7 August 2010

The U.P. LBD: $150

I'm back in the US of A, and my temporary drought of inspirational shit that I want to buy but am not has been remedied, and in spades. Our country may lack in some areas - culture, charisma, production of svelte children - but temptation-peddling is not one of them. Not a day has passed without some mental battle being waged between my inner consumer and my not-yet-concretely-employed guilt center. Daily, I'm fairly certain that everything would be okay if I just caved in a bought some beer, a hybrid car, a $7 loaf of artisanal whole grain bread, and some spunky new clothes. Which brings us to the UP LBD. There's this brilliant project, where a lovely woman wore the same style of dress  (I think she had 7 identical ones) every day for a year, only changing the accessories and other clothing pieces she jazzed it up with. The over-arching idea being to deliver a swift kick in the nuts to disposable, non-sustainable fashion, and to raise a bunch of money for kids to go to school in India. Great, right? I adore this idea, partly because of the sustainability bit, but mainly because the fashion-impaired part of me really, really likes the idea of having a very defined framework to buy clothes and dress within. I tend to be much more creative when I've got some constraints. Also, the vast majority of my current wardrobe is really sad and ratty-looking, and if I'm going to be teaching come September (some serious wood-knocking, here), I'm going to need some wardrobe CPR. See how nice that all works out? Nose-thumbing to the fashion industry, a hip new look, presentable for the children? But the catch: The UP LBD (The Uniform Project Little Black Dress, as best as I can figure) will set me back one hundred and fifty bones, and I'm fairly sure that my hoo-hah shan't be covered by it's microscopic design. 

Curses! Off to find a seamstress. Or dust off my sewing machine and learn how to make a buttonhole.

21 April 2010

Geek Desk: $799

While dorking around reading the New York Times online before they ruin everything and start charging me to look at their website, I read an article about how sitting on one's ass all day long whilst working greatens the possibility that one's ass shall grow large. And also make one unhealthy. I am very excited that scientists are devoting their time to confirm my personal ass' findings, that indeed, as I've sat, planning classes, making grade-tracking spreadsheets, designing class materials, cute certificates of completion and doing other sit-down administrative activities,  that my ass has grown larger. 

So then, imagine my ass' glee when a week later, the very same New York Times features an article about a new generation of desks that you can raise or lower as the day goes on. Start standing, keep your booty svelte, and flick a switch to lower it later when you'd like to sit. I'm  really, non-facetiously, excited about this idea. Granted, I would never in a billion years drop eight hundred dollars on a desk, but I'm pretty sure that I could put those electronics and fabricating for motion classes I took back in the day, and and make one my damn self. Win!

7 April 2010

Basketbin: $48

I'm a composting failure. We have a pile, but it's usually raided by the dogs, and the container that I collect scraps in before taking them out to to the dog-offering pile tends to get left to ferment and go squishy and slimy. It lurks under the sink, threatening all with the vile smells that might escape should someone think of emptying it. 

This is the miracle garbage can that could save me. See the little container that hangs inside? With a top an everything? It's dishwasher safe, and easy to remove for taking a scenic stroll to the compost pile, where your well-behaved dogs gaze upon you encouragingly with expressions showing that they would never dream of dragging your scraps all over the yard for their leisurely consumption. Right before they magically poop out the fifty dollars the miracle garbage can costs.

18 March 2010

Evil Eye Key Chain: $8.95

 

Since watching Zorba the Greek the other night I've been in a Greek-y kind of mood. I made the sadly Mexican-ized version of my favorite Orzo with Feta, Tomato and Spinach Salad today (subbing in small pasta shells for orzo, cotija for feta, and some sort of weird yellow orange citrus thing for lemon zest, but it was close enough). I think an evil eye accessory of some sort would top off the mood well. Tu-su!

17 March 2010

Adjustable Handlebar Mustache Ring: $8

In honor of the renewal of spring and Saint Patrick's Day and whatever other cause you'd like to throw in there, I'm coming clean and revising my concept. Because really now, projects born from New Year's resolutions are about productivity and creation and self-improvement, and not so much about feeling like a gigantic failure for being two and a half weeks behind in the drawing department. Because, I've got to admit, things happen. Visitors come to town, long weekends are spent at the beach, English schools need tending to. And I would like to stop beating myself up for periodically having a life, and just enjoy my moments as they come. Also, it feels a little off-kilter with the intent of the project to be racking my brain and searching the interwebs for something I could want, and then come to terms with wanting it in my post-consumerist way. What the hell am I saying? I'm still drawing shit I want that I'm not buying, just maybe not every single day. Tah dah! 

Oh, and get a load of that ring, huh? If you can't grow an ironic handlebar mustache of your own, now your ring finger can. What can't humanity do?

20 February 2010

Stripey Socks: 12 pounds (for real?)

I like stripey socks. I would like some new ones. I'll probably indulge and buy myself some cheap-o ones while in the north, but definitely no fancy-pancy 12 pound British ones like I drew here.

19 February 2010

Cute Jacket: $37.95

I have a feeling that I never look completely put-together, try as I may (or may not, most of the time). It may be due in part to the percentage of my wardrobe that is made up of t-shirt and sneakers, but I think that a cute little jacket like this on top of a t-shirt, with some jeans and sneakers, would maybe work? Somebody nominate me for What Not To Wear, already, and help a girl out. 

18 February 2010

Pedicure: $25

I'm not much of a girly girl, but man, I love me a good pedicure. It occurs to me that I actually probably wouldn't know a really good pedicure if it walked up to me and asked me out to dinner, as I've been partial to the slightly ghetto-fabulous pedicures given at Chicago Nails, featuring nice Vietnamese ladies that I imagine are chattering to each other about the embarrassing hairiness of my toes while wielding those razor thingies that shave off callouses and leave your feet oh-so-soft but I think are technically illegal now. Something about hepatitis. Anyhoo, I've found nothing quite as glorious to do after a particularly harrowing shift waiting tables on the Mag Mile, than to get a Chicago Nails pedicure, then walk carefully over to Pippen's for a pint or two of Newcastle in dive bar heaven.

17 February 2010

 

Veggie Bacon: $5

Vegetarians fall into two camps re: meat substitutes, and when I was one, I fell distinctly into the group of those who happily made fake bologna sandwiches, although I drew the line at putting soy cheese on them. And now, as a reluctant omnivore, I still crave the crispy, salty, non-pork goodness of the Morningstar Farm Bacon-esque Strips.

16 February 2010

Spicy Tuna Roll: $5

I'm on an Asian food craving kick, apparently. There is a lot of sushi here, but unfortunately it's not so hot, and tends to be overpriced. Luis bought a "Sushi For Dummies" book a while back, so we make it for ourselves more often than we eat it out. However, the only fish we've ever used was some white fish, bought in the typical Mexican-small-town fashion, from Luis' cousin with a fish farm. It was fresh, but it wasn't no spicy tuna.

15 February 2010

 

Red Bean Mochi: $7

One of the things I really, really miss about my apartment in Logan Square was that is was a short bike ride up Kimball to the magical Asian food mart, Chicago Foods.  I got turned on to lots of foods that I have no idea what they're called, due to the fact that like 80% of the signage was in a language that wasn't English. They had the cheapest tofu in town, the best heat n' eat udon soup mixes, and a whole freezer case full of dumplings and potstickers, and these magical treats, mochi. They're rice dough wrapped around sweet red bean paste, and although I'd best describe their texture as maybe what biting into a zombie might feel like, they're fantastically delicious. And I can't seem to find anything remotely like them in Mexico.

14 February 2010

Monster Farting Love Facebook "gift": $2

So it was my friend Shoshanna's birthday, and I was writing her a long-distance facebook birthday message, because despite the fact that we've celebrated a decade of birthdays at a grand combined bash over the years, we haven't managed to be in same country for our birthdays in the last 4. When I saw that facebook was offering this beauty as an add-on to my birthday wishes, I thought nothing would better express my loving and frustrated sentiments about us celebrating our birthdays in separate locales yet again. And then facebook wanted me to give them actual money to send a virtual gift. And I told facebook to shove it. 

Happy birthdays to us, Shosh!

13 February 2010

Box of Cinnamon Life: $5

 

Man, oh, man, I am behind in my drawings. Partially due to some action-packed weekends, having my birthday, having smog throat (tm), and being on the verge of starting a new quarter at school. Excuses - BAH. I'm pretty sure a groovy, 70s-style box (just like my ancient self remembers them) of Cinnamon Life could help me power through all my troubles.

11 February 2010

Cadbury Creme Egg: 89 cents each

Today while eating a piece of Dove Revitalize, some sort of dark, miracle vitamin-laden chocolate (god bless the Mexican dollar store and the dark-chocolate treasures hidden within), I received the fortune "Enjoy the small things in life that bring you joy". For me, Cadbury Creme Eggs are those small things, and I believe that the passing of Mardi Gras brings open season on joy. Sadly, I'm on the wrong side of the Rio Grande to get in on the happiness. Geography can't stop the fact, though, that I have the best grandma in the universe, who always buys me a few boxes and socks them away in her freezer until the next time she sees me.

10 February 2010

Banjo: $150

I've always loved the sound of the banjo, probably from listening to my Muppet Movie record too many times as a kid. The Rainbow Connection still makes me tear up more often than not. Anyhoo, I'd love to get me a banjo, take some classes, and go on a world busking banjo tour.

9 February 2010

Pee-Wee Abstinence Ring: $20

It's possible that one might need to be, well, abstinent to think about wearing an abstinence ring, but I think I'm pure enough in heart for Pee-Wee to approve. And the fact that it's pewter with Swarovski Crystals (whatever those may be)? Just icing on the cake, baby.

8 February 2010

Weird Little Rubbery Chicken: $10 pesos

One of the glories of Mexico is that anything you'll possibly need, or could never even conceive of a notion of needing, will find it's way to you with little or no effort on your part. You can sit in your house, and a guy carrying two 12-foot ladders will walk past. "Hey, buddy, need a ladder?" Or sit in your car at a light in Guadalajara, and you'll have the option of getting your windows washed, recharging the balance on your cell phone, buying communion wafer scraps for snacking, a bottle of water to wash them down, and maybe getting your hands on a mini-punching bag and gloves to get your 3 year-old off to a good start. Among other possibilities. 

So it didn't surprise me even a little when, while sitting on the beach, a guy walks us to us with a rack of these totally bizarre little jiggly rubber chickens for sale. Not your typical rubber chicken, but his much smaller and squishier cousin. I'm thinking, "Of course! The only thing lacking from my current beach experience is some tiny poultry!" Except for, of course, my wallet, which was in the car.

7 February 2010

 

Bike Gear Clock: $39

We have a bit of a curse of the clocks right now; out of the 5 clocks we've got at the school, we can only manage to keep two of them keeping something approximating the correct time, vigilant battery recharging and changing be damned. Add to that the still lucky kitty clock at the house, plus 4 or 5 of Luis' watches with kaput batteries, and we've got a downright epidemic. I'm thinking maybe the whole buying-clocks-from-the-dollar-store- (well, the 12 peso store) strategy might need to be rethunk.  This clock would sure be a nice start.

6 February 2010

Soy Milk Creamer: $2.50

I miss normal soy milk. Mexican soy milk is all bizarre and fruit flavored and doesn't quite do it for me. 

Non-Purchase Victories!

It was not my intention at all, but this blog has helped me rack up some victories in wanting stuff, not buying it, and getting it anyway. Miraculous! I just got a big fatty birthday package from my Dad and his wife, brimming with monkey slippers (3 pairs! 2 models! Holy lifetime supply of monkey-laden feet, Batman!), tea, and natural peanut butter. And I've been promised the use of A People's History (RIP Mr. Zinn) the next time I'm in Chicago. So look at all that stuff that I can enjoy yet I didn't have to buy! The power of positive drawing?

Update- More tea! From Everman, the source of my love of Genmaicha. Thanks, Everman! 

5 February 2010

Cool Book: $16.50 (on sale at Amazon even!)

Run around the world taking pictures and writing about ingenious examples of recycled crafts? And then sell it as a slick-looking book? Why have I not done this already? Ah well, I'll just want the book.

4 February 2010

Creepily Named Yet Incredibly Effective Hand Cream: $5

I first found this stuff while I was bartending, and other than skeeving out my managers, it did a damn fine job of keeping my angry and constantly submerged hands relatively soft and happy. I don't know if that testifies to its work with udders, but you all can check that out for yourselves.

3 February 2010

 

Bubble Tea: $4

Given the opportunity, I might just trade my pinky toe for a bubble tea right now.

2 February 2010

 

Bottle of Decent Gin: $26

Once, while attempting to feign classiness in a Vegas club during a bachelorette weekend (for reals) I ordered a Sapphire and tonic, and it set me back eleven dollars.  I've been a little gun-shy around it since then, but it sure would be a nice alternative to the only gin in Z-town, El Oso Negro. 

1 February 2010

 

Spiral Shell Ring: $30

This is a ring that I've seen, contemplated, and ultimately passed up at many a craft fair. Now I'm nostalgic for the days of even thinking about dropping thirty bones on one ring.

31 January 2010

 

Space Heater: $90

I think I did a quick and dirty job on this here drawing because my subconscious just won't let me spend time and care on a space heater in - god help us - Mexico. There's a cyclone in town, which means rain for a few days, which I actually dig, on account of the fact we're not due for any for another six months or so, but also means that there's no sun to warm us up, and leads me to sleep in long underwear with four blankets on the bed. Unacceptable.

30 January 2010

 3-D Movie Viewing Experience: $5

The vast majority of movies here are shown in the theater in English, with Spanish subtitles, with two main exceptions: cartoons and gigantic blockbusters. The idea being that we shouldn't be holding the children or the unwashed masses to read for 2 hours. Which I get. Even then, with the blockbusters, you can usually find a special showing in English, just not on the most gigantic screen in the theater. So everybody wins, right? Here's the quandary: movies that have 3D showings. Can you even work subtitles in 3D? Or would that just freak everybody's shit out too much? I think the folks in the anti-dubbed-movies camp might just be hosed. And I'll remain the last person in the universe who hasn't seen Avatar. I think I'll be okay.

29 January 2010

 

Headphones: $50

Sometimes, while trying to concentrate at an English school while some particularly rambunctious kids classes are being taught, headphones are necessary. And sometimes, when you have tiny ears like I do, you can only work the earbuds for so long before you start to feel phantom earbuds in your tiny ears all day long. So I think a big fatty gangsta pair would be ideal.

28 January 2010

 

Lucky Kitty: $1 - $200

I've always been intrigued by Lucky Kitty. He graces my wall in a no-longer-functioning clock form, and I used to have a wee gold version of him blocking the check engine light my old car. I had a bobble-headed version of him from Hawaii, too, but he jumped off the bookshelf a few months back. I'm not sure how that effects my overall luck, but would really like a new one just to be on the safe side.

27 January 2010

Natural Crunchy Peanut Butter: $4.50

This is another product that falls into the "Not Buying Because It Costs Too Much To Fly It Down To Mexico" category. Mexicans: not so big on the peanut butter. The first time Luis ate a PBJ that I made for him, he was all "Eh. I'd maybe eat that for dessert." Which is to say that the peanut butter selection down by us leaves a bit to be desired. Especially if you're not into Skippy creamy. But I take what I can get here (hey, a girl has got to make spicy peanut sauce with something), and think wistful thoughts about mixing the oil and nut strata together with a big knife.

26 January 2010

Volleyball: $25

I had an old and slightly crusty volleyball that I dutifully took with me to my rec league matches in Chicago, but it didn't manage to make the move with me down here. And for being a smallish rural Mexican town, Zacoalco has a fair amount of pretty good pick-up volleyball. With old and slightly crusty volleyballs. I think a new one would be a big hit.

25 January 2010

Prismacolor Markers: $3.99/ea.

These are some nice markers that I've used for programs I've taught before, but I'm not so excited about the exchange of my first-born child for one of their 144-marker sets.

24 January 2010

Huichol Yarn Painting: $20

This is one of those things that I have a really hard time not buying. I start thinking "Come on, twenty dollars? Can you imagine what that would go for in the states?!", and soon enough, I'm all in my head in my quaint little import store/cafe, trotting around the globe in search of more tastefully crafted artesenias to sell while spinning yarns over cups of steaming hot chocolate, and then the screeching kindergarteners show up again.

23 January 2010

Vans slip-ons: $32

So I'm imagining that in normal peoples' adult lives, one develops some sort of self-censorship that keeps one from really wanting to buy slip-on tennies adorned with multi-colored wee robots clearly designed for the under-12 crowd (as evidenced by the fact that I found them in the "Vans' Girls" section of the website). I, on the other hand, need to rely on the fact that women's shoes simply do not exist in my size at the markets here to keep me from owning and proudly wearing a pair of these.

22 January 2010

Slurpee: $1.79

I remember when I first got to Guadalajara, I was overjoyed to see 7-11s gracing the downtown corners, purely at the prospect of having a Slurpee source in a then-sweltering foreign land. Slurpees have always been a source of instant joy for me, and I still haven't found anything quite as refreshing as drinking a cold slurpee in a hot shower after a few sweaty hours at a volleyball tournament. Imagine my horror, then, when I first whooshed through the swinging doors, heading towards where my instincts told me would be the beverage corner, and found nothing. Not a Big Gulp, not a spoon straw to be found. How, HOW, do you have 7-11s but no Slurpees? Ah, Mexico, how much you have yet to learn.

21 January 2010

Bag of Ricola: $3

My throat has been angry for the last few weeks, and it hasn't been helped by the fact that I have a daily hour-long session of, shall we call them, very enthusiastic kindergarteners, and also the antibiotics I've been taking have been thwarted by periodic indulgence in red wine.

20 January 2010

 

Hot Shoes: $65

Most of the dudes I know have told me that these are hideous, and they're somewhat ominously named "Hobbit", but I still think that these are some rockin bootie-thingies. I would wear them with pride. Take that, men folk.

19 January 2010

A Dozen Hot Donuts Now: $6

Mmmmmm....... Donuts. As many of my friends and family have heard, when I die I'd like to be cremated, and have my ashes scattered in the glazing machine at the local Krispy Kreme.

18 January 2010

Donation to Doctors Without Borders

It's strange to me that one of the more poignant feelings of wanting came to me not while salivating over the thought of a tasty beer, or imagining myself in a cozy new sweater, but while listening to a podcast about relief workers pulling the wounded out of collapsed buildings in Port-au-Prince. I want to go and help, to be of use, but short of that, I want to whip out my checkbook and send one of the dozen worthy causes a big chunk of money to help somebody out. And I just don't have it. So instead I'm spending time with the idea, thinking how to raise some money here at the English school, and sending all the good and hopeful thoughts I can in Haiti's direction. And appreciating the life I've still got.

17 January 2010

Replacement Sock Monkey Slippers: $15

I bought these the first time around last winter at Target, and wore them so much so quickly, that I've worn big holes in the heels, where the sad little foam inside is sticking out, and I feel any tiny pebble I might be unfortunate enough to step on. Need! New! Monkey! Slippers!  But not happening soon.

16 January 2010

Subscription: $19.99/year 

(+ shipping to Mexico: ?)

I like this magazine. A lot. They show you all kinds of fun projects, how to make old stuff into new, cooler stuff, like record albums into fruit bowls, and old sweaters into blankets. I'm still kicking myself for not making the magazine myself first, but what can you do? Besides not buy a subscription.

15 January 2010

Tom's Toothpaste: $4.50

My mom first introduced me to Tom's of Maine when I was an awkward middle-schooler, and she bought me their natural deodorant. Not antiperspirant, mind you.  Just deodorant. I don't know how many middle-schoolers you've spent a lot of time with, but in general, you want something a little more powerful than flax seed and lingonberries to control their scent. And you also really need something to neutralize the sweat coming out of them. I also blame Tom's for the bees that seemed to loyally follow my armpits around campus.

Still, I forgave Tom, and now I really dig his toothpaste.

14 January 2010

 

Cute Sweater: around $60?

Two summers ago, I was driving solo from the midwest to the Mexican border, and I put out feelers with all my friends for any friends or family who might live between Detroit and Laredo and would like to put my butt up for a night. Jen hooked me up with family friends Kyla and Kenny in Hot Springs, Arkansas, who are about the sweetest people ever,  slathering on the southern hospitality via home-cooked black-eyed peas, magical spring water, and a guided tour of Hot Springs (which is very cute). And Kat sent me to stay with her friend Sally in Louisville. Sally gets the credit for introducing me to the glory that is Mad Men, and way more cute clothes than one girl can handle wanting. She has a store called Dot Fox that I didn't get to see in person, but I get tantalized by long-distance by way of her photo uploads on facebook. It's probably for the best that a couple thousand miles separate me and all that cuteness.

13 January 2010

Costco Membership: $400 (pesos)/year

There are some places around the globe, that no matter where you're actually geographically located, when you step through the door - whoosh! - you're magically transported back to the good ole' US of A, (for better or worse, depending on where you currently register on the Expat Sliding Scale of Hate/Love For the Motherland). Costco is one of those places. I spent a pleasant, if not slightly confusing few hours there during winter break, making repeat visits to the goat cheese sample lady, running giddily through the aisles hoisting gallons jars of sun-dried tomatoes above my head in victory, and accidentally slipping into English with the besmocked employees. There's only one buzzkill, and it's that all of the products from back home that are so gloriously familiar are kind of expensive. Like the idea of paying the membership price in the States is that then you have access to lots of well-priced stuff, right? Well, paying for the membership here is just really paying admission to the one joint in town that has products that make me go all nostalgic for cuisine, as well as the  salaries, of home.

It might be worth it for monthly lunches of free samples, though.

12 January 2010

Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream: $11

The only place I've been able to find Ben and Jerry's here is Walmart, which is evil and I hate hate hate to buy anything from, except under extreme duress. Whose definition just might be stretched to include seriously needing some Ben and Jerry's that I can't find anywhere else, except for the part where they charge eleven dollars for a quart. Fuckers.

11 January 2010

Pint of Newcastle: $5

There's an upside and a downside to beer consumption in Mexico, as there is with everything, I suppose. On the plus side, it's really cheap, around a buck a beer, even at bars, and there's a magical service here in town called Bucket Express (which I think would be a mad success in the Midwest).  You call a phone number, and about 20 minutes later a kid on a moped shows up with a 5 gallon plastic bucket, filled with 20 beers and ice, with a little bottle opener stuck to the side. And then he comes back the next day for the empties. Magical, no?

The downside: 90 percent of the beer you'll find is Corona. Two types, Corona Clara (Light Corona) and Corona Obscura (Dark Corona). Don't let that obscura fool you, as much as people assure me otherwise, it's Corona Clara in a brown bottle. It tastes exactly the same as the light, which isn't that great to begin with. What I'm saying is that although the beer is plentiful and cheap, it's not exactly a dark beer fan's paradise. And when one has a hankering for a Newcastle, one is kinda stuck with it.

10 January 2010

LILLHOLMEN Accessories stand: $19.99

When I was traveling around Europe, I had a great self-imposed souvenir rule to keep myself from buying a bunch of exciting foreign crap, thereby filling up my already ginormous backpack and using up my limited shoestring travel funds. That rule: only buy floaty pens and postcards. Compact, cheap, it worked like a charm.

Living in Mexico, I have a less formalized rule (as our walls and bookcases filled with handicrafts can attest), but it turns out that jewelry is the thing I usually can't talk myself out of buying. "Look! It's so small! I'll actually use it! Sparkly!" And my jewelry box/dish/other box overfloweth. Still, at my most recent visit to IKEA, I couldn't convince myself to dish out twenty dollars for this lovely stainless steel jewelry dish. I still covet it.

And as an artistic side note: shiny metal dishes + crosshatching = ahhh! Still trying to figure out how to show various shades of gray using only black markers.

9 January 2010

Grande Chai Latte: $4

I know, I know, Starbucks is an evil globalizer, driving mom and pop coffee shops out of business and blandifying (a word?) the american landscape, but, man, they make a fine cup of chai (see 4 January re: Mexico's shitty tea assortment).

8 January 2010

Wii Remote + Nunchuk: $50

So we are now the proud owners of a Wii. Sort of. While delivering his brother-in-law to parts north, Luis picked up a Wii he found on Craig's List. However, there are some catches, the first and most troublesome being that he plans on selling it. That fact alone causes my gaming-addicted little brother to start twitching and whimpering involuntarily. Add to it the fact that the model he bought only came with one controller (wiimote?), so you can't actually play against anyone, just the computer, and also the one sad, non-Mario Kart sports game that we have to play on it, and I'm just sadly nonplussed by the svelte white box of technological wonder glowing silently under our television. Add another controller and Mario Kart, however, and you'd never hear from me again.

7 January 2010

Book: $30

Books are pricey here in Mexico. Crazy pricey. For starters, they cost more than they do in the US. Springing 30 bones for the paperback above seemed a bit offensive to me. But when you add to that the fact that the minimum wage here is $5 A DAY, you start to understand why there's not much of a culture of reading, outside of the richie riches. Whereas in other lands, people connect over favorite authors or their favorite books, I've bonded with the hot dog stand guy (mysteriously called "The Antennas") based solely on the fact that we like to read. "You like books? I like books, too. Have another hot dog."

So although this is a book I've been meaning to read for years, I had to take a pass. Even though it was defying the odds just by existing in the always minuscule books-in-English section at the book store (which inevitably includes a combination of the following: books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende and Paul Cohello, a biography of Obama and/or The Audacity of Hope, the Twilight series, and not much else). History will just have to keep on waiting for me to catch up.

6 January 2010

New MacBook: $1199

I bought my first computer at the Mac store in Chicago, when I took my big shiny white box (and free scanner/printer!), and jumped into a cab back to my one-bedroom in Logan Square, not trusting my fellow Chicagoans to leave me and my purchase intact on the bus and subway ride home. That was back in 2005, and my little old G4 is still chugging gloriously along. I have stuffed it full of all of the hard drive and RAM that it can hold, and now I'm continuing blindly on with it, fingers crossed and hoping to hell not to hear its death rattle. It the great scheme of things, $1500 for 5 years of computing isn't such a bad deal, but it's also what a house in Detroit is running these days. I'm gunning for the house first.