dira | deep breaths.

So, I spent $1200 last night, and it took me about five minutes. I find this kind of disturbing; I still feel like buying a computer is something I should have my permission slip signed for (even though I've done it alone before, and, yeah, look at the results, I know...) by my big brothers or dad or someone. But I did it, all by my little self - ordered a nice simple basic Dell with a 14" screen and possibly my first perfectly legal copy of WordPerfect ever in life, maxed out all the warranties and got an extra battery and so on.

My main stumbling block, before ordering the computer, was that I needed to come up with a name. Mark Pierre got named more than a month before I bought him, Karina about a week. With this new computer, I had much less lead time, so I had to think about it a little, wrap my brain around the idea that I was going to have a shiny silver laptop running Windows XP (I've been on Me since before it was actually released, okay? A long time. I'm used to it. I fear change.) So, anyway, I was thinking about my recently-incredibly-obvious Thing for Blonds, and silver is sort of like blond, and, okay, I could just name the computer The Blond - though that's a bit of a step down from the people-like names my computers have always had, and my printer is already TB for The Baby, so, have to do better.

Well, my brain persists in associating the phrase The Blond with Kristine Smith's Lucien, from the Jani Killian books, so, okay, I could name the computer Lucien (nicely in keeping with the beloved fictional psycho killer theme), except that that's the French spelling, which means

iuliamentis would flinch if I slipped and pronounced it like the English, and my French is just not good enough for it to roll off the tongue. So, hm.

Next candidate was buachaill ban, which, give or take an accented character, is Irish Gaelic for "fair-haired boy," an endearment that I once intended for Angel to use for Spike, under, um. Sufficient duress. Since it's linked to Spike in my mind, it still has that beloved fictional psycho killer association, but, again the problems with rolling off the tongue (it's pronounced something like BWAH-xill bawn). Next candidate, only briefly entertained, but already adopted by

iuliamentis, was Blondie Bear.

Sorry in advance, computer. She's going to be calling you that.

Then I went back to the Lucien idea, but expanded the field a bit. Wanna name him after a blond, eh? Why not name him after lots of blonds?

So at the present time, my computer is in grave, grave danger of being permanently named Stanley Raymond Daniel Alec Illya Spike Hutchinson. (I tried to make Billy work in there, but it just won't go; several other blonds aren't being included because they're Not My Guy in their fandom; Daniel is honorarily blond, because given how sad it makes me to leave him out of an OTP, I couldn't leave him off my computer.) I think it works, though - got yer blonds, yer psycho killer, and it rolls off the tongue really nicely (no, try it! practice a bit! it works! StanleyRaymond DanielAlec IllyaSpike Hutchinson). Probably Spike, or Blondo, or, yes, Blondie-bear, for short, but I'm looking ahead to all those moments of supreme frustration, when you need a middle name (or five) to whip out. And then, oh, I'll be ready.

So, when not ordering a new computer online, I've been reading a little Man from UNCLE fic (so good! must get tapes!) and watching a lot of Starsky and Hutch (I'm sorry, did Hutch just call Starsky's mom to ask what his favorite food is, so that he could make them a romantic candlelit dinner for two? Why yes, it looks like he did.) and then we had to go see the movie (hilarious) and there was also some hockey in there somewhere (flukily victorious, which works for me, and then they totally killed me by interviewing my darling beloved goalie after he had changed into a suit and combed his hair and if you'll excuse me I need to go ask around on the puckbunnies board to see if I've got a shot with him...)

But, today's family gathering time, so I can hit up #2 Brother, who I presume, what with one thing and another, will be the only family computer expert presnt, for advice. I assume that transplanting a laptop hard drive into a desktop CPU is just an absurd technical impossibility? Because we've got a couple of those going spare. But ~~S.R.D.A.I.S. Hutchinson~~ Blondo should be here within a week or so, and then the fun really starts...