There is a chain of events (for me) that occurs when I possess an item.

In the beginning I treat the object with careful and tender delicate devotion. I greedily protect it from others, letting them touch it only when I am near. All the same I don't really understand it, and it is because of it's mystery that I am so interested in it.

After awhile it becomes a more normal part of my life. It will be used, or not, and it usually loses a fair amount of significance for me. I usually become somewhat flippant in my care of the object, and although I expect it to work for me, i will happily let others borrow it. This is the state of most objects. They exist to be used, but have lost the shine of newness, and are thus common.

But.

A rare few move beyond this point. And for them i develop actual *affection*.

These are the objects that have lasted above and beyond the normal scheme of things, long after they should have broken, been lost, or just outlived their usefulness.

One such object is my dear old ibook. Going on five years it is now an antique in the computer world.

But having entered into the third stage in my mind, I cannot let it die.

I have just recently replaced its internal hardrive, have previously replaced its ram and its battery (which has to be taped in to stop it from falling out), the power cord is frayed and taped together, I have installed software to overclock the graphics card, and another two pieces of software to underclock the actual cpu as well as overdrive the fans respectively. The little feet have been replaced by makeshift eraser feet in order to keep it higher from whatever surface it is on and thus cooler, and I have to constantly keep it on a piece of wood so it doesn't have direct contact with anything and overheat.

The screen has parts that if touched make lines and madness appear, if a usb cable is pulled out unexpectedly it sometimes freezes up, if the machine gets a bit too hot it freezes completely, and the trackpad clicker no longer works.

...

And I love this machine.

It has a huge fast hardrive now, loads of memory, a fresh install of 10.4 with no bloatware and runs faster than most machines I go on with almost all basic tasks.

It's my beautiful frankenbook, and by god I'm going to keep it alive until it blows off my hands.

:D

...


On another happy note, school is fantastic, my classes and teachers are the best I've ever had, and I absolutely believe that this year is going to prepare me for the future better than I could have believed.

I feel stable, happy and blissfully moving in the right direction.

...

Also I'm going to eat miracle berries next weekend!

woo~!