reading

Throughout the day, I do a lot of reading-for-pleasure online.  It all started with the divorce of our TV over 1.5 years ago.  I needed to feel as if I knew what was going on with the world around me so I set my homepage from Pitchfork Media to CBC News to ensure I made an honest, daily attempt.  I felt connected to the world however my mood towards ‘Canadian news media’ changed significantly.  I used to laugh at the farce news television broadcasts from the USA: Fox news, CNN and other stations of glamorized media.  They could make a bad situation worse and were responsible for fear mongering, sensationalizing and the general bad taste in your mouth you would get when partaking in their ‘Hollywood Now!’ attitude.  There was no line left uncrossed leaving the youth of today completely desensitized.  I would never think that the Canadian Media could produce smut of the same calibre as America however each passing day, I am proven wrong.

The news section of CBC.ca contains graphic retellings of events which should be kept private.  Their titles and taglines spray filth across my computer screen of minute points that are blown out of proportion.  To make matters worse, many of the people who comment on the website are completely uneducated (or just don’t think before typing) and make comments that either 1. give them the mental stamp of a 9 year old or 2. they try to outsmart the general public with random facts & numbers which are grossly outdated. Frustrated, I now only skim through the news stories to pick out the ones with substance.

My other haunt comes from reading online weblogs posted by people I know, have known or who write very informative environmental blogs.  They are hit-and-miss however.  I love keeping updated on my favourite ‘online’ family, The Staples’, and their adorable daughter and doggie.  I am never unsatisfied when I read through Alissa’s posts about their daily on goings.  But why is it when we see a train wreck, we can’t bring ourselves to look away? I wish I could go more into depth about this but it wouldn’t be fair to name names.  I will, however, make a few generalized points about some of the material out there that I love to hate and hate to love:

• Fucked up depressing blogs where the writer should seek medical attention.  Oooh lordy, don’t get me started.
• ‘I’m better than you’ blogs   
• The ‘check out how amazing I look while I take photos of myself in my bathroom mirror’ blogs * pops *
• Ex-partner bashing blogs.  So very inappropriate.  Unless the bastard cheated on you and then it is ok.

I have to remind myself that blogs are an outlet; a mechanism for people to express themselves.  Yet, I have learned the hard way that there is such a thing as privacy and this needs to be practiced (especially in bullet point one).  It is a fine line whether or not to commend someone for their honesty or to wonder if they are completely out of their mind with their random self-loathing posts & inklings.

For now, I’ll stick to my environmental books [nerd alert] which keeps my brain functioning and A’s Adventures which keeps my heart warm.  I know I'm reading quality material without the fluff that some writers need to surround themselves with.