The Turned-Off-TV-Blues...
...among other things that don't quite make sense...

I've been noticing something weird when I turn on the TV these days. I watch mostly the cable networks, and it seems every time I dial in a channel, it features some sort of program where people are yelling each other. There's the pawnshop shows in which everyone's trying to make a buck and meanwhile all the employees hate each other and they're constantly screaming and fighting; there's the Bad Girls Club where hot chicks are encouraged to fight and scream and make all sorts of bodily contact; there's the Storage Unit program which features an auctioneer, spitting out the prices while there's all kinds of animosity going on between the folks in the crowd as they try to do better than their competitors, and if you want diversion, on another network you can go on an alligator-hunting trip with a crazy guy who encounters all kinds of adversity; possums, raccoons, crocodiles, and (ack!) hives of sting-happy Bees! And ya know, all of this activity burns me out. Just give me drama. "Special Victims Unit", "NYPD BLUE", "Criminal Minds", "CSI: Miami" or any other show that has characters on it that aren't so young that it makes me feel as if I'm obsolete. Some of the new in-house dramas on the "USA" network make me feel Hopelessly Old, what with all their young, dashing and annoying youthful energy. Bruce Springsteen once sang, "57 Channels and Nothin' On". How true.

Okay, let's toss in a photo for variety's sake here; this is where some of the Coastal Fishing Boats hide inside Charleston Harbor. That body of water in front is the South Slough, which actually extends for a few miles inland. That's why the water here looks so peaceful, because it's far removed from the tides crashing on the Ocean Beaches. The little town of Charleston is where I shot this picture, about 4 miles south from where I live.

On the cloudier days, I head for some of the thrift stores in the area to see what affordable treasures I can find. It's a habit I got into many years ago when Mom would take me shopping with her. And since I'm too lazy to hit all the garage sales, thrift shops are a good thing. I tried to buy this record separately from several others it was included with, but I had to get the whole set to get this one ($2.99 Price tag). If you look closely at the label, you'll see this disc contains "Earth Angel" by the Penguins, on the DooTone label. A friend of mine once told me that it's difficult to find DooTone records in any condition; it was a small L.A. label back in the '40s and '50s. And based on some internet research, a copy like this can be worth somewhere between $40 and $100. I guess that's how Ebay Merchants get started; they go out and buy all the used stuff they think they can sell, and then they get back to the shop and wildly inflate the price, using Collectors' Guide Books. I don't plan on selling this, but it is kinda fun when you discover a treasure amongst the rubble.

I got this old Exercise Bike from a Craigslist posting. The speedometer and odometer don't work, but the tension does work, and I can peddle my little self for hours and hours, and best of all, I got it FREE; the couple I got it from now have a newer, more functional bike and this one had to go. This Schwinn "exerciser" it's a fairly old model, made many years ago. I've had the suspicion for many years, that I was just Spinning My Wheels. It's true!

And, finally, Sunset a couple nights ago, taken from Bastendorff beach. The sun is actually setting behind a cloud bank on the far horizon, which means I got cheated out of 5 minutes of sunshine, but when the colors turn out like this, it makes me glad I re-charged my camera batteries. This is the time of day when fishing boats come back to the harbor. As a teenager, I went on a Charter boat, and I was seasick all that day. Dad just looked at me, shook his head, and continued fishing. The Old Man and The Sea personified.

I'm trying to find new ways to keep this blog going. The previous posting was a one-subject post, about which I could write enough so as to achieve an average-length post. Here, I just threw a bunch of stuff together. So posts like this are sort of a diary of stuff happening to me. Perhaps I'll use this technique so I can post more often. The hardest part is working with the photos. Positioning them within the blog is sheer guesswork, sometimes accompanied by sheer Frustration.