Eating crackers in bed

It’s the little things in a relationship that can annoy us.  But what’s funny is that some times, we miss those little things when they’re gone.  Or worse, the next relationship might emulate those little things… and it’s just not the same.

I’ve been listening to a sci-fi fiction podcast for a long time now and the guy who runs it has decided to step down.  Lots going on in his personal life and I can totally dig that.  I’ve gone through a few rough patches myself that sounded eerily similar to the glimpses he’s let slip into the podcast.  Sometimes, knowing your limitations isn’t good enough.  You have to acknowledge them and then you have to make decisions that are in the best interest of staying healthy and sane.  Some of those decisions can be difficult.  I really like the guy and I wish him well…

But for 200+ episodes, he used the synthetic voice reader to announce the title of the story and I’ve always hated that.  It sounds cheesy and almost never got the words right.  I could never understand the title of the story until it was repeated by the host during the intro commentary.  I never liked the theme music either.  It’s not bad, it’s just not my style and it’s always a bit too loud compared to the voicework and because of that, it seems to me that it goes on way too long.

But the fiction was solid and I’ve come to look forward to hearing his voice and his commentary each week.  When he announced he was handing over the reigns to others, I was a little sad.  Even though I fully understood what he was doing, I felt sad because even though this was a one-way relationship, it was a relationship.  I was going to miss him.

And so the next couple of weeks go by and they have a couple of guest hosts fill in.  Voices I was familiar with from other podcasts.  And when they used the same intro synth and music, it seemed fitting because it was like a passing of the torch.  But now they’ve settled in with a new host and I don’t like him.  That’s entirely unfair of me to say, I’ve only heard two of his shows and maybe he’s a really nice guy.  But I don’t care for his style, his inflection or his commentaries.  The worst thing?  He’s still using the old intro synth and music!

It’s funny, the only things I didn’t like about the show are now sacred and somehow tainted by this guy who is admittedly trying very hard to make the show go on.  I don’t get it: I didn’t like it before, but now I treat it as holy just because he’s gone?  This isn’t as simple as “Sammy Hagar should never sing anything off the original DLR Van Halen records.” That’s just common sense and irrefutable.  No, this delves into the realm of nonsense.  Something like, “Things I hated about my ex are now cute just because my new girlfriend isn’t what I want.” It’s strange man, very strange behavior…  The weirdness you can go through when you miss someone, the strength of an imaginary bond you create with just a voice on the net.

And I’ve played the pronoun game here to avoid showing up in any vanity-searches.  Anyone who ever listened to the podcast knows which one I’m talking about and it’s no secret, I’ve blogged about them in the past…  But the new host is just two shows in and I’ve been unfair in my judgment of him.  He may turn out to be a great host, he’s probably a nice guy.  But his on-air personality comes across like a Howard Wolowitz/gay pimp voice and I just can’t stand it so far.  I’ve fallen a few weeks behind in the stories because of that but maybe he gets better, maybe not.  Either way, I didn’t see the point in hurting anyone’s feelings…  Imagine that, me, being slightly considerate… Wow.