I joined the 1990s!

Some ten years ago, I was flying to visit my aunt in Charlevoix, and boarded a Northwest flight to Detroit - on a Continental flight number, of course. Being the hedonist I am, I had wrangled an upgrade and sat next a high school junior who was the most gracious, smartest, delightful person I had met in eons. He had with him a Sony MP3 player, which he demonstrated for me. He had bought it while an exchange student in Japan.

I didn't see his enthusiasm in the player, but it was very interesting from the "wow, that's cool" factor. He and I stayed in touch, somehow. I mentored him in Freshman English, which was quite an experience. His professor was somehow impressed with my technique. His written English dramatically improved (although he still can't spell worth a flip.) He gave the commencement address for his college graduating class, and sent me his speech before he gave it. I couldn't change a word of it - it was so authentic, so thoughtful, so well said that any editing would have taken away from it.

He stayed with me two summers ago when he was interning at a Houston oil company. His blog chronicles his self-guided trip around the world, through the Pacific Northwest and his conscious engagement of people as they occur in the world. He's magnificent.

And now, today, I have an MP3 player.

Months back, Guy told me I could download podcasts on iTunes. Well, I had a dusty, unused iTunes account, and they were very glad to have me back. And, lo - do they have podcasts!! Holy cow! I started loading up my hard drive with stuff that needed listening to. And, the notion that I'd benefit by having an iPod crept into my noggin.

Brian says that I should get a non-Apple MP3 player. His suggestions were very, very good ones, and when he speaks I sit up and pay attention. Guy, being the Apple man that he is, recommended the iPod, along with a new iMac and iPhone.

I looked at 'em. I shopped. I actually went to a RADIO SHACK to look at them in person. I thought about bargain basement-ing the issue, and looked at them on Craigslist.

Two years ago, when I was living in the big house (the Castle Warwickshire, not the Big House like TDCJ) I had looked at what was then a very cool iPod, the U2 version. I kind of put into mind that was the one for me.

Just like I did back in 2004 when I saw the Bonneville GXP - all cleaned up, Northstarred, and looking slick. Just over a year ago, I got the Bonnie, and today I bought the iPod. Reconditioned, with a longer warranty.

It's gorgeous. It FEELS luxurious - the texture and heft of it feels like fine art or jewelry. The other MP3 (lesser brand) players all felt plasticky, like an old Walkman or something. The software setup was so smooth, and so slick that now I'm convinced that the right computer choice for me this summer is, in fact, an Apple.

I'm buried in my Sprint contract until 2009, though.

Sunny (and chilly) Hump Day

Mysterious Traveler Entrances Town With Utopian Vision Of The Future

I haven't blogged much about myself lately, so there's a lot to plop down on the "page" as it were, and I'll try to make it as organized as I can.

First, some economic commentary - I'm working from home today to complete my January 2008 newsletter, which should be a doozey. One of the things that I'm going to talk about is the lack of collective memory that plagues our nation's populace, and our ability to refuse to look at things that are important.

Here's one thing that's very important, and that EVERYONE is ignoring:



I keep hearing rumors that a major bank in the US with a presence nearly everywhere already has negative capital and is about to be "merged" into one of the largest banks in the country.

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I haven't talked about cars in a long while. With David and Guy, I attended the 25th Houston Auto Show last weekend (which means that I've attended all twenty-five - I moved here in August 1981, and went to the first Houston Auto Show weeks later.)

I only saw one car that turned me on; the $90,000 Audi A8. Of course, I'm still massively happy with the Red Rocket, so that isn't much of a downer that it's a no go at the Auto Show for me.

The Cadillac Platinum package is awesome - inlaid olive wood on the dash and doors, really gorgeous leather, upgraded carpeting, full chrome grill, beautiful door sills, and a little badge on the rear deck that says "I'm really bad at math." $7500 for all of this trim, and it's likely to be worth maybe a thou after the first year's ownership.

The Cadillac CTS Coupe isn't going to be out until 2010; plenty of time to generate fondness for something else, but it sure gets my attention.

And, the only untitled VW Phaeton W12 four seat in North America is still for sale. They're still asking sticker for it. That gave me something to fantasize about last night.

But, since I have other, prior financial goals (like hunkering down for the future) it seems that this would be a good route for me to pursue to keep up my interest in the Red Rocket.

It's sunny as all get out today, and the light is streaming in through the front windows. I'm enjoying the (relative) peace, inasmuch as the traffic going by on the main street (I'm in a corner house) is very loud and steady. Every few minutes, a heavy over the road truck goes by at faster than the speed limit, and the whole house shakes.

I've got laundry going, and I'm working on constructing my newsletter, while keeping the forward momentum going at the office without having to engage in the busy environment there.

NEWEST AMERICAN BUMPER STICKERS

And my own favourite seen at the Hollywood Trader Joe's parking lot --

Frodo failed. Bush has the ring.



1) (On an infant's shirt): Already smarter than Bush

2) 1/20/09: End of an Error !!

3) That's OK - I Wasn't Using My Civil Liberties Anyway

4) If You Want a Nation Ruled By Religion, Move to Iran

5) Bush. Like a Rock. Only Dumber.

6) You Can't Be Pro-War and Pro-Life at the Same Time

7) Hey, Bush Supporters: Embarrassed Yet?

8) If You Can Read This, You're Not Our President

9) Of Course It Hurts: You're Getting Screwed by an Elephant

10) Which God Do You Kill For?

11) George Bush: Creating the Terrorists Our Kids Will Have to Fight

12) America : One Nation Under Surveillance

13) They Call Him "W" So He Can Spell It

14) Who Would Jesus Torture?

15) When Bush Took Office, Gas Was $1.46 a gallon

16) Jail to the Chief

17) No, Seriously, Why did we Invade Iraq?

18) Bush: God's Way of Proving Intelligent Design is Full of Crap

19) Right!, like Jesus Would Own a Gun and Vote Republican!

20) We Need a President Who's Fluent In At Least One Language

21) We're Making Enemies Faster Than We Can Kill Them

22) Bush Doesn't Care About White People, Either

23) Where Are We Going? And Why Are We In This Hand basket?

24) Rich Man's War, Poor Man's Blood

25) Is It Vietnam Yet ?

26) The Republican Party: Our Bridge to the 11th Century

27) You Elected Him. You Deserve Him.