Taking Pictures and GrubHubbing
Sometimes I drive around with the GrubHub app on and feel the urge to snap a few pictures of the scenery.
I roam the city wide with the radio scratching its mystical fuzz as I scan the stations according to mood. Mine is an older car, without satellite radio or bluetooth connectivity, so the choices consist of AM and FM. I could play a cassette if so inclined; or set it to a hollow white noise synced to the electroencephalographic-equivalent beta waves of my unsettled brain. I’m being presumptuous: often while driving my brain activity, like tranquil beach waves coming and going, rests at a rhythmic, relaxing alpha pattern. And so it goes on, until I find NPR.
NPR can be a hit-or-miss. I enjoy their interviews and shows like This American Life, Radiolab, or the Moth Radio Hour. But when they cover controversial political issues, I recede into my shell like a startled turtle. Mostly, I eschew political coverage from any source, as it tends to bitterly divide people along hard, moral lines. Each side of a given issue views the other as irretrievably evil, without giving any benefit of the doubt. 15 years ago, I could read the New York Times, The Economist, or The Wall Street Journal and trust that the nuance of their reporting isn’t entirely geared towards swaying my opinions with psychological tricks of influence. Now, I’m not sure whom to trust if I want to get ‘just the facts.’ Most reporting seems to have become opinion pieces disguised as innocuous journalism. When discussion of politics comes up on the radio, I switch it off and pay closer attention to the road, the cars, the objects, and the people I pass. What a city! Occasionally, I pull over and snap a few photos for later remembrance. Here are just a few:
I roam the city wide with the radio scratching its mystical fuzz as I scan the stations according to mood. Mine is an older car, without satellite radio or bluetooth connectivity, so the choices consist of AM and FM. I could play a cassette if so inclined; or set it to a hollow white noise synced to the electroencephalographic-equivalent beta waves of my unsettled brain. I’m being presumptuous: often while driving my brain activity, like tranquil beach waves coming and going, rests at a rhythmic, relaxing alpha pattern. And so it goes on, until I find NPR.
NPR can be a hit-or-miss. I enjoy their interviews and shows like This American Life, Radiolab, or the Moth Radio Hour. But when they cover controversial political issues, I recede into my shell like a startled turtle. Mostly, I eschew political coverage from any source, as it tends to bitterly divide people along hard, moral lines. Each side of a given issue views the other as irretrievably evil, without giving any benefit of the doubt. 15 years ago, I could read the New York Times, The Economist, or The Wall Street Journal and trust that the nuance of their reporting isn’t entirely geared towards swaying my opinions with psychological tricks of influence. Now, I’m not sure whom to trust if I want to get ‘just the facts.’ Most reporting seems to have become opinion pieces disguised as innocuous journalism. When discussion of politics comes up on the radio, I switch it off and pay closer attention to the road, the cars, the objects, and the people I pass. What a city! Occasionally, I pull over and snap a few photos for later remembrance. Here are just a few:
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