My random mind spews out, becomes infatuated with, and utterly boggles the bejesus out of me with its various desires. Usually, though, they’re not just ephemeral, pleasure-only seeking gadgets or trinkets, but actually worthwhile products or investments as i’d like all my purchases to be. Too many times i purchase short-lasting balms (e.g. alcohol and food) rather than long-lasting tools.
A Folding Bicycle
I don’t drive. Don’t even have a learner’s permit. So i walk everywhere–to work, to class, around the city, to the bar, to parties, etc. That’s the onus for wanting a bike–as in cycle–but not just any ol’ thing. I want a folding bike. I’ve never seen one in person, but the “i want to be hip” or a yuppie in me, wants one. They seem pretty cool and look snazzy–well, some of them do.
The Schwinn one above looks so awkward–like a weird cartoon character with its eyebrows turnt all the way up a la Skeeter from Doug.
Enter the Brompton folding bike (isn’t it cool how it folds!?), which is supposedly the most compact folding bike, as well as the “king of folding bikes.” Being the monarch comes with a price–a very high one at that–starting at $1200 upwards of $2500. Hell, i might as well just buy a hooptie and ride super extra wild dirty haha. Nah. Not gonna happen. If i’m going to splurge on something, it’ll be one of the two next items: Taylor Acoustic+Electric Guitar or Cintiq.
Taylor Acoustic & Electric Guitar
This year has been wonderful with meeting, hanging out and forming (lasting) relationships with musicians and artists. Several of them are guitarists and bassists. I told two of my friends, Saylor and Ceglio, that i wanted to learn to play guitar, but wasn’t sure if i wanted to start with acoustic or electric, so they suggested i get an acoustic and electric hybrid–recommending Taylor guitars for both their price and quality.
From my research i found guitars from $500 to $6,000 at Guitar Center. The one i linked to is $800, the exact price Ceglio (or was it Saylor?) said i would pay, which would be a great investment. They stressed that if i was willing to spend $400-600, i might as well go for the $800 one—it would be worth it in the long run, especially if i was serious with learning to play. From the item’s entry on Guitar Center:
The price may be entry-level; the sound is anything but!
The Taylor 110ce is an acoustic-electric guitar from the 100 series. A full-size Taylor, this dreadnought will change your expectations about what a serious entry-level guitar can embody. The Taylor 110ce Guitar sports a solid Sitka spruce top with sapele laminate back and sides. Other features include a venetian cutaway for full finger board access and the Taylor ES-T undersaddle transducer pickup that lets you be heard in any venue.An affordable alternative for the beginning guitarist or an “extra” guitar for the seasoned player, the 110CE has an extremely rich and versatile voice and delivers the quality sound and feel you’d expect from a Taylor. Includes Taylor gig bag.
Cintiq
The Cintiq is the granddaddy, the most prone to make me giddy device i’ve seen in a long time. It’s like the item below, but more of an authentic feel when drawing or illustrating since i would be doing so directly onto a screen. It’s a combination of drawing tablets and our love for touch screen. Now, if only it had some Minority Report-esque hand motions, that’d be extra snazzy. The $1000 price tag for the smallest model is pretty steep, but it would be a pretty damn good investment.
The Bamboo Pen & Touch
The Bamboo Pen & Touch is a snazzy piece for graphic designers and illustrators. It’s relatively low priced and seems like a great entry level tool. The Pen & Touch like other graphic tablets, allows a designer to more “naturally” draw, illustrate, paint or use any of the various tools in Photoshop, Corel Painter and other designing software. I need to hit up an art or electronics store to see if i can test out the Pen & Touch as well as Wacom’s Intuous line of tablets. It’s one thing to scour several reviews and impressions of each device, but nothing will compare to actually testing out the products myself—we all feel more or less comfortable since we hold and use pens (and mice) differently.
The Nook Tablet
This reminds me of about a year ago when i was deciding on which ereader device i wanted, the Kindle 3 or the Nook Color (i ultimately decided on, but didn’t purchase, the latter). I was absolutely stoked about Amazon’s Kindle Fire, i even pre-ordered it before canceling so i could buy my plane ticket to San Diego, but after reading the reviews i saw that it was flawed and limited. Enter the Nook Tablet.
The device has more built-in storage, allows for media cards, is faster, and does comparable things as the Fire. The only drawback is really not, but a feature the Fire has: access to Amazon’s Prime features, namely instant, free access to hundreds of tv shows and thousands of movies.
The Oxford Dictionary
I talked about this more in-depth during this post from the beginning of 2011—nothing’s changed. I still want to own this collection. One day.
Black and White America Collector’s Edition
No secret i love Lenny Kravitz. His latest album, Black and White America is pretty bad ass. I planned on purchasing the collector’s edition when it was first released in September, but for whatever reasons i didn’t want to spend the $100. I’m hoping it’ll still be available by February (tax return season!), which would be pretty apropos since it’s Black History Month.
Exclusive Limited Edition Black and White America Deluxe Set Includes:
- 46-page Hardcover Book of Exclusive Photos Taken from the 2-year Making of the Album
- Double-LP Set in Gatefold Jacket featuring Exclusive artwork and Photos
- DVD (Housed within Book) Includes:
- Performance Videos: “Black And White America” (Acoustic), “Everything” (Acoustic), “Liquid Jesus”, “I Can’t Be Without You”, “Dream” and “War (Finding The Groove)”
- Short Films: The Making Of “Rock Star City Life”, The Making Of “Superlove”, The Making Of “Everything”, The Making Of “Life Ain’t Never Been Better Than It Is Now” and “A Visit From Herman Leonard”
- Black and White America Album (Housed within Book)
- All Content Housed in a Custom Slipcase
I’m sure there’s more stuff i want, but at the moment, these are at the top of my list. Any crazy items you want?
There is a great old bike shop by me that sells bikes that not only fold, but charge your iPod (or iPhone, if that’s where u choose to go with your next phone) as you ride.