Waverunning

Our computers and smart phones allow us to stay connected almost continually. But if we were honest, so much of our time is spent doing mindless, numbing wandering through Facebook. It is the vegging out of channel surfing  or navel picking (or nose picking). It is like doodling on a pad of paper. But occasionally you find or get sent something worthy because it inspired, amuses, educates, provokes (in a fruitful way) or otherwise gets you thinking and therefore gets you out of the blurry daze of vegging out. And while we all need down time, I would argue that dawdling on the internet isn’t down town. It is avoidant behavior meant to helps us appear “busy”. But I am happy to share a few of my discoveries this week.

If you haven’t ever heard of TED or watched a TED talk, now is the time to click in. This is the one I watched this week:

I listen to NPR most mornings, waking to BBC and the Morning Edition. I have NPR on my tool bar and love their archives. I get NPR podcasts for music and books and the Hidden kitchens series from the Kitchen Sisters. I especially like Friday Storycorps and Wednesday sports commentary by Frank DeFord. One thing I learned was that the new DSM- (Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel for Mental Disorders) that will be published in 2013 removes narcissism from the list of personality DISORDERS and instead return it to a “normal variety” of personality. I immediately thought…excellent! maybe we can run with that and remove the label and disorder moniker off of all the other normal human traits. Just because they are despicable, shameful or cause problems doesn’t necessarily mean they are PATHOLOGY. Cancer is a disease, hypertension is pathological but we have medicalized way too many things. And like the story says….Snooki isn’t pathological, she is just outrageous and conceited. Its no different than being reckless, fearful, anxious, angry, lazy.

I found OrangeAlert by hopping off a Facebook page for Atticus books. Occasionally, meandering leads to discovery and it was a good rabbit hole to fall down. The podcasts are worth it.

I find art and the arts in my wanderings and I am reminded that most art is not made by Da Vinci of O’Keefe. Most art is made by average blokes with vision, acumen and pluck. I find these places.

I will likely read this book, The Sherlockian, based on this interview.

I wished I knew more about comics. I listened to an interview with Neil Gaiman with Neal Conan on Talk of the Nation.  I will likely read The Sandman, now published as a book series. There is a whole genre of serialized writing of which I know very little. I then jumped over to the site for The Cowgoddess and then to Mama Is and so on and so on.

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