My News Diet Plan—And Don't EVER Call A Spruce A Pine!! 🌲
The Very Observational Newsletter, Vol. 4
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📍 Observation Point - My News Diet
I have to admit it: I’m a news junkie. I didn’t used to be a news junkie, but the internet turned me into one. It’s nice to find an inanimate, amoral object to blame my addiction on.
Honestly, I don’t know why I end up scrolling over to one of a hundred news sites every day. It’s USUALLY the same thing, day in day out. I didn’t become a news junkie because of the current political situation we find ourselves in, but let’s just say it isn’t helping matters.
Back in the day, the 1980s (and the decades around the 1980s), it wasn’t exactly possible to be a news junkie. I suppose you could have three subscriptions to different paper newspapers AND watch BOTH the local and national news each night, but that would still be less than the amount of news I’ve been consuming lately. (Does anybody else hate the phrase “consuming media” as much as I do?)
My mother,
, reads the newspaper from top to bottom. Left to right. Even the ads. She doesn’t miss a word. Thankfully for her, the newspapers in the Menomonie, Wisconsin vicinity, have turned into a shell of their former selves. Even she can’t stand reading them anymore without wondering about her life choices.I was never much of a newspaper reader even when newspapers were the main source of news—but I was a newspaper delivery professional for a number of years. When I turned ten, I got a job delivering The Dunn County News. This is when The Dunn County News was still a real, good, independent local newspaper with actual information. Every Wednesday and Sunday, I would get my paper sack and head out to Knapp Street and Douglas Street.
It was good money for a ten-year-old. I could probably still do the route from memory today, and that was forty years ago.
When I turned 13, I moved to the big-time. The Leader Telegram Newspaper out of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. That route was also on Knapp and Douglas Streets. The Leader Telegram is (was??) a daily. Every day after school I would traipse up and down the relatively long streets and deliver the news. About 1/3 of all residents of Knapp and Douglas Streets in Menomonie were daily subscribers.
So, what happened to me? Why do I think that I need to read the news more than my customers who read the Leader Telegram once per day? I suppose I’ve been well-conditioned by outside forces to believe that I need to know what is going on at ALL times. Honestly, it’s ridiculous the number of times I check the news per day. Phone. Computer. iPad. Whatever is closest. It really is a sort of addiction.
I have come to the conclusion that I only need to read the news once per day. Just once. Not more. Not less. Okay, less would probably be more. I have a subscription to the New York Times, so that will be my source of news. Once per day, I will read the New York Times. And then, nothing else. I don’t need to know what idiot thing Pete Hegseth said to Fox News about Greenland. I’m sure somebody will tell me if something earth-shattering happens—like invading Greenland.
At first I considered getting just the Sunday New York Times sent to me in the mail. That would probably be good, but I’m cheap, and I already have a $4.00 a month internet subscription, so I’m going with that.
The news has always had politics, but now the news IS politics, not vice versa. I despise the constant worry “the news” creates. Will there be a tariff? Yes. NO. Maybe? Yes again. No! The stock market! Oh, luckily there’s not a tariff today, so the stock market is okay again. I don’t even own a single stock and never have and never will! What the hell do I care?
I’m going on a news diet. For the next week, I’m news fasting. I won’t even look at it. If I see a news story on Notes, I’ll ignore it. I am going to make an attempt to curate my Substack subscriptions, and get rid of anything political. My YouTube feed is going to be another matter completely; what a mess.
I’ll probably get the DT shakes, but I think I can do this. My writing output should shoot up after I institute the news diet. No damn news for the next week, and then once per day.
Come on Adam, you can do this!
🌊 Staring Into The Abyss - Writing On The Edge of the Pacific
Allergies have really kicked up here on the Oregon Coast. We live directly next to one of the largest spruce, fir, and pine forests in the Lower 48. I should just say, “evergreen forests.” Until about a year ago, I called them all pine trees LOL. What a faux pas. Pine, spruce, and fir are, apparently quite different from one another, although they look the same to me. Don’t even think about calling the trees around here “pine trees.” The locals WILL call you out if you call them pine trees. Listen, bro, they’re called Sitka spruce. Okay, okay…
Anyhow, this time of year the trees start raining yellow pollen down and man, I’m allergic to these evergreen spruce. When it’s raining yellow spores, you know a sinus infection is right around the corner. This makes thinking, much less writing, incredibly difficult. But this year I’ve got: Benadryl, 12-Hour Nasal Spray, Advil, and teas with healing properties. I won’t let this year’s spore jamboree stop me from writing!
Now, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna’ go to go take a nap.
Disaster-Horror Novel Update
I’ve been writing, and writing and writing, finishing up the first draft to my new novel: Foulweather.
Foulweather is set in Newport, Oregon. (Hey, that’s where I live!) It follows a local marine geologist attempting to survive an earthquake, a tsunami, and a forest fire. And something else lurks in the deadly waters. Will they survive? You’ll need to read Foulweather to find out! Available in all bookstores this summer! Or Fall!
I decided to name the novel, Foulweather, all one word, because Cape Foulweather, all one word, is just up the road. It was named by Captain Cook in the 1700s, and back then, there weren’t grammar Nazis. He was like, Foulweather. No Space! And I love it.
📚 Totally Recommended
I’ve been reading the book: The Terror. That said, I’m only a hundred pages in of something like 800 pages. So far, I’ve learned a lot about ice-breaking steam ships in the 1840s. And, there’s a monster out there!
I’m also reading
’s book, Shattered. I go back and forth between the books. I should be done reading The Terror in about 8 months (it is LONG!). I’m loving Shattered. CB Mason is a fantastic writer!Portal
I found an app that I NEED to tell you about. It is called “Portal.” It is a nature ambience app. Pretty straight forward, but not only does it have sound, it also has nature in motion. Video.
I like Portal so much I have been considering becoming a paid member, and I’m cheap as heck! That said, the free version is all you really need. (And no, Stacey, I’m not getting paid to promote Portal)1
The best ambient experience on Portal? I love, Spring Barley Field, Devon, UK. The wind blowing through the barley, birds singing. I can almost drown out the Pacific’s wave noise outside my window.
I am NOT getting paid for this, but Portal Corporate—I’m available 🤗
Unabashed Self-Promotion Alert! 🚨
If you would like a signed paperback copy of The Unexpected Exorcist (once it’s ready sometime between now and the end of June 😹), consider becoming a paid subscriber. My memberships are still on sale till the end of the month!
To everybody who became a paid subscriber last month, thank you! I would DM to thank you personally, but sometimes people think that DMing is weird, so I don’t typically DM.
Your support means a lot!!! I was also listed in something called, “#34 Rising In Fiction” that Substack puts out thanks to you. I’m not totally sure what that is, but it was an honor just to be mentioned.
Job Board
This is for the Apple Version. I’m sure there’s an Android version too, but who knows these days? 🤔
omg, I will never look at that painting the same way again. And now I have to Google wtf is going on with that.
I'm taking a break from a big portion of listening to and reading fear-mongering headlines at a glance. I have a trusted new source and once is day is what I've decided. I'm not copping out - like you're not copping out - it's the balance and temperance in news' consumption that can balance one out. Raining yellow pollen here, too. My white car is now yellow-ish, more jaundiced than true yellow. I hope you continue to fight off the pollen onslaught! Congrats on finishing up your first draft of Foulweather. I like the title as oneword. 😁