New Technology

The level of gadgetry at Flock hall has become quite high of late. My goo-dispensing shaver is not the only new toy in the house :

Silicone bakeware - loaf and cake pans, muffin tins, Zoidburgs (oven mits), spatulas, and hot pads, all made of flexible rubbery stuff, nonstick, and able to handle 650 degree temperatures. This stuff really seems like magic - it's the elven cookware of the new millenium.


Laptops - the house is suddenly lousy with them. With Squid and I getting laptops as gifts, everyone in the house now has one but Ben. Poor, technologically disadvantaged Ben*. In fact, even guests like Gina and Christin have laptops - we may make it mandatory for all visitors in the near future. Mine is the only Mac, and I feel the jealous eyes upon me...
*Ben has a new desktop system, so it's not all bad.



Cable TV - the installer is coming on Friday! I have mixed emotions about letting the one-eyed monster into our home, but I feel very cut off from the world without it. We each have our favorite shows - I want to watch Black Books and other British comedies, Mark wants to see The Daily Show, for Britt it's The L Word, Tessa wants Food Network, and Ben is tired of trying to unscramble those cable smut channels by hand. As sad as this may sound, I think it might bring us together more as well. It may serve as the flickering campfire our tribe huddles around in the cold winter months.


Cell phones - we all have them, and mine just got much sexier (see Motorola Razor V3 above). I am not nearly hip enough for this phone. It's so slick - when I pull it out, everyone just assumes I stole it.

My last phone was in the habit of shutting itself off randomly, so I went to see about a replacement. I am somewhat picky about phones; I have several old injuries that make using a phone difficult for me. Due to an accident many years ago, I only hear well in my left ear. Unfortunately, my left elbow and shoulder have suffered a few injuries that make it hard for me to hold a phone to my left ear for long periods of time, so a headset is mandatory for any call lasting more than about five minutes. I have had limited success with headsets - I am hard on them, as I usually manage to catch the wire on something and rip them off my head. I had my last phone for eleven months, and in that time I went through 4 headsets. I am hoping that a wireless headset is the answer. Hence the need for a bluetooth phone like the Razor, and this Motorola bluetooth headset...


When I'm wearing it, it should look something like this...

As I type this on my iBook G4, I am chatting with a friend using my bluetooth headset and munching a piece of bread that Mark baked in silicone loaf pans. Soon, I'll be doing all of that while watching the SciFi channel. If only my death ray were operational, my life would be complete...

Clean Shave

This is my new razor - the Norelco 7735X Cool Skin Rechargeable Cordless Razor, to be exact. After asking unsuccessfully for a razor that can be taken into the shower for three Christmases now, I finally just broke down and bought one for myself. It set me back about $100, but it was worth it. It has these cartridges full of goo

that oozes out on the head while you shave. It sounds like a silly gimmick, but I can honestly say that this is the closest shave I have ever managed to give myself with an electric shaver, and it's better in most respects than what usually results from using a regular razor. In fact, I'd say that my skin has only felt this smooth on two other occassions in my adult life - once when I got a shave from a Phillipino barber (a highly recommended treat for your face), and once when I singed off all my facial hair lighting a propane grill (a not so highly recommended treat for your friends, who will laugh themselves sick at your eyebrowless expense).

This has only the tiniest, most tangential, link to the theme of this blog, but where else am I going to rave about this new toy? It is linked to our experiement in communal living only because the replacement packets of goo hang in the shower that everyone uses. I realize that some of the inmates of Flock Hall might be tempted to open said packets and use the contents as conditioner, moisturizer, lubricant, toothpaste, spermicide, piercing cleaner, labia polish, or a light snack, but please try to refrain - the goo is kind of pricey, and doesn't taste good at all.