What I'm Listening to Now

I paid attention and did some exploring and I figured out how to create a playlist on Amazon Music, which may be a benefit of my Prime subscription or maybe not but it doesn't matter because I know how to use it and I'm well along in teaching my algorithm what floats my boat.

I can hear the music in my hearing aids.  I can't hear anything else, which is a problem for TBG when he carries on his half of a conversation and I ignore him completely.  It's not an issue for me, though.  I love the sense of isolation, surrounded by sounds of my choosing.  

It's helpful while I'm cooking.  It sets my mood when I'm working on The Brownie List this month.  I'm working my way through the Amazon curated Greatest Christmas Hits lists, choosing the ones I want on my personal playlist.  I am certain that my children (and probably most of you) have been doing this since the technology became available, but it's all a shiny new thing to me.

I'll move on to Chanukkah and Seasonal tunes and will rely on my children to amplify it as background for our holiday in Marin.

I've been listening to the game shows on NPR.  I've been listening to YoYo Ma on Instagram and YouTube.  

What I have not been listening to is the news.

I haven't watched the local news nor the national nightly news nor tuned in to NPR on the car radio.  I've deleted my New Republic and Politico and WaPo and NYT apps.  My Substack no longer includes Neal Katyal; I'm spending time with Sherman Alexie's poetry and JES's fiction rather than getting myself all worked up.

I have unsubscribed to all my political messaging bots.  I don't want any more political stickers adorning my car's sunshield. 

Like JannyLou, I can't abide the thought that four of my remaining years on this planet will be sullied by that bloviating buffoon.  I have to do what I can to control his access to my headspace.

Will I miss breaking news?  Sure.  I was surprised to learn that Assad fled to Russia this afternoon.  I spent a few minutes smiling about Sleepy Joe doing everything he can to destabilize Putin before January 20th.  That was enough.  Somehow the world is managing to turn on its axis without my incessant monitoring.  

I'm going to move on to podcasts about history after the holidays are over.  I don't see returning to the mainstream news media circus in my future.  I'm exploring BlueSky and MeidasTouch News  and 1440  to see if it's worth staying current.  

So far all it's doing is making me upset.  

I don't want to be upset.  I want to make good choices, just like Prince Scholars and my grandkids.  I think my immediate future is pretty clear.

If something really important happens I'm sure someone will tell me.