laptop envy

I have a wicked case of it right now. How do all these starving students afford their sleek and slender little devices?

Mine is huge and heavy and scuffed.

Poor me!

shopping with the enemy

I went to Walmart on Friday.

I had to buy a wedding present for friends who were registered there.

It was probably the 3rd or 4th time I've ever been in that store.

It makes me feel weird, like I'm afraid the employees and other shoppers will suddenly recognize me as an interloper and kick me out, or take me in the back and brainwash me into a loyal Walmart consumer.

I know it's not just Walmart with less than sparkling business ethics. It's just that they are the biggest and most visible, blatant example of what's wrong with our consumerist society.

I fully understand that my avoidance of Walmart will not fix anything, nor wash my hands of any guilt. That's why I try to avoid shopping in general, buy fair trade products when I can, and send the odd annoying letter to companies who need a kick in the pants.

I must confess that I did buy some kitchen implements for myself while I was there (I'm not completely immune to the shopping bug).

I also saw nuns there. I did

n't know there were nuns in Medicine Hat.

Now I do.

new opiate for the masses

Guitar Hero is the only video game I have ever "rushed out and bought."

After playing it once I was fully supportive of Matthew buying a video game.

First time.

If you've never played it before, I will caution you that it's just a little bit all-consuming. You'll dream it. You'll catch yourself air-guitar-hero-ing. When you're out with friends who've played it you'll keep saying to each other,

"hey, this would make an awesome guitar hero song!"

I play it when I get home from work to unwind. I play it while I'm waiting for the rice to boil when I'm making supper. I play it while I'm waiting for Matt to get out of the bathroom, and instead of watching TV right before bed.

Next month we're going to buy Guitar Hero 3 so that we can have 2 player battles. I have no concern about the cost. I must own the entire Guitar Hero Set. It's an investment.

Well, I should wrap this up. Maybe I can practice that tough solo a bit before I have to go to class.