The Listening Express

I’m a listener.  I like to listen for different things in my daily life.  I often listen to National Public Radio to make myself learn something that day.  I have this habit that I picked up from my Granny of recanting stories or news that I have knowledge of to ones that I love. 

My Granny has been practicing this tactic on my Poppa for years now.  She will read the newspaper to him after he had read what he cares to glean from the latest newsprint offerings.  He smiles, goes about his routine and allows Granny to read him a story that he’s already probably read.  I think he views this as a way to spend time with the woman he loves while she gets to do one of her most favorite activities…reading.

Anyways, I practice the same tactic on my wife.  I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.  Instead of reading aloud from the newspaper to my spouse, I recant stories that I’ve heard on NPR to her.  Sometimes, you can feel her groan when my opening statement starts our with “Today, on NPR I heard this story about…”  She never makes a sound, but you can hear her eyes roll from across the room.

I love the variety of subject matter that NPR provides.  As a matter of fact, just this morning I heard a story that scientists in the Amazon are finding, on average, a new species of animal once every three days.  In the year 2011, this is unprecedented ground science is covering!  Did ABC News cover the story?

They even cover sports!  Tonight is the start of the World Series.  American League vs. National League.  Texas vs. California.  Rangers vs. Giants.  There are so many subplots to this series it’s hard to figure out where to start.  We’ve got an All-Star slugger that is a recovering drug addict battling daily in his struggle with sobriety, an All-Star pitcher that has admitted to using and liking the wacky weed (sub plot to a sub plot, marijuana legalization is on the ballot in the state his team resides, making him a poster boy of sorts for Proposition 19) Both teams have had image and PR problems with steroid use amongst current and former players.  The Texas Rangers have never played in the World Series before tonight's game. The Rangers front office is led by one of the most feared pitchers in the history of the game, Nolan Ryan, who is a native of Texas and also a former player with the franchise.  Think it can’t get any more dramatic? Think again.  Something will happen, it always does.  It’s the World Series.