the weather, shopping and computers

the days are getting colder up here, and i'm quite disappointed with the fact that i'll not get to wear all of my favourite Vetements when i get back to florida. Most of the days have been consumed in pointless window-shopping, where i had the chance to try on 250-dollar coats and jackets i'll never get to wear if i stick around in sarasota. the only fruitful outcome was the purchase of a Wusthof 10" honing steel, that was badly needed, and the procurement of a pair of HI-TEC trekking boots. the time inbetween was spent trying to find a decent cellular phone, in which americans have no taste. Phones that have been discarded and fallen out of favour in India(and the rest of the world) are in vogue here. I asked a salesperson if his company stocked Nokia cellphones, to which he responded by offering me a rubber-keypad-4000k screen-plastic brick. It was all they had, save the various models of suspect-looking clamshell phones(only the sony/ericcson W330i managed to whet my appetite)

It costs close to 300 dollars to get a phone connection if you bring in your own handset, but it'll cost you a pitiful 50 if you accept any of those dinky toys they call phones. Strange.

I finally managed to get my hands onto a MacBook yesterday, at the apple store in columbus, and needless to say, i was enraptured. the prices are quite steep compared with the likes of Dell, whose notebooks felt like they were cast out of paper mache. The black one looked like a tricked out IBM thinkpad, and didn't impress me. the price tag for the 2 Ghz with Superdrive in white finish, plus the 1 Gb RAM upgrade is nothing short of scandalous, but if you are smart enough, you can buy 2 gigs for less money and swap chips yourself. if you are willing to void the warranty...the 5400 rpm drive is also something of a 'nyeh' factor, i mean, with all the processing power available, it would make sense to get a higher-speed disk, to keep pace with the data flow of the CPU. but i guess the 5400 rpm disk is quieter and consumes less power, so maybe that's why apple went with it. the onboard GPU isn't an issue for me, but hardcore gamers don't buy macs anyway, and there's always the MacBook Pro. but i'd have to say, those apple people have kept a number of people on tenterhooks, waiting to pounce on the new leopard-equipped notebooks, and keeping us salivating at the prospect of a Core 2 Duo based mac.
I've also been secretly eyeing Sony's Viao TX, especially when it comes paired with Vista. But at just about the same price, i'd have to go to the fruit vendor. I'm so beyond the windows universe...

Out of Canada

hullo all!

I'm back in Springfield, and i've had quite a trip. Driving through an international border was an experience i've never had before, and like other experiences in life, such as your first kiss, marriage, kids etc. it was as bland as a Shepard's pie. nothing more cursory than a wave of a hand, and that was it. At that point, i felt like a Gladiator who'd just fought off a motley bunch of hardy cuthroats imported from Gaul and Africa, waiting for the amused emperor to give me the thumbs-up or down. A gesture for one man, a question of life and death for the other.

Actually, it wasn't that bad for me at all. I guess those immigration officials are so used to the process, they might be secretly rolling dice under the table to decide who goes through or not. It's also funny how Canada lets greencard holders through, but the ol' U.S.A deems that immigrants are trying to take over the country via the Canadian border. My cousin was denied permission to go into the U.S a while back, even though he's a bonafide immigrant in canada, in line for his permanent citizenship.

The idea of citizenship also strikes me as quite funny. How does one shed his natural citizenship(if there is truly such a thing...) and voluntarily accept another?? I've been asked if i'll stay on in America, and in 5 years or so, give up my Indian passport and pick up an American one...the truth is, i have no feelings of loyalty towards both these nations. Sure, i'll live among their people, engage with their economies and pay their taxes, but why must i bind myself to a particular nationality? Perhaps the answer lies in these two words-

Democratic responsibility.

then again, is it absolutely neccesary for a person to become involved in all aspects of national life?