Withdrawals

On NPR this morning, a particularly resonant piece ran:

Morning Edition, November 7, 2008 · The end of the presidential campaign is a relief for many. For news junkies, however, it can mean withdrawal symptoms. No more tracking polls to worry about. No more speeches to obsess over. Election addicts will need to detox.

"Maybe they were binging on election news."

Indeed. I, like the couple in this feature, am emerging from a red and blue haze, blinking and squinting in the bright, foreign light of nature. It's not easy to pull myself away, either. I feel an urge to do research on hypo-allergenic dogs and contact a bookie about placing a bet on the White House puppy.

The Pres-Elect is not making this any easier, either. I've spent the last eight years switching off the radio every time The Shrubbery opened his mouth. With this one, leaving the radio on for press conferences does not cause pain.

But I have a wedding to plan, so I'll let go of the burning desire to monitor the Internets for news on Obama's HUD secretary pick or stories of Rahm Emanuel's pit bullish (oh, there's *that* again) ways or gleeful gossip about Sarah Palin's lack of geographic knowledge.

About that latter, if you are shocked by the rumor that she has been operating under the delusion that Africa is a country and not a continent, don't be. I've had students do things on map quizzes that would make your head spin: putting India in Germany, Venezuela in Namibia and Oregon in the Galapagos Islands. Of course, they weren't VP picks on major party tickets, and hopefully never will be. Nothing worse resulted from their geographical ignorance than a bad grade, but I'm just saying there are a lot people out there on the streets who don't know Africa from a hole in the ground, and don't see what the big deal is in that, either. We majorly dodged something there, folks, but it's all around us.