I’ve had a couple of people ask me why this here blog won’t allow them to post comments. Unfortunately I’ve had to kill the commenting system due to spam. I’m running an old version of WordPress and can’t install some of the nifty anti-spam features that newer versions of WordPress employ. Until I can upgrade, there’s no commenting.
I’ve been ruined. Simply ruined.
This past Christmas my lovely Mother got me an Xbox 360 for Christmas. While I already said thanks, I’ll say it again — thanks, Mom! It’s really a great machine.
That said, I don’t play it all that much. I haven’t been a huge gamer since I was a kid back during the Atari 2600 & Intellivision days. Wait, I take that back, I played the 8-bit Nintendo an awful lot. But since then, gaming hasn’t been a huge part of my life. Yeah, I owned a Playstation and outside of “Gran Turismo,� I didn’t play the thing all that much. I also owned a Playstation 2, but once again outside of the latest edition of “Gran Turismo� and some X-Men game, I really didn’t play it all that much.
While I don’t spend hours playing the Xbox, in the 8 months I’ve had the system I’ve played it more than the PS and PS2 combined. A lot of this has to do with the fact that the Xbox is just a fantastic gaming system, but there’s also the fact I bought a 40� high-def LCD TV in January and, well, playing the Xbox on a high def TV is a real experience. While nothing will replace the sheer pleasure and excitement the Atari 2600 brought me and my family in the ‘70s — there was nothing to compare it to at the time — the Xbox sure is fun.
That said, I don’t think I’ve finished any games on the Xbox yet. I’ve played some Marvel Heroes game, some Spider-Man game, the “Superman Returns� game and while all were fun, none held my attention for too long. “Gears of War� is an amazing game and I’ve played that more than the others, but I haven’t played that in sometime, mostly because I’m too busy. I’m very aware of the fact I work for myself, from home to boot, and the Xbox could kill my professional career, so I keep my Xbox playing to a minimum.
Now, all that said, there is a game that has recently come into my life that has the potential to destroy it.
That game is “Guitar Hero II.�
I’ve been thinking about picking up GHII since it came out, but resisted its call. This past Friday I was sitting around the house realizing that with the sun burn from my Big Bear visit still in need of much healing, I wouldn’t be going out that weekend. So, I decided to make my way to Best Buy to pick up “The West Wing� Season Four on DVD — I’ve been rewatching the series from the beginning and just finished Season Three. I needed me some more Aaron Sorkin.
While browsing the aisles of Best Buy, I heard someone from behind shout to me, “Hey, man, what’s up?!?� I quickly did a 180, but didn’t see anyone that could be talking to me. Just some very large woman carrying 16 or 17 DVDs. Considering the voice sounded like it had come from a 20-something burn out who’s spent the better part of the last 15 years stoned out of his mind, I was pretty certain it wasn’t the female killer whale. I went back about my business and again there was a shouting, “Dude, what is up with you?! Don’t you want to rawk?�
I turned around again and didn’t see a person, man or woman, but a long package emblazoned with the “Guitar Hero II� logo. It called to me. It talked to me. It flirted with me. It seduced me.
Less than five minutes later I was at checkout with “The West Wing� Season Four DVDs and “Guitar Hero II.�
Guitar Hero II — it’s like a needle full of heroin, without all the negative, life altering side effects.
For those of you living under a rock — or simply living life without an Xbox — GHII is the ultimate rock and roll simulation. You get this plastic, childs-toy looking guitar with five colored buttons where frets would be, a switch where the strings would be and a whammy bar. You throw the game DVD in the machine and play along to songs on the DVD, playing to sell out crowds at various venues around the United States. Popular songs from bands like The Police, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, My Chemical Romance and many others can be found. And you know what? It’s the awesomeness.
It’s the first game on the Xbox that’s really “addicted� me. I played so much that first Saturday that I actually hurt my left hand and wrist. I had to not play at all on Sunday just to heal. Almost seven days later my left index finger is actually a little swollen. Gotta give this thing a break.
I’m not far in the game, only half way through the medium skill level, but it gets better as you go along. You get to buy new players, new songs, new guitars and even unlock hidden songs by finishing certain sets. Unlocking “Tonight We’re Gonna Rock You Tonight� by Spinal Tap was a huge treat — especially how the set ends! This one truly goes to 11.
What’s funny about the game is the more you “rock out,� the better you’ll play. Sure, you can sit there calmly strumming and plucking away, but it’s when you start to groove and move with the music that your skills really start to shine. The first time I used the strap and stood to play a song, well, it’s a good thing no one was around because that rocking out had to be embarrassing. Hell, I embarrassed myself. I felt like a jackass. But I didn’t care because the thrill of the rawk called me and there was no turning back. I think I might have even shouted, “Are you ready to rawk, Los Angeles?� before playing a set. Wow.
Surprisingly, the game’s also inspired me to consider taking guitar lessons again. I haven’t taken a lesson for seven years now, but I think it’s time again. Certainly my GHII skills won’t come in handy at all with actual guitar playing, but if it gets me to pick up my acoustic again, that’s a good thing.
Anyone wanna play GHII? Come on over. And if you’ve got your own GHII controller, you really need to come over. Head-To-Head, baby.
So, Big Bear.
On Wednesday, September the 15th, I realized something – I’ve been running on fumes.
As I mentioned in a previous post, the months of July and August were two of the most stressful in my life. My Mother had some health issues that had her in and out of the hospital beginning in late June through early August, which obviously caused much concern for myself and my family. During this same period, I had a lot of planning to do for Comic-Con International, which was held the final weekend of July, and Wizard World Chicago, held just two weeks later. Planning for both shows was tough, especially so for Comic-Con where I had the largest team of reporters I’ve ever assembled at one show – 15 in total – and add to that the fact we rented a yacht and I conducted video interviews on the boat every day of the convention. While not as physically taxing as in years past, it was the most mentally taxing show I’ve worked. Then, the day after show was finished, it was time to begin planning for the Chicago show. No rest was to be had. And this was in addition to the day-to-day operations of both CBR & Boiling Point, which are plenty taxing when there’s no show to cover.
This is all a long way of saying that mentally I was in poor, poor shape. The combination of all that additional work put me behind on my regular work, which was proving hard to catch-up on. I was at times having trouble focusing, memory issues and any number of other indicators of metal fatigue. This all culminated when I woke up on the 15th and realized, “Dude, I need to relax.�
I’ve been thinking about a proper vacation for a while now for later in the year, but I realized that day I needed to take some time off right now. I needed to get away, find new surroundings and generally just relax. I also found my mental fatigue was affecting me physically and all the bike riding I had been doing had slipped by the way side. So whatever I ended up doing would have to allow for some bike riding.
So, on that morning I started looking at cabins up in Big Bear Lake. Why Big Bear? Well, I knew I wanted to do some mountain bike riding and had heard Big Bear had great cycling opportunities. I did a Google search for “big bear cabins� and came upon Big Bear Cool Cabins, who had hundreds of available cabins to choose from. I decided to go with Cloud 9, a small two-bedroom cabin that had wireless net access, a view, a TV with a DVD player and, most importantly, a hot tub. I called the cats at Cool Cabins up, booked my cabin and I was ready to go. Just me and the mountains – my excitement grew and, believe it or not, suddenly I was able to think clearer. Just the idea that I’d be in a different environment, completely relaxing for two days inspired me. The rest of the week went by slowly, but I was productive and looking forward to a great weekend.
Big Bear Lake, August 19th, 2007
And a great weekend I had. I drove up Friday afternoon and got to the cabin just fine. It wasn’t fancy — it clearly hadn’t been redecorated since 1977 — but it would serve my purposes just fine. I got the car unpacked, then went grocery shopping, cooked myself a nice meal and relaxed in the hot tub with the latest Harry Potter volume. I could feel the stress just draining away.
Saturday I woke up early and took it very easy. I cooked myself a breakfast that included French Toast and eggs, did some writing and then spent some time in the hot tub. I came back inside around noon to investigate cycling trails and decided upon the Aspen Trail, a fairly flat trail that’s 3.5 miles long each way and runs along Big Bear Lake. I also considered riding the fire trails on Snow Summit, but thought that might be above my skill level and decided to go for the easier Aspen Trail. I packed up my car and made my way into town to run some errands (I needed tools for BBQing that night).
As I drove around town, I stopped at a few stores and generally just checked the place out. As I was driving around, I saw the entrance to Snow Summit and decided I’d hit those trails — clearly finding the entrance to Snow Summit was a sign of some sort. I parked my car, unloaded my bike and made my way to the Snow Summit Sky Lift. I spoke with one of the ladies at the ticket booth who assured me after asking me where I’d ridden before that I’d be just fine on the mountain. I bought my $10 lift ticket and off I went to the top of Snow Summit.
Big Bear Lake as seen from the Snow Summit ski lift.
That’s where I got a real good look at Big Bear Lake. The view from the lift was amazing. Big Bear Lake is one absolutely gorgeous place with outdoor activities year round. I saw parasailers on the lake, as well as plenty of jet skiers, Sea Doo riders and more. The 10 minute ride to the top of the mountain was just breath taking.
As I arrived at the top of the mountain, I got on my bike and made my way to one the three trails and began my descent.
Damn, was that fun.
While much of the ride was down the mountain, there was still plenty of exercise to be had. As I rode down the mountain I hit speeds I’ve not yet hit on my bike before. While I was squarely focused on making sure I didn’t bail, I was able to occasionally take in the scenery — pine tree after pine tree surrounded me. I couldn’t hear anything else other than the sound of my tires digging into the dirt. I was having a blast.
While I’ve rode the fire trails of Topanga before, the dirt up at Snow Summit was less packed. There was more resistance because of the loosely packed dirt and I found myself sliding more than I had before. I’ve got knobby tires, but I think if I were to do that again I’d get more aggressive tires. At one point as I came around a corner I took it a bit too fast and my bike began to slide out from underneath me. I was certain I was about to bail, but I managed to get a hold of the bike and righted myself again. Disaster averted.
But then, suddenly, in the middle of the road, was a large gate impeding my ability to keep moving. What the fuck? I’m almost half way down the mountain and I can’t go any further. I picked up my cell phone to call Snow Summit to see what was what — had I gone down the wrong path somehow? Where do I go? Pointless questions because I was on the other side of the mountain and there was no cell coverage.
I decided to ride back up the mountain to talk with someone who worked there because I wasn’t certain what to do next. Talk about getting some serious exercise. That kicked my ass. But as I made my way up the mountain, five or six riders were coming down. As I neared the top of the mountain, something occurred to me — I was thinking like a car driver, not a mountain biker. Surely there had to be a small path to the right or left of the gate that would allow me to continue on? Gates can’t stop no mountain biker!
I turned my bike around and started jamming down the mountain again. As I approached the gate I saw to the left of it a small path that would allow a hiker or mountain biker the chance to ride through. Search and rescue would not be needed that day!
I continued on down the mountain rather enjoying the rocky terrain and challenges the mountain presented. As the fire road let out into a suburban area, I realized I was maybe five blocks away from my cabin! Unfortunately my car was back at Snow Summit, so I took the roads back to pick up my car. All in all, especially because I decided to ride back up the mountain, I got a considerable amount of exercise.
And a considerable sun burn.
I was wearing a no-sleeve t-shirt and while I had put sun block on my arms, I forgot to put it on my back. And I didn’t exactly put enough on my arms, either. That coupled with UV rays being a bit more potent higher up meant I was in for some very serious pain. In the coming days the peeling and blistering would be no fun at all.
Once I was done with the mountain biking, it was about 6:30 and I made my way back to the cabin for more sitting in the hot tub — which I had to make considerably cooler with the burn — and the cooking of flesh. I bought some Filet Mignon the night before and BBQd up a nice meal of Filet Mignon, a baked potato and some salad. I spent the rest of the evening watching Season 3 episodes of “The West Wing� on DVD and reading more Harry Potter. It was a great day.
Sunday I woke up early, cleaned up the cabin and left around 10:30. Sunday was my day to do some shopping and explore Big Bear a bit. I drove over to Big Bear City and Sugar Loaf, only to discover that neither are worth visiting. Sugar Loaf is a pit and Big Bear City is only slightly better. The real action was all in Big Bear Lake.
I stopped by many stores as I drove around, a couple of really cool gift type shops, checked out the Village and did some “antiquing.� Well, not really. I went into a bunch of antique shops — and wow are the prices better up in Big Bear than in LA — but didn’t find anything I had to buy. There was a chair I considered, but I didn’t have space in the car. I drove around the lake a bit, which is gorgeous, snapped a few photos — Boulder Bay is just beautiful — and once I was done checking out stores I made my way home.
Boulder Creek in Big Bear
All in all it was a very restful weekend and really recharged the mental batteries. It reminded me that I not only need to take care of myself physically, but mentally as well. I’m a driven person, one who doesn’t stop thinking about work easily. I need to be reminded to relax. This weekend helped me see that I need to start taking care of myself better in many ways.
Before I began riding my bike regularly, I read a bunch of Web sites about cycling safety, specifically how to ride safely on city streets. There are a number of really great bike paths near me, but to get to them I have to ride on the road a bit and I figured getting some pointers in advance would just be smart. A lot of the suggestions I found should have been obvious, but they weren’t. The mind set you need to have a bicyclist is quite different than your mind set as a driver. The rules of the road are essentially the same, but the way you apply those rules are totally different. For instance, that normal route you take when going to the bank might be fine when you’re driving, but on a bicycle there might be faster or even safer short cuts down less busy roads you can take instead. Stuff like that.
The one thing that hadn’t occurred to me was how to make myself known. On a bike, you’re 1/100th the size of most cars. You have to keep that in mind constantly. Car drivers are, for the most part, really not paying enough attention — you’re either on the phone, smacking your bratty kid around that just got suspended from school or trying to find your favorite track on the iPod. We’re all guilty of it. I try to keep my focus on my driving as much as possible, but we all get distracted. As a bicyclist on the open road, you have to keep that in mind and you have to remind drivers that you’re there, constantly. It means not driving in blind spots and keeping an eye out for people parked on the side of the road, ready to open their doors just as you ride by. Frankly, it means shouting a lot.
This last thing is not something that occurred to me. I figured living in Los Angeles, if I shouted at other drivers, I’d end up with multiple bullet wounds to the chest and head. I learned quickly that thinking was false. I don’t recall what web site it was that I read this on, but it was written by some guy who 15 years ago decided to bike to work one day and never stopped doing it. He pointed out that yelling at a driver to get their attention won’t get you shot, but can save you from injury or worse. Once you get that drivers attention, more likely than not they’ll be embarrassed or scared they almost put you in harms way and will apologize, not shoot you. That happened to me about two weeks after I started bicycling.
I’m riding down one of the side streets near my house and a woman is driving out of the underground parking in her apartment building. I’m approaching on her left as she rolls out of the driveway, but she is only looking to her right as she’s also trying to dial a number on her phone. She continues to roll out and will very soon cut me off, not looking in my direction once. I meekly said, “Hey,� but got no response. Tried it again a little louder, but nothing. I finally screamed, “Hey, Lady!� she looked my direction and slammed on her breaks. As I rode by, she screamed out “Sorry!� Check that out, I didn’t get shot.
Since then, I’ve become quite vocal on my bike. No, I don’t think I own the road by any means, but I make sure those who are on the road with me and aren’t seeing me know I’m there. If that means warning someone on a bike path “on your left� or making sure a motorist knows I’m coming up on them, I do it. In a crowded city like Los Angeles, you have to do it just to survive.
Plus, shouting every once in a while is very cathartic and when you have a good reason to do it, why not take advantage? A motorist who’s texting while driving deserves it.
Big Bear Lake, August 19th, 2007
I’ve never been much of an athlete. I was never great at sports, nor was I absolutely pathetic at them, it’s just that I was never all that much interested in being a participant. As a teen I was pretty good at golf, tennis and volleyball, but outside of occasional games of golf – I can still hit the ball hella far – I’ve not played any sport much as an adult.
I’ve also not been much into the physical exercise. I don’t know whether it’s because I never had that athletics gene or if I’m just lazy, but it’s never been my bag. Like most American’s I’ve given it a try through numerous gym memberships, but that one year contract has generally meant three months of exercise and nine months of wasted money.
The closest I came previously to really enjoying exercise was when I took six months worth of Tae Kwon Do/Hapkido. It was not at all easy, but I liked my teachers and did enjoy myself until I got cold after cold after cold and pretty much lost all the progress I had made. Then the teachers changed at the studio I went to, folks I didn’t like much, so that was that.
For a while now I’ve known I needed to find some physical activity that I’d both enjoy and be truly beneficial to me. I’m 35, not in shape and fear the ever growing gut monster. But what could I do that I’d stick with? Walking is mind-numbingly boring to me – “Ohh, look at me, I’m putting one foot in front of the other!� Jogging is an impossibility with my knees being what they are. We know my track record with gyms and I think my home gym never cut it.
About four or five months ago I began to really spend some time thinking about what it is I could do that would keep me active and hold my interest. After much thought I concluded that whatever I did, it had to be something that got me outside. Since I work from home, I spend most of my time indoors, which begins to wear you down. I needed an activity that got me outside and a gym doesn’t do that, it just puts me indoors once again. You know my feelings on walking/jogging and while hiking is fun and gets me outdoors, I find it’s best enjoyed at random intervals. I needed an activity where the scenery changed regularly. What could I do?
After much thought, about four months ago I settled on cycling. It gets me out of the house. It provides good exercise. It’s practical, even, considering most of my life and business are done within a two square mile radius and this could be an alternative to driving.
I went to a couple of bike shops and let me tell you, that was humbling. See, they want you to actually test drive these things before you buy and, well, I hadn’t been on a bike in 20 years and the prospect of making a jackass of myself in front of one of these salesmen wasn’t all that appealing. The first place I looked at a bike I wouldn’t even try it. It wasn’t until the third place I visited that I saw a bike that said, “Hey, man, it’s cool. Ride me.� So I did and, while a tad embarrassed at just how bad I was at it, I sucked it up. The guy did actually laugh a bit and I don’t blame him – I rode the bike to the end of the alley behind the store, stopped, turned the bike around then rode back. I was so afraid of falling I didn’t want to make the turn. The guy chuckled, but said, “Dude, ride a bike for ten minutes and suddenly most of your fears will go away.�
This last guy was so encouraging and the bike was so fun that I made the leap. I ended up buying a hybrid bike – one with practical road uses, but could also be taken off road if I wanted to mix things up a bit. I settled on the Specialized Crosstrail Expert.
For four months now, I’ve been cycling quite a bit. I’ve lost some weight, put on a lot of muscle and generally just loved the experience. I feel better and sleep better. There’s one added benefit that never occurred to me – I think better. Now, they say exercise does that for you, but just going to the gym and lifting weights or walking on the treadmill never did for me. Cycling, on the other hand, does. Unlike going to a gym, with cycling you really have to be focused 100% of the time because if you don’t, you’ll bail. While on the bike I don’t have the luxury of thinking about that difficult call I need to make or all the work I have to do. I have to focus on the bike and on the road ahead, otherwise I’ll die and we really don’t want that to happen. So, as I’m riding the majority of my attention is focused on one task and I’ve found that concentrated focus extends to other parts of my life. I find I can manage the constant distractions in my life far better after cycling and that’s an excellent thing for a guy with a mind like mine that goes at 100 MPH constantly.
Cycling also fulfills that need to get me physically out of the house. I never thought of myself as an outdoors person, but that’s started to change. I love hitting one of the many local bike paths or running errands on my bike. When I want a greater challenge, I can do a little mountain biking by taking my bike into Griffith Park or the fire trails of Topanga Canyon. I’ve even taken my bike with me on some road trips, including a trip this past weekend to Big Bear which was amazing. I never thought of myself as “one with nature,� and while I’ll never be a crunchy granola/hippie/birkenstock type of guy, I do find the nature to be quite enjoyable.
Cycling’s also helped me face a number of fears in my life. Not majorly debilitating ones, but ones that really had no place in my life. We all have a fear of getting hurt – a healthy fear I might add – but mine went deeper. I’d limit what I’d do to avoid the potential of being hurt, even if the chances were slim that I would hurt myself. I also had a big fear of falling, despite the fact I really don’t fall! My first couple of weeks on the bike were both exhilarating and down right frightening, but once you figure out how to conquer those fears, you’re just left with exhilaration. I fell a few times in the beginning, but the simple truth is once you fall, you pick yourself up and keep moving.
There’s another great thing about cycling that didn’t occur to me until I started up. Remember that feeling of exhilaration you had riding a bike when you were 12? That comes back to you. As you get older it becomes harder and harder to just have fun like you did as a kid — and for good reason — but it’s good for your mental health if you can find touchstones in your life that bring you back to those days of youth. It’s not about chasing your childhood — we’re adults here and have to act accordingly to survive — but recapturing those moments of pure fun, those moments of feeling like a 12 year old again, are just good for your mental health.
It’s been four months and my interest in cycling hasn’t waned. In fact, the enthusiasm has grown. July and early August were tough months for me — an enormous amount of work and personal/family challenges made life unbelievably busy and stressful — but I’m back to it and enjoying it immensely. I’ll tell you about my weekend up in Big Bear mountain biking soon — it was so much fun I see myself doing it again in a month or so.
There’s no doubting I live an unusual life. I often find myself in the middle of remarkable situations that are completely unplanned. I’ve had chance run-ins with the Queen of England, found myself almost shaken to death by a Samoan village chief’s eldest son, had two odd experiences with the United States Secret Service, had my life threatened by a Tijuana Churro salesman, etc. The list really does go on and on. Yesterday I had another one of those odd experiences.
I saw a listing for a Dell 2001 FP 20″ flat screen monitor on Craigslist Monday morning. It’s exactly like the monitor I already have. The price was right and it would make for a good second monitor. So I made arrangements to pick it up from a guy in Hollywood. I got out to his store, in a primarily latino neighborhood, but when I walk in I find one man wearing some sort of religious shall over his head, with straps wrapped around both of his arms and standing next to him is a man who’s quite obviously a Rabbi. I felt like I was invading, so I quickly turned around to wait outside until they were done, at which point the Rabbi said, “Sir, no, please don’t leave. He’s just talking with God. He’ll be done in a moment. Please stay.”
So, I did. I stood there in silence as the Rabbi explained his friend was just communicating with God and he’s not to break his concentration at all. The Rabbi went on to explain the significance of the covering and the straps, all while this man continued his prayers. When he was done, they said some prayers together in Hebrew and then undid the straps and removed the shall, at which point I finally met the man whom I was buying the monitor from.
I was then introduced to the Rabbi, who when he heard my name asked if I was Jewish. I explained I was not, but that my Father was raised in a conservative Jewish household and kept kosher until he went off to college. From there, the three of us had a half hour conversation that was just fascinating. It turns out this Rabbi’s father is the man behind the Chabad festivals, the annual Jewish money raising telethon’s that air all over the country, featuring rapping Rabbi’s and religious men jumping around, having a grand ol’ time. I’ve actually sat and watched this telethon a number of times because it’s highly entertaining – these deeply religious men, jumping and dancing around like they’re having epileptic seizures.
Shortly thereafter the Rabbi asked what I did and when I told him I run the largest online magazine devoted to the world of comics, it reminded me that the majority of American super heroes were created by Jew’s. Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Spirit, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Hulk — all created by Jews. The only comic to ever win the Pulitzer prize, created by a Jew. He was shocked. I went on to tell him about a wonderful documentary on the life of Will Eisner, one of comics greatest pioneers, and how much growing up in Jewish Ghettos in New York City during the depression played a large part in Eisner’s later creativity. I mentioned the Pulitzer prize winning novel by Michael Chabon, “The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier & Clay,” a book about the fictional early days of the comics industry (based on a lot of very real details) and the role Judaism plays in the early chapters of the book. The Rabbi started taking notes. The conversation moved from there to Jewish traditions and Jewish mysticism, which clearly has a mythology that is reflected in a lot of super hero creations. We spoke about my father and his religion, what Judaism meant to him, about how he felt during WWII (my father avoided fighting in the war since he was in med school, but did get drafted during the Korean War) and on the remarkable story of when my father was a very young boy, four or five I believe, and developed a case of pneumonia that in the 1920s would kill most children. His parents at that time gave him a Hebrew middle name – L’Chaim, which means “To Life.” Overnight his health vastly improved and Hyman became the name for the rest of his life.
It was an unexpected experience, but a welcome one. It was really a very fascinating conversation.
During my trips to New York City the past two years, I’ve come in contact with a lot more Jewish culture than I have in the previous 33 years. I’m not a religious man, I don’t know that I ever will be, but Jewish culture does fascinate me. It’s more than religion – it’s a community. In fact, I know many Jews who are very active in their communities, but really aren’t actively religious. I guess my half-jew side – which doesn’t count in the minds of conservative and Hasidic Jews – keeps trying to break out and take over my life. Little by little it seems to be succeeding.
Oh, and yeah, the monitor is great! Having two 20″ monitors side-by-side is a huge help!
