Expanding upon my last post, some other things to keep in mind:

-Off-axis viewing: will you be sitting directly in front of the television or close thereto? Or will many viewing positions be off to the side? If people will be viewing from side angles, be sure to check out how badly the picture darkens as you move to the side. This will vary between models. Some models actually employ a glossy covering that helps direct more light directly forward. This is good when sitting in the sweet spot but can impair off-axis viewing.

-Glare: I mentioned the glossy covering. This can be good and bad. It can be bad if you have a lot of untreated windows around. In such a situation, a set with a matte finish over the screen would probably be a better bet.

-Features: I’m guessing that whatever set you get will have plenty more features and inputs than you need, but it’s something worth keeping in mind. Preferably, the set would have a DVI (and HDMI, ideally) input as well as two high-bandwidth component inputs.

-Signal Sources: some televisions might look excellent when displaying a high-def signal but look lousy when displaying standard cable, etc. Not really something you can test out in the store but good to keep in mind.

Smoothies give me the creeps. And I’ll tell you why…

Yes, I’m talking about those seemingly innocuous frozen drinks that are in dietary fashion right now. I’m actually not sure if I’ve ever had a smoothie, so maybe I should suspend judgment. It’s not even that I don’t think they would taste good, either; I suspect they do. At least they LOOK like they do. And they look fun to eat, to boot. I’m not even saying I won’t try one sometime; I’ll just do so with extreme prejudice, that’s all.

Why? Because they look a little TOO good, a bit TOO fun. It is this apparently benign allure smoothies have toward people that makes me cautious; something just doesn’t sit right. I am unnerved by the enthusiasm some people demonstrate toward them; it’s almost obsessive. I can’t help but look with suspicion between the eager look on their faces and the colorful quietude of frozen goodness in their hand. There is something about that smoothie that gives me the creeps.

Of course, I have no tangible evidence that anything is amiss…yet. It’s just a hunch. But I plan on keeping my eyes peeled, don’t you worry. And until then, I’ll try to shake this unnerving visual image of a heroic anti-smoothie crusader falling to his knees, arms outstretched toward the sky asking “why? why!?” before falling into a heap, wrecked by the newfound knowledge that smoothies are indeed actually made of people, as a mob of smoothie-slurping, ipod-wielding, grimace-bearing zombies closes in.

You following me? Didn’t think so. I think I’m going to just go to bed.

Well, everonward recently lost its biggest fan. That’s sad not only because that person happened to make up a large percentage of everonward’s fan base; it’s sad on a personal level, too.

Pointless post? Perhaps, but I certainly don’t think so. Well, Mort…looks like it’s you and me.

This WordPress installation went live on November 22, 2005.

Well, I made the switch from MovableType to WordPress. The transition was actually fairly smooth. The ease with which themes can be changed means I may switch up the appearance of the site a bit more frequently, but I’m kind of partial to its current design.

Surely, you have heard the words before; perhaps even out of your own lips. It is not uncommon to hear folks around us complain about some thing or another as not being fair. Fairness is often an abstract concept to us, I guess; I think we are sometimes careless in its application.

There has been a recent bout of young people dying around me. This sad circumstance is amplified by the tragically ironic fact that these same individuals, stolen so prematurely by death, were extraordinarily full of life. I don’t know, maybe it should come as no surprise that the brightest flames burn out the fastest. But in them I see model examples: met in life with the same kindness they exhibited toward others, and facing death with courage, dignity, and unwavering optimism.

In its procedurally unnatural cruelty, it is one thing I have found, in my estimation, to safely qualify as not being fair.

Let’s say you buy one of those clear plastic containers of potato salad at the grocery store, bring it home, and put it in the fridge. Fine. No big deal. Now let’s say you get around to eating it and notice the lid looks pushed out from the inside, as if something in the container expanded and, upon opening the container, you see little bubbles on the surface of the potato salad. STOP. Do not eat it.

Trust me.

In regards to my health insurance, I opt out of HMO in favor of a PPO. HMO’s just seem a little too structured for my taste; I prefer the more free and loose feel of the PPO. Okay, so maybe “free and loose” isn’t a phrase you care to have associated with your health insurance, but to each his/her own.

One HMO requirement that I find of particular annoyance is the required declaration of a primary care physician. I’m not entirely sure why this bothers me except to say that I like having the ability to go to any doctor I choose at any given place or time. So it is with a little surprise that I find myself drawn to once again make an appointment with a physician who has treated me somewhat recently; I typically feel no such loyalty. And while this next visit is indeed related to an initial procedure he performed, that relationship is not the prominent source of my compulsion to see him again. It has occurred to me that I have developed a rapport with this particular doctor, an understanding, and I’m pretty sure I know just about when it took hold.
Continue reading “Bedside Manners”

Two hours to go before my last final, after which I am done for the year. 4:00 this morning saw me salsaing in Albuquerque with some New Mexican natives, but now here I am back in C-Town. Why am I taking this final again? Right now I find myself struck by how misleading the outward and obvious appearance of my worldly pursuits must be in relation to those things which actually inspire me. For it is the things that have not yet sprung into my life – those that are waiting, lurking – which fuel my passion. The presence of their mere potential, whether or not they in fact come to fruition, drives me, granting me new insight in discerning between what I can live with or without and indellibly impressing upon me the undeniable assertion that life IS good.

In a word: perfect. That’s how I would describe the weather in downtown Cleveland tonight. It was well past dusk as I chatted with fellow classmates at a local watering hole, but the day’s heat lingered and I found myself altogether comfortable sitting outside in a t-shirt and khakis, residual clothing from the long work/school day. Walking back to the bike around 9:30, I heard a song that never fails to lift my spirits, and I mused that it should be a crime to be in this good of a mood. I could think of only one more thing with which to top it off…

I leaned into the hairpin loop ramp connecting Prospect with I-90 Eastbound. My path straightened as I came about even with traffic and an irrepressible smile spread across my face as I cracked the throttle with the familiar flick of the wrist. I was GONE. The bridges overhead began to pass quickly, their resident lights reduced to glowing streaks of amber. The night’s warm air grew angrier as it rushed past the outside of my helmet; its mounting objection was overcome only by the mocking scream of 600cc’s roaring past 10k as they hurtled me toward Cleveland’s infamous Dead Man’s Curve.

Woohoo.

Such were the telling words of Morton in regards to our alma mater, Ohio University, winning the MAC tournament and proceeding to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Those words pretty much say it all. To be sure, Ohio University doesn’t have what anyone would consider a powerhouse sports program, but once in a while they do something out of the blue that makes no particular sense. Here we have such an occasion.

Maybe I shouldn’t be so harsh; after all, a 21-10 record isn’t too shabby. I don’t follow college hoops much, but I’ve been dabbling a bit since learning the Bobcats are going to the The Dance. According to one ESPN talking head, they have two of the best freshman in the nation. If that’s true, perhaps it bodes well for our team’s future. For now, I’ll take what I can get, which is Game 1 against Florida on Friday, March 18th, at 11:35 AM CST. One thing about being the underdog: we’ve got nothing to lose.

Go Bobcats!