simplify.

ahh... simplify. it's a catchy little word that was even used in an ad campaign awhile ago. I think of the word occasionally when I start feeling like my possessions own me, instead of the inverse.

so right now, i'm on a kick to get rid of stuff. sell, give, or trash - I want it out. gone. out of my life. if you know me, right now is a good time to say hello and see what i'm giving away. you just might end up with some nice stuff.

sunglasses

recently, I was out shopping and decided that I wanted to get some good sunglasses. i'd been wearing cheapo $15 shades for the last 6 months, and decided to treat myself to some nicer eyewear. I didn't go too crazy - spent $100 on a decent pair that fit my head nicely and fit in my helmet (a key measure of eyewear success).

three days later i'm riding my motorcycle and they fall out of my pocket - still in their little fabric bag. I flip two quick u-turns to pick 'em up before someone runs them over, but of course i'm too late - they're flatter than kate moss.

the shop I bought them from has a 60 day return policy. if anything happens, bring them back and you get half credit toward the same pair. so I bite, and get another pair. $150 into these shades so far.

two weeks later, I lose them. so I promptly go out and buy a generic pair of $20 shades.

i'm just not meant to have nice sunglasses.

damn apple

two weeks ago I go out and buy a 60gb iPod. today, they announce a NEW 60gb iPod, same price, that has a bigger screen, better battery life, AND it plays VIDEO.

argh.

I swear, that damn company is on a mission to extract every last penny of disposable income I have.

sidekick 2

about a month ago I bought a sidekick 2. for those not up on their pda/phone gadgetry, it looks like this:


it's a phone, but it also does quite a nice job of sending and receiving email, browsing the web, and also connecting to my two favorite instant messaging services - AIM and Yahoo. But wait, there's more. It also has a camera - admittedly, it's not a spectacular camera, but it does do a decent job. And for those unexpected times when a real camera isn't handy, it does just fine.

Here's a shot I took when I was in Minneapolis last weekend:

That's a shot of the outside of pretty much the coolest Target store I've ever experienced. Random, eh? Oh, I have more:

That's the control tower at LAX. You get the idea. Anyway, the more I use the Sidekick, the more I like it. I do wish it was a little bit smaller, but I wouldn't want to give up the nice keyboard and big screen that it has.

my dad - the very definition of luddite

Ever since I was a young kid, my dad has been a luddite. Hates the latest and greatest anything. We were still getting up and changing channels on the TV 10 years after remote controls were commonplace. Cable TV? Never had it. He hated the idea of paying for TV. Phones? Touchtone was an unnecessary luxury when our rotary dial phones worked perfectly well. I remember trying to win radio station call-in contests with those things - by the time I got the number dialed, I was caller 106 instead of 16.

So I was shocked yesterday when dad voiced actual approval after seeing my digital camera and iPod. He even said a phrase I thought I would NEVER hear him utter: "I should probably get a computer one of these days". Wow. Here's a guy who despises telephones now saying that a computer might not be a bad idea.