Reading the daily paper leaves me feeling like a man with a bad hangover. My eyes are dry and oversensitive to light. My head pounds, every sound is like an air raid siren, and my dehydrated muscles ache.
It’s not the flu, or any other contagious illness; unless the news is itself a contagious disease. It does infect daily life with its constant bullshit.
But I digress, this is not some illness I can see a doctor for. It’s also not a result of overindulging in drink. Last night was a sober night. I really don’t like those nights all that much to be honest. A little drink here or there acts as a tonic to the day’s concerns and irritations. I don’t drink enough to get drunk anymore; I have just enough to level out at the end of the day.
Regardless, this isn’t because of the drinking. I had to work late yesterday and go in early this morning. (As a side note, day jobs suck.) I don’t drink on nights like that because I don’t want to oversleep and be late. It’s a major cramp in my style, but what can you do?
No, I know the reason for my symptoms. It’s the news, with its constant descent into greater and greater depths of madness. The world just keeps getting weirder, and it throws you off kilter.
How can I help myself? Avoiding the world’s events won’t help. There will always be the suspicion that crazy, terrible things are happening just outside my view. You’ve got to stay informed. Otherwise, you might get left behind. By what or whom, I have no idea. Either way, avoidance is no cure.
The best I can do is treat the symptoms. Drink lots of water to combat the drying out of vital tissues. Wear sunglasses to block out the hateful light. That sort of thing.
As for the headache, Excedrin helps. Tylenol is an old standby, but according to the news the government says that’s bad for you now too. Not that I believe them. Staying informed and believing people are two different things. They are opposite sides of entirely different coins as a matter of fact.
All we can do is keep on keeping on I guess. This was not a particularly insightful or helpful first post to this blog, but oh well.
Keep your feet moving forward and your head on a swivel. You don’t want to miss something.