Huh. I thought she was dead.

Who knew Nancy Reagan was alive? Okay, well maybe you did. I forgot all about her and the way she helped run the country through astrologists and psychics. And used Drew Barrymore as the poster child for her "Just say No" to drugs campaign. That was a good one.

So, here I am, trying to cling to our European feeling of having too much stuff and trying to be significantly less materialistic and not buying clothes or bags or magazines or other unnecessary items and trying to downsize what we do have, like trading in Duke's car on a smaller, more fuel efficient one for me, and going through our clothes and donating them or selling them. Anyway, yeah, there's all that, and then I lost my i-pod. It's been well over a month and I tried, I really did. The new i-pods came out right after i had gotten my lost pink one and I even turned away from their new shape and tempting shiny new colors. And no one NEEDS an i-pod. So after I lost it, I chalked it up to my own fault and a luxury I could live without and I made more mixed CDs and even programmed the channels on the radio in my car.

Oh my, gentle reader, I couldn't do it!!!! I need my i-pod!!!! I don't care if that makes me a shallow bad materialistic wasteful person. I passed by the super cool 70s ski jacket. I put down the overpriced Michael Kors purse. I walked away from the super cute sweater dress that I don't need. But have you listened to the radio around here? I am just not that strong. I need my music and there's not a mixed CD that can yet hold it all.

I ran into Target, I looked neither to the right nor to the left. I didn't even go into the aisles. I went straight to the electronic section and found the bored teenage boy working the counter and gasped, "I need the I-pod nano in apple green."

And I love it. It's so shiny and pretty and sleek and it has ALL my songs on it and my car wept tears of joy when I plugged it in. Because I am not European and able to live a simpler, less stuff filled life, damn it. I am an American. And if Europeans had better music (save for their English bands who come over here to make it big), they would be Americans, too!