Age? Probably.

It must be age.

For suddenly I found myself skipping most other sections of the dailies and would linger more on the news and the business section. I would now and then breeze through the food section, if there is one. I use to cover all but lately, I have been more selective.

I feel the entertainment section is just too glossy and is nothing but. No input here unless by input one means getting into the murkier side of someone else’s private life.

This reminds me of a family gathering I had recently where one close relative proudly related how lucky she had been to find herself in the same plane with a controversial local actress. It’s not that they were actually seatmates but that she was on the same flight was what makes everything worth talking over dinner.

She then went on to report that this particular actress was with a man other than her rumored boyfriend and then closed her piece with an analysis of how this actress’s life must be coming on.

More on the entertainment issue, on her recent blog post, a cousin picked on Noynoy Aquino's recent video ad. She zeroed in on the overwhelmingly huge number of movie stars that were in that ad. Yes, I can only agree: "It simply plays to the shallow celebrity mentality of the masses."

And sadly, Noynoy may get voted into office mainly on that thinking. Not on platform but on being celebrity-linked. I find this very, very dangerous.

I think that our country is slogging on laboriously the way it is because most would rather identify with a movie star, no matter how weak, murky or immoral their standards may be, than those who silently contribute to the uplifting of many. Only a few would instantly recognize Tony Meloto only because they themselves are driven by their passionate commitment to the poor the way Tony is.

Going back to the dailies, I really think there is just too much advert going on in too many pages. Are we less of a person because we cannot have this cell phone or that car or as fashionable as those anorexic models? The flood of adverts insists we are.

The same is echoed all over the metropolis, this time by gigantic billboards that can topple over and can kill innocent passersby. Once it actually did. Too much premium has been given on being noticed than on being trusted or being engaged with.

In one of Seth Godin’s blog on what he calls  “cable news thinking”, among others he listed that in this sort of attitude, “Things become important merely because others have decided they are important.”

This is precisely the reason why I have become selective in my readings: I will decide what is important.

Age? Probably.