Posts under ‘General’

The King and His Throne
Originally uploaded by MikeOliveri.
Even Conan never had it so good.
Our elementary school is going Apple next year, and we saved a few bucks by ordering the equipment early so it’s already here. I have three 52 Weeks pics to take yet (because I’m a slacker), so I thought it would be [...]

Driving home at 3am last night, it occurred to me that I need a theme song (which you’d already know if you follow my Twitter feed). In fact, everyone should have one. Something to at once provide a jolt of energy and convey mood to all those around us. Something without lyrics, that would explain [...]

Spring Break is officially over. I work in education so I got the week off, but it went by so fast it felt like just another weekend. It was one of those weeks I was constantly on the move, out running around for one reason or another or working on things at home. Today we [...]

Karate Moleskine
Originally uploaded by MikeOliveri.

Last week marked the one-year anniversary of my Shuri-ryu karate training at the Academy of Okinawan Karate.
It amazes me how far I’ve come in just one year. In addition to losing a lot of weight, my stances have become longer and lower, my kicks have gotten higher, and my techniques have [...]

I was told once that you’re not getting old until the people you looked up to as a child start dying.
Yesterday, Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, passed away at the age of 69.
Like many of my writing friends, I spent a big chunk of my childhood making characters, battling imaginary monsters, and rolling [...]

I sent the Wife to the pharmacy for a sinus rinse last week. They didn’t stock anything like a neti pot, so she came home with a squeeze bottle kit instead. I also got to thinking this guy has the right idea; I don’t have coffee, but there’s a bottle of Jack sitting in the [...]

Between flu, pneumonia, and now some kind of killer, sinus-assaulting virus, this winter has just plain sucked for me. It all started with a fever on Saturday, progressed to sinus headaches, and now is a combination of both, complete with the occasional fat blob of ugly, brown-green snot streaked with red. This has given me [...]

With three of my spawn already roaming the Earth, the Wife and I have discussed more permanent methods of contraception, particularly those aimed south of my navel. The idea of vasectomy is not particularly appealing, but given the reports from cousins, friends, and co-workers who have all had it done have been overwhelmingly positive, it’s [...]

Magnified
Originally uploaded by MikeOliveri.

Do people really subject themselves to this stuff?
The Allerton Hotel in Chicago has these mirrors in the bathroom that blow your face up to something like twice normal size. Even in the picture I took of my magnified mug, I can see the line of my contact lens against the white of [...]

Brooding
Originally uploaded by MikeOliveri.

I’ve become more and more impressed with the MacBook I’ve been evaluating. Between reader comments and the things an Apple rep has showed me, I’m starting to really see the appeal of OS X.
The much-touted ease of use is really there. With no more instruction than “click here and here,” my son [...]