I checked my iTunes the other day and noticed that I have over SEVEN DAYS WORTH of podcasts in my library. Yes, I am addicted (some of my favorites are here, here, and here). Between taking the train for no less than 1 hour a day, running half an hour or so, and just wanting to block out the white noise that is the tourist/locust invasion of DC, my earphones are more valuable to me than a methadone drip is to 7 percent of the population of Guam.

I've already gone through four sets of headphones this year. I've gone from over-the-ear headsets with traditional foam/cloth coverings, to earbuds, to full-fledged 70's style headsets. But when my cheapo earbuds conked out on me last week I thought all hope was lost. For some reason, one side of the headset loses sound at some point and I have to replace them.

Well, I happened to be paying a hit man to kill me my credit card bill the other day and I noticed that I had somehow racked up 8,000 points, I guess for my noble willingness to keep paying the monthly minimum and not declare bankruptcy. Looking through the rewards list I discovered a listing for Sharper Image's Noise Reduction Earbuds which I ordered promptly.

These earbuds just arrived today and let me just say that they have quite possibly changed my life. If you never thought that you could get quality from two corn kernel sized foam inserts connected to a box streaming pitiful AAC-quality audio, try this pair and get back to me. I plugged these into my ears for the first time at my metro stop and turned on Money Mark's most recent album and I could barely hear the train coming. I swear if I were standing on the tracks themselves I wouldn't have heard it as it came towards me and flattened my body.

I have yet to give them the sweat test - where I go running with them in my ears to see if the sweat generated by my lobes lubricates them enough to knock them out. But I can say that the texture of the foam gives me hope - it is absorbent, whereas my previous pair was resistant. Yes, this will result in sweaty buds, but hey, I'm not going to let someone else use them.

Thank you again Sharper Image for improving the quality of life in the Northern Hemisphere by yet another micrometer.

Labels: corn kernel, earphones, iPod, Money Mark, sharper image., sweat