Am I a videophile?

One of the new words at Word Spy is videophilia which is defined to be "A sedentary lifestyle focused on screen-based activities, particularly television, the Internet, and video games." Except for the video games part, it sure sounds like me. (I rarely read the local newspapers either--they are more like tabloids given their sensational content--preferring to read news on the web.) It's as if I have some kind of disorder... Okay. Time to quit and get back to work--away from my laptop, that is.

Relief at last

For the first time in six days my nose is back to normal and hasn't "misbehaved" for a whole day. I'm not sure now exactly if it was a cold I had or some allergic reaction. If the latter, it could be due to the heat (it began to get really hot and muggy this week) and my body has finally adjusted to the temperature change. Or I was reacting to the smell of paint at the office.

Sick pet

We here at home are worried about our pet cat. She hasn't been eating well these past few days and hasn't been her usual active self. She used to try to slip in through the kitchen door to get to the garbage and used to follow my father around the garden when he waters the plants in the afternoon. All she does now is stay under our Honda Civic in the driveway.

Cold performance

I'm listening to one of my favorite piano concertos, Mozart's well-known Piano Concerto No. 20 in d which is playing over WETA 90.9 FM Internet radio. And I'm sorry to say that I'm irritated by the interpretation. It's so dry and mechanical and devoid of any passion. For a while I wonder if it is Lang Lang. I look up who the pianist is and am not surprised to find that it is another Chinese (American-born), a pianist named Derek Han. A website says that his "... compelling playing has dazzled audiences across five continents." In a way, I have to agree. If I take this recording of Mozart's piano concerto as a representative of his playing, I do believe it dazzles audiences but will probably leave them just as unmoved as I was.