Friends of the Aural Variety

Since I quit the community center job, I've been doing temp work scanning documents. My attention span for music tends to be very short while I'm working, so I used the time to catch up on all the back episodes for the four or five podcasts I had subscribed to. With at least six hours a day or listening time, I quickly blew through all those archives and have been progressively adding new podcasts to my library ever since. I started out with knitting podcasts, and added some of the highly regarded ones that my favorite podcasters enjoyed, and eventually, somehow, I started checking out NPR.

I've tried getting into NPR numerous times since I first learned what it was in high school. Somehow, I just could not fathom what was so amazing about listening to classical music and bands I'd never heard of in between news segments. I didn't understand the format at all, and it just broke my brainy little heart that I couldn't be a part of this world of witty, informed public radio listeners. I felt so dull and unintelligent.

Thank the gods for podcasting, because now I finally feel like I'm part of the brainy in-crowd. Isn't it peculiar what things different people put on pedestals?

Jimmy, if you like podcasts or public radio at all, check out A Way With Words. Especially any archives that might be available because the male host who just retired is exactly how I imagine you if you got into radio. Fully of nerdy, punly goodness. Yea!

I'm now subscribed to probably 30 podcasts, almost all of which I've managed to remain updated with, which is almost sad when you consider who little human interaction I get daily. The podcasts are a result of that lack of interaction, though, not because of it. I guess the voices on the other end of my headphones keep me company, in a way. So even though I don't have friends to chat with throughout the day, I'm never lacking in good knitting/political/etymological/sarcastic conversation.