touche'

i may have mentioned in passing to my blogmate and a vegetarian co-worker that my strategy for convincing mb to like new foods was to describe it in more boy-friendly terms. so, not "potatoes and tofu in yogurt curry", but "potatoes and extra protein with sauce!" not "quiche," but "breakfast pie." etcetera. straight out of the simpsons episode where the woman selling hummus and tahini calls it crunch patties with flavor sauce, i know. a co-worker commented, kindly, that it sounded a little like talking to a child.

but lest i develop any feelings of superiority, mb got me back. in hearing about my blogmate's excitement over her new wireless high-speed internet, i naturally decided i wanted one too. the only problem is that mb has a large spiffy desktop computer which clearly does not need to be moved anywhere, and my laptop is a software-overburdened little machine that makes lots of clicking noises before it decides to do anything and is missing the letter x. but since the weather's been so hot lately, and the only air conditioner is in the bedroom, i thought that was my big chance to sell to mb that if we had a wireless thing-ey, we could surf the internet in air-conditioned comfort.

so i made my pitch, casually, in a conversation about the weather. mb patiently asked lots of questions, none of which i could answer. "how big is the box?" "i don't know." "does it plug into the wall phone jack and then there's a wireless connection from there?" "i don't know." "can the neighbors use it or is it protected?" "i'm not sure. i think maybe you can guard it somehow." "are you sure it's just $80 for the box and there are no additional charges?" "um, that's what [my blogmate] said." "you just want one because [your blogmate] has one, don't you? i was wondering how long it would take before you'd ask..." *insert laughter*

i hang my head in shame.