No more 'crinkle and shake' – bye bye newspaper!

Since my hubby and I have canceled the Seattle Times, turned off our Netflix (until the dark days of winter) and cut back...way back on TV...no more "extended" cable programming – just the bare bones TV news and PBS, we have been filling our spare time with other things after work. We watch ships go by, read, invite friends over, create lots and fight a little. I’m finding that a lot of the stuff on TV is available on the internet…if you really want to see it.

Hey, did you know the most newspapers are free on the internet. I don’t understand why anyone, anymore is actually paying for a newspaper. Hard core, curmudgeonly journalists will argue with me (I am married to one) that the world is not the same without the newspaper.

No, there is no nostalgic 'crinkle and shake' as you turn the page but it's all there; science, local and world news, weather, lifestyle and opinions...lots and lots of opinions. And you don’t have to recycle all those ads…just ignore them.

Wading through all this content however, is an exercise in discretion, adventure and discovery. It’s not like it was before and that is not a bad thing. After all "change" is truly the only constant. I kind of like it. The only thing you have to get used to is limiting your daily time on the net. One: the laptop get warm and two: you can lose yourself in ether. Remember how when you were little you could look-up something in the dictionary or encyclopedia and get lost in the next page and the next page and the next...? Well, this is far worse and more compelling and can lead to losing the whole day or losing job, so beware.

I'm also "connected" through blogs and critique groups to a bunch of people I believe have a great perspective on life, living and our reason for being here. They are artists, illustrators and writers of books for children. Thinking like a kid and creating like a kid – they are constantly seeing the world like the sun just came up and no one has yet walked around on the day leaving messy, dirty footprints. Who needs newspapers?

So have a nice day and don't leave any messy footprints!