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Exit ArchiveArchive for October 21st, 2004

Warning: I may contain traces of tree nuts.

ONE: EYES

My eyes seem to be very sensitive. I don’t mean like sensitive to the sun or extremes of temperature, I mean sensitive to correction. Last year, I had problems with my new glasses. A curve correction fixed the problem, but my Optometrist–or is she an ophthalmologist?–was surprised it had made such a difference to me.

Today I had to return to the doctor to have her check my new contact lenses. Since getting them on Wednesday, my eyes have been feeling “disconnected.” I’ve been getting subtle headaches and dizziness. She discovered one of the new lenses was slightly overpowered but within specs, and might have a tiny warping, usually nothing anyone would notice.

So my eyes are very sensitive. They simply demand absolute and uncompromising perfection!

TWO: SPORTS

I am missing out on some amazing moments in sports. As a life-long sports apathetic, I find this to be an interesting discovery.

I was lucky enough to catch Paul Hamm winning the gold, even through scoring error, but I missed everything else in the Olympics.

When the Lakers won the big one last year with fractions of a second remaining in the game, Sven and I had just left Fatburger, seeing on the TVs there that there was no way they could pull it off. The shouting and screams from the entire neighborhood on our walk back to the apartment proved us wrong. How I wish we would have stayed at Fatburger a little longer.

And last night, the hour-long din of celebrating Red Sox fans told me the game was amazing. Not ’til today’s NPR listening did I understand how unique and close the game really was. It would have been fun to watch it.

THREE: TV

I am 95% certain (plus or minus 4%) that I’m going to upgrade my DirecTV service so that I can finally receive Comedy Central. I would do it solely because I am in awe of Jon Stewart’s humor and intelligence.

If I do so, I will be breaking a year-and-a-half-long TV fast. I have not watched entertainment TV in so long that I realize I don’t need TV, and I have enjoyed the extra time I have in the evenings. But The Daily Show seems to be worth the time and money.

I’ll wait until the election’s over to see if I still feel that way.

FOUR: KINDNESS

I was attacked by a simple kindness this week. I bought an incredibly heavy new TV stand on Wednesday, and when I got it home after work, I suddenly realized I had no idea how to get it into my place!

As I was standing there grasping the sides of the box in tentative variations, a tall man ambled by. Without any prompting of any kind, he asked me if I needed help. He said I didn’t want to throw my back out.

Together we moved the big box into my living room. I thanked him profusely. The only real appreciation I could show beyond my thanks was to let him through our gate to get to the sports bar across the alleyway. He was probably on his way to watch the Red Sox-Yankees game.

Another public service:

Beware the power of poorly-hidden Christianity. In this Wired magazine article, proponents of Intelligent Design make inroads into Ohio public schools. Intelligent Design is nothing but religion disguised as science, a “theory” created by a conservative think tank.

Science is slapped in the face.

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I must post the following links as a public service.

First up, Jon Stewart on Crossfire, giving them a piece of his mind, and them behaving exactly the way he’s critisizing them for behaving.

And as a follow-up, a piece of The Daily Show the following Monday, where Jon hilariously summarizes his Crossfire appearance and then goes on to bash Kerry and Bush in the final two debates.