Yeah, it's been a while since I've published a blog entry. I guess it's only been three months since the last, tho it seems longer than that. I don't have any excuses to offer, nor do I feel compelled to offer any, but still, I kinda ask myself why?
Well, I've been busy looking for my first house to buy. Up 'til now I've been a renter. But the confluence of conditions: low interest rates + first-time home buyer's tax credit + solidification of personal sitch = the right time. I've spent the past five, six weekend w/my realtor looking at houses in the Seminole/Largo area of Pinellas county. I've found a couple places that meet all my criteria - even bid on one - but haven't reached the point of scheduling a closing date. Like everything else, I think it'll happen when the time is right. When I find the right place, it'll feel right, and it'll happen as it's s'posed to. But I find that, per my typically impatient self, the longer the search goes on, the more I'm ready to have the right option come clear to me, and finish up, seal the deal. All in due time, I tell myself.
I don't really consider myself a fanboy of any one particular type of technology, be it hardware or software. But since Christmas, I admit I've become a big fan of Apple products, or an admirer at the least. I got an iPod Nano 4G 8GB as a Christmas present, and have become totally infatuated. The form factor & functionality of the iPod that really sucked me in. The spin & click wheel is simply great. The games that Apple included w/my iPod Nano, and the accelerometer, are fucking fantastic.The coupling of iPod w/iTunes has impressed me; the ability to add music & album art, create playlists, etc. is damn easy. The sound quality, the style, the feel of the iPod...it has become my second most important piece of gadgetry, behind only my cell phone. And that's only cuz my iPod doesn't get Gmail, take or make cell phone calls, or send text messages. Which leads me to the iPhone. An advanced iPod-like device that does all that.
A co-worker of mine has the second gen iPhone, and while I own a Samsung Instinct & use Sprint, I can see, nay feel, the allure of the iPhone. With the way Apple builds hardware, developed the OS of the iPhone, and the content available from the App Store, I'm about ready to jump ship, even after 7+ happy, satisfied, years w/Sprint. Samsung & the other cell phone makers just can't come close. I'll be interested to see if Samsung comes out w/a Google Android based celly later this year, and compare it to the iPhone, but right now...
The same co-worker has an iMac on his desk, and after playing around for a little, I'm pretty damn sure that my next computer purchase will be a MacBook. I have a Windows XP desktop at home, which I'm using now, and use an XP Pro laptop courtesy of work, but fuck, Apple did it right when it comes to Mac desktop/laptop hardware, and the latest OS (I believe it's OS X). As much as I've tried to resist the siren song of Steve Jobs & Co, the temptation that is Apple, I may not be able to hold out much longer, I may become a total convert.
On a sports front, I've been kinda sorta intrigued by the NBA post-season this year. I haven't watched much, up until the respective conference finals (CLE Cavs vs. ORL Magic, LA Lakers vs. DEN Nuggets). The one thing I find missing though, is the tour de force of personality & talent that was the incomparable Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant & LeBron James are arguably the two best players in the NBA right now. But as good as they are, and I'll give them their due, they aren't Michael, especially come playoff time.
Once the Bulls made their first NBA Finals in '91, there was a feel to each game from there on out in which Michael was a participant. You knew there was a better than average chance the Bulls would win. From the pregame on, you could give the Bulls 3:2 odds they'd come out on top. Granted, the Bulls never swept a post-season (I don't think a team ever has, tho I could be wrong). But each game that MJ's Bulls played, there was a very real sensation of "oh shit, here it comes...", and sure enough, the surreal basketball deity incarnate that was Michael Jordan, would come calling. There was a palpable feel of MJ exerting his will upon a game, and twisting the outcome in his team's favor. Just ask the Cleveland Cavaliers & New York Pricks, er, Knicks of the Eastern Conference, or the Utah Jazz. Whenever MJ was on the floor, you knew the Bulls had at least an even chance of coming out on top. And more often than not, they did. And the beauty was that, it wasn't always MJ that took & made the winning shot. Steve Kerr took & made a shot that won a title, as did John Paxson. But, you just felt the MJ juju infecting every Bull, and you knew that somehow, someway, the ultimate victor was gonna wear black, red, and white. Witness the fact that pre-WAS Wizards, the last six full seasons that Michael Jordan played in the NBA, Chicago won the title.
But neither Kobe nor LBJ give you that kinda feel. Each game they play, or, their teams play, it's always up in the air. I never get that feeling of inevitability or certainty that the Lakers or Cavs, respectively, will win, if for no other reason other than they will it to be so. There's always a feeling of victory being tenuous at best, certainly not certain, a given. With Michael, beyond '91, there was never a question about the outcome of a series. Never. The more "stars" we see in the NBA, the more it proves that MJ was the GOAT (Greatest of All Time), and indeed came from an era of pro basketball (Magic, Bird, MJ) that will never be equaled.
On a personal front, it's been demostrated time & again that time is finite, and thou shalt not waste it. If you find yourself in a situation that's less than perfect, then you best do whatever is required to change it. Whether it's a job you're unhappy with, a partner/significant other or living sitch, whatever. None of these things are permanent, and life is too fuckin' short to settle for something less than what you absolutely want w/100% of your heart & soul. If you're unfulfilled, unchallenged, or underpaid in your job, hit up the want ads & go look for another. If your partner in life is less than what you want & what you need, ditch 'em. While being civil & as kind as possible of course. If your home is less than ideal, move, or improve! We have very few years on Earth, far too few to suffer being less than totally happy. And, don't be afraid of the foreign or new, of being alone or blazing a trail heretofore unknown. If we as a People only stuck to the familiar & comfortable, where would we be? Every now & then, you gotta say "what the fuck"...
I think that's all I have to say for now. Enjoy life, believe in yourself, and strive for nothing less than the best yo!
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