More thoughts about newspapers and digital ones 050526

 

May 5, 2026

Tuesday

 

Recent Changes

 

Has anybody else noticed how poorly written and run both the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post are?   We subscribe to both of them, along with the New York Times.   I grew up reading the Los Angeles Times.   I spent many mornings glancing over the headlines and then turning to the sports pages to see how my horse picks for the races were doing!   YES!   Even at ten years of age, I was following the horses.  

 

But, I digress.

 

They both have turned into RAGS or, even worse, propaganda rags.  I hardly read anything on the LA Times anymore, except stories about rattlesnakes or mountain lions or bears.   What a waste!   The Post is even worse.   I hardly read it at all.

 

If I want information, I go to the New York Times, which I am still learning how to navigate, or I go to The Atlantic.   I see that The Atlantic has picked up journalists and writers from the WA Post and they now write for it.

 

There used to be a column written by a gal who posted recipes in the LA Times.   In fact, I have a book of compiled recipes from that era.   And, they are really GOOD recipes.   But, alas, no more recipe column like the good old days.

 

And, to be honest, I miss the feel of a newspaper delivered or bought daily.   I remember when my Grandfather used to walk across the street from their house, buy a copy of The Herald Examiner, and bring it back to the kitchen table where he would review the horses running.   He used to take me with him to the track, Santa Anita, and I’d leave their home with $2.00 and usually come back with $10.00 or more.   He, of course, would place my bets for me and I was pretty good at choosing the horse to place (come in 2^nd).   I was never really good at picking the winner.  I did, however, pick the winner of this year’s Kentucky Oaks, Always a Runner, because, well, I liked her name.   I did NOT, however, pick this year’s Kentucky Derby winner…didn’t even notice him!  I haven’t really kept up with my horse racing interest, which probably is a good thing, because I have so many other things to do now, but I DO miss sitting at my parents’ kitchen table, eating my cereal, reading the back of the cereal box, and looking at the previous day’s horse racing results.   THOSE WERE THE TIMES!

 

Anybody have thoughts or comments?

 

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349 words

 

 

May 5, 2026

 

So, I’m watching “800 Words” on Prime (Acorn) and really enjoying the series.   It’s about a recently widowed man and his two teenage children who move from Sydney, Australia to a little town in Weld, New Zealand. I suppose it would be like moving from Los Angeles to a small town in Northern California~the cultural shock would be about the same.   Oh, and he buys the wrong house!   He thought he was buying a house that he visited with his parents during summers when he was growing up, but instead is unloaded with a real fixer upper.   No power, one bathroom, no furniture…Then the septic tank explodes!   It’s a fun and introspective series and I’m inspired to get back to writing from just watching it.

 

He writes a daily, maybe bi-weekly column for a newspaper in Sydney, but his escapades hit the local newspaper and one show focuses on gossip and how it gets started and it gets out of hand.   That’s something for us ALL to think about in these times.

 

Speaking of these times, I watched the press conference at the Pentagon this morning, which is now carefully managed by the Department of Defense (or whatever it is called these days).   What a room full of sycophants.   Really, they call themselves journalists?   Although I did notice that even a couple of them got under Hegseth’s skin.

 

My husband worked as an intern during college for the Riverside Press Enterprise and was the first intern to actually get paid for his writing.   I kept ALL of his articles and I found them recently in a box out in the garage.   I need to bring that box inside and let him browse it.   I’m sure it would bring back fond memories for him.   He doesn’t seem to have many of those these days.

 

And, so, life goes on.   We are both getting older, stiffer, and we have less patience to put up with bullshit and nonsense. That’s understandable.   We just don’t have the time for that stuff.   We’re too busy taking naps!

 

Anything on your mind?

 

349 words

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