Missing Apple Mania

We all know the new iPhone will be out next month. (If we all don’t know then we all should perhaps pull our heads out of our asses and start paying closer attention.) That’s big enough news in itself, especially here in Australia, the land where things come to people later in life.

But next week, a full three weeks before the iPhone officially hits these here shores, the Apple Store in Sydney is scheduled to open. And I won’t be anywhere near it. The store opens June 19 at 5:00 p.m. Two hours later, the girl and I will be on a plane in a different state headed to another country.

It’s a hushed affair, of course, but the people are saying it’s three stories, has glass everywhere, and contains a top-secret design feature that eats into the square footage and so we can’t know how big the floors actually are.

And about that phone. I won’t be getting one, because there’s really no point. They’re expensive. And I don’t really call people here. Next year, though! Next year, I say. I’m hoping that by then, the price cut that Americans are going to enjoy, will actually be a reality here. I can’t imagine a $299 16GB iPhone. But I hear Optus and Vodafone will be announcing the price closer to the release date. Can’t wait for that news. Based on nothing in particular, I predict $399 for an 8GB model.

Is The iPhone in Australia Too Much to Ask?

Not that I could even afford one. And not that I have any friends here to call on one. But damn, since the awesome gadget was released last year, I’ve been coveting it like I covet chocolate fudge and ice-cold milk. Like I covet a book deal. Hell, a finished draft. Like I covet American Mexican food. I want an iPhone and I want one badly.

But the gem of Jobs is only rumored to be making an appearance down here in June. (“Down here.” As though it’s at the bottom of a ladder looking up to the heavens for attention. Sometimes it feels like that, people.) There’s talk of 3G and no messy contracts with specific carriers. There’s talk of the timing to coincide with the first Apple stores in Australia in Sydney and Melbourne. And there’s talk of just about all kinds of other things regarding the iPhone, including unlocking it.

Think there’s no interest in Australia? A search online yields no fewer than five dedicated Web sites pushing for the iPhone here. There is news. There are rumors. There is unlocking information. And it’s all moot to those of us who can’t afford one. Knowing how things go here, the iPhone will probably cost $1,500. No joke.

So until I can get my grubby hands on one, I’ll continue to see them make appearances on television, in movies, and in my imagination.

My First ‘WriBlock’?

I’m superstitious. Kind of. When I played softball and actually made it safely on base, I would take my pink (I know) Rawling’s batting gloves off and hold them — one in each hand. When I played basketball, I dribbled the ball exactly four times and bent my knees in preparation to shoot free throws. Whether these worked is beside the point.

The other night, NaNoWriMo day one, I was wearing a woefully ripped up pair of cut-off jean shorts that are probably three sizes too big, a t-shirt, and my Spurs jersey. And I listened to showtunes. Same thing for days two and three. Or is this day three? I think this is day three.

I have written 173 words since plopping down in my pea-green armchair almost two hours ago. But I’m not staring at my computer at a loss for words. I have an inkling of where I’m going next. But West Side Story was on and now Jesus Christ Superstar. I’m thinking that showtunes are no longer the way to go to get me through this thing.

So here I am, stuck in what has apparently become my writing outfit, not writing. I blame it on Jesus. But I updated my Facebook profile, adjusted my GoDaddy payment information, moved my umbrella from one corner of the room to the other, and finally, I tortured myself by visiting Apple’s online store.

I’m unwilling to cede to writer’s block just yet. The next few sections are somewhere in my head. The good news is that it’s 1:14 a.m. again. But now I must go tinker with the cell phone and manually go back in time an hour. And get another cup of coffee. Cabaret has just begun, so maybe now that Jesus Christ Superstar is over, I can get on with this thing.

Music Blues

I’ve owned two iPods. I purchased my latest about three years ago if I remember correctly. And I’ve had a few fights with it.

The first came when I had begun my initial installation. It just didn’t work. Had to send it back. Not my fault.

But the second…I dropped it in a void-of-waste bar toilet. Ok, yes, I was a little drunk and it was in a pocket, I guess, and it just fell. As it fell, I considered the ports that were exposed and which would, momentarily, be filled with bar toilet water. So fairly quickly after it hit, my hand was in there to rescue it. And it was all right. For a time. I eventually sent it back to Apple, claiming that, for some reason unbeknownst to me, it stopped working.

More recently, my little handy dandy firewire cable thing that makes the syncing process happen, just stopped working. It was a minor annoyance, because Jill’s worked. Well, Jill moved out. And I’ve recently done some music purchasing and moving around of the playlists. So my desperation to address the situation has reached intense levels.

Hence my visit to Radio Shack over the weekend. It was a convenient trip, as there is one about fifteen minutes from my house. The walk back to my house was exciting, because it meant I’d have my new music and updated playlists rendered on my iPod and I could leave my charger at work every Friday and just use this at home.

But wouldn’t you know it? It didn’t work. So I took it back. I’ll just have to go to the Apple Store. They’ll have it. They’re the APPLE STORE.

So with the utmost confidence after work tonight, I headed down to the SoHo store, avoiding all the ridiculous SoHo foot traffic. My time was limited, so I did not allow myself to stop and look at the MacBook I will be purchasing in a few months. Nor did I stop at the digital cameras. I shook, but I did it. I made it to the stairs in the middle of the store and went right to the cables.

I didn’t see what I was looking for, but that was all right. I must have just been a silly consumer who didn’t know to look in the right place. I asked a nice lady who just so happened to be there (carrying a credit-card contraption, which it seems means that people don’t have to wait in line…genius). I told her what I was looking for. I WANT MY MUSIC ON MY IPOD!!!

Yeah, we don’t have that, she said. Ok, then how about the USB cord? I can do without Firewire. What kind of iPod do you have, she inquired. I whipped my second-generation, why-don’t-you-just-buy-a-video-iPod iPod and showed it to her.

Yeah, we don’t sell it for those models.

But she told me she had seen them at Best Buy. And I could try TekServe. She said something about noticing my desperation. All right, I’m not that desperate. But for fuck’s sake, APPLE STORE. Have my cord!

I ordered it online tonight. Jesus.

All is Well With the World Again

I have Internet access at home. Unfortunately, I have decided to sacrifice my nutritional well-being in order to surf the cyber seas from the comfort of my own bed. There are some things in life that are just more important, and I feel the need to be connected at all times. There isn’t even an on/off button for the modem.

My next purchase will be the Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station, which will allow me to access the Internet from my roof, without being connected to wires. This is all so exciting for me. I am slowly coming to terms with the guilt I have been feeling over not having a day job. This U.S. work ethic has made it hard for me to be satisfied with only reading and writing.

I went to the temp agency, which I’ve mentioned. Although the woman wasn’t convinced I was a woman (a gender story that is funny but not nearly as interesting as my others), I thought I made a good impression. I mean, I type fast and everything. I called the next day and there was no work. I called the day after and left a message. She didn’t call back. And yesterday? Well, it slipped my mind. I’ll call again next week.

But I gotta say, I am in NYC, but because of school, I have not had a chance to really get to know the city. So this is what I’ll be doing: Central Park, Chelsea Piers, galleries, museums, stoop sales, and a stable diet of oatmeal is what I’m looking at for the summer. Also, and most significant of all, I will read and write. Since school ended, I have read three books and am on page seven of a short story. I’ll begin book #4 tomorrow most likely and will continue the story. Maybe. I may ditch the story for lack of inspiration, in which case I’ll just think of another one. So this is my plan for the summer. We’ll see how long it lasts. Another good thing about the summer is that I’m having a couple of visitors: one for me, especially, and the other for my apartment. Mary C. will hit town at the end of June for a few days and I’m really excited about that. And some of you may remember Stephanie. She’s paying my roommate and I a couple of hundred dollars to crash on the couch we don’t quite have yet for two months. It’ll be nice to catch up. I went to a birthday gathering this evening. It was fun. I was schooled in the art of salsa and merengue. I hate salsa. I can’t do it. I couldn’t do it when I had a short lesson a couple of years ago and I can’t do it now. Merengue is another story, though. That’s nice and easy and lots of fun. I was supposed to go to Ginger’s, which is a dyke bar a couple of stops from me. I didn’t make it, though. I’m going tomorrow night instead. By the way, there is really no interesting drama to speak of from the other night. I was bored listening to the story, so I won’t waste your time. The meeting was cool. The format seems corny at first blush but it does get the group talking and you tend to find out some interesting stuff about one another and about what others are thinking. One of the questions was What do you find most attractive about yourself? I said “my glasses.” I got laughs, which is what I was going for. GO SPURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!