Posts under ‘General’

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 [...]

What a difference a year makes.
Despite falling behind on my 52 Weeks Flickr group contributions, I now have an entire year’s worth of self portraits in my 52 Weeks set. Sure, I’ve got 8 more to post, but time-wise there’s a year in there and it’s neat looking back and seeing if things have changed [...]

About a month ago, I started putting together a to-do list at work. It sits neatly on my Palm and became a good reminder of all the little crap I needed to do when I finished a major product and couldn’t remember what I should be doing next. It also goes a long way to [...]

Road Warrior
Originally uploaded by MikeOliveri.

Circumstances aside, I often welcome the chance to write on the road.
At home, I’m surrounded by distractions. If I feel like procrastinating, there are home projects to be done: seal off the attic fan, bag & board the last several months’ worth of comics, or clean out the utility room. If [...]