklahoma? a disappointing jobs report in march?

the thing about current events is that they continue to move right along. you know, like a current? in the river of time? yes, like that. if you miss one news story, there will be another right after that one. if you miss five stories, there will be five more. pluswise, even if you think you're keeping up, you're not. for every event you hear about, there are dozens, hundreds, millions more you'll never hear about. towns. cities. counties. provinces. states. countries. continents. each place with its own people having their own events, their own news.

it's a bit overwhelming really, all the events happening all the time all over the world. knowing a piece of the news allows us to feel we are on top of something, and being on top of some something supports the illusion of being, perhaps if not completely in control, perhaps not completely out of control. this is the appeal of the newscast -- that it gives us an illusion of control. so, if the illusion of control is the appeal of the newscast, what is the appeal of taking a vacation from the newscast? (it's not that difficult... i am sure you can figure this out.)