I accidentally tuned into the new Care Bears cartoon, the one with all the computer-based graphics. Nad is a huge Care Bears fan, so I asked her if she was interested in watching it. She had a look of disgust on her face when she said, “No, I’m not going to like it.”

“Why not?” I replied. Her response is below:

“They aren’t going to have Birthday Bear. They cut out the one bear that everyone has. Not everyone has a tender heart. Not everyone likes to share. God knows there isn’t a funshine. But they cut out the one fucking thing that everyone has, a birthday.”

Nad takes her Care Bears seriously.

A DAP is a Digitial Audio Player, by the way. That’s the correct term for Zens, iPods, and other such MP3 players.

I feel like I made the wrong choice when I bought the Creative Zen MicroPhoto late last year. I got an astounding deal on it, paying $187 for a $249 player, so I’m not complaining about the price. The issue is that I am completely hooked on podcasts and videocasts. Of course, the Micro has no issue with podcasts, but videocasts are impossible to play on the thing. Using Windows Media Player to get podcasts is also a challenge, forcing me to run other apps like Juice or Zencast to subscribe to them. I use the former currently, and it does its job admirably. The latter… well, I just don’t like it.
But, if I bought an Apple iPod with video, then the whole process would be streamlined. Using the iTunes Music Store to find podcasts and videocasts is very easy, almost fun.

The real motivating factor for me is the video. While at work, I get bored of listening to the same music over and over again. I enjoy watching dl.tv’s videocast, but I have to rearrange my windows to accommodate it because of iTune’s inexplicable inability to keep video windows on top of all other windows, like Windows Media Player allows you to do. Also, the iPod has an optional dock that would allow me to stand the thing up next to my monitor, so that I don’t have to shuffle my windows. Of course, an iPod would let me watch the videocasts during the commute home.

The Creative Zen Vision:M is coming out soon, if not out already. That would handle my video issue, but I’d still have to deal with synching the podcasts and videocasts using one of the two programs I mentioned earlier.

I’m not sure just yet if I made the right choice or not. I’d like to try out someone’s iPod for a week; that would help me determine if I did.

Will and I were involved in a minor accident with Hotaru this morning. While waiting to turn on to Route 1, I noticed a patch of ice and snow and tried to avoid it. I recall getting ready to turn, stalling, trying to turn Taru back on and then the bump. It was quite forceful and knocked us into Route 1 a bit. Luckily, I was able to put Taru in neutral and roll her back out of harms way. The woman in the Toyota Sienna was startled and very apologetic. There was a little indentation and some paint in Taru’s bumper, but otherwise no major damage. The woman said she tried to stop, but slid on some ice. Anything is possible given the time of day and the conditions of the accident. We decided not to exchange information because no one was hurt and there was very little damage. I really wish they would clean that area better - as you approach Route 1, there is a downhill grade leading to a very busy roadway. I am sure our accident was not the first at that stop sign following this storm.
It is several hours later and it still bothers me. Despite the damage being minor, I am going to repair Taru’s bumper because I don’t need any reminders of what happened today.