Pod Cast Fan Girl (and a bit of bookishness)

From urbandictionary.com:

podcast
	An online audio blog. Term invented by Adam Curry. A broadcast file which is commonly downloaded on an iPod or other MP3 hardware for mobile listening. Can also be played directly from your computer.

I have very recently become a HUGE fan of podcasts. I blame it on my recent-found love of audio books. You see, I listened to The Friday Night Knitting Club and Knit Two, both by Kate Jacobs (OMG! I just found out that there is a third book while finding the links for these two. Must see if the library has it. One minute later The library has it! On audio! Guess what I will be listening to next?). Then I listened to Lost in Time by Melissa de la Cruz. These three books were pretty quick to listen to: 10 disks, 9 disks and 7 disks, respectively. The audio books worked so nicely for background while I was crafting or cleaning that I decided to try something a bit heavier: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas. 

Let me tell you, this book is heavy. Literally. It clocks in at over 1000 pages. I have only read books that long a few times, and never anything written so long ago. I have checked it out from the library a couple times with every intent to read it, but couldn't get past the first paragraph. Even though the book has been recommended to me by numerous people, I just couldn't bring myself to read it. Here is the part where I make a confession that isn't that strange, but that sort of makes me feel like I should feel ashamed: I don't like reading classics. I just don't like the language it is written in. I love historical fiction, including works that mimic historical language. I just don't want to sit down and read anything that was written in a less bastardized version of English than what I am used to. (Except Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. It is the only classic that I insisted all my middle school friends read, and I still love it.)

Anyway, I got the audio copy of CoMC from the library. It is 35 disks. Some days, I get really into it and listen to two disks; more frequently, I listen to two or three tracks, the story gets too clogged by all the names, and I need a break. In comes podcasts.

The first podcast I listened to was the Nerd Wars podcast. The guy who records the podcast posted in one of the threads that he had just put up the latest episode and I geeked out (silently, to myself). Not only is Nerd Wars AWESOME, but they had fun things for me to listen to, as well?!?!? I've listened to all the episodes now. This podcast is really fun, done in interview style. So far there have been general chatting about the Nerd Wars and a few video game reviews. This is where I learned that someone had made a life-sized Totoro. Very interesting listening, even for someone who is not playing the game.

While looking at all the cool projects people were making for Nerd Wars, I saw a player post that a woman, Hannah, had started up the Traveling Sock Knitter, a podcast (with video!) that she puts out once a week. I think she is really fun to watch and listen to. I don't even think you need to be a knitter to enjoy the content. Yes, she talks about knitting, but she also talks about yarn, books, board games, and other nerdy things. I <3 this podcast. There are only 6 episodes, so you could watch them all in a day and be all caught up.

After I finished watching all the NW and TSK podcasts, I still wanted something to listen to in between rounds of CoMC. So, I googled knitting podcasts and found Cast On (note: the link takes you to the audio archive, so you can listen from the beginning). The first episode was recorded October 31, 2005. The most recent episode was posted July 5, 2012. I have only listened through January 1, 2006 so far, but really look forward to making it through episode 118! It will take a while, because I am only allowing myself to listen to one podcast a day. Brenda is a very funny woman, and while her podcast focuses on knitting, there are a lot of good stories that you don't need to be a knitter to appreciate. If nothing else, check out her Thanksgiving Special - 2005.

Even if you are not a knitter, I recommend listening to one episode of each of these three podcasts. You don't even need to listen to an entire episode. I just think they are all worth trying.

Also, if you have a podcast recommendation (no, it does not need to be knitting related), I would love to hear it!