material girl? a flight of ideas.

i am rapidly but anxiously reaching the conclusion that stuff is good.

after months of mocking my blogmate's dental hygiene preferences, i recently purchased one of those new battery-operated auto-rotating toothbrushes. i can honestly say that my teeth haven't felt this clean since, well, since i last saw dentists regularly. (i'm sorry, but on the south side the only dentists i've found who take my insurance are named rufus, and i can't get past it.) so i'm pleased with the new discovery (and mb is super jealous), but added to my increasing love of pedicures and accessories... it's becoming a problem. we're also moving in a few weeks, leaving behind our undergrad-style walk-up where the floors slant and the lights dim when the microwave comes on, in favor of a newer place with extras like washer-dryer, central heat and air, shower that (hopefully) works on demand.

so here i am, feeling a little guilty and trying to avoid the slippery slope, feeling good for the decision not to replace stella right away and share mb's car for awhile, and who is trying to interfere? my parents. they think it's completely unreasonable that i not have my own car and are calling every other day to find out if i've bought another yet. their reasons thus far:

"but you need one"
"but then you won't come visit us"
"don't you work?"

so i think the material line is jagged. i'm completely willing to justify a much more frivolous though inexpensive option like electric toothbrush (mmmm...) but getting more stubborn by the phone call about not replacing stella, which i could probably put to better use than a crest uber-kleen or whatever. i'm not sure where the line is; i'm currently planning to save money by taking a wine-making class down in beverly, but then buy a big wine rack to house the case of cheap wine that will then come home with me.

so i'm inconsistent. or maybe i'm doing just fine, and the electric toothbrush and wine rack are just fine as long as i don't have gold chains for my palm pilot holster like guido. that's the best thing about guido. all of the rest of our idiosyncrasies smooth right over.