Isolate

One of the glories of woodworking, not to mention working primarily alone, is that I get to listen to whatever I damn well want. Because I'm in the midst of ruckus heavy machinery this means I'm often plugged in to some sort of noise isolating headphones (I've got a few) and what I'm listening to inevitably carries a great responsibility because it is not in the background - it is right there pressed up against or into my ears, a sonic barrier to the mayhem of industry. And don't go giving me a hard time about ruining my hearing - I know. I know.

I am currently indebted to Radiotopia for filling my days with just perfect radio stories. I have been trying to put a finger on what it is about radio and listening that separates the platform from television or reading. For now I have decided on nostalgia. The stories often refer back to memories of childhood, high school, early twenties, or the eighties in ways both brief and heart wrenching. I love it. 

As it happens Radiotopia is in the home stretch of a record breaking Kickstarter drive and again I have donated (gotta get some new t-shirts!) and am binge listening. Just today I listening to one about a phone sex hotline and another about flag design. What a day. I don't think I'll convince you to listen to podcasts if you don't already but here's to hoping. 

Watch out, this one's explicit:

A couple months ago, a friend handed Julia a scrap of paper with a phone number on it. One night, bored and maybe a little tipsy, she called it up. This is who she met.

This one is pedestrian:

Vexillologists—those who study flags—tend to fall into one of two schools of thought. The first is one that focuses on history, category, and usage, and maintains that vexillologists should be scholars and historians of all flags, regardless of their designs. The other school of vexillology, however, maintains that not all flags are created equal, and that flags can and should be redesigned, and improved. Ted Kaye of the Portland Flag Association—the largest subnational flag organization in the country—is one such vexillologist. Kaye has a word for these activist vexillologists of his ilk who go out into the world and lobby for more beautiful flags: "vexillonaires."