Don't drop your cell phone in the toilet

*Don't carry your cell phone in your back pocket, even "just for a minute."
*Don't put your cell phone on the overcrowded shelf behind the toilet while you dry your hair.
*Just don't put your cell phone anywhere near water, okay? Because cell phones are drawn to water by some weird magnetic force.

I hope mine dries out by morning, because I'd prefer not to buy a new phone just yet. I hate when spazziness costs me money.

Update: If you do drop your cell phone in water, it might not be dead. If you take the battery out right away and then leave your phone alone until it's completely dry, it might be fine. Mine seems to be working fine now. This is just like the two times I spilled water all over my laptop and it miraculously came back to life!

You'd think I would've learned my lesson about keeping water near my laptop after one spill, but no. I must really like having water within arm's reach.

So far, the only technology that didn't like having water spilled on it was my ergonomic keyboard. But it was okay, because it happened right after I bought it. Since I still had the receipt, Office Depot totally let me return it, no questions asked.

The story of my nano, part 3

Today I bought an iPod nano.

I'm filling it with music as I type. And now I have to stop typing so I can get back to the little nano sweater I'm crocheting. (I'm calling it a nano sweater, because for some reason I think "nano cozy" sounds dumb.) I'll post a photo soon. I want to make my nano a million different outfits, because it's as cute as a new baby. If my friends were knitters, I would throw a nano shower in the hopes that they'd all bring presents for my new arrival. But since that's not the case, I guess it's a good thing I have lots of yarn around.

I want a nano, part 2

The other day, I wrote about how much I want an iPod nano. Well, yesterday I got to touch one, and it was even tinier and cuter than I had dreamed.

Earlier tonight, I was chatting with my cab driver about what it's like living in L.A. without a car, and at one point, I said, "I know I'll get one eventually, but there are just other things I'd rather spend my money on right now." At that very moment, I looked out the window and saw a giant billboard for the iPod nano. The timing was just a little too freaky. I think the technology gods are speaking to me.

And I am listening.

Update: While waiting for Blogger to post this (it seems to be having some problems tonight), I was reading the NY Times site in another window and came across this article about how no one can resist the nano's power.

Beware, however: to see one is to want one. If you hope to resist, lash your credit card to your wallet like Odysseus to the mast.

Sounds like hyperbole? Uh uh. It's true. That article also includes a video showing a few alternate uses for the nano. Anybody need a $250 bookmark?

I can feel the money sucking out of my bank account as I type...

An hour and a half without power

That's enough time to stress out, call everyone I know, have a glass of wine, and make a painting.

nano crush

I've been avoiding mass media like crazy, because Katrina stuff makes me cry, and once I start crying I can't get any work done. So when my friend mentioned the iPod nano the other day, I thought she was making a joke. Yeah, like the world really needs another little iPod. But then I got home and turned on my computer and saw a photo of the itsy bitsy Apple creation.

I had the same reaction I feel whenever I watch baby panda cams... a total sense of wonder that such cuteness exists in the world. I am powerless to look away, obsessed with this dollhouse-sized bit of technology. After a week of feeling like my country and its government are a hopeless mess, an innocent little storage device gives me hope for the future. I want to buy one and dress it in tiny handmade sweaters. I want to sew it a little panda-shaped romper, and put a baby panda face on its baby nano screen. I want to talk to it, and cuddle it, and feed it mp3s. I want a nano.

I don't have a regular iPod or an iPod mini. I was never that impressed. I didn't want another gadget to carry around, and I've never been a Mac person. I don't even have iTunes installed on my computer. I've been PC since the day I was born (well, more accurately, since the PCjr was born), and I know I'm PC 4 Life.

And yet, here I am, making a painting of what my potential nano might look like in a snowsuit...

(Note to self: The black outlines distract from its dreamy white perfection. Next time, don't do that!)

Question of the day: Is it wrong to buy a nano when I don't even have a car?

Tooth-kun

You know what this blog needs in a major, major way? A scan of one of the envelopes that came with my new Tooth-kun stationery.

HOW CUTE IS THAT? The only sad part (aside from the little crying tooth) is that I only have four sheets.

Oh, and in case you were worried, my weird shakiness went away. And I'm optimistic that it will never come back, because I learned a very important lesson: I can't handle a full-time job on top of all my freelance work. Taking one was the stupidest thing I have done in as long as I can remember. But now that's over, and I'm back to my regular freelance life. I still have lots of catching up to do, but I no longer have to work around the clock, which means I have time for things like painting. And writing letters on the cutest stationery in the world.