I blame my iPad (and, of course, my son)

A shorter-than-usual Post.

A Reader commented that my Posts appear to be becoming more annoyed.  Maybe.  But I blame it all (and this Blog as a whole) on my iPad and my Son.

My kind wife bought me an iPad as an Anniversary gift.  I am not a technically oriented person, but I soon started taking it everywhere.  I have found myself reading a lot more besides my usual mysteries and sci fi, particularly newspapers, strictly on line news sources, and magazines.  I have also been exposed for the first time to YouTube. A lot of the stuff I read is political.  Naturally, I have become more of a political junkie.

Also, my 22 year old son has hooked me on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, on Comedy Central, which (for those of you who do not know) are primarily political satire (and which I recommend highly).

As a result, I find myself having more political opinions, thinking more about political issues, and getting  more annoyed at what I perceive to be the numerous liars and/or idiots in politics and the media.  I would remain blissfully ignorant about a lot of the lies and the idiots, if they were not brought to my attention, by those who agree with them as well as disagree with them.

Although I view jump-starting my brain in different areas to be a good thing,  we can get sucked into thinking too much about politics.  It's kind of like being hooked on musical or movie celebrities.  I find myself caring about what X says about Y thinks (or guesses or makes up) about Z (who is an idiot to start with).  I understand this often occurs to people who live in the Washington D.C. area (the "Beltway"), but I haven't lived there since I was 14.  Most of us, including me, lead our "real" lives without thinking much about politics, which I really think is another good thing.  Sure, it certainly impacts our lives - or at least its results do - but the new, constantly available media from all sources can overdo it.  All those communications majors with a byline or a Blog, all competing and hoping to find a story or angle that "goes viral" and makes them rich, famous, wise and/or important - if everyone's talking about it (for example, Bristol Palin on "Dancing with the Stars"-which people are expressing political opinions about), it must be important.  There is only so much "real" news, and it tends to be under-reported when compared to more entertaining stuff.

Anyway, here I am starting to get into rant mode again.  While I certainly do not promise to be "Fair and Balanced",  I will at least try to be more thoughtful and less shrill.

Happy Thanksgiving.