Jay Gaulard Blog

Wandering Home - By Bill McKibben

Saturday, October 6th, 2007

Ahhh…my first audio book. I don’t know how Laura finds these things, but she does.

I like to think of her sitting at her computer, very studiously analyzing and contemplating my psyche. “Who is Jay?” she would ask herself. “What makes this guy tick?” In actuality, she probably sees what is popular that day on Amazon, but we try not to think about that.

I can’t get over the clarity of the new stereo I installed in my car today. Just a moment ago, I walked outside, across the driveway to it. I sat down in the driver’s seat and turned the key. The radio came on so I could hear 95.5 WPLJ, down in the city. I changed the channel to 100.3 Z100. It’s remarkable how clear the radio receives the signal. My old one never did that.

I opened the package of the audio book, “Wandering Home - A Long Walk Across America’s Most Hopeful Landscape: Vermont’s Champlain Valley and New York’s Adirondacks,” by Bill McKibben. I really didn’t know what to expect. My mother has been raving about audiobooks ever since she lived back in Brewster. I think they helped make her drive everyday to work in Danbury a little bit easier. She used to say, “My car can steer itself on the trip to work. That’s how used to it I am.” I think she really believed that at times. Well, when she told the story, she sounded very convincing.

I pushed the CD in the brand new slot. Everything is so shiny. The radio stopped and the CD started. A very faint, but clean guitar sound started. It got louder, and then a very soothing voice, that introduced himself as the author, Bill McKibben, began to speak. I though, “Ooh, this is going to be good. I listened for a few minutes and turned the key back, so the sound stopped. I didn’t want to ruin the first part of the story during a time when I wasn’t focusing on it. I turned the key forward, so the CD turned on again. Yup, it picked up right where it left off. This was going to work out fine.

So what’s the story about? Well, Bill’s website tells it like this…

“The acclaimed author of The End of Nature takes a three-week walk from his current home in Vermont to his former home in the Adirondacks and reflects on the deep hope he finds in the two landscapes.”

That’s not all, you can read the rest here.

As you can see, I am quite excited about using my frontal lobe even more than I currently am. It is going to be nice to break out of the mold of NPR and bad local radio. Yeah, it’s going to be nice.

Corporate Jargon Update

Monday, June 25th, 2007

Here is an update to my hated corporate jargon list…

On my way to work this morning while listening to NPR, I heard an interview between the DJ and someone from Eckerds. I am not sure who it was…maybe the CEO or something. I believe they were talking about Eckerds buying out CVS or something.

Well, as it so happens, the woman they were interviewing said some rather entertaining corporate jargon phrases that I have never heard before. I course, upon hearing them, I was forced into an uncontrollable eye roll, but I was still able to drive. Here they are, but they are not the exact sentences…

- Our employees are really the touchpoint to our customers…

- It was really frustrating, because we didn’t want to upset the apple cart…

Seriously, can someone please find out who this person was and call her? Please tell her that these types of statements are incredibly idiotic and to stop saying them. They are making the rest of us dumber just by listening to them.

Throwing Rice at Weddings - Can it Hurt Birds?

Friday, June 22nd, 2007

On my drive in to work today, I heard a story on NPR’s “Nature Watch” segment about the myth of harm to birds by throwing rice at weddings.

I’m sure you have all heard of people changing their ways to protect the birds. It has long been said that by throwing rice at the bride and groom after a wedding can harm a bird. People say that when the bird eats the rice, the rice expands inside the bird’s stomach, causing the bird to actually explode. I always believed this and have thrown bird seed at weddings instead.

Well, Nature Watch told me this morning that the whole rice story is really a myth. They said that birds eat rice all the time in the wild and it has no harmful effects on them.

So this left me thinking…the next time I see a bird explode over my head while in flight, what the heck caused it?

Thistle & Shamrock with Fiona Ritchie

Monday, May 28th, 2007

Have you ever listened to a radio show and thought you have been taken away to someplace else. Man oh man…last night’s Thistle & Shamrock with Fiona Ritchie was spectacular.

It always seems as though when I have my great experiences while driving and listening to the radio, I am alone. I already told you all about last summer’s drives with Garrison Keillor, but this one was just as nice. All I ever want to do is share the fun, but I suppose this is just the way it is going to be.

Here is what the Thistle & Shamrock is about…right from their site…“Take a trip to the foothills of the Scottish Highlands where The Thistle & Shamrock®, one of NPR’s longest running and most popular music offerings, is created each week.” It’s great music with great commentary. Fiona Ritchie does a nice job of describing what each song is about with some good history. It’s pretty refreshing to hear someone care about what they do, kind of without the commercialism.

Last night (May27, 2007), Fiona described a song that she was going to play as one of the most beautiful songs ever played with a fiddle. She described it as written by a man over 200 years ago for his second wife of thirty years. When she played the song, I discovered that she was right, it was a very beautiful song. There really is nothing I enjoy more than my evening drives while listening to great radio. The temperature was perfect, the sky was perfect, everything was perfect except the fact that my destination was a bit too close.

Anyway, I took a look on her playlist and discovered that she keeps each show’s playlist up for only two weeks. Last night’s isn’t up yet, but I will take another look. Perhaps, if anyone knows which song I am talking about, they can leave a comment to enlighten me. If I find it, I will write another post about it.

How To Deal With Junk Mail

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007

Can you believe the amount of junk mail you receive every day?

When I get home from work, I walk to the mailbox. I usually have a smile on my face and some pep in my step. I open the mailbox, and to my dismay, I discover a heaping pile of wasted paper.

A few months ago, I began renting a PO box from the local post office. I never put the address on anything and never used it. I was curious a few weeks later to see if there was anything in it. I walked into the post office and opened the PO box. The thing was jam packed full of more wasted paper. Needless to say, I am returning the key to the box.

On a trip to Home Depot earlier this week, I was listening to NPR (National Public Radio). As far as I am concerned, that is the only intelligent conversation on the air today. They were talking about the “National Do Not Call Registry.” I think the DJ’s words went something like this: “Back when you signed up for the Do Not Call list, I’m sure you didn’t realize that your actions were contributing to the clear cutting of forests to make paper for more junk mail.” Of course, that’s from my poor memory. They were talking about how much more junk mail there is now that companies can’t call so many people.

I was talking last night about how much junk mail I get. Do you know that I probably get about five credit card offers a week? Most of them are from the credit card company I already have a card with!!!

If you are getting fed up with this, like I am, what can you do about it? I found some pretty good websites that talk about it.

- Do-it-yourself: Stop junk mail, email and phone calls
- Stopping the junk mail tree killers
- Greendimes.com - Restore your sanity and our planet

Something really has to be done about this. Where we live, our recycling is picked up every two weeks. Every two weeks, we have an entire 32 gallon garbage can filled with paper and more that won’t fit. Every two weeks. I would say that 80% of this paper we didn’t ask for. That’s just crazy.

Epiphany Project with John Hodian and Bet Williams

Wednesday, April 25th, 2007

Have you ever heard of the Epiphany Project? I was just sitting here and a weird thought popped in my head. It was “Epiphany Project.” I know…it’s strange.

Laura told me yesterday that she started listening to the “Chill” channel on the Sirius Satellite Radio I got for her two Christmases ago. I like that kind of music, it’s very relaxing.

If you read my previous post about Peter Kagan or Garrison Keillor, then you would know that I have many a “epiphany” while I am driving, listening to NPR. Well, one night a while ago, NPR aired an interview with the Epiphany Project. They seemed very deep and worthwhile exploring. I like some of the song titles. Here they are:

• Gone
• Lockerbie
• Jealousy
• Walkin’
• Long Gray Line
• Tubwahun
• To The Lighthouse
• Mission Bells
• Blackbird
• Chasing The Moon
• Widow’s Walk
• Goth
• Black II
• Black I

You can listen to some of the sample music here, or purchase the CD.

I like this review found on Amazon’s site:

In a galaxy far… far… away… resides the most exquisite compilation of piano and vocals. It is a galaxy created by Bet Williams and John Hodian. I had the pleasure of seeing this duo perform it “live” and they literally transported my mind to another place… a wonderful dimension. Like another reviewer, I had this in my CD player for months on end. I return to it often. A rare and UNIQUE treasure.

That about sums it up…give it a try.

Peter Kagan and the Wind

Saturday, January 6th, 2007

A while back, Laura and I were driving home from Lowes in Middletown, NY. I have a bad habit of turning the radio dial to NPR with other people in the car. I don’t think a lot of people appreciate that station like I do. Anyway, there was some sort of request hour on and there was a pretty interesting request. Someone called in and said that they haven’t heard, “Peter Kagan and the Wind” in such a long time. The DJ played the story/song…it lasted for about 20 minutes! I have to say that it was rather strange, but one of those things you go home and look up on the internet. It sounded deep too…but there are some things in the story that I just don’t get. I liked the tone of the story because it reminded me of some trip I have been on in the past…something like sitting at a dark bar in Vermont or something.

If you ever hear this story, please share some of your insight here. I certainly would appreciate it. There is a pretty good post about this story/song here…

My Hazy Summer Nights With Garrison Keillor

Wednesday, September 13th, 2006

Usually, I try to finish up what I am doing at about 10:30PM and hop in bed to read for about a half hour. There have been times when I intended to do that, say to myself, “Oh yeah, one more thing” to then look up at the computer to see the clock read 2AM. Whoops.

Lately, I have been very good. Partly due to my new book, “Wobegon Boy” by Garrison Keillor. Let me tell you why.

A few years ago, Saturday nights were a much more popular “going out” night for me than they are now. Every so often, while driving in my car, I would be flipping through the channels on the radio to hear this very odd radio show. I never quite knew what it was…a guy talking, people singing…kind of like a variety show. I found it very interesting, but never listened long enough to quite get the name of it. I used to refer to the show as the one with the “Story Teller Guy.” I told everyone I knew about it.

After moving to the new house a little more than a year ago, I began listening to NPR (National Public Radio) a lot more. The station I listened to comes in much clearer here. Well, just as luck would have it, at about at 8:30AM, just as I begin driving across the the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, I began to hear the same voice as the Story Teller Guy give a short narration of the day’s importance on poetry, called the Writer’s Almanac. It took a few times listening to be sure it was him, and then I got curious and did some research.

Well, apparently, this man’s name is Garrison Keillor and he hosts “A Prairie Home Companion,” usually on Saturday nights. I began to listen more and more and when 7PM hit on the right night, I made it a point to get in my car for a drive. This past summer was a great one for cruising around with the radio on listening to the program. There was lots of haze and humidity…perfect for a drive at dusk with all the windows open. I tried to keep my hair a little longer than usual just for the sake of it blowing in the wind. Who knows how much longer I will have it.

Listening to this show had become one of my favorite things to do. If I missed it, I would stream it on my computer through their website. Give it a try, you might like it.

The season closer this year was held up the Berkshires at Tanglewood, one of my favorite places under the sun. Laura and I made plans to go to the show. It would be like a dream for me to see it live.

Saturday night came and went, and for some reason, we didn’t go. We didn’t talk about it…we just didn’t go. I don’t know why. Sometimes, things like this just happen. We did talk about it a few days later and decided to go up the next weekend to see the Boston Symphony Orchestra perform. We did and it was like magic. I really enjoyed laying on the blanket on the lawn listening to the music and looking at the stars. Everything was perfect…the food, the wine, the candles and the music. It couldn’t have been a better night. If I could, I would go to every show Tanglewood offers every night. Next summer, I am sure that Tanglewood will see a lot more of us.

I told my mother how much I enjoyed listening to Garrison Keillor, going to the Berkshires and…well…drinking wine. To my surprise, a few days later, I found a small package in my mailbox. It was the book, Wobegon Boy by Garrison Keillor. Thanks mom.