Due to computer technology updating and speaking engagements — and by ‘speaking engagements’ I mean cottage invites where I simply hijack the cocktail hour/dinner party conversation and run with it, paying little heed to arcane rules like listening to others and letting anyone else speak. My cottage season, unsurprisingly, is very, very abbreviated – I’ve been suffering from Blissfully Oblivious About Politics Syndrome (BOAPS), and therefore short on stuff to write about. Such an affliction used to bother me, causing great agitation and severe jitteriness. But here I sit now, serene as serenity can be without a care in the world.

A terabyte of memory, you say? My, that is big, isn’t it. What’s next? A petabyte? Come on. You’re just making words up now.

I am beginning to see the appeal of non-engagement with the wider world around me. Blood pressure has dropped. The psoriasis clearing up. Those screaming fits of outrage have dwindled to just a couple times a day, and they burst forth only after the liquor kicks in and I find myself in front of the TV watching reality shows. Storage Wars?! Really?? Colour me skeptical but I find the notion that ‘storage unit auctions are the newest and biggest untapped source for hidden treasures’ somewhat fanciful and not the least bit watchable.

Still, the anger rarely lingers. My mind turns to more pleasant thoughts. I relax. There are books to be read. Puzzles to… build? construct? piece together? Long walks to take while contemplating non-political matters. And there is a lot to contemplate outside of the political arena, as I have discovered. Most of it not nearly so taxing or contentious. What should we have for dinner tonight, chicken or fish? Is 10 a.m. really too early to have a drink? Does the lawn need mowing again?

No wonder people ignore politics. It harshes the mellow. Takes years off your life, I’m sure. More bother than it’s worth.

They’re all crooks and liars anyway. Nothing you say or do will change anything anyway. What’s the use? Just keep your head down and blindly lash out every 4 years or so in the voting booth. Throw the bums out! Keep my taxes low. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Democracy in a nutshell.

Ahhh, the apolitical life. Free of aggravation and disappointment. I mean, how can you be aggravated when you’re not involved? And when disappointment is the constant, the baseline against which you measure all else, the expectation, then it’s not really disappointment. It just is.

It’s appealing in its simplicity, bringing out the inner libertarian in all of us. If government is viewed as the source of problems, then the less government there is, the less we think about it, the fewer our problems will be. Basic math, really.

I’m sure one might find some fault with the logic in that. I probably could if I thought much about it. But that’s the point. I’m choosing not to think about it. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t, half snapped as I am already, pondering the possibilities of the day ahead of me. Chicken or fish for lunch. Will that guy cutting grass in the place across the highway, let me take his sit down mower for a spin? Why wouldn’t he? He’s got acres and acres of it. He’s been at it for hours. Surely he’d appreciate the break.

— leisurely submitted by Cityslikr