NPR=Depressing

Has anyone out there listened to NPR lately? It's been freakin' depressing. Oil prices are on the rise. The housing market is in the tank. The government is watching (or listening) our every move while they accomplish nothing that will actually help us in any way. They're playing that sad piano tune on Marketplace. It goes on and on from there and it's like this every morning.

What I could do is stop listening to NPR or end our subscription to the New York Times. All news is bad news lately and that gets tiresome. I'm not saying that I want the crap Today or Good Morning America is shoveling but geesh.

Can't we have one day of good news? Scientists discover the cure for AIDS and cancer. The five richest men in the world decide to provide clean water systems for all of Africa. A team from Cleveland wins a championship. Something.

The worst part about all this bad news is that people (Americans, I'm looking your way) seem to be oblivious to what's falling apart all around them. The rich keep getting richer while the poor get nothing. SUV's continue to roll off the dealership lots. (Didn't you see Al Gore's PowerPoint presentation?) Americans run up crazy amounts of debt despite the ever-shrinking dollar and the fact that we are in a war. Maybe it's just Misery-ians, but hardly anyone is paying attention.

I know, I know. All this doomsday and Misery stuff gets old, but you have to admit that this is not exactly the greatest time period in the history of the world. NPR is depressing. I can't help that.

Not to worry. It's Tuesday, and that means some new music will come out. It's getting closer and closer to November when I'll get to see The Thermals and Modest Mouse within a week of each other. I'll see that new Wes Anderson movie and feel OK. I, like most people, will find something to divert my attention from the negative.

Of course, we're all too good at finding these diversions. Some of us throw ourselves into our work. Others buy stuff. While others (this is me) turn to entertainment to help them forget there is a real world out there rife with problems. We all have some form of escape.

Do these problems hang around because we don't deal with them? Is there even anything we can do about the crummy economy, poverty, etc.? Or are we just trying to wait them out? You know, this too shall pass. I don't know. Whatever it is, I'll probably blog about until something else comes along. For now, I've got 54 minutes of NPR left this morning before they play some lame-ass classical music. Or, in other words: Back to Misery.