Monday, May 29, 2006

mish-mash of bittersweet nothings


my laptop screen keeps dying. Granted, my laptop is 4 years old (and i bought it used off of ebay), but it's not that slow, considering laptop processor speeds in stores (mine is a 1.2 Ghz. average speed in a Future Shop is 1.7 Ghz). So i keep the old girl around. We've been through a lot. but there's a problem, and i figured out how to be a laptop mechanic and repair it every time it breaks down. i just take the latptop apart. (i have all the tools. i bought a kit. i hate paying for things i don't have to.)

problem is, this is the 4th time the part has been replaced. I could tell it was going, as the screen would flicker, so i bought the part on ebay for $30 but it has yet to arrive, and i realize that i'm not going to be buying a new computer any time soon. (i'm going to wait for windows vista to be released in january).

so to circumvent paying $30 every few months for a piece that will ultimately blow, i bought a real purrrrdy flat screen LCD monitor yesterday. 17 inches of bright space-saving beauty.

because of how excited i am about this product, i'm going to be turning this blog into a shopping blog! yay! all about the wonderful new products you can buy! just kidding, of course.

here are my purchases, in months:

computer: 46 months ago.
mp3 device/ipod: 16 months
dvd player: 22 months
cell phone: 17 months
printer: 26 months
car: 21 months

the only gadget i bought within the past year was my digital camera, which i bought just after christmas, i think.

i'm not a big shopper. i bought new shoes for basketball, and new shoes for walking around. the bball shoes i had previously stink so bad that touching them makes your hand smell for 2 hours. (is there a cure for this? can i wash leather?? help a brutha out). and my walking around shoes replaced my old vans that had rips all over them. i got both pairs of brand new shoes on ebay for $100, shipping included. in ebay terms, i'm walmart.

other than that, i don't buy anything. because i don't watch television, i don't know what products exist. because i don't spend my time walking around queen street, i don't know what labels the cool kids are wearing, and therefore don't feel out of step with the world in any way. when i bike past muchmusic on my way home, wearing my business clothes, i know that i'm the counterpoint to those who have mohawks, to those with beards and ripped jeans, and super-preppies in escalades. i'm not that. i'm invisible. i don't exist. IT'S BRILLIANT.

last night, driving home from stratford with stacey and sarah, we were talking about the anonymity one gets from a big city. it's so liberating. wear what you want. no one knows who you are. what you think. you don't always have to be 'being you', or 'being who they think you are'. dress up! dress down! i wear my 3 stripe adidas pants a lot when i go anywhere because they're my pyjamas and i feel comfortable in them. but i'm sure i look like a goombah, or a jock wannabe, or a dork. that's the beauty of anonymity. for a guy who considers himself a psuedo-everything rebel/thinker/whiner/liberal/bastard, that doesn't conform to my track pants.

i'm at work. i'm going to go for lunch. this post is a dead end anyway. not really going anywhere.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

that screen must be cumbersome in your backpack.

h

Zack Cooper said...

I'm writing you, Ferg, from Madrid to tell you that IT'S GOTTA BE THE... socks!

I wear these fantastic thin socks (that they call "invisible", because they cutoff right around the ankle).

I know you don't like buying things... but this could be a worthy investment.

Then again, I don't know if you wear high-tops (if you do, don't buy them... you'll cut your ankles).

But yeah, the point is... the sock is smaller, thinner... less sweat, less smell (less friction, too... I don't know if you have blister problems - but you wouldn't anymore).

It makes it a lot easier in my book.

Just a suggestion.

See you in a little over a week.