Monday Morning...

I'm awake before the rest of the house. I didn't sleep well due to my big 18 pound cat deciding to sleep next to me on my nightstand and all night as he moved various books would fall and slam down on the hardwood floors and wake me.

One of those books is a new book and while I only read one poem, I can already recommend it. It's Sherman Alexie's new book, FACE published by Hanging Loose Press. I just read the first 3 page poem and it's incredible. I can only imagine what the rest of the collection holds.

Honestly, I wanted to read more, but didn't. Again, I'm funny about good books ending too soon. Which is why I haven't finished THE BAD MOTHER, though I plan to today. I had a few opportunities to finish it yesterday, but only read two chapters. I think now that I know I'm going to read Freakonomics next (btw, if you decide to get this, make sure to get the Revised & Expanded edition, which corrects a few mistakes in the first book) and it was given a good report by Nin Andrews, I think I'll be able to finish The BAD MOTHER today. And also, because I have Sherman's new book to indulge in.

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Are their certain websites you visit every day? I have 4. Poetry Daily (though I still think their news section is heavy with male poets and that women poets are neglected). MSN, CNN & KomoTV (our local news).

I have realized a few things lately that are going to make me change this habit.

1) The news on CNN hardly changes. What was news yesterday, is news today and there is rarely anything interesting. Today's most interesting story to me was that Stephen Colbert got a military cut in Iraq.

2) KomoTV is mostly bad, bloody news and they love a good kid tragedy. Their news tends to be what was the worst thing that happened to a kid yesterday, and that's story. I'm always surprised when I click on it and it's not local and it's a child in Tennessee. Not that it's not important, but I would tend to think that if you wanted to find a bad story about a child each day you could (and they do).

But if you read that last paragraph carefully, you will see why they do it-- "I always click on it." As a mother, I am curious what next hazard I need to look out for, what I can do to prevent another tragedy...and they know that and take advantage of it in parents.

So, Komo (for sure) and CNN will be off my list. MSN is pretty varied, so I can drop by there for news. Of course, they are notorious for having in their top headlines things you really didn't need to know like "Llama Wears Wig for Charity..." But I can live with that. As a writer, they get my imagination going.

To replace Komo & CNN, I'm going to Happy News.

Some good news I never say on *any* news station that happened in the last week is this:

Animal Society and Del Monte Foods Help Atlanta Food Banks Feed Pets

"Best Friends Animal Society distributed 1,215 bags of dog food and snacks to two Atlanta-area food banks. The generous donation was provided by Del Monte Foods Company's Kibble n' Bits®. "

****To me, this is big news I should know about because I want to support companies that are helping the communities and I have a soft spot for any company that helps animals. (YEAH DEL MONTE!) Especially now, the Humane Society is hurting for cash and food because so many people are dropping off their animals because they can't take care of them.

People can find a way to survive whether it spending less or stealing; humans (with the exception of the very old and the very young) can take care of themselves. Dogs, not so much. Even cats have it better with their hunting instincts, but dogs need humans to keep them alive, safe and healthy.

I guess that is why my favorite charities tend to help animals, old people, young people, or people in other countries who do not have as much as we do here.

I constantly have to remind myself that NEWS is a business and not a thoughtful consideration of the world's events. It's not there to help me be a better person and know what I should know, it's there to sell me fear, sell me on their information to I watch their station and tune in for more.

I listen to enough NPR that honestly, I hear what I need to hear and even their news to slit your wrists to, on the hour, every hour, which I should know about. They are still one of the few places that reports on the war as if it's still going on (and it is, but with swine flu, unique stories about missing children, Jon & Kate + 8 intrigue, and MTV's latest stunts, people may not know this).

So here we are this Monday morning. This is kind of an early confession, I have told you on the big world web, I only go to 4 websites (+ Facebook & my favorite poet blogs) unless I'm googling something. I told you I like to be an ostrich to the freaky bad news and that my cat is overweight. I told you what I'm reading, what I will be reading and how I hate for good books to end. And I've complained about something I've already complained about.

Yep, I think that covers it. Thanks for listening, as always.


~K


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Comments

  1. I'm addicted to news, especially economic news. I like to know what's going on in other parts of the country. I usually check CNN and the Boston Globe throughout the day. Also, love NPR, as well as poet blogs and FB.

    As for books, have you heard about Womenomics? Claire Shipman from ABC, I think, coauthored the book. Looks pretty good, discusses about women in the new economy.

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  2. The only websites I visit daily are some of the poetry blogs I like to read.

    There are a few news websites I visit, not daily but maybe weekly or every couple of weeks, or however often they update. Most of them are fairly left-leaning politically. A few I particularly like are CounterPunch, LabourStart, IndyMedia sometimes, and (for local news) Twin Cities Daily Planet.

    I also like to check Arts & Letters Daily from time to time. And a few months ago I discovered Dick Cavett's column in the online NY Times, and I make a point of checking it for whenever a new installment appears.

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