Mac Mini Attack!

Yay! This is my first post on my new computer. Yes, I decided to spend the money that I socked away during Over The Tavern and spend it on a Mac Mini. Now can be a Mac Addict x2! I did a bit of research (that is, hours of websurfing late at night) and found a great deal from a place in Vermont which I suspect to be run by old hippies. They have loads of pictures of dogs on their website and have links to donate money to organizations like Planned Parenthood and the local animal shelter. Very cool, no scary macrame or blown glass objects. So, I bought a Mac Mini, in order to actually do sound editing that doesn't involve a splicing deck and Bactine. My dad told me how underpowered they are with only 256 RAM, so I upgraded to a gig. Money well spent. After much anticipation, it arrived late Friday afternoon, right in the middle of a very good episode of The Gilmore Girls. Lorelei and company were quickly abandoned in favor of the humorously large box carried by the UPS man. But the Mini is so small, I thought. Well, it was a box inside of a box, with loads of large scale bubble wrap and expensive plucked foam. And two wee dog dolls, the calling card of the Apple Reseller in Vermont.



All was set up in less than an hour, including the dogs atop the CPU. I suspect that Winston visits them at night. Also established in that hour: the network adapter I already had doesn't play well with Macs, requiring the purchase and installation of an Airport card. Today, I braved the crazy weekend crowds on North Michigan Ave. to take my brand new computer to the Apple Store. I'd never been to one before, so it was an interesting experience. I saw veiled Muslim women buying ipods (when I told my mom this, she stated dryly, "They're not Amish"), an Indian woman trailing a beautiful sari around behind her as she lugged a printer in a box, and Japanese tourists buying black nanos. Oh, and a bunch of white people. It only took an hour, and over a hundred dollars, to get my computer ready to talk to my home network. Now I'm cooking with gas! In the meantime, I did some window shopping at Marshall Field's and shamelessly read a magazine at Borders, while sitting in the corner of the apparently unpopular art theory and criticism section.
Now, it is back in its rightful place, dogs at the ready, and I am, in the words of my dad, on a new computer high. It's similar to a sugar high, but much more expensive.


In knitting news, the berry colored cabled scarf is finally finished! Here's a photo of it in its natural habitat.

Now, I am making little progress on a bias-knit handbag out of Cherry Tree Hills Melange yarn. The pattern is a breeze (and available in a back issue of Knitty), but it's not getting as much attention as it should, due to the new computer. Also, the yarn is a weird ply of several different fibers, so it can get twisted around the needle as I'm doing a decrease or increase. Still, not a massive project. I've decided not to cripple myself cranking out gifts for xmas, so no one's getting a sweater, shawl, or lace anything this year. I still don't know what I will give several important relatives, but I've got a bit of time still.