This just in...

Greetings Happy People,

When I was 12 years old, I started watching the news. For me, it was a vehicle to know what was going on in the world. I remember watching the big three news anchors delivering their stories to the American public. Tom Brokaw was the NBC anchorman, Dan Rather was the CBS anchorman, and the late Peter Jennings was the ABC anchorman. For more of my news fix, I would click over to cable channel 22 and watch CNN Headline News.

The late eighties were one of the most interesting times to watch the news because you had plenty of history happening right on your television screen. Think about it, it was the time when the Berlin Wall fell down, a lone man stood in front of tanks at Tiananmen Square in China, the drama of the Iran-Contra trial unfolded in front of the American public, the changing of the guard at the White House, and a huge earthquake rocking the Bay Area during the World Series. Those were some of the events that happened during that era. And for an early teenager to see this in front of his eyes, it was amazing.

Now the news is not too interesting to watch. It seems that when I turn to a news channel, it brings nothing but bad or worse news. One of the things that make it bad is the inundated spin on a few channels. Some proclaim “fair and balanced” issues while the other would just bring “news and views.” No matter how you slice it, there seems to be more bad news today than days before. Heck, one would probably swear that the end of the world was really coming in 2012 – just like the recently released film.

With the latest quality of news going deeper into the depressing dumps, I decided to do something different, watch and read less news stories. This was something that I started for myself 6 months ago, and it has worked pretty well for me. I noticed that I don’t get as stressed as I used to when I watched the news. I get better sleep at night and wake up more refreshed in the morning. And I also seem to carry a more positive upbeat mood too!!

I also noticed the environment around me that continue to have their heads either in a newspaper, on a computer, or in front of a television. It does not matter if it is at home, work, or any other place; the people that get inundated by these latest events are the same ones that are letting it get to them.

I admit that sometimes I glanced at the headlines, but I don’t get as enwrapped in the stories like I used to. The only time where I would get enwrapped into a newspaper is to check out the latest sports scores or the comics (Drabble, Born Loser, Hi and Lois, Hagar the Horrible, and Garfield are pretty funny).

Instead of drowning in the latest depressing news stories, I’d just go out and live my life the best way I know how. Heck, I experience my own adventures that are not covered on a CNN, Fox News Channel, or that gaudy E! Channel. As a substitute, I rather focus on something that the latest news channels rarely do – be upbeat. Hey! When one is happy, it sort of makes life easier to live. And that’s the way it is Sunday November 29th 2009.

That is all I have for now. Take care and thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

Jesse I-I-I