Listen Up – 40 Days of Thankfulness

Josh from Stuff You Should Know 

This may seem very simple and a bit trivial, but I am so thankful for podcasts. Whether doing the long drive to work or taking a long walk or even the super long drive to visit friends and family, podcasts have kept me entertained, informed and full of useless knowledge I can share with others. Here are a few of my favorites … what are yours?

Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me

The entry-level drug for politics. This show is an equal-opportunity sarcasm fest with hilarious panelists, great writing and a witty take on the news of the day. I learn so much watching this show and love to play along with the lightning round.

Stuff You Should Know

Josh and Chuck make learning fun. These two gents share their wealth of knowledge and research skills on such topics as How Hip Hop Works, How Zero Works, How Crystal Meth Works and How Fair Trade Works. They have produced more than 400 episodes of topics I have always wanted to learn about and some I never considered but now have wasted brain cells storing this information.

Stuff You Missed in History Class

I missed a lot in high school history classes since we seemed to skip things like the Civil War, the Depression and history before the Europeans landed in the New World. Teachers are tasked with so many things to cover in such a short amount of time so they are forgiven for these holes in my education, but thanks to my own curiosity I made sure to find other sources of information. Voila – this podcast which fills in holes and teaches me something new every week.

The Meditation Podcast

Full of guided meditations, this podcast is by my bedside most nights, in the car when I needed to take a break during my lunch hour and a dependable companion when I want to just relax and take some “me” time.

Ask Me Another

Another trivia quiz show, this one focused on pop culture. Based out of Brooklyn’s Bell House, this show features audience participation, special guests and music. Perfect for a walk in the park.

Snap Judgment

Like a book of short stories, Snap Judgment has produced segments featuring different kinds of stories themed together for each show. I discovered this podcast while driving to and from Florida and made it a regular on my phone. Some stories are funny, some weird and a few I’ve even found myself crying over. I feel like I know many of the authors and want to be their friend after they have shared so much with me.

This American Life

One of the longest-running podcasts on my device, This American Life goes back to my days before podcasts when I would schedule going out on Saturday night to coincide with me driving to say Guy’s house (45 minutes away) at 8pm so I could catch the show. Many stay-at-home evenings I would tune in to WUSF and listen to Ira and his guests tell tales. This is where I was introduced to one of my favorite authors – David Sedaris.

Thanksliving

This is the West Liberty United Church of Christ Choir at the UCC Thanksliving celebration in Springfield. Along with other UCC churches in the area, we worshiped together in song, gratitude and service to others. Enjoy.

Pick an Excuse

Keeping up with the blogging babble hasn’t been at the top of my list lately. I’ve been too bogged down (gently however) with other ways to spend my time. Pick an excuse:

Thanksgiving –
Planning, executing and recovering took almost a week. I hosted two gatherings; one on Thanksgiving and one the following day with ten people at each, 16 different recipes, and friends and family coming and going. Highlight – Both of my sisters made it over; Cricket on Wednesday night to help me cook all day Thursday and Cathi on Thursday to help enjoy the foods. I really couldn’t have done it without Cricket’s help and I am so glad I hosted my first Thanksgiving Feast with both of them in attendance.

Ronn’s Surgery –
Ronn had surgery on his arm on Wednesday pretty much knocking him out of commission for a couple days, though he did his best to help. Taking care of Ronn, my sisters, the meal and myself kept me pretty tied up. Highlight – He let me drive his truck all day and I loved it, feeling tall, having power and maneuvering all kinds of tight spots helped me overcome my fear of this beast.

Last minute campaigns –
Thinking the week would be slow, I was dumbfounded as I was dropped two new last-minute ad campaigns at work to be turned around within a few days. When I get stressed I shut down a bit and have to talk myself out of the hole I dug do to my fear of failure. Highlight - I got them written and to the designer. We are brainstorming other ideas for a big shot who has the money to have something really cool yet is providing us with no real time to craft something that great.

My time –
Split into two, my time has been filled with reading (The Friday Night Knitting Club) and actual knitting. I have been reading the book for a while and felt spurred on to finish it since it is really good (loved it when I finished) and also to keep up with the other readers at work who have drank the Twilight kool-aid. Not one to normally ride the trendy train, I am intrigued since it isn’t only my younger co-workers who are captured by this tale of “my boyfriend’s a vampire” but also the more mature pals, who like myself are pretty well-read and still can’t put it down. Highlights – finished book number one, started book number 2 last night, have three knitting projects going to be completed by Christmas and watched a great three-hour documentary about Warhol’s Factory People.

So there you have it, my life in a page. I thought of providing substantial paragraphs and entries into this past week and struggling with numbering the wonders of my lovely town, but I just can’t do it right now. One friend said that when my blog becomes work, then I will walk away, but not forever. As a writer, I do find that jotting down even exciting prose all about me can be tiresome and not something to tackle on my off hours. But if you just hold on it’ll be like an infomercial – “But wait there’s more.”