July 21, 2003
The Bangles It Is
I got a surprise call from my darling Ken who abandoned me in the big city by myself last December. He moved down to La-la-land, and we've been maintaining an unintentional radio silence for this whole time. He broke it and called me, first on Friday but due to the abhorrent lack of cellular coverage in the building I work in, we could not chat, and then on Sunday night where the reception was divine and the conversation inspired. So in order to satisfy two needs at once, I have decided to splurge and visit him in August. I will be attending the Bangles' concert at the House of Blues on 8 August, and then I will spend the rest of the weekend with Ken and Paul. I'm so very excited for this. I have something worthwhile to look forward to, and on top of that, I have a road trip to plan for!! It's a short road trip, but hey, I'll take it! Anything to put me on America's highways with America's truck drivers. Woo the fuck hoo!!!
And then, I open the mailbox at work this morning to find the definition of impulsive shopping. I ordered—and don't call me a geek quite yet...there's more to come—t-shirts from the London Museum of Transport which have the tube signs of some of the tube stops in London. I would venture to say that they are my favorite tube stops, but that would just put the geek in Michael right there, and I'm still not done yet. I think I followed a link from somewhere that ended up at the museum, and when I saw the "make your own," I couldn't resist. I'm more of an anglophile than some Britons I'd offer. Anyway, if you see someone sporting a brilliant white t-shirt from Earls Court, that would be me. 
So, the coup de grâce on the geek thing was my impulse this weekend to click the "Buy It Now" button on an eBay auction. Yes, I am a sucker for eBay, and well, it's a long story. I'm pretty sure I've said it all here, too. For some reason, I had it in my head to get a Powerbook. I don't know why. It was just a crazy notion, like destiny wanted me to have it or something. Maybe I'll end up doing good with it, I don't know. I went in search of a few auctions, and I found one that I liked. I put a bid in for the machine, and I was the high bidder for about twenty-four hours. Then I got nervous. No one wanted to challenge me? Maybe it was a bad idea. I started getting second thoughts. And then, I was outbid...and let down. I had gotten used to the idea of toting around my little Apple Powerhouse, and then it went away. Poof.
Not to be beaten, I talked to Roommate to get a second opinion, and he suggested that I go for it. It would be a new step in my development or something. I'm not sure what he meant, but whatever. Saturday morning I went looking for a new auction for the Pismo, and sure enough, I found one for a reasonable price, buy it now and everything and there you go, I'm salivating as I wait for it to make its way up the coast. That's the geek in me. I love computers. I'm not really interested in buying the Titanium Powerbook, or one of the cute 12" iBooks. I love the black case of the Pismo with the Apple logo on the cover that lights up when the machine is on. I love the fact that it's the same one that Carrie Bradshaw uses when she types out her "Sex and the City" column. I love the slim case, the bronze keyboard, the installed Airport card!!!!! Oy vey iz mir. What have I done? Why do I need another computer? "It'll be fun! Think of the places you can go with your portable computer. Think of the things you can do." So, the check's in the mail, and I'm sitting and waiting.
And that's all.
