RADIO FOR THE BLIND

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I believe in giving back...So nearly every week I spend one hour reading for Radio for the Blind. I can't imagine what it must be like to not be able to read...So it's really the least I can do...Especially since reading is one of those God given gifts that I'm pretty good at. From week to week I never know what manuscript they're going to hand me...and truthfully, that's just fine by me.

Three weeks ago when the audio man handed me the magazine article I laughed out loud, "Is this a joke or a bad dream?" I received a long article on the "merits" of the booming "marijuana" industry in California. Young entrepreneurs are working diligently to push pot and all the support props into mainstream acceptance. Yes-this is happening in America...However, after all the family chaos it felt like the joke was on me.

Then last week I got an ugly look at life in Haiti...and the alarming increase in rape inside Haiti's earthquake camps. It seems the squalid campsites have become breeding grounds for all kinds of crime especially rape. Apparently there is virtually no security and very little recourse.

So yesterday, when I arrived at the station and the audio guy apologized as he handed me "People Magazine"-I cheered in thanksgiving. With all the darkness descending upon me, I really needed to read something light and easy...Lots of mentally mindless mush!

The cover article painted a happy picture of Hollywood sweetheart Jennifer Aniston who discussed her lovely life and her funny new movie with co star Allen Sandler, "Just Go With It! My sons and I gave it four stars as we laughed our way through this lighthearted comedy. Then I read about another charming actor, widower Liam Neeson whose seemingly sensible and low key life is wrapped around his two young sons.

Of course there were the mundane headlines about fun and fashion and foolishness...But I'm happy to report the hour flew by and I left feeling lighthearted and relieved.

It's just good medicine every once in a while to let go of the maddening, mixed up mind blowing fireworks for some old fashioned nonsense...like, Gossip Girls, which is as silly a series as they come, but one amazing escape into never never land.

Which by the way, never lasts long anyway...So enjoy it while you can!

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