No more baby steps

Well, Melissa and I have come to an important juncture in our lives. We are taking a huge big-person step, and that step involves moving halfway across the country. In just a few short months we will be packing up our stuff here in good old Naperville and heading down south to unpack our stuff in the lovely state of North Carolina. You ask why? Well, I was accepted to the post-baccalaureate program in Classical Studies at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. All of those big words basically mean I will be spending a year reading and studying Greek and Latin so I can hone my skills in order to have the best possible chance of getting into the best possible grad schools in the country. As you can tell, this is a rather big life change for both of us since neither of us really have any close family or friends who live in the Chapel Hill area. The move of course brings mixed emotions. I am incredibly excited to finally take the next step towards doing what I have wanted and dreamed of for many years, and also to experience someplace new. At the same time I am a little scared, nervous, and sad to be leaving close friends and family and plopping ourselves down in a completely unfamiliar place. We'll be able to get a little taste of our new home at the end of this month because we are traveling down there to scope out apartments, jobs, etc. It really is quite an exciting time for us and despite the difficult emotions that come with such a change, I am sure we will come away from our time in the deep south with a new maturity. For now, we best be partying it up these last three months or so that we are around!

What's the big deal with iPod's anyway?

These days when you're walking down the street just about every person you see has some sort of iPod attached to themselves. Maybe it's a shuffle or a nano or the old school iPod or maybe they're watching some video on their video iPod. A lot of those people are probably even waiting for the brand new iPod coming out this year that is touch screen and can play widescreen movies in full 16:9 aspect ratio. No matter what kind of iPod everyone else has, the real issue here is that I don't have one. For quite a while I was perfectly ok with this prospect because I didn't really think I would use an iPod that much and, honestly, they're just too darn expensive for what they are. However, recently I am finding myself being drawn to that elusive iPod very much against my will. I keep finding myself thinking about what I would do with one if I had one and how it would be so nice to store all of my music. Then, after these dreamy thoughts I am quickly brought back to reality when I look at the exorbitant price tag and realize that I don't have the money to even buy half an iPod. This leads me to ponder exactly what really is the big deal about iPods. It's definitely not the price because not many people I know are all that excited about dropping 200-400 dollars in one shot. It's also not all the features (although there are many nice points about it) because you can get just about all those same features other ways (although probably without the same convenience as an iPod). Thus, I am left with only one real reason to buy an iPod and the reason that I want one now. It's a factor we are all well aware of I'm sure. The cool factor. People buy iPods because they are the cool thing to buy. If you're cool, you have an iPod. No amount of money can deter the cool factor, yet I must firmly resist because I really have more important things to be spending my money on. Namely, my graduate school education. Plus, since I've already decided that I'm really not that cool, it's perfectly ok to avoid the iPod craze. But, if anyone was gracious enough to buy me one after reading this post, I would surely not turn it down!