Minnow proves once again that she is a tech retard. It's been a week since the land of Bald Eagles has shut off analog signals but Minnow has yet to upgrade to digital TV. She has been caught between waiting for the recommended converter boxes to become available versus settling for some crappy model. In the meantime, she discovers that not having Jim Lehrer's Newshour in the evenings is akin to losing someone you thought of as buddy but actually a soulmate.
Is it about Jim Lehrer's soothing voice or is it about having background noise in the fish tank? is it about keeping abreast of news through hearing insightful, albeit dorky analysis from some supposed experts, or is it about feeling good that she manages to multitask while stretching or cooking dinner or checking my new friends' photo albums on Facebook?
Minnow still uses the TV for watching movies and listening to her Rosetta Stone Spanish CDs. Even before the analog signal was turned off, Minnow probably had used the TV for those two functions more than for watching regular channels. But somehow, stripping the cathode ray tube box of signal access feels like severing my umbilical cord with the world. To survive Minnow must now feed on internet formula, which supposedly is complete with nutrients but somehow doesn't taste quite right.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Skimp and Splurge
The title sounds like the heading of a glossy magazine article but it isn't.
Miinnow is very frugal - by her and by others' standard but she does have her splurges. Over her many scaly, fishy years of existence she has learnt that three things are worth investing her money in:
(1) a nice bed - we spend eight to nine hours a day (on average, since we make up for sleep deprivation on the weekends), having a nice bed is an essential more than a luxury.
(2) a nice chair - if you, like Minnow, is desk bound, a nice chair can save you from lots of back, shoulder and neck pain. Minnow learnt it the hard way and after plunging thousands of $,$$$ in acupuncture and therapy to rid of her discomfort
(3) good shoes - this comes back to the back again. If you have good shoes you will be able to maintain good posture, protecting your back and your legs.
Of course, if you have fins instead of legs, you don't need to worry about (3). But Minnow has both.
Miinnow is very frugal - by her and by others' standard but she does have her splurges. Over her many scaly, fishy years of existence she has learnt that three things are worth investing her money in:
(1) a nice bed - we spend eight to nine hours a day (on average, since we make up for sleep deprivation on the weekends), having a nice bed is an essential more than a luxury.
(2) a nice chair - if you, like Minnow, is desk bound, a nice chair can save you from lots of back, shoulder and neck pain. Minnow learnt it the hard way and after plunging thousands of $,$$$ in acupuncture and therapy to rid of her discomfort
(3) good shoes - this comes back to the back again. If you have good shoes you will be able to maintain good posture, protecting your back and your legs.
Of course, if you have fins instead of legs, you don't need to worry about (3). But Minnow has both.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Mountain Lake Minnow
Things have been on a roll for Minnow in the past six months. On the bright side, someone is gifting Minnow a regular allowance while Minnow fritters her time away in the pond. On the dark side, that benefactor is Uncle Sam, or more specifically, the NYS Dept of Labor. Focusing on the half pond of water that she can still swim in, Minnow thinks of it as a rather cushy option.
When it rains, it pours, and Minnow feels that force of nature even though she dwells deep in the pond. In March Minnow swam across the Pacific ocean - quite a feat for a small fish - to visit her family and scaly pals in the South China waters. It took her a month to swim back, and by then a new life solo awaited her. It was akin to a river fish transforming to become an ocean fish - Minnow leaves the rest to her readers' imagination.
In May a chance opportunity came along to swim upstream to an Andean lake by the name Lago Titicaca in the land of the Incans. Minnow arrived to be told by a shaman that her feline companion - whose ashes Minnow decided to bring based on a hunch - should be buried in the bespoke lake, as "Titi" means puma, or feline. It so happened that for Minnow's health the shaman also advised her to harness feminine energy from this highest navigable lake in south America. (Lago Titicaca, for the Incans, is the sacred lake of feline and feminine energy.) So up swam Minnow after some challenging pilgrimage across the mountainous southern Peru.
On the last day of the surreal trip, Mr Raul the shaman revealed that Minnow had an Andean past life and should visit the Bolivian side of Lago Titicaca for a recall of this chapter. Fish oh fish, why didn't he say so earlier? And why does everything point to this one mysterious and vast water that is too cold to for a small fish to swim in?
For the sake of unearthing her past, for the sake of the Incan's prophesized imminent reactivation of their solar disc, for the sake of revisiting her most beloved deceased feline now bathing in Incan blessing, Minnow perhaps need to swim not only upstream but across the Lago next time.
When it rains, it pours, and Minnow feels that force of nature even though she dwells deep in the pond. In March Minnow swam across the Pacific ocean - quite a feat for a small fish - to visit her family and scaly pals in the South China waters. It took her a month to swim back, and by then a new life solo awaited her. It was akin to a river fish transforming to become an ocean fish - Minnow leaves the rest to her readers' imagination.
In May a chance opportunity came along to swim upstream to an Andean lake by the name Lago Titicaca in the land of the Incans. Minnow arrived to be told by a shaman that her feline companion - whose ashes Minnow decided to bring based on a hunch - should be buried in the bespoke lake, as "Titi" means puma, or feline. It so happened that for Minnow's health the shaman also advised her to harness feminine energy from this highest navigable lake in south America. (Lago Titicaca, for the Incans, is the sacred lake of feline and feminine energy.) So up swam Minnow after some challenging pilgrimage across the mountainous southern Peru.
On the last day of the surreal trip, Mr Raul the shaman revealed that Minnow had an Andean past life and should visit the Bolivian side of Lago Titicaca for a recall of this chapter. Fish oh fish, why didn't he say so earlier? And why does everything point to this one mysterious and vast water that is too cold to for a small fish to swim in?
For the sake of unearthing her past, for the sake of the Incan's prophesized imminent reactivation of their solar disc, for the sake of revisiting her most beloved deceased feline now bathing in Incan blessing, Minnow perhaps need to swim not only upstream but across the Lago next time.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)