7.19.2004

what i'll miss, part 3

the sunday new york times!!!

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What am I going to do without the Sunday Times?? It doesn't matter that I can get articles online. This isn't about reading an article here and there. This is more like an addiction, a compulsion. Sometimes a tyranny. I can be oppressed by my own habits.



It's one thing to go on vacation and skip a week or two - I do that purposely, I refuse to do otherwise. But not reading the New York Times Magazine and Book Review (almost) every week? What will I do?



You probably think I'm joking. I'm only half-joking. I am a little bit compulsive. This is one of those things.



I do like the Globe and Mail. And I'll have more time for all those Harper's articles Allan always wants me to read. But, but... 



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Tonight we are going to the New York Philharmonic (free) concert in Central Park, picnicking with a niece and two nephews. My last one of these, I imagine.



I'm getting so morose about what I'll miss, you might wonder why I'm leaving. But few things in life are 100% good or 100% bad. If I didn't have mixed feelings about leaving, what would that say about my life? It would mean I was lonely (had no one to miss) and hated my present life, and that's certainly not the case.



I think people often don't make changes because it's too much work, or because they're afraid of the unknown. It's always easier and safer to stay put. I've tried to live a different way. I'm making this BLC because, on balance, I want to.

I often feel sad about the things I'll miss, but I can live with that.



4 comments:

allan said...

No comment -- just noticed that the time of the above post was 2:22:21 -- thisclose to all 2s.

11:11 is a running joke in our apartment. About a year ago (?), I remarked that it seemed like every time I looked over at the cable box-clock on the TV (either when I was at my computer in the living room or wandering through the apartment), it said 11:11. It had been happening for awhile. Now it's a thing -- we have to note when it's 11:11 -- and point out other groupings of ones out in the real world.

What a snapshot into our exciting lives! ... I also like 12:34. ... I was obsessed with odometers as a child. ... Hello, is this thing on? Is anyone out there?

laura k said...

You are insane. :)

But seriously folks. My favorite times are palindromes, like 12:21. I love palindromes. Here's a fave: Not so, Boston.

Nathan said...

I'm sure you have realized this by now, but The Times is readily available throughout Canada, provided one knows where to look.

I'm currently living in Australia, and here it is much more difficult to find. Every major city has at least 2 stores which carry it (at least a couple of copies, which do go very quickly), except it is always a day behind (not just because of the time zone differences like it seems on the website) as it comes off the next plane from LA. Unfortunately, that means it is the LA edition of the NYT, which doesn't include the same amount of Metro coverage. Oh, and it costs $12.00, unless you order it (and pay) in advance, in which case it is only $7.00.

And I wouldn't mind a reading a copy of the Globe every once in a while if it were available. Then again, I lost a touch of respect for it when it changed from B&W to colour (same goes for the Times, actually, except they have been better about preserving some styles and typesetting).

Australian papers leave something to be desired. And the TV media is an improvement over anything American, but it cannot come close to Canadian. When it comes to anything that may make it look unpleasant to live here - stabbings, murders, crime in general - it is not mentioned, or mentioned only briefly without any followup. It's as though it is 1954 every day. I'm not sure if it better to be inundated with depressing news about the degradation of society, or to have it hidden away so that one may live in a seemingly perfect world.
I'll leave this rant with that to ponder. And, I will add, that I do admit I miss Lloyd Robertson. (However, while on the topic of TV, I certainly haven't missed pharmaceutical ads with disclaimers and lists of side-effects with a duration twice as long as the marketing portion of the advert. I've also noted, on my last trip to Canada, that these have become more prevalent in the past 2 years.)

I've decided to read your blog from beginning to end, so I have no idea where you are up to in your life at present, so this comment may be completely out of place.

I actually find it quite interesting, having had some similar experiences while moving to Australia from Canada. Circumstances were different, of course, and I still consider myself Canadian - and Canada home, for that matter - even if my stay here isn't as temporary as I had once believed.

I'll be quiet now. This is YOUR blog, after all.

laura k said...

I'll be quiet now. This is YOUR blog, after all.

True, but your comments are always welcome. Thanks for reading - and thanks for reading so much! That's really cool.

Just FYI, I've decided to only read the NY Times online as needed, and not buy it up here. There's only so much news one can keep up with, and it's more important for me to know what's happening in Canada and my own area. So I broke my addiction to the Sunday New York Times.

I use the Times online for book reviews (I've found no good substitute here yet), some columnists, and occasional local NYC news.