Newsworthy
I feel like I've shut off my mind in the last 6 months. I haven't been reading a lot, I haven't been writing much, and what I have been writing has been less coherent than I'd like. I'm going to pass the buck and put the blame on the fact that I've been sick a large portion of the last 6 months rather than examining the fact that maybe I've chosen not to think about anything too much.
One thing on my intellectual radar has remained (aside from television viewing which I still maintain is not necessarily a brain off activity). I love reading the newspaper. I don't read it cover to cover like some people. I pick and choose the articles I'm interested in. I sometimes do the crossword puzzle (or try to depending on the day). When I moved a while back I had to cancel my newspaper subscription because my new apartment is a lot more expensive than my old one and I was trying to save money, but my mom, knowing how I love my daily paper, got me a gift subscription so I wouldn't have to sacrifice that small pleasure.
Lately though I've noticed an alarming trend. I don't know if the people writing the news are as (alternately) bored, frustrated, and angry with what's going on in the world as I am, but the writing of those articles (in the world and business news sections) is severely less compelling lately than that of the arts, sports, dining and travel sections. I'm not talking about the stories themselves. A riveting story can lose a lot when poorly written and a boring one can gain a lot. I'm talking about just the writing, and the writing is markedly better in the more frivolous sections of the paper lately.
Since I'm on the subject of the paper I think I'll talk a little bit about some of the more interesting things I've read there lately.
In today's Seattle Times Jerry Brewer wrote a great column about how people shouldn't blame the negativity of the reporting about the Mariners (and Seahawks, and Sonics) on the reporters. He makes the excellent point that it's hard to put a positive spin on repeated losses, arrests, and legal battles over relocation of a long standing local team. I'm not interested in arguing the point. I agree with him and while that alone isn't enough to keep me from arguing the point I'm also distracted by something else he said. He referred to the Seahawks as "by far the most dependable Seattle franchise". I know I may date myself here, but I remember a time when the Seahawks were the local joke. I can't really say that any of the Seattle sports teams have ever been dependable (if dependable means that they win on a regular basis). The one truly dependable thing about Seattle sports teams is that they are constantly falling short of greatness (sometimes just barely short, making the playoffs but not to the championship, or making it to the championship but not winning it). I can only assume that he means the Seahawks have been the most dependable local team recently.
Yesterday's New York Times also had an article with a statement I found odd. The article was about the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road". The film's star Viggo Mortensen is quoted in the article saying this about his 11-year-old costar Kodi Smit-McPhee, "...I don’t even think of him as a kid. There are things he’s done on this movie that I’ve never seen anybody do before. And there are many adult actors who never have a moment like he has every day." I'm not at all surprised that a kid is able to portray emotions that are elusive to adults. Kids are way less afraid to show any old emotion they have. It's true that with experience comes a complexity of emotion that kids might not yet possess, but with experience also comes a reluctance to share those emotions with anyone. Of course, it becomes a lot less scary to share your emotions when you're able to couch them as not really your own, but belonging to a character you're playing. However, everyone knows that they come from somewhere.
And finally, there's Huffington Post, which I know isn't technically a newspaper but we'll just look the other way for now. Huffinton Post gives us pearls like this article on how to identify a New York Woman. I think it's safe to assume I will never be mistaken for a New York Woman (nor would I want to be).
One thing on my intellectual radar has remained (aside from television viewing which I still maintain is not necessarily a brain off activity). I love reading the newspaper. I don't read it cover to cover like some people. I pick and choose the articles I'm interested in. I sometimes do the crossword puzzle (or try to depending on the day). When I moved a while back I had to cancel my newspaper subscription because my new apartment is a lot more expensive than my old one and I was trying to save money, but my mom, knowing how I love my daily paper, got me a gift subscription so I wouldn't have to sacrifice that small pleasure.
Lately though I've noticed an alarming trend. I don't know if the people writing the news are as (alternately) bored, frustrated, and angry with what's going on in the world as I am, but the writing of those articles (in the world and business news sections) is severely less compelling lately than that of the arts, sports, dining and travel sections. I'm not talking about the stories themselves. A riveting story can lose a lot when poorly written and a boring one can gain a lot. I'm talking about just the writing, and the writing is markedly better in the more frivolous sections of the paper lately.
Since I'm on the subject of the paper I think I'll talk a little bit about some of the more interesting things I've read there lately.
In today's Seattle Times Jerry Brewer wrote a great column about how people shouldn't blame the negativity of the reporting about the Mariners (and Seahawks, and Sonics) on the reporters. He makes the excellent point that it's hard to put a positive spin on repeated losses, arrests, and legal battles over relocation of a long standing local team. I'm not interested in arguing the point. I agree with him and while that alone isn't enough to keep me from arguing the point I'm also distracted by something else he said. He referred to the Seahawks as "by far the most dependable Seattle franchise". I know I may date myself here, but I remember a time when the Seahawks were the local joke. I can't really say that any of the Seattle sports teams have ever been dependable (if dependable means that they win on a regular basis). The one truly dependable thing about Seattle sports teams is that they are constantly falling short of greatness (sometimes just barely short, making the playoffs but not to the championship, or making it to the championship but not winning it). I can only assume that he means the Seahawks have been the most dependable local team recently.
Yesterday's New York Times also had an article with a statement I found odd. The article was about the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road". The film's star Viggo Mortensen is quoted in the article saying this about his 11-year-old costar Kodi Smit-McPhee, "...I don’t even think of him as a kid. There are things he’s done on this movie that I’ve never seen anybody do before. And there are many adult actors who never have a moment like he has every day." I'm not at all surprised that a kid is able to portray emotions that are elusive to adults. Kids are way less afraid to show any old emotion they have. It's true that with experience comes a complexity of emotion that kids might not yet possess, but with experience also comes a reluctance to share those emotions with anyone. Of course, it becomes a lot less scary to share your emotions when you're able to couch them as not really your own, but belonging to a character you're playing. However, everyone knows that they come from somewhere.
And finally, there's Huffington Post, which I know isn't technically a newspaper but we'll just look the other way for now. Huffinton Post gives us pearls like this article on how to identify a New York Woman. I think it's safe to assume I will never be mistaken for a New York Woman (nor would I want to be).
posted by Beth at
7:46 PM
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