No news is good news, but no newspapers is dark news...

Though we do get the New York Times delivered every Sunday morning to our front door, I am part of the cause of the imminent death to newspapers. I used to read them daily on my subway commutes, and now that I drive, I can't very well do both. I'll be the first to admit that I'm a sucker for a good old fashioned newspaper. There is a craft to reading the paper, with all of the opening and folding to just the page I want, the noisy whack of setting the paper close enough to my coffee without knocking it over, and washing the smudged ink off of my hands when I'm done reading it. The art of clicking the mouse is just that; efficient, clean, modern- but really no tradition. It's new, and it's not paper, and though it gives me a global connection, it leaves me with nothing tactile to hold on to, and nothing to let go of. I prefer the old world.

But, to be honest, I have also become overloaded and inundated with news from the papers and television and the web, and it has caused me to go into major funks about the decline of our economy, our no-ending-in-the-near-future wars, and ever-changing salmonella warnings. So, I've been on a news sabbatical for a while.

I prefer to get the little news I do get from three familiar resources now, and one or two internet sources. Here they are, not in a particular order:

1) My mother emails me lifestyle articles from the LA Times (even though I live here), the NY Times (even though I used to live there), and The Houston Chronicle (my hometown.) I read restaurant reviews, weddings and obits, and 24 editorials thanks to her, and I don't have to scour those pages myself. She's a time saver! It's like a search engine set to my unique interest. I have sentimental teenage memories of sitting around in my pajamas, reading the Chronicle Parade and Zest and Sunday ads over breakfast with my mom, and now I do it electronically.

2) My husband, who can be a news junkie, informs me of any funny ongoings with animal news, particularly strange celebrity news, and/or striking political news. He edits the news well, so I don't incur cerebral heartache.

3) My mother-in-law, an actual newspaper journalist, writes about fashion and trends, and retail savings. What's not to love about her work? I read it as much as I can. If you want to check out her writing for yourself, click here:http://blogs.courant.com/living_on_less/

4) And for non-family edited news, I go to The UK Guardian website, for a pretty decent foreign prospective. They also have some over-the-top tabloid stories, as well as juicy lifestyle stories.

5) Lastly, if i just need a quick overview of the day and I don't want to get too sucked into the news, I will glance over CNN's website. I can find whatever I need by looking at the headlines, usually, and if something interests me I'll investigate further. But usually I'm off the site pretty quickly.