Random Amusements (wa-a-a-y off topic)

For the most part I try to keep this blog focused on artisanry and homesteading, but every now and then I veer off course.  This is one of those times.

My post-adolescent life has seen me plagued with sleeping problems, mostly that I had difficulty falling asleep when I was supposed to be going to sleep.  Three or four hours of tossing and turning was not uncommon, one or two hours was the norm.  (I did get a lot of extra reading and writing done, though.)  One thing that helped me a fair bit was to listen to the spoken word as I was trying to get drowsy.  For some reason music did not work as well, so from the time of my teens I would listen to radio to sop up the extra brainwaves or something.

In recent years late night radio has increasingly irritated me, mostly the 1:1 ratio of programming to non-programming like commercials, news, promos, public service announcements, etc., so instead I’ve switched to downloading old-time radio shows especially of the detective variety, which work like a charm.  One delightful recent discovery was a contemporary Toronto radio theater troupe that creates hilarious over-the-top homages the the hard-boiled detective genre, in the character of Black Jack Justice and his sidekick, Trixie Dixon, Girl Detective. Though I am no longer plagued by sleepless nights, the habit is hard to kick and at times I still find myself listening and laughing out loud as I drift off to sleep.

Totally unrelated, a biographical documentary has been released recently for my long time friend, economist Dr. Walter E. Williams.  I have not yet seen it but will soon, but it is unlikely that I will be surprised after three decades of camaraderie and lengthy dinner conversations chewing the iconoclastic philosophical fat.  I am proud to call him “friend.”

Tomorrow, back to woodworking.  I have about 20 blog posts in the can, and just have to parcel them out as the final grind for Manuscript Studley takes control of my life for a fortnight.