Elvis Ripley Dot Com {b}

Around the end of November I decided to switch to a vegan diet. No meats, no dairy, no animal products. A couple times in December I ate meat but other than that I have been meat/dairy free since November. I will use this page to update changes I notice and keep track of my progress I suppose.

June 3, 2006
Overall I feel great. Much better than I did last year. My digestion is changing quite a bit. My stomach was always a little sensitive to just about everything but now it is much calmer because I am being more careful with what I eat and because of the physical changes that come from what I eat. I have more energy and sleep much better. My allergies are almost non existent except for a 1 week period which could have been something else. I used to have dark circles under my eyes and those are mostly gone away. My gums and tongue have changed to a much smoother appearance and my teeth feel better.

Those were the general changes but a specific change that stands out is my big change in eyesight. My vision was always sharp and glasses free before but now everything is so much clearer and more vibrant. It isn't that my vision is sharper it it would be better to describe it like an eye cloud has been taken away if that didn't also imply a change in sharpness. Color isn't just the difference but my spacial perspective has also changed. The distance between objects seems larger and everything seems so much more open. It isn't just a feeling, everything really does look larger and more open. I fasted for a few days, only drinking green juice. During those days my eyesight got even more extreme. When I began eating again it reverted a little bit but not all the way to where it was before. I will probably try fasting a few more times in the next couple months and try to push it even farther.

June 27, 2006
A few days ago I felt something open in my abdomen. It felt like whatever it was opened from an inch wide to 6 to 7 inches wide. It would be like if you had been breathing through a straw your whole life and then it was just taken away some day. Unlike breathing through a straw I have no idea what opened up or what if anything is better now. I am not sure if it is still open, I never felt it close. I also could not feel this area before or more than a few minutes after the opening. I may have become used to it or maybe something else. It was a startling experience that also felt very natural.

It was located about half way between my navel and the bottom of my ribs in the center of my body. It also was an vertical hole that felt like it was opening to allow more flow in a downward direction. I was sitting down so it could be oriented slightly different but probably not too much.

July 5, 2006
I saw a landscaping truck with tree pieces in the back and I thought they looked delicious. I also saw a watermelon, started picking the seeds out and just eating those.

August 13, 2006
I started to think lower in my body, around my heart instead of in my head. I don't think very much, I am usually totally empty, so I wasn't totally sure what was different and then I realized that “I” was much lower than previously.

Filed under: The Archives , color

I had Dan's monitor here for a few days and was using it connected to his computer but had never put it up on my desk. One day I finally did and got to see what a high end LCD looks like next to an old CRT. WOW! I was floored. The color detail and the brightness were more than I could handle. My CRT looked like there was about ten feet of fog between myself and it. I look at my computer monitor between 2 and 10 hours a day depending on what I am up to. I work at home when I can which is good for me because it is so nice here and it is good for everyone else because I get about 10 times the work done. Working with a CRT is hard because it is low resolution and it is rough on your eyes and because the display is so small. Small as in the largest monitor available when I got it. 21″ Baby!
So anyway I wanted to get a new Apple display and then I searched around and saw which LCD panels Apple uses. They use Samsung for a few. So then I started thinking that Samsung comes out with new displays all the time so there is probably a new version of the same kind of display. I look all around and the best display I could find was this display. It has a great color range and contrast and a super quick pixel response time. Then I checked out the Samsung stuff and almost everything was Korea only which is how Samsung does it. After looking through all that I saw that they sold their panels to Dell who then put them in a Dell wrapper and sold them to the public for not much more than they pay for them. So I thought that was pretty cool.
The price on the Dell site was heavily discounted and I called to see if the display was in stock and when I could receive it. When I called I asked if there were any in stock and the person on the other end said, “Do you need it quickly?” I said, “Yes.” They looked and the estimated ship date was 2-5 days and then there would be shipping time. They then told me that because I called they would take 10% more off the price so I went for it. That was on a Sunday at about 8 o'clock. On Tuesday I checked the status of the order and it was on a truck for delivery in Tulsa. I received it Tuesday around noon. So it took about 40 hours to get an awesome display at 60% off with a 2-5 day ship time. Dell is so crazy.

Filed under: The Archives , color

A quick light bulb test for everyone. Light is important if you are doing stuff. So here is the test.

Verilux Natural Spectrum
This is the bulb that I use all through the house right now. It is great.

Philips Halogená Brilliant Crystal
It was very nice. It seemed to sparkle as it flowed through the air. This is the light bulb used in the 2006 ball that is going to drop in New York later on tonight.

Philips Halogená Classic
It sizzzuckssssss about as much as a regular bulb except you get more light and about 2 years of life.

Philips Halogená Natural Light Plus
Very very good bulb. It has very accurate color and is very pleasing to the eye. It last for about 2 years like the other Philips Halogená bulbs and is tiny.

0 Burns, 1 Broken Bulb

Filed under: The Archives , color

Carrots, Wheat Grass, Celery, Pears, Garlic, Ginger, Apples, Lemons. Pure delicious. Actually it doesn't taste super great but it is super good for you and like eating vegetables for 20 hours straight but with the amount of energy it takes to digest for 20 minutes. WAHA! Super awesome.

Filed under: The Archives , color

The WhiBal is a great product for using raw for you digital camera or for any area where accurate color is important. It is everything this website promises and more. It feels tough and is super durable. Go for it!
The great Luminous Landscape did a review of the WhiBal but the best way to get information about the WhiBal is to watch the video manual. The link is in the top right corner of the WhiBal homepage.


The second image is zoomable.

Filed under: The Archives , color