No Soap, RADIO

I’d forgotten what it was like to listen to David Rothenberg’s Here of a Saturday Morning on WBAI, a radio show I religiously tuned into every weekend while still living in The City.  Suddenly, I’d turned the TV off and some of my old habits began floating to the top of my mind.

When I’d first made the determination to tune into FM radio and screen out the static and commercialism of television, I vacillated back and forth between NPR and listener sponsored WBAI, a station taking a more militant stand on matters of social change.  The problem seemed to be one of holding my attention, which wandered rather recklessly back and forth between the airwaves and the activities of the nearby fish tank.  Many I know keep TV, and perhaps also radio on as an aural backdrop, but I’ve always resisted the thought of doing this.  Even now living comfortably with myself involves a process of clearing away the energy of one activity and then moving with peace and intention on to the next.  In this context, background noise could only be a distraction.

Maybe what this blog post is about, rather than the choice of media, is making more unconventional and inventive use of leisure time.  We’re supposed to mainstream our leisure time, with television as a cornerstone.  I do admit I remember how pleasant it once was for me to think of coming downstairs from a nap to  the reassurance of a human face, but now I listen to WAMC’s All Things Considered, dismissing Wolf Blitzer and CNN’s Situation Room.  All this might seem somewhat severe, except that in the evening I sometimes take in a YouTube or Al Jazeera documentary.

People I know in the City of Newburgh have long since given up TV.  One couple watches DVDs, another tunes into Hulu if they get the urge.  I suppose my life has taken a more Spartan or stoic turn in this decision of how to structure my leisure time, but it’s taken on advantages in steering me away from the tiresome drone of advertising and into an at least occasional exploration of the Internet.  Not so bad, spending an evening delving into all the videos you’ve sequestered away from Facebook and into your YouTube Watch Later folder.