RIP old blog; NPR is good for you

Don't know what happened. Just see an "error connecting to database" message every time I try to access my old blog that apparently croaked on me with my negligence. Oh well, as I'm wont to do, I shall start again. Some advice for those who don't have time to read the newspaper, but want to be aware of the world around them anyway: listen to NPR. If you're in the bay area, 88.5 FM KQED is your good friend. 88.9 KUSP if you're in the Santa Cruz area. I'd unknowingly crept upon it with more and more frequency in the last year, and who knew sitting in a car could build such a feeling of being more a part of this world than ever before in my life. I heard Obama speak, live, the day he signed the health bill. I am suddenly aware of the happenings in China, Sudan, Iceland (what a wretched volcano), Columbia, and several other countries I can't spell (sorry). I almost cried, three times that I can remember, hearing about a Jewish concentration camp victim's experience, an anecdote from a former Arkansas State basketball coach, and the reaction of a man who just found out his wife has cancer. I "wow" out loud to no one in particular, several times a day. It's one thing to read about it in books or second-hand on the news - it's another to devote just a few minutes of my time to hear someone tell me their story themselves. Long live radio.