The price of blindness

in

canon june08 571
If you've spent $100 on a pair of jeans or shoes, put your hand up.

If you've spent $150, keep it up.

If you've spent $200, WTF?

Would you spend that much on glasses? Not sunglasses, just plain glasses.

My vision insurance allows me to buy new frames every two years. It's been at least that long since I bought my brown Oakley frames, and I splurged on some black Dolce&Gabbana frames on Wednesday. The total cost with lenses, anti-glare coating, non-scratch material, etc., was a about $250. I spent the same amount on my Oakley glasses last time.

I made dinner that night for Amanda and Moos and excitedly told them about my purchase. Amanda replied, "What!? I bought all of my glasses at Wal-Mart for like $10."

The PR person that I am, I tried spinning the numbers. "Well, I only have two pairs of glasses now and you have at least double that!" The counter-argument didn't hold.

The question: Are glasses an accessory or necessity?

Amanda rotates through her glasses based upon what she's wearing, treating glasses as an accessory. In contrast, I wear the same pair every day and basically elevate my glasses to being a part of my face.

She's not the type of person to buy uber expensive jeans or shoes, and neither am I, but she'll spend more on jeans or shoes than glasses, and that's where we differ. (While denim is the culture uniform, when did it become so normalized to spend a car payment on it?)

Glasses are corrective, like hearing aids. They just so happen to be more stylish. Necessity first, accessory second, right? Where does your price threshold stop for buying glasses, and how does that compare to the less necessary attire (jeans, shoes, etc.)?

Time ain't on my side

in

When I woke up this morning, I looked across at my bookshelf and saw a book title that reflects my current circumstance: Killing Yourself to Live (by Chuck Klosterman).

Sometime between the hours of 5 a.m. and 1 a.m. I've been absorbed with some combination of work, school and real estate.

For example, on Tuesday:

  • Woke up at 5 a.m. and worked on a research paper.
  • Got to the office at 9 a.m. and spent time before lunch faxing papers for the mortgage lender and talking to my agent.
  • Worked until 5 p.m.
  • Was in class from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
  • Worked from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.

WTF. The schedule doesn't bother me so much as what I've been missing out on. This includes:

  • Spending time with Amanda.
  • Skiing.
  • Sleeping.
  • Exercising.
  • Photography.
  • Band practice.
  • Connecting to the outside world.
  • Sleeping.

The real estate process has been long, but I hope to have the house soon. We had inspections yesterday morning and found some issues that we need to resolve with the seller, so we're back to the negotiating table. This UW quarter from hell will be over mid-March. I know relief is on the way, but I feel like a New Orlean relying on FEMA right now -- relief ain't coming soon enough and time ain't on my side.

I'd try to help myself, but I have zero time to pick up Klosterman's book to learn how this story is supposed to end.

Feeling the paper weight

in

I'm surrounded by paper right now. Literally.

I've been digging through files, trying to sort out what's worth keeping and what I need to toss. This is formally the beginning of my packing up and getting ready for my next move. With the house inspection on Wednesday, I'm feeling the pressure to get organized. It's been a challenge considering work and school these past couple weeks.

I should do this more often. I can't believe how much has happened these last few years. I found my 2004 W-2s. I made $5,500 that year. That's hilarious.

I found letters of recommendation from my high school teachers, my Letterman certificates for soccer, the title and sale certificate for The Green Hornet, car insurance cards that apparently never made it into The Green Hornet.

I found brochures from the National Italian American Conference I attended in New York, pages upon pages of student loan updates, voter registration cards for Pierce, King AND Whatcom counties.

I found copies of WWU newspapers and magazines that I wrote articles for, my letter of acceptance into the WWU journalism program, my GRE scores, my SAT scores and my letter of acceptance into the UW. Some documents aren't so old.

I found my undergraduate, senior thesis research paper, all 28 pages of it with 131 citations. It seemed monstrous at the time and took all quarter to complete. I have a 30-page paper to complete in two weeks and wrote half of it over the weekend. Perspective is everything.

The thesis was called "Reporting Guantanamo: How The New York Times Informed the Public About the Injustices at America's Terrorist Jail, Sept. 11, 2001 - March 1, 2005." Bold title, huh? I scored a perfect 200, and my professor Lyle Harris commented, "Well argued and thoughtfully supported. You show insight into a major issue of a democracy."

It's amazing that just 3.5 years later Guantanamo is closing and my thesis is looking antiquated. I suppose it is.