A Muse's GuideFood, technology, yoga and music. . . is there anything else?

Here is the next instalment of my webcomic reviews as promised. Within this post I am talking about my top 3 webcomics that discuss movies, video-games or media in general. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

As in my previous post review on World of Warcraft webcomics, you will find that my favourite comics will be at the top of the post, with my least favourite at the end. Of course my own personal opinion on webcomics may vary from your own, as I have an odd sense of humour.

Theatre Hopper http://www.theaterhopper.com/

Whenever I am wondering what new movies will be released in theatre this week, or what movies are great or horrible, I go to the Theatre Hopper webcomic. The artist behind this is Tom Brazelton, who has a quirky sense of humour and seems to have a discerning taste in movies.

He draws a weekly webcomic that reviews the current movies in mainstream media. He has created a few characters that ridicule and comment on the various aspects of movies, from their cast, plot lines or even the hype behind them. What really hooked me to reading this comic was Brazelton’s wonderful breakdown of the Twilight Series movies, from Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse. Most recently he has been doing comics about the Scott Pilgrim Movie, which of course amuses me to no end. He highlights the large influx of bandwagon jumpers who now believe they are the “all knowing” sources on everything Scott Pilgrim… Glad to see someone else can attest to this oddity.

It is a highly amusing webcomic, especially if you don’t watch too many commercials or tv and want to still keep up to date on whatever movie is inundating the box offices at the current time.

Rating: 8.5/10 – It has great content, humor and keeps me laughing. Basic art, but that isn’t relevant to the awesomeness of Brazelton’s jabs at silly movies.

And of course, here is my favorite comic that emphasized the complete ridiculousness of the sparkly vampires.

WAH – Woody After Hours http://www.woodyafterhours.com/

This webcomic follows an aspiring late night talk show host, who seems to have the humour of Craig Ferguson and Conan O’Brian. It is an amusing webcomic with decent artwork and updates fairly consistently for a newer comic (which of course makes me actually like it even more). The main character’s name is Woody, and his talk show is Woody After Hours, or WAH for short. His supporting cast include his producer (Isabel) who faithfully attempts to help Woody’s career, Woody’s Camera man (Joseph) who seems to have quite a past and has now settled for Woody’s show, and Woody’s Wife (Renee) who elusively is always working on her laptop.  Other amusing additions to the cast have been the ONE audience member named Timmy, who was kidnapped into watching. Among the debacle of random and somewhat questionable guests on his show, Woody has also reached superstar status for his drunken dancing on Youtube. Of course you will have to read through the comic to see what I mean…

All in all it is a good comic, and worth while reading if you appreciate late night television talk shows. Though if you are searching for a particular comic within the website, it can be difficult since items are not happily tagged. I suggest start from the beginning though – it only started in 2009. There are also various Public Service announcements about life lessons and such that intermix through the storyline, which provide helpful and sarcastic advice. . .

Rating: 7.5/10 – Could be updated more often, and needs some work on the plot-line, but all in all its humorous and great art, and if you like horrible puns, this is your comic.

Another VideoGame Comic http://www.digitalpimponline.com/strips.php?title=avw

While this webcomic doesn’t update half as much as I would hope, it still is worth a read. It has some good artwork, and while the plot-lines are not always continuous, it still provides a satirical look at the video game world. The story-line follows a guy who works for a video-game testing company, and is thus nicknamed Player 2 by his other coworker aptly named Player 1. The characters in this comic don’t just play the games with regular controllers, it contains a fantasy like reality where Player 1 and Player 2 actually immerse themselves into the game. Of course as with any video game, one must have a Damsel in Distress, and within this comic there is a fire-ry red head who goes by the name of Damsel who takes on that role.

This comic is not limited to making fun of specific video game makers, they equally poke fun at old and new games alike, while keeping you engaged as the reader by making the characters relatable. You will see references to Super Mario Bros., Modern Warfare 2, Halo, and many more!

Even most recently, this webcomic took advantage of the Scott Pilgrim mania reaching across the Internet, with a quaint comic that brings to light the various inconsistencies and paradoxes that occur within the Scott Pilgrim book, comic, game, and movie franchise.

Rating: 7.0/10 – Good content and humorous, but due to the inconsistent updates and non-continuous plot-lines it is hard for a reader to keep up.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I read quite a few webcomics, and I plan on posting a few of my favorite ones each week, with a little synopsis. Another interesting fact for the day is that I love playing World of Warcraft. WoW has been one of the best ways for me to deal with days that I have a migraine and can’t concentrate, or on nights that I have insomnia. While I won’t go into detail about my Human Paladin or my Blood Elf Mage, I know there are plenty of other people that are interested in reading webcomics and story lines that cater to the fantasy MMO or RPG style gaming. While there are plenty of sources of satire about World of Warcraft (WoW), and the glitches, format and the rules of the world, I have found that there are three webcomics that I can relate to and often find quite literally ‘Rolling on the Floor Laughing’ funny.

Not to worry if you aren’t a World of Warcraft or Fantasy gamer, I will posting the cute, adorable, geeky, technology and humorous webcomic in the near future.

Cheers, and enjoy

~Deanna

My Favourite World of Warcraft Related Webcomics

Looking For Group http://www.lfgcomic.com/

Have you ever wondered what the life of a character in World of Warcraft, Dungeons and Dragons, or various other fantasy worlds is like? Well within Looking For Group, there is a satirical view of those fantasy worlds. This comic is created and drawn by the Canadians Ryan Sohmer and Lar DeSouza (from Blind Ferret Entertainment). The art is fantastic, as is the storylines and attention to detail. Comics from Blind Ferret Entertainment continually up my expectations of web comics.

Within the webcomic, you follow the main character Cale’anon, who is (what I presume) a blood elf hunter. Other characters include the always amusing antics of Richard (an undead warlock) who loves show-tunes and death, Benny (an orc priestess), Pella (a dwarf warrior), Krunch Bloodrage (tauren). The storyline seems to follow the lives of Horde characters, which can be a helpful introduction to Alliance loving WoW players, as the Horde is not necessarily evil. The characters each have their own quirks and meet their own leveling challenges…

Through the LFG Comic’s storylines, there have been various adventures and antics that have undertones of humor while still keeping the reader engaged within the fantasy world. It has commonly become a source of amusement to me, to read about Richard the warlock’s evil nature conflicting with the more gentle and cute existence of a bunny. Also Hctib Elttil, a odd little red goblin, Tim the troll, and Toyk the Gnome all add to the fun. Basically, if you have ever played a role playing game online, or have ever had a friend that has been obsessed with World of Warcraft, you will likely find this comic a hoot. And aside from the wonderful storylines, you will find a fantastically drawn comic!

Rating: 9/10 – The art is great, the story-line is well thought out & they update quite consistently.

Non-Player-Character (NPC Comic) http://www.npccomic.com/

This is a fabulous comic about the life of a female World of Warcraft gamer named Lisa, her life and her two WoW playing sentient cats who conitnue to be coaxed by a squirrel mocking them from their window. Lisa recently has had to deal with the trials and tribulations of getting a job,and how that interferes with gaming. Meanwhile, Lisa’s cute blue cats Chloe and Bink have been leveling her priest, and also have been making quite a bit of money gold farming. The plot line is full of surprises, mainly due to her cats’ obsession with creating a feline supremacy in the world of Azeroth. This is a great read for anyone ever hooked by WoW gaming, and the difficulties of keeping up gaming with Real Life (RL).

Possible Spoiler: Bink the cat (in my opinion the less adorable natured of the two) has been battling the bulge due to snacking while gaming. Most recently, Lisa has been dealing with the problems of getting kicked out her guild, her cats have been working on a soap opera documenting her arguments with her boyfriend as he knew that her guild was booting her.

This comic has both the geeky World of Warcraft humor that makes me smile, while actually relating real life examples of gaming, and tossing in a side of a fantasy world where cats can actually speak!

Rating: 8/10 – The artwork is well-done, though basic, but the amusing antics of Lisa’s cats, and the relatability to the characters make this webcomic a worthwhile read. It doesn’t update as consitently as other webcomics, though it does have a story-line that is quite memorable.

Gold Coin Comic http://www.goldcoincomics.com/

This comic is done from the stance of an in-game character, and his Healer companion within what seems to be a standard MMORPG game, like World of Warcraft. Their quests are documented, along with the oddities of gaming, and even on occasion have Final Fantasy character cross-overs. If you are a RPG gamer, you will find that this comic will have a few humourous panels that you might be able to relate to. While the art isn’t as well-defined as the previous two comics, the content and plot-lines are amusing, especially in the introduction of NPC’s (Non-player Characters) and how it must be for those poor unfortante individuals stuck perpetually in-game.

Rating: 6.5/10 – This comics is drawn quite basically, and has several humerous parts, though due to its scattered plot-lines and chapter segmentations, it is difficult for most readers to keep up. All in all though, it still is a great comic for any RPG’er, as it has relatable humour. (Also, the ads on the sidebars are really ugly and disturbing at times – I might have given this comic a better rating and chance, but there is only so much I can handle raunchy advertising on a site)

Through the wonders of the internet, the comic book has a way to be shown to the world without the limitations of the traditional paper publication process. Over the past few years I have come to favor the webcomic format over the paper comic book format, this has been especially due to the ability for me to discover new comics easily online, as well as the fact that many webcomics are updated a few times a week. This makes most of my early mornings filled with enjoyable reading on my laptop or iPad, while I sip my tea.

The webcomics I read span from cutesy adorable, to Japanese influence, quirky comics that have detailed character development and plot lines, to plain out geeky (including World of Warcraft, Academic and Robots).  You would be surprised how many fantastic stories have been written via webcomic format!

I have been commonly asked what my favorite webcomics are and why, which has led me realize I should just write a post about it, instead of explaining it in small snippets of twitter or facebook conversation. Over the next little while, I will be writing a little synopsis or review of the various webcomics that I read. Hopefully you will enjoy the comics as much as I have.

Here is the list of my current webcomic reviews – there will be more to come later.

Webcomics: About Movies, TV & Gaming

Webcomics: World of Warcraft

Cheers,

Deanna

Where does one start?! Why would you start?

I have always been a fan of graphic novels and comic books since I was a small child. As I got older, I began to have less and less time to read comics and began reading primarily text-only books. Something was lacking from these books! While they were highly descriptive, and I could immerse myself in my own imagination, I missed the medium of narrative artwork. That was when I discovered that my local library had a collection of graphic novels and comic books. While going to my local comic book and hobbies store is always fun, being able to purchase brand new comics, fresh out of their shipping box, it can be an expensive habit. So the library became a great way to read the fantastic plot-lines of Brian Michael Bendis and Stan Lee while musing over the amazing artwork of Jack Kirby and Mark Bagley. As you can see, I am a bit biased towards the Marvel franchise, but my love of Spider-man, Thor, and the Fantastic Four etc. has been fueled by my ability to access these comics easily and cheaply. Being able to sit down in the sunshine, open a comic book up and start reading is one of the most satisfying things to do, especially when you’ve been reading piles of academic textbooks and journals. The possibilities to immerse oneself in a comic book become endless, as there is a visual element that connects you to the storyline. I highly recommend it.

From my perusing the library stacks for new comics, I have discovered various styles of graphic novels and comics, from Japanese manga to deep and philosophical satire on the human condition. Comic books are not simply Betty and Veronica or Archie, catering only to children. I have found serious graphic novels that have made me contemplate and consider the complexities of politics and even the social systems we live in. Granted I will almost always veer straight back to the Marvel franchise of Superhero comics and the manga-influenced artwork of TOKYOPOP, but I have also found the work by Darkhorse Comics, Viz Media and Image Comics to be great reading as well.

Marvel Comics: The Cornerstone to Comic Books

Now getting started into the Marvel universe of comic books can be extremely daunting. I highly suggest finding your local comic book store, walking in and saying ‘I know nothing about comic books, help me find something!’, and I am pretty sure they will lead you in the right way! You can always go to the comic book store or library and just start with whatever pops out at you too. While many comic book purists will tell you that you have to read the past few decades worth of Spiderman to truly understand his back-story, I am from a different school of thought. With the publication of the Marvel Ultimate line of comics, it is the PERFECT place for any comic book newbie (n00b) to begin. It has a new vision for the plot lines and character stories that gives them a modern spin while not boring you with childish storylines. The Ultimate line of comics by Marvel seem to be aimed at a bit older of a crowd. For the newbie to the comic book world I suggest beginning with two lines of comics. The Ultimate Spiderman series Volume 1 through 5, for the intro to superhero comics and then Eagle: The Making Of An Asian-American President for a more realistic dramatic graphic novel.

I won’t be giving you any spoilers to the two series, but I will tell you that they are fascinating reads, and can allow your mind to imagine a lot more than what television shows spoon feed to the public on cable television. The Ultimate Spiderman series will give you a glimpse not only at the masked genetically altered spider-boy, but you will be introduced to other superheroes such as the Fantastic Four, Captain America, The Avengers etc., as well as government task force, S.H.I.E.L.D. that deals with mutants, while getting a chance to learn about villains such as Sandman, Doctor Octopus, Magneto and more! I especially enjoyed how they have cross-over characters from other Marvel series such as X-Men’s Kitty Pride that become a part of the main storyline. Though while I have never loved Kitty Pride a.k.a. Shadowcat in other series such as the The Uncanny X-Men, her appearance with Peter Parker in the Ultimate Spiderman series doesn’t leave me yelling at my books.

An Introduction to Japanese Style Comics: Manga

The graphic novel Eagle: will provide you with an introduction to a manga hybrid that won’t take you too far out of your comfort level if you normally read political drama novels. I found that within Eagle: The Making Of An Asian-American President, the plot line contains the quirks and hidden undertones of American politics while using the medium of manga-style to communicate to the reader in an adult oriented yet easy to read and titillating format. There are only 5 volumes, and I highly suggest reading them, as you will find that they have many themes that are reminiscent of politics in the 90’s, where some of the characters seem to be representations of Bill Clinton, Al Gore and other various government officials and their families. So if you want a graphic novel that has drama, romance, scandal and undertones of political humor, you will find that within this series.

My Final Words On This

All in all, reading comics and graphic novels is a fulfilling past-time for me that lets me escape from the structured and banal nature of standard print novels. I suggest trying either one of these series out, or even better finding your local comic book and hobby store that will be able to give you a much better scope of the comics/graphic novels that will accommodate your needs, interests and reading requirements.

Cheers

~Deanna

Round 2: Wheat-free Muffins

The next project in the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook that I thought I would attempt would be muffins.  The pictures in the book and the recipe seemed fairly straight forward, and I figured it would be a good recipe to try to adapt to a wheat-free recipe.  The recipe is Blueberry Muffins (click here to get the recipe), though I revised the recipe to be blueberry-less as there were no good local blueberries at the market in the middle of winter-time (I try to limit the distance my groceries travel from to a 250km/155 mile radius when I have the chance).  I revised the recipe to be pumpkin oatmeal muffins instead, using pumpkin puree, oatmeal, molasses and cinnamon in place of blueberries.

Here is what I substituted:

- Instead of regular flour: 1 cup white rice flour and 1 cup corn flour

- Gluten-free Baking Powder (instead of regular baking powder)

- Instead of blueberries: 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree, 1 tsp of cinnamon, 1 cup of oatmeal, 1/4 cup of molasses

As noted in my previous posts, instead of butter to grease my muffin tins, I use extra virgin olive oil and then dust my tins with white rice flour.  Of course you can use butter if you choose, but it is just my personal preference to use olive oil (less cholesterol and seems to work better with gluten-free flours).

When mixing the ingredients in the electric mixer, you may find that mixing for an extra 10 minutes or so will help blend the chunks of oatmeal and accommodate the thickness of the molasses.

Batter and my awesome electric mixing paddle

I found that when cooking the muffins, I needed to cook them for an extra 5-7 minutes to accommodate the extra ingredients. Of course, as with any wheat-free cooking, you will want to keep an eye on your baking in the oven, as dependent on your oven you may need less cooking time.

Upon trying the cooked version of the muffins, they were fluffy and moist, and due to the oatmeal, corn flour and molasses, they had a unique texture.  Keep in mind that these muffins will be a slightly browner color than in the cookbook, as the corn flour and molasses will brown the batter and make it a bit denser.

Muffins Baking in the Oven

All in all, this was a successful baking adventure.  If you decide to make a wheat-free version of these muffins with the blueberries included, I would love to hear about how it went. Hopefully my substitutions and wheat-free trials have been helpful.  See the picture below for my final muffin batch:

Yummy Finished Pumpkin Muffins

Next on Wheat-free baking with the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook… Gingerbread Cookies!

Ciao!

Deanna

Round 1: Wheat-free, Chocolate-free, & Healthier Version of Martha Stewart Baking

The first recipe I tested out in the Martha Stewart  was the Chocolate-Glazed Gingerbread Cakes (found on page 191).  While the recipe seems straight forward I had to reassess how I would tackle it in a wheat-free and chocolate-free way.  As noted in my previous post, I not only have to make food that is wheat-free but also chocolate-free and MSG-free (Don’t want to cause anaphylactic allergies for any loved-ones).  Since I was already adjusting flour and chocolate within this recipe, I didn’t dare attempt to make it vegan too, though I plan in the future to try it out with vegan butter and eggs.

These little fluffy cakes looked absolutely delicious in the cookbook, covered in a chocolate ganache. I assessed the needed ingredients, placed them all out on the counter, and began substituting.  Here are my three substitutions (not bad really):

- gluten-free baking powder (replacing regular baking powder)

- white rice flour (replacing the regular flour)

- carob flour (replacing the chocolate/cocoa in the ganache – p. 387)

Pouring the batter into the tins

In mixing and preparing this recipe, I found that the rice flour needed a bit more mixing than regular flour, which when using an electric mixing bowl is really a piece of cake (mind the pun!). For the sake of using the least amount of dairy as possible in this recipe (as it uses butter), I greased each of the muffin tins using extra virgin olive oil.  This has proved to be a successful form of greasing pans when using rice flour, as butter or non-stick spray seem to be useless on gluten-free products.

Baking time: add 3-5 extra minutes to your baking time, as it will help cook the cakes more thoroughly.

Upon pulling out the muffin tins with the gingerbread cakes fully cooked inside, they smelled amazing.  The only visual difference from the “Martha” cakes was that these little cakes have an indentation in their centres, which once they are flipped over is not noticeable in the least.  Since I planned on putting a warm ganache over these cakes, I figure having a well to hold the yummy sauce could be advantageous.

Fresh Out of the Oven - Had to eat one (oops!)

When making the ganache, I found it useful to heat my carob flour and heavy cream in the microwave beforehand, since organic carob flour doesn’t easily mix with the milk. I found that microwaving for 15 second intervals and then stirring until it was bubbling made it thick and gooey.  (The standard heating it over a stovetop would work just fine too, but will take a little longer.  I tried both ways). I made two batches of ganache: one with the ingredients from the book, and the other one I added a cup of Sweetened Condensed Milk to help thicken and sweeten up the sauce.  Both versions were delicious, but I found the one with condensed milk to be tastier.

Gingerbread Mini-Cake Awaiting Ganache

So all-in-all, the “de-wheatifying” of these gingerbread cakes worked out fantastically.  As for substituting the chocolate for carob – When @nachoman (the guy that is allergic to chocolate) tried out these little morsels fresh out of the oven, he stated “how dare you feed me something so delicious! now I know what I have been missing”.  When a chocolate loving friend ate one, she noted that it was extremely tasty and moist.  So I have to conclude that Round 1 of baking without wheat or chocolate was an absolute success.

Next time on Wheat-free baking from the Martha Stewart Handbook is . . . Muffins!

Ciao!

Deanna

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was going to be trying out different recipes from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook.  Well, after substituting wheat flour for rice flour in a few recipes, I realized that a majority of the recipes in the cookbook are able to be wheat-free and yummy at the same time!

Now keep in mind, that with cooking in general, my kitchen is completely chocolate-free due to deadly allergies to cocoa in our household.  Not only did I substitute all wheat products with rice flour or corn flour, but I also substituted all chocolate ingredients in the recipes with carob flour and carob chips.  Trust me, it is not an easy task when used to making delicious desserts with chocolate.  All in all it worked out.

Sometime in the next couple days, between reading papers, students and life in general, I will be posting a couple of my favorite recipes and how I made them.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Ciao!

Deanna

I was sitting with my mother today, reading through children’s books (for early learning of the alphabet). As we flipped through the pages of The Walt Disney book “Learning the Alphabet A through Z – Learn to Read” we came across many great Disney characters.

We got through letters, A, B, C, and D, on the first 2 pages, and thought the book was quite quaint and innocent. Until we got to the Letter F.

Just thought it was necessary to post this amusing children’s book. Though I wonder what a elementary classroom these days would do if they got their hands on this book. . . Free reign to say “F” words?

Cheers,
Deanna

Over the past year,  I have spent more than my fair share of waiting in doctor’s offices and medical waiting rooms.  While it is one of the most tedious things (waiting for an appointment), it is a necessary evil of the medical world.  When visiting a specialist, they typically book their initial appointments into 20-30 minute time blocks (or so I presume from the receptionist’s little scheduling book). Somehow though, either due to chatty patients or patients with too many problems (I am guilty of both of these things), the doctor is always behind schedule.

What makes  my visit to the doctor less tiring and frustrating tends to be the doctor’s office waiting room.  There are different little details that all make a difference in my “waiting” experience. I have noticed something in these doctor’s offices and medical waiting rooms, there seems to be four distinct types of waiting rooms.  I have listed them in order of peacefulness and making my day a little better.

The Kid & Senior Friendly:

There is a giant area or box of toys for the children to play with, there are kids books everywhere.  A tonka truck sits in the middle of the aisles where you are trying to walk, and you nearly every time step right on it and go tripping and falling (well at least that always happens to me).  There are sniffling, crying, screaming children everywhere (the poor things are sick, and just dont know why! Its heartbreaking).  While there are various ages of adults also waiting in the sitting area with you, you will notice the abundance of seniors, with canes, walkers or scooters.  Unfortunately since it is usually a cramped waiting room, the poor unsuspecting seniors have to finagle their way through the maze of children on the ground and the children’s toys that get stuck underneath their mobilty scooter or walker. 

While many of the seniors are happy to see the cheerful smiling faces of children, I am pretty sure that they don’t appreciate it when that same giggling child sneezes in their face. I have watched this happen time and time again.  Mixed in with all of this, is an assortment of people of all ages and illnesses.  The magazines are typically family oriented or child oriented, with tattered pages and at least 2 years out of date. All in all, these waiting rooms are not half bad, though I always feel like I walk out of there with a new flu or cold and a headache.

The Communal:

The interesting thing about many new specialists and medical professionals is that when starting up their practice, they need a space to place their office.  Likely due to the budgetary aspects, what ends up happening is they set up their practice in a communal office or room. This type of waiting room serves as a holding area for multiple doctors, dentists, and other medical practitioners.  I have also seen a variety of acupuncturists, tanning salons, immunization clinics and travel centers sharing their waiting room with a doctor.  This makes for an eclectic mix of individuals waiting for their appointments.  It becomes a game of guessing who is waiting for what office, and what illness, problem or need they have. The seats are never comfortable, and it always smells like a brand new waiting room for some reason, sterile and lacking books and magazines.  The depletion of magazines is most likely due to visitors leaving with the magazine they were reading, as there is no receptionist close by to notice their misdemeanor.

The communal waiting room typically has a bit more room than a regular medical practice, though I always end up sitting beside the coughing patient and thinking to myself, “I wonder what they are here for. . . ? Should I move over a couple seats?” and lo-and-behold they get called into the Immunization and TB testing clinic. . .

The “Has Not Changed Since the 70’s”:

We all know this type of waiting room, most of our own family doctors waiting rooms are like this.  The orange coloured chairs that seem to have been bought in the 1960’s, the oak table with various issues of Highlights for Kids (from 10 years ago), the pile of disheveled magazines that haven’t been replaced since you first started going to this doctor 20 years ago, and of course the “piece de résistance” the complete collection of Readers Digests scattered throughout the office.  This type of waiting room has a comfortable familiar feel to it, as you know the 70 year old receptionist “Blanche” by name, the walls have the same patterned faded wall-paper from the 70’s and you know that you may even recognize some of the other patients in the office from visit to visit.

This type of office, while not that entertaining or boisterous, gives you a welcoming expectation of the “traditional doctor with stethoscope and white lab coat” calling you into his office to talk to you about your family (which of course he knows everyone’s name).  The waiting room that feels like it is stuck in the 70’s never really changes, it just gets the occasional new (2 year old) magazine every once in a while.

The High-Brow Spa-like Fancy:

Ah! This is by far my favourite type of waiting room.  There is a spa-like feel when you open the door to this office, it feels like you have walked in to a Amazon rainforest with chirping birds, waterfalls and peaceful harp music being plucked by angels.  The receptionist is always young and attractive, with a headset glowing blue on her head, she gives you an acknowledging nod that almost seems to say “Welcome and Namaste”.  There are comfortable chairs to sit on, with ample room separating you from other patients. There is a watercooler carefully disguised as a rock fountain in the corner, where fresh purified, ionized etc. chilled water pours out of the tap.  The receptionist will offer you a cup of that cold fresh water with a slice of lemon (of course giving you an actual wine glass of water) or offers you a cup of freshly brewed green-rooibos tea picked from the hilltops of somewhere in Nepal.

You sit down to sip your water or tea, and look down at the beautifully hand carved table beside you to find this month’s issue of every magazine under the sun.  There are fresh white and yellow flowers carefully placed throughout the office.  This peaceful and serene waiting room almost seems like a little piece of heaven, you almost are sad to have to get up for your appointment. The waiting room never seems packed, and no one talks above a gentle soothing whisper it seems.  This waiting room style seems perfect and serene, until a mother comes in with a screaming child, you feel sorry for her as her poor child seems in pain with some illness, yet the soothing calming sounds of the room and the comfortable chairs seem to calm the child’s cries to a gentle whimper, and by the time it is their turn for their appointment, the child is asleep.  Ah, this waiting room is the dream. I wish they were all this peaceful.

I am still refining my opinion of the four styles of waiting rooms, but so far it seems that these are the categories I have run into. If only every doctor’s office I went to had the soothing peaceful tranquility feel, though I am just happy these days to actually have an appointment within the next 3 months at all, so I will take what I can get.

Ciao

Deanna