I created a deadline for myself to try to get the draft version of the first three chapters out to a few reviewers this week. To accomplish that, I neglected a few other activities, such as this blog. But, even though I was giving up things I enjoy - like this blog - I still spent hours every day checking in on the “news.”

I do not understand my compulsion about news when there really isn’t anything new. There were crashed and people died. There were stories about crooked politicians. There were stories about people getting strange illnesses. There were stories about people, parties, and governments arguing with each other. Not much else. I think that if they re-ran the news from last year, hardly anyone would notice.

I know this. I know that in order to accomplish what I want to do, I must forego something else. Yet, even so, I continue to spend time reading and watching the “news.”