a few random things...

I have a few serious posts I've been meaning to write (in all my spare time - ha! My entire life right now revolves around the Jan. 31st deadline by which we have to clear all this stuff out of my grandmother's apartment), but there are a few little frivolous things I want to get off my chest at the moment...

Thing 1:
HDTV is really pretty amazing. I had no idea! Johnny & I haven't had cable since 2003, and haven't had a TV at all since December 2006, so obviously, I haven't been watching much TV for the past few years. When we did have a TV, it was a mid-late 80's set which had been obsolete since about 1993. So, hearing all the hoopla about HDTV, I was kind of like, eh, what's the big deal? I barely watch TV anyway, so who cares if it looks so much better?

Nana got a flat-panel TV not too long ago and upgraded her cable so she got HD channels. I watched it a bit when I came to visit her, but since regular TV looks a little shitty on such a high-res screen, and since most of the shows she wanted to watch weren't broadcast in HD, I wasn't so impressed.

But now that I am here by myself, I'm watching a lot more TV, just because I have it on for background noise so much. And I'm watching more and more shows in HD. And now I understand just how much better it really looks than regular TV, and why it's so worth the upgrade that the government is mandating a switch in broadcast standards. It just looks so faboo! It's almost distracting sometimes. Like, I'm watching the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer (here is how you know I'm old: I almost called it the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour), and I am only half listening to the interview because I'm so dazzled by the anchor's tie. You can see so much detail in the fabric, you can tell exactly how it feels to the touch! That is nuts! I would give up this TV in a second if I could have my grandmother back, whole and healthy... but since I can't have that, at least I can enjoy the bitchin' TV I've just inherited. Thank you, Nana!

Thing 2:
It's been about 24 hours now since I first heard of Heath Ledger's death. I was truly shocked when I first heard about it, but now I'm already sick of hearing about it. It's tragic, but it's really not that much of a story. The poor kid is dead. We don't know exactly how he died yet, but it sure looks like a drug overdose, accidental or not. Yeah, it's a shame, and no, we're probably never going to know all the details. Can we move on now? He had a lot of potential as an actor, but honestly, I can only think of two good movies I've seen him in, and one really terrible one. Based on that track record, I can't say I cared too much about him one way or the other, and his untimely demise doesn't change that. I'm sorry for his family and loved ones, but if I hear any more speculation about the pills in his apartment or his mental state in the past few months, I'm going to stick a knitting needle in my eye.

Thing 3:
Whoever brought over the boxes of Russell Stover chocolates, my expanding waistline, skyrocketing blood sugar level, and I curse you.

And now I'd better end this post before I get interrupted yet again.