I was working for most of the last week and I think that was the cause of the return of Normal Erica. You can't be nautical while sitting behind a desk in the lobby of an apartment building. But doing this reminded me of one of the things I've always been interested in for as long as I can remember. The radio. Does anyone even listen to the radio anymore? I can't even say that I've listened to an actual radio in a long time, mostly because there are so few good radio stations anymore. But during work I could listen to my favorite radio station on my phone while sitting in this lobby. If this station were available over actual radio waves in my area I would love that, but since I don't live within a 1/2 mile of this guys antenna, I listen on the Internet. Click here to listen to this amazing radio station, Radio Antioch. It's old radio shows from the 20s to the 60s. There are even original ads during the shows which really make you feel like you're in 1950 something while you're cleaning up from last nights cocktail party or dusting the hi-fi.
There's something really neat about the radio, (even though I'm listening to it on the Internet, lets talk about actual radio for a minute.) It's waves flying through the air. They're everywhere! They're probably smacking into you right now, unless you live in a lead house or something. And then you turn on your radio, and the sound appears from thin air. This is what I loved about antenna TV too, but alas, they did away with that. Is radio next? I hope not.
Besides actual radio, there are various shortwave radio bands, 5 meter and 10 meter ham bands, and weather radio that are all zooming around. You can't even hear these on a regular radio, which is why I bought a scanner when I was 18, so I could hear all the radio. Not only are there police conversations and truckers to listen to, but radio enthusiasts talking about radio on the radio. And weather radio is the best. The other day I heard a marine report telling boaters to avoid a certain area because a group of Right Whales was coming though. All this is just floating around out there, waiting for you to tune in.
I can't really explain what it is I love so much about the radio. Maybe that it's free, and you don't have to look at anything while you're listening. I know that part of it is that you get surprised by whats next, unlike TV today, where you can search anything or see whats on next just using the remote. There's excitement in the unknown! We all used to listen to the radio when we were in high school, and would wait excitedly for our favorite song to come on, and we never knew when it would. But when it did, it was the best. Now everyone has iPods and iPhones with every song they could ever want to hear right in their hand, and nothing they don't want to hear, and nothing new and interesting that might be their next favorite song. I really don't know how people now find out about music. I can't picture teenagers sitting in their room listening to the radio. And if they were watching MTV, it's not like they would hear any actual music. How does this happen without radio?
I could be way off, maybe the teens do listen to the radio. I have no idea. But I know that I love it, and I wish it was as popular now as it was in previous decades. There's something so comforting about it. It seems so much more friendly than TV.
Well, I better get back to other Normal Erica stuff, like cleaning and dishes and defrosting some kind of meat. But fear not! It will be fun to do, since I have radio to entertain me.
Tune in next time for more Erica ramblings!
