Oh - in other news . . . I, er, did get a Nano for my birthday, which threw me into paroxysms of guilt and fear of the Wolf at the Door. (But not until I'd unwrapped the packaging, honesty compels me to mention . . . ) I got the 2G in black. I absolutely adore it. The interface is simple and satisfying, and iTunes simplifies making mp3s from CDs and downloading them to the iPod to the point where it's no work at all. I can see simultaneously that [a] 2G is plenty, and [b] no amount of gigs would ever be enough. Such an amazing thing to shuffle the songs and to know that everything that plays is going to be something I like . . .

Anyhow. I also upgraded my phone this weekend . . . for about 24 hours. I'd had a PDA phone, which I'd gotten on ebay last summer. I recently dropped it, and the screen is now fried. (In fact, those of you out there who know it, please call me on my cell phone. I lost everybody's numbers when the screen died.) So I went to the Sprint store on Friday afternoon and, being eligible for an upgrade, I got a new phone. Nice phone, I suppose . . . it was a camera phone, which I'd wanted, but [a] the design of the keypad was impossible, I thought (especially after the Nano), [b] the menus were too compicated for someone who really only wants to dial the phone, [c] I was afraid of breaking the screen if I dropped it, and [d] there were those money paroxysms again. So today I took the phone back, and got my original, pre-PDA cell phone reactivated. It's an oldie but a goodie - it just makes phone calls, and that's it. The numbers light up, making them easy to see if you're trying to dial it in the dark. I've dropped it twice today, and it still works just fine . . . I'm feeling wonderfully retro about it all . . . :)