Reading the News

It's funny what sort of story catches my eye and makes me stop to read it.

Years ago it was all about the newspaper, and while I am religious about buying a copy of the paper every morning, I must admit that most of the stories I read now are off the Twitter feed.

And there's no shortage of material there.

What types of stories do I read, you ask?

1). Anything with a dog in it. Yep. There was a great story out of New Jersey this week about a family who lost their dog during the hurricane. They finally, after months and months, headed to a shelter to replace their beloved dog, and there he was in the cage! Saved!! That's a great story.

2). Old rock stars talking stories. I love to hear why they wrote the songs I listened to when I was a kid. I love to hear about their writing process. I enjoy seeing what they're up to now as fat, bald, middle-aged men. A few weeks ago I read a story about Peter Frampton and it was reported that the girl who he wrote "Baby I Love Your Way," about turned out to be named in the restraining order he had to take out on her. That's solid info!

3). Old Yankee Stories - See above...love to catch-up with the old idols. Sometimes it isn't all great news. Jim Leyritz, who hit a bomb in the '96 World Series to beat the hapless Braves, was on trial for vehicular manslaughter. Chad Curtis, who played left field on the '98 team is in prison for child endangerment. Yet even those stories fascinate me...how do you fall like that? What brings you that far down?

4). Any Springsteen, Steinbeck, Elvis, John Lennon stories...they all had such storied careers. Anything to get at the root of their lives. I read article after article about the 60's rock scene too. It blows my mind that old those old English dudes were hanging out together getting blasted as they took the world by storm. They were kids who had no idea they were going to become legends.

5). Horrific Crimes - I hate that I do this and I've really tried to be better about it, but I read those types of sensational stories. I have a NY Post app on my phone and when I'm bored I flip through the stories they write. It's amazing what people do to people. It really is.

What do I try and stay away from?

1). Horrific Crimes

2). Political back-stabbing.

3). Gun talk - either way. My head is going to explode on that topic.

4). Tim Tebow - Enough!

5). Self-Serving, pat yourself on the back celebrity bullshit pieces - we get it. Your life is grand.

But the reading is the important part.

Sam will turn to me and say:

"Why do you know that?"

"I read it," I'll answer.

Yet the trick is knowing what to read.

And it's one of the greatest pleasures of my life.

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