I am subject to my whims. I've decided to change the heading back to Abroad.
Any thoughts?
Sunday, July 24, 2011
On the radio
Something I love about Lake Charles (and SWLA) is the local public radio station, KRVS. Radio Acadie has great programming, all the time. (No, this post is not brought to you by their underwriters, or anything like that.)
At home, in Memphis, I started listening to MPB. That's right, Mississippi Public Radio has better programming than the whole grand *cough* city of Memphis. I'd love to listen to WKNO Memphis, but other than the weekday news and some of the weekend broadcasting, it primarily plays classical music. Not that there's anything wrong with classical: I enjoy a bit of Mozart and Bach here and there, but unless it's Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture (that's pt. 1, pt. 2 here), classical is not my preferred driving music. And somehow even MPB's classical radio is better.
Anyway, KRVS has awesome music, almost all of the time. And when it's not awesome music, it's sweet talk radio. Radio Acadie plays plenty of Cajun and Zydeco, and there's even some programming in French. They also broadcast tons of different folk, bluegrass, and blues music, David Dye's World Café, a baller Monday night opera show, and quite a bit of jazz. On the talk side, there's the usual Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Fresh Air, as well as This American Life, BBC (at a reasonable hour!), and all sorts of Louisiana Arts programs, including From the Poet's Bookshelf.
If you're in LA, here's a schedule. If you're not, hopefully your state likes public radio more than west TN.
Louisiana may lag on all sorts of state ranking lists; however, the Sportsman's Paradise has managed to provide one of my favorite public services.
Here's a song (kind of) about the radio. Sure, Courtney Love might be a horrible human being, but love her or hate her, this song is pretty awesome.
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At home, in Memphis, I started listening to MPB. That's right, Mississippi Public Radio has better programming than the whole grand *cough* city of Memphis. I'd love to listen to WKNO Memphis, but other than the weekday news and some of the weekend broadcasting, it primarily plays classical music. Not that there's anything wrong with classical: I enjoy a bit of Mozart and Bach here and there, but unless it's Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture (that's pt. 1, pt. 2 here), classical is not my preferred driving music. And somehow even MPB's classical radio is better.
Anyway, KRVS has awesome music, almost all of the time. And when it's not awesome music, it's sweet talk radio. Radio Acadie plays plenty of Cajun and Zydeco, and there's even some programming in French. They also broadcast tons of different folk, bluegrass, and blues music, David Dye's World Café, a baller Monday night opera show, and quite a bit of jazz. On the talk side, there's the usual Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Fresh Air, as well as This American Life, BBC (at a reasonable hour!), and all sorts of Louisiana Arts programs, including From the Poet's Bookshelf.
If you're in LA, here's a schedule. If you're not, hopefully your state likes public radio more than west TN.
Louisiana may lag on all sorts of state ranking lists; however, the Sportsman's Paradise has managed to provide one of my favorite public services.
Here's a song (kind of) about the radio. Sure, Courtney Love might be a horrible human being, but love her or hate her, this song is pretty awesome.
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Thursday, July 14, 2011
Explanations and Pink Dolphins
Al Abroad has been on a bit of a hiatus. This is due to two things:
1. Grad School is hard. Really, it is. This semester kicked my ass. 12 hours of classes + teaching + tutoring hours + eating/sleeping/taking care of the dog.... There just aren't enough hours in the day.
2. My perspective is off. The easy thing about blogging from France is that everything was so novel. There was always some quirky or annoying or bat-shit-crazy thing to write about. Plus, I was always on the go, meeting new people, seeing new places. Louisiana is also quirky, sometimes annoying, and definitely bat-shit-crazy. But it also looks, in a lot of ways, just like home. And I go about my day-to-day much like I would at home. Recognizing, processing, and analyzing the aforementioned quirky/annoying/bat-shit-crazy stuff can fall by the wayside.
However, I've been following more blogs than I used to, both those by friends and total strangers, and reading those blogs has reminded me that writing in a non-academic way can be really fun. My friend Crystel recently mentioned how it's a different kind of creative outlet that really gives her a break from her job in non-profit. And reading Elvynia's blog makes me nostalgic both for our time as tea-chairs and traveling.
There are definitely things I can share about Lake Charles and my day-to-day experiences. I could talk about the people who want to tell me everything about their lives while I'm standing in line at the store, or I could write about all the fascinating books I flagged for "weeding" in the reference section of the library. I can complain about the humidity, rather than the cold. Or recount the absolutely absurd moment I experienced in the American McDonald's. Or I could share this bizarre image, which I found in a Google Image search for Lake Charles:
Read about this pink dolphin here.
1. Grad School is hard. Really, it is. This semester kicked my ass. 12 hours of classes + teaching + tutoring hours + eating/sleeping/taking care of the dog.... There just aren't enough hours in the day.
2. My perspective is off. The easy thing about blogging from France is that everything was so novel. There was always some quirky or annoying or bat-shit-crazy thing to write about. Plus, I was always on the go, meeting new people, seeing new places. Louisiana is also quirky, sometimes annoying, and definitely bat-shit-crazy. But it also looks, in a lot of ways, just like home. And I go about my day-to-day much like I would at home. Recognizing, processing, and analyzing the aforementioned quirky/annoying/bat-shit-crazy stuff can fall by the wayside.
However, I've been following more blogs than I used to, both those by friends and total strangers, and reading those blogs has reminded me that writing in a non-academic way can be really fun. My friend Crystel recently mentioned how it's a different kind of creative outlet that really gives her a break from her job in non-profit. And reading Elvynia's blog makes me nostalgic both for our time as tea-chairs and traveling.
There are definitely things I can share about Lake Charles and my day-to-day experiences. I could talk about the people who want to tell me everything about their lives while I'm standing in line at the store, or I could write about all the fascinating books I flagged for "weeding" in the reference section of the library. I can complain about the humidity, rather than the cold. Or recount the absolutely absurd moment I experienced in the American McDonald's. Or I could share this bizarre image, which I found in a Google Image search for Lake Charles:
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