The World of Stuff .com

From Florida with love

Though the Christmas rush is through, I haven’t talked much about the gifts I gave Natasha for Christmas. A few months ago, she mentioned that she wanted a snowflake charm to wear on a necklace, so I made a mental note of it (and a bookmark). It would be simple to get, right? Wrong. When Christmastime came, I looked up and down for one. I did find a few, but they were too flashy or cheap, and I knew she wouldn’t want anything like that. I found her mom on MySpace and messaged her to get their address. It was then that Natasha’s mom suggested that I get her a Florida souvenir shirt. I thought that was a good idea as well.

I searched up and down for a snowflake necklace. They’re hard to find, even (or especially?) during the Christmas season. One day, I was at Wal-Mart getting a shirt, when I noticed that they had a jewelry counter. And there I saw a small, 14-karat gold snowflake. So I plunked down the bucks for it, got a box, and had my dad go to the post office and send it away. Natasha later said that she had gotten it, but that her mom wouldn’t let her open it till Christmas. On Christmas, she sent me some pictures.

Natasha sent me a package as well, but it hasn’t arrived yet. I’ve been looking forward to it eagerly. I think she got me a shirt also, but I want it to remain a surprise, whatever it is.

I wonder where exactly we stand — I did give her jewelry, after all. It’s hard to define the sort of relationship we have. I like her. She likes me.^[1] And she’s more like me than any other girl I’ve been interested in. I think that if we lived near each other, we’d be going out. But all I can really do is talk to her, and that’s nice in a way. When I can just talk to her, I can say what I want and do as I feel. But what do I call her? She’s more than a friend to me, but what is she? Could I be so bold as to call her my girlfriend? Is that term appropriate? What would it entail? Am I asking too many questions? It’s all confusing but exciting at the same time. I hope I can find some answers soon enough.

Wired News presents the 2006 Foot-in-Mouth Awards, recognizing “the lamest quotes from or about the world of technology during this eventful year.” Of course, George W. Bush’s mention of using “the Google” and Sen. Ted Stevens’s infamous “series of tubes” take top prizes, but there are some lesser known gems from the past year as well. For example, Larry King confused by the Internet: “What do you do? Punch little buttons and things?”

Here’s a pretty good idea for a blog: Joe Mathlete Explains Today’s Marmaduke. Helps with figuring out those perplexing cartoons.

One year ago: “I guess only old people go to the movies on a Monday night.”
Three years ago: “Still, there’s nothing like waking up in the morning to find an uncut sheet of money greeting you on the wall.”