Sunday, January 31, 2010

Spam - And I Don't Mean the Meat

Spam is something that—when it doesn't fill our bellies—fills our e-mail spam filters. With these fancy filters, you'd think that you'll be able to escape it entirely. Well, I'm starting to wonder if there is a new spam target—text messages. Tonight I received a strange text message saying "Hey. We should talk. I don't know you but you sent me some text messages that have me worried." I don't recognize the number and I didn't even send any text messages last night. Maybe the person who sent it has the wrong number, but it has to be an incredibly nice person to write a complete stranger who has apparently caused some kind of concern. I kind of doubt that, so I wonder if someone came up with a new method to spam the world. I'll ignore it for now, but when I start to get messages from full-figured Russian women who want to keep me warm during the winter, then I'll start to worry.

Tenth Muse Asks - Football Commentators

How many people do you really need to do the pre-game, halftime, and post-game football commentary? There was a time, many years ago maybe, when you'd just have two people doing these things. Now for some reason they need six or more people doing these shows. I'm waiting for the day when they have 53 people crammed around a tiny desk; the 53 could represent every person or position on a typical football squad. But I suppose you need to have more than 53 to account for the different coaching positions. And, sure, why not add celebrities and comedians to contribute their opinions too. This doesn't even include the people who do the play-by-play commentary. That number seems to be growing every year as well. Hasn't anyone figured out that two people can say the same things and say them just as well as ten people? 

Saturday, January 30, 2010

The Importance of Lightness

Earlier this week Apple unveiled its new gadget, a fancy tablet computer. While a lot of people were talking about all of the amazing things it can do and a few of the things that it can't do, a lot of the buzz surrounding the new gadget revolved around its name. It's called the iPad. While some might not think twice about this name, many others couldn't resist a slight giggle or chuckle. You see, the initial response—maybe predominantly among women—was that the name iPad sounded like a feminine hygiene product. Jokes immediately went viral around the Web with people asking if the iPad had wings of if the more powerful versions would be called maxiPads. I, myself, couldn't help myself or resist asking if they would have light, regular, and super versions.

These types of jokes soon spread to reputable blogs and news sites, with the bloggers and writers asking the same questions or making light of the name. I read some of these stories and blog entries, and, I admit, I laughed my little head off. What surprised me, though, was how many negative responses there were to these blogs and stories. Comment after comment, people were complaining that the writers were being immature and needed to grow up. They indignantly asked if people thought of maxipads when someone said lilly pad or note pad or shoulder pads. They said pad is a word that has many meanings and it doesn't always refer to a feminine product. People were even saying that some of these stories were below the high journalistic standards that you'd expect from news sites like NPR or the New York Times, and they were offended and outraged that the site would waste time and space on such a non-issue.

I was more mortified with the comments than the story. Maybe this means that I'm immature because I myself giggled when I heard the name iPad. But to be perfectly honest, I'd rather be slightly immature and have a sense of humor than to be stuffy and uptight all the time. Let's face it, the world can be a horrible place and you see and read horrible news every day. There are deaths and disasters and after a while this can all get downright depressing. Every now and then you need a story that is lighthearted and humorous. When you look in the TV Guide you don't just see listings for serious dramas; you see listings for comedies as well. Even the ancient Greeks performed comedies in addition to their tragedies. Shakespeare wrote comedies. Why? Because people like to laugh every now and then. Because people like to escape some of the harsh realities of the world. In my opinion life is too short to not enjoy it. What's the point of life if it doesn't contain some fun and laughter.

Current mood: relaxing
Current music: iTunes on shuffle—Melissa Etheridge "If You Want To"   

Monday, January 18, 2010

Lazy

I suppose I'm already failing at my New Year's resolution to keep my blog more updated. That's why I usually don't make resolutions. The possibility of early failure is just too great.

As my title says, I've been lazy for the past few days. Because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, we have the day off today. I haven't done much over this long weekend, and that's just the way I like it. As it is, I never like to have an agenda or a to-do list for the weekend. People work so hard during the week and overwhelm themselves with stress, but I'll never understand why people add more stress to their lives by trying to do so much over the weekend. I think it's a shame when people come back to work on Monday and tell me that they're so exhausted because their weekends were so busy. Me, I like to rest on the weekends. I like to relax. Isn't that what the weekends are for? Because things have been busy at work, I've decided to be extra lazy this weekend. So there! I've just been spending the weekend watching a lot of football and a lot of DVDs and movies online. And, naturally, I've been sleeping a lot. All in all, it seems like the perfect weekend.

Current mood: resting
Current music: iTunes on shuffle--Keith Urban "Who Wouldn't Want to Be Me"

Current drink: Barq's root beer

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

It's Resolution Time

Now that it is the New Year, I suppose everyone is making resolutions and naturally one of the most common resolutions is to exercise more, to eat better, and to lose weight. Well, being the type who occasionally lives vicariously through others, I was doing my part by watching the Biggest Loser last night. During the first commercial break, there was a commercial for the new Taco Bell Drive-Thru Diet. Really? A commercial about a Taco Bell diet? During the Biggest Loser?

Apparently a woman is claiming that she lost over 54 pounds over the past 2 years, and she didn't even have to give up her love of fast-food! Because this is fast-food nation, everyone is all abuzz. This woman attributes her success to switching to the Fresco menu at Taco Bell. Apparently items on the Fresco menu are lighter and healthier.

What is not specifically stated is that this woman also reduced her total calorie consumption by about 500, bringing her total daily consumption to about 1,250. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if you reduce your calorie consumption and add a little exercise you will most likely lose a little weight. What is scary is the idea that people will think that they can now use fast-food as a tool for weight loss and healthy living. Sure, I bet that if I started to smoke a lot of crack and shoot a lot of heroin, I would probably lose weight, too, but that wouldn't necessarily make me any healthier.

Yes, I've been known to go to fast-food restaurants. I don't shun them entirely. Sometimes after a busy day when you're feeling too tired to cook, grabbing something at a fast-food place is a quick and easy solution. But I don't make it a part of my daily diet. I don't go to fast-food places 5 or 8 times a week like this Taco Bell dieter. I think that if you really want to get healthy—and potentially lose weight—you should really start by cooking your own meals from scratch. When you cook your own food, you can control the ingredients. You actually know what you're putting in your mouth. You don't have to wonder what the food is made of or where the ingredients came from. Is that steak in your Fresco taco from a free-range, grass-feed, hormone-free cow or is it from a factory farm?

Sure cooking might take some time and effort. A meal doesn't instantly appear through the window while you sit idling in your car. But in the end it really is the only way to control your own diet. And, honestly, how hard is it to make your own taco?

Current mood: perplexed
Current drink: Vanilla Soy Milk

Saturday, January 02, 2010

Happy New Year!

Once again, it has been a long time since I've last posted. Considering I've only written about four or five posts over the past two months, I think that my New Year's resolution should be to do better at keeping up with my writing.

I suppose that using the excuse of being too busy to write because of work and life is getting old, but that's the only excuse I have. Things have been busy, and although it gets exhausting at times, I guess that is a good thing. It's better to be too busy than to have no work at all. The past year at work was a tough one because the economy hit us hard. We went through a furlough period and were forced to take pay cuts and time off. We lost some employees and couldn't replace everyone, so we've been doing more work for less money. By the end of 2009 our paychecks were back to normal, but the morale wasn't. It would be an understatement to say that people have been frustrated, angry, bitter, and resentful; the mood in the office has been awful and toxic. Although it's been a tough time, I've been grateful just to have a job, and, as ironic as it might sound, everyone should be grateful just to have a job and a small paycheck to hate and complain about. Personally, I'm counting my blessings.

In other respects, life has been wonderful. I went home for Christmas and we also made a quick trip to Vegas to see more family. It's been over fifteen years since I've last been in Vegas, so a lot was new to me. I'm not much of a gambler and wasn't there to get drunk or "hook up" with a stranger. (Apparently that's why most women go to Vegas, judging by what they were wearing on the Strip.) I wanted to explore the hotels and casinos to check out the architecture and different designs. Yes, I'm a nerd. It turned out to be a wonderful trip and it's always wonderful to be around family.

This is a long weekend because of the New Year holiday, naturally, and I've just been spending it relaxing and doing some little chores around the apartment. Because I've had two vacations and so much going on lately, it seems like I haven't cleaned my home in two months, so that's what I've been doing lately. And because this is the New Year and a time for new beginnings and all that, it's when I usually like to do my major cleaning, organizing, donating, and purging. Or maybe I'll just be lazy...