The first, and hopefully only thing, I bought to celebrate my new job was a Canon Powershot S410, in the digital Elph series. It’s small enough for me to carry around in my pocket, unlike my old camera, and is capable of taking 4.0 megapixel pictures. It has a long exposure mode of up to 15 seconds, and custom white balancing. It can also take movies up to 320×240 resolution at 15 fps, which I’ve already had fun with at the Highlander Pub two weekends ago. I decided to go with something compact for candid snaps, instead of an SLR where I’d have to carry around an extra case/bag.

I’ve been dreaming of getting a Mont Blanc for years, ever since I tried one out at a jewellery store back home before I bought it for my boss. I loved the way it felt in my hand, the perfect weight, the balance, the shine, the smoothness of the nib, the effortlessness of the writing, the click of the cap, the elegant but timeless design. A few years later, I went for a surprise visit to my old workplace, and when my boss went to sign something he pulled out the Mont Blanc, my Mont Blanc, from his blazer pocket. That made me happy.

The thing is, I could never justify buying one for myself; I would always tell myself to wait until I could celebrate my graduation or marriage. My boss was a businessman, so he could use a nice pen to sign his contracts. Every time I’d pass the Mont Blanc display in the mall I’d check out what the most current series was.

While I was in Hong Kong, I found a little shop selling them at very low prices.

Then I realized that I had already graduated.

I bought a jet-black Meisterstück Classique Rollerball with platinum finish right then and there, and my god how sweet it is. I can’t imagine using another pen for the rest of my life. Sometimes I put my hand in my pocket and then realize, “Holy shit, I have a Mont Blanc in my pocket”. So far, this is the only thing that I can think of putting in my will.

Sometimes I’d walk the streets of Hong Kong and see a guy selling fake Mont Blanc’s, a bunch of them clipped to a cheap felt board. It’s as easy to spot a fake Mont Blanc as it is to spot a fake Rolex. The price I got mine for in the little shop was cheaper by more than $150 CAD than the price in stores here. I want to get it engraved with my signature but it costs $120 to send to the Mont Blanc main headquarters, which is fucking insane (it’s a cool process though, where they take four of my signatures, then mix and match the best parts of each to come up with the engraving). I suppose that for someone who’s buying a pen from the Meisterstück Solitaire Platinum line, $120 is almost nothing. I’m considering my next Mont Blanc purchase as a fountain pen from the new super sweet Starwalker series Resin Line, but that’ll be sometime far into the future.

Dina bought me a platinum GBA SP! I can’t believe it; I actually gasped when I figured out what it was. It’s been a pretty rough day, so this was a really nice surprise. I can bring it with me on my trip to Hong Kong so I can play on the plane. Now I want to buy so many games, like the sequel to Paper Mario on N64, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Fire Emblem, Tony Hawk’s Underground, and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. There are actually more I would buy if I won the lottery, but for now, I can download a few and upload them to my flash cartridge with the linker.

There’s been a laptop craze going around lately, with Tom’s purchase of a used Powerbook, Nick’s job financed Travelmate 800, and Wheaties’s gift financed iBook. All the recent laptop purchases has made everyone else zealous. Both Aaron and Trolley are thinking about the purchase of one now, and I’ve already been sucked in.

Next week I’ll be ordering a Sager 5680 notebook, which I’ll be replacing my current desktop with. It has great specs, the only downfalls being a short battery life (which I can live with) and a rather large size/weight (which I’m willing to deal with). I’ll be getting the P4 3.0 GHz HT processor (woooo!), the 15″ UXGA TFT screen, the wireless LAN, and 60GB hard drive options. The best thing is that it comes with a ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro (Pro!) which hasn’t quite started it’s product cycle in North America yet. I’ll be looking forward to dual head display, being able to attend LANs without needing a ride, and possible digital speaker output (which I have yet to take advantage of).

The trip home was alright, watching Men In Black 2 (not a very good movie at all) and taking under five and a half hours. I like the fact that I can purchase a bus ticket at any time, and not have to worry about booking and reservations. I’ve always liked the idea that I have the freedom to pick up and go whenever I please. Of course, this only works when I have a guaranteed place to stay at the destination.

My Candela’s came in last week. They are quite nice, although they look rather cheap during the daytime when they’re off. They give off a decent ambient light when other (more primary) lights are on, but are good at setting a mood when they’re the only things illuminating a room. It’s a hassle to always let them burn out to prolong battery life, since that means that I’m usually going to bed with them on, and for someone who wakes up from the first slit of sunlight piercing the room, it can be an annoying thing.

I found a great astronomy book for Darren, covering everything from the smallest detail in purchasing a telescope, to the patterns the planets make in their orbits. Astronomy is something that I’ve always found to be mysteriously interesting, a seductive past-time I’d be afraid to be consumed by. A few people I’ve talked to have felt the same way, although some with an even more severe emotion. I would have taken up such a hobby as soon as I had the means to, if the area I live in wasn’t so unbelievably light polluted. It’s as if the mayor wants to keep the lights in the city bright enough to have a constant daytime. I’m fairly sure that I’ll buy a decent telescope eventually, once I’ve settled down in a condo and have a career.

I can’t wait to get back to my pleasure box and begin fooling around with Movable Type. I just hope that my host can provide enough flexibility for it to work.

When I got home, a stack of red envelopes and wrapped boxes were waiting for me. My premature exit at Christmas left gifts unopened and money unclaimed, quite a welcome surprise. I got another $50 gift certificate for Futureshop, which will most likely be going towards Vice City as soon as it comes out. I haven’t played a very absorbing game in a while, the last ones being GTA3 or Neverwinter Nights, but my favourite is still probably Half-Life. And with Half-Life 2 slated for a fall release, well, I find myself becoming unhealthily excited.

I’ll be splitting a box of Onslaught with Darren today.