week two of my media blackout

today is the beginning of the second week of my self imposed media blackout. for eight days now i have not looked at the "new york times", "los angeles times" or even the "palisades post". diane and robin, meridith and matt, keith and anderson are dead to me. regis and kelly and the ladies of "the view" are going to have find someone else to watch them. "newsweek", "time", "the new yorker" and "people" are gathering dust in the den.

i hear no news, i read no news and i speak no news. the way i see it, if anything really important happens, like they find the real killer of nicole and ron or paris hilton gets engaged, or we start world war three, i will probably hear about it. otherwise, as far as i am concerned, the world can just go on spinning without me. if we are in a recession or the housing market is in a slump, whether or not i am up to speed on the facts doesn't seem to make much difference. for most of my adult life i have religiously read at least two newspapers a day, watched the local as well as network news and, since the advent of computers, been up to the minute on breaking news stories. here's what i have learned. what i think about george bush or drew peterson or barak obama or jessica simpson doesn't really matter. the fact that i am for, or against, an issue after reading about it or listening to a bunch of talking heads argue about it, doesn't seem to change a thing.

i don't know who first said "ignorance is bliss" (perhaps it was george bush) but i am beginning to think they were on to something. since the black out, i have read two books, cleaned out my closet and alphabetized my spice rack. tomorrow i am thinking about cleaning out my garage and inviting the neighbors (who i haven't had time to speak to in two years ) to tea. while i am baking shortbread, the world might be going to hell in a hand basket, but in my house all will be well. what you don't know can't hurt you. we will see. i will give you an update in another week to see how i, and the world without me, is faring.